For pet owners who don’t compost, maybe you should consider recycling your fruit and vegetable peels for your dog.
The other day I was making a batch of carrot, apple, and raisin salad (the only way I can get a vegetable into my daughter). I used untold amounts of organic carrots. After thoroughly washing the carrots, I peeled off the outer skin and proceeded to make the salad.
I looked at the heap of perfectly healthy carrot skins and decided to recycle them by running the skins through the food processor so that I could mix some in with the dog’s food. Fido, being the dog that he is, thought he was having an early Thanksgiving meal. He lapped it up looking for more.
There was such a large amount of carrot skin that I put some of the chopped carrots in the freezer for a later date and some in the fridge for tomorrow’s meal.
Fido was happy and so was I. So, before you throw away certain fruit and vegetable skins, think about recycling them to mix it in your dog’s food. Recycling your peals not only helps to stretch a bag of dog food, but the fruits and vegetables are healthy for your dog and dogs love it.
Word of Caution:
Give Fido a little at a time. Their short digestive tracts can wreak havoc in your household if the food upsets their stomach.
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You are absolutely right. You do have to be careful of what you feed your pet. Aside from them having sensitive stomachs, they’re not human and their systems can become very ill from ‘harmless foods’ as the ones you mention.
Why do I peel the carrots? Good question. It’s a habit. I guess you could call it a quirk. If I grill the carrots, I just make sure I scrub them clean and put them on the grill without peeling them. However, if I use them in any other way I peel them. I know it doesn’t make sense. Hmmm, I’ll blame that quirk on my Mom. 🙂
Great advice! We do raw dog food and doggie dinners of saved up leftover bits too. We also feed our rats almost exclusively on healthy people foods. You must be careful though… many foods can make your pets very sick. You cannot give your pets cooked bones, fats & skins, chocolate or alcohol. You should be very careful with onions, garlic, raisons / grapes, raw potatoes and leftovers.
Real, whole foods are better for your dogs then most kibbles… but I have to ask, why peel the carrots? There’s a lot of nutrition there.