Tips from the expert

Pet food: How to make the perfect dog dinner!

Healthy nutrition is not only an important topic for humans, but is also becoming increasingly important in species-appropriate pet keeping.

(Bild: ©liliya kulianionak - stock.adobe.com)

For more and more pet owners, their love of animals also goes through the stomach. Allergies, intolerances and illnesses of their four-legged friends mean that pet owners want to check what exactly ends up in their pet's food bowl. Nutritionist Kerstin Fuhl supports dog and cat owners with her extensive knowledge. 

The range of products on offer in the food department is large, but knowledge about nutritional values and ingredients is often limited. People buy whatever tastes best to their furry friend - owners of fussy cats know what this means. 

But is this tasty ready-made food always healthy for the animal? An unbalanced diet and a possible lack of nutrients can lead to long-term health problems. If you want to avoid this, you should take a closer - and above all critical - look at the food can and its ingredients. 

The global market for animal feed is a billion-dollar business. However, what the industry's marketing departments promise is not always kept.

(Bild: ©Ermolaev Alexandr - stock.adobe.com)

Food with question marks
If you now unpack your glasses and read the small print, you can make yourself comfortable between the shelves of the pet shop. Because there will be a number of question marks. Does rice have to be in cat food? What do all those E-numbers mean? Is BARF really the solution? How do I feed enough to cover my cat's needs? Dry food, canned, raw, what is it? Is more expensive better?

Individual nutritional concepts
Kerstin Fuhl has the answers to all these questions and many more. The young Viennese woman once set out to find solutions herself, because her own animals were struggling with serious illnesses and intolerances.

Kerstin Fuhl with her "Zeus" - the shepherd had major health problems, which could also be improved thanks to the right diet.

(Bild: Sandra Schmid)

In the meantime, she has built up a second professional mainstay with her "feed check" and offers individual advice in the broad field of animal feed. And with success - her customer base even extends as far as New Zealand. The likeable animal lover makes one thing clear from the outset: unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

The food checker

• Kerstin Fuhl is a certified nutritionist for dogs and cats and lives in Vienna and Upper Austria.
• She creates individual nutrition plans and analyzes food for dogs and cats. Illnesses, intolerances and living conditions are taken into account in the food concept created.
• On her Instagram channel medosfuttercheck, she guides you through the world of healthy and species-appropriate animal nutrition.

"My animal welfare dog 'Zeus' is or was a major medical construction site. It was through him that I started looking into the subject and I know exactly how desperate you can be when your pet's health is poor," says the certified nutritionist.

She completed a three-year training course to help others with this very complex topic. After all, many factors are involved in providing the animal with the best possible diet. Using a detailed questionnaire and photo analysis, she gets to the bottom of things in order to create the right concept for each animal.

Kerstin Fuhl knows that the way to an animal's heart is through its stomach!

(Bild: Sandra Schmid)

Coaching for humans and animals
"Of course, a lot of things have to be tried out and I am in close contact with my customers. Feedback over several weeks is important and necessary in order to work out the perfect feeding plan. There is no 'bad' or 'good' food and just because dry food suits one person doesn't mean that another will get on well with it," says Fuhl. The expert also puts together varied menus for pet owners who are passionate about cooking for their four-legged friends. 

Because healthy is what the animal can tolerate!

Kerstin Fuhl, Ernährungsberaterin für „Hund und Katz“

Even expensive pet food is not automatically good, and in some circumstances the tins from the discount store are the right thing for the situation. For the pet food expert, it all depends on the composition, because if important nutrients such as vitamins, minerals or omega fatty acids are missing in the long term, it becomes critical for dogs and cats.  

Dog or skunk?
Incorrect or inadequate nutrition is often not even recognized as such. Persistent flatulence, a bad smell from the mouth despite good teeth or diarrhea are indicators that are unfortunately ignored by pet owners. 

Prevent illness and maintain health
However, this is the latest time to address the issue of "feeding correctly". Because many health problems and trips to the vet could be avoided - as with humans - purely through nutrition. If you can't make sense of the wealth of information on the Internet, you will benefit from a consultation with the "feed checker". Your pet will thank you!