Cheap and Healthy Foods for Indian Street Dogs
Feeding the stray dogs outside your house is a virtue in itself. You can see the gratitude in their eyes once you fill their stomach of those gentle souls. A great thing about street dogs is that they are as sharp and vigilant as the western dog breeds.
There is a lot of debate regarding the ideal foods that can be given to stray dogs. Street dogs indeed have a sound immune system, but you can’t feed them anything you like.
Food items loaded with sugar can cause the dog’s blood level to drop and cause liver failure. Likewise, vegetables like onion and garlic are highly toxic for dogs as they can wreck their red blood cells.
If you are thinking of feeding them premium foods, note that they are expensive and can also be disliked by the dogs. It is because strays generally thrive on simple foods and may distaste foods with complex ingredients.
So for clearing all kinds of doubts, we will discuss all those food items that are healthy and budget-friendly to feed the strays outside. So, let us get started with it.
1) Affordable Branded Dog Food
If you like to feed the stray dogs packaged foods, you can look for budget-friendly brands like Smartheart, Pedigree, Drools, etc. The foods from these brands are highly nutritious and are devoid of artificial fillers. A great thing about them is how cheap they are compared to other brands, yet managing to fulfil the dog’s nutritional requirements.
These two are among the leading pet food brands that are pioneers in manufacturing affordable dog foods.
2) Chapati Dipped in Milk
Street dogs savour Chapatis, which are dipped in milk. Though several theories suggest chapati can be allergic to dogs, the street dogs seem to relish it without any problems. The milk flavour entices almost all of the dogs.
Before feeding, make sure that the chapatis are fresh and do not contain ghee. It is because dogs are not that good with saturated fats. Plain Chapatis can be ideal for them.
3) Milk and Water (For Puppies)
If you see stray puppies outside, you can consider giving milk, which is diluted with water. The reason milk is to be diluted with water because dogs have a varying degree of lactose intolerance. With a little water mixed with it, it becomes safe for the street dogs to eat.
You can approach grocery stores that may be having milk that is close to expiry. They may be more than ready to give you at nominal prices.
4) Boiled Eggs
Boiled eggs are one of the best foods you can feed stray dogs. They are a rich source of protein and help build good muscle mass and strength in the dogs. You will be surprised that almost all of the dogs will be eager to eat the boiled eggs once you bring it in front of them. There are hardly any dogs there who dislike eggs.
Please make sure the eggs you feed them are boiled and not raw in form. Prolonged feeding of raw eggs may prevent the absorption of biotin in the body.
5) Biscuits (Unflavoured and devoid of sugar)
Biscuits that are devoid of sugar can be safe for dogs to eat. Many people feed the strays biscuits loaded with refined sugar, which may hamper the dog’s health. Look for cheap dog biscuits that are made exclusively for the canines. They consist of ideal ingredients that are easier for the dogs to digest.
Remember that biscuits are just snacks for them and should not be substituted with regular meals.
6) Leftover Restaurant Foods
The local restaurants near to your house may be having a lot of leftover rice and meat daily. They can be bought at a very low price and then be fed to the dogs later. Many butcher shops daily are left with the butchered animal’s waste meat, mainly known as ‘chhaant’ in Hindi. This is because most customers discard many organs and skin of the animal when they buy food, and the owners have to throw them away anyway.
If you can manage to get these foods, it will be a great feast for the street dogs.
7) Fish and Rice
Like the butcher shops, many fish sellers reject many parts of the fish as waste. You can approach them and may even get these pieces for free. While feeding fish to the dogs, be careful of separating the bones as they can get stuck in the dog’s throat.
It will be excellent to cook the fish before offering it to the stray as raw fish consist of harmful bacteria like salmonella and listeria. These bacterias can make the dog sick, although they can be gotten rid of in the process of cooking.
To Conclude
We appreciate the fact that you want to feed the stray dogs near you. They are the ones who depend on people for their survival. The foods mentioned above are not only cheap but highly nutritious as well.
Before signing off, we also want to emphasize the importance of adopting stray pups. These dogs not only have a strong immunity but are also protective of their family. It would be great if you can give shelter to the kind animals.