A dog owner has shared how her Golden Retriever eats bowls full of quail eggs, fresh fish with heads still attached and even chicken feet – and insists it’s cheaper than regular dog food.
Nathalia Silveira, 33, is determined to give 11-year-old Theo only the best, having consulted with a nutritionist to ensure his diet is up to scratch.
The student feeds the sweet pooch a raw diet consisting of meats like chicken feet, whole quails, full raw fish, chunks of liver and kidney and a mix of supplements, vegetables, fruits and herbs.
Nathalia picks up the goods from her local butcher and supermarket, spending £30-45 a month – less than good kibble costs in many shops.
“Theo is my companion and I love him unconditionally,” Nathalie, from Rio de Janeiro, said.
“I believe feeding dogs real food is one of the best things you can do for them.
“I’ve noticed benefits like an increase in vitality in Theo, less hair loss and an improvement in his oral health.
“He’s even lost weight and his hair looks brighter.
“Theo is calmer and happier since eating this way – even his faeces is smaller and smells less.”
The raw diet is prescribed by his nutritionist and factors in Theo’s weight, age and level of physical activity.
A recent meal that the pooch was served contained chicken thigh and back, a sardine with the head and eyeballs still attached, cow liver, a vegetable mix of carrot, red pepper, lettuce and cabbage, supplements, coconut oil, a herb blend of garlic, basil and parsley, as well as strawberries and blackberries.
Another interesting combination featured chicken feet, chest, liver and back, courgette, aubergine and chayote, supplements, berries, olive oil, mint and rosemary.
The lucky pup spends his days sunbathing, walking with Nathalia and swimming at the beach.
He has built up a huge following on Instagram (@goldenretriever_theo) with pictures of his day-to-day life, as well as close-ups of his food bowls, and now has more than 53,600 followers.
Nathalia is passionate about Theo’s raw food diet and posts tips to his followers – including that she limits how often she feeds him by intermittent fasting.
In one post, she wrote: “Feeding them several times a day if just another form of humanisation, since we feel bad seeing them not eating all day, although the body knows how to deal with it.
“I have noticed that during the day he doesn’t care if I don’t put food out, despite eating everything when I offer it.
“At night if it takes a little while, sometimes he asks. I found out that they were in the habit of hunting at night and because they ate all the prey at once, it must be the reason he has this preference.
“Just as many people still find raw food to be strange, we must keep in mind that we are different species with different needs.”
