Let’s talk Chihuahua food. Food plays a very important role in a Chihuahua’s life. Chihuahuas are one of the smallest dogbreeds and tend to be more fragile and susceptible to diseases compared to other dog breeds. Keeping your Chihuahua strong and healthy largely depends on the diet and nutrition you choose. A good diet goes beyond selecting the right Chihuahua food. It also consists of setting up an adequate feeding schedule, providing the correct feeding amounts, etc…
All these different elements are intertwined and will direcly affect your Chihuahua’s current and future health. Note that Chihuahua’s are not fussy when it comes to food and will swallow about anything they are given. This can create serious health problems as Chihuahua’s are very sensitive to the food they are being fed. Furthermore, providing your Chihuahua with a consistent feeding shedule and food portions are key.
In short, having a good grasp of what makes up the best Chihuahua food, when and how much to feed your Chihuahua, will boost it’s health and wellbeing. In turn, you will have a far happier and joyful little dog. What’s not to love? Are you interesting in learning more about all things Chihuahua food, diet, regimens and best practices? This extensive guide will cover all these bases and make sure you are knowledgeable enough to provide a balanced and healthy diet for your Chihuahua.
On this page we go over the following points:
- Puppy to fullgrown Chihuahua
- Feeding schedule
- Feeding amounts
- Best food
- Harmful food
- Tips & Tricks
Because it is important to know what food is best and what could be harmfull or poisoneous …. we have dedicated an entire section of our website to this subject. You can read the basic take-aways here, for more information head over to the following pages:
From small Puppy to full grown Chihuahua
Another variable one needs to take into account when dealing with Chihuahua food is age. As with human beings, the diet should change with age. Young Chihuahua puppies should not be given the same food or nutrients then full grown Chihuahuas. The key is to build healthy habits and evolve the diet along with your Chi’s development.
As mentioned in the introduction, Chihuahuas are not picky and will eat almost anything you provide them. Therefore, it is crucial to pick out the good stuff and really think about what to feed your Chihuahua. This is even more important when you are dealing with a puppy. Additionally, due to their size they are extra fragile which further increases the importance of a balanced diet. Finally, be aware that missing a meal could jeapordise your chihuahua’s life!
Bringing your puppy home
There are several things you should consider when your bring a puppy home. Firstly, you need to create a balanced and healthy diet. If you are planning to get a puppy from a breeder, find out what kind of food the breeder has been feeding your puppy. It is key to buy the same food when bringing your pup home. This will help your chihuahua to maintain a stable diet and reduce the risk of an upset stomach. Secondly, it is important to let the portions, feed timings and different nutritions evolve as your chihuahua gets older.
It possible that you want to change the puppy’s diet. One of the reasons for this could be that you are not in favour of the food the breeder was giving to your chihuahua. When changing the diet, it is important to do this gradually to avoid digestive problems. Below you can find a 5 week programme to gently transition your puppy to a new diet.
- Week 1: old food at 3/4 with new food at 1/4
- Week 2: old food at 1/2 with new food at 1/2
- Week 3: old food at 1/4 with new food at 3/4
- Week 4: old food at 1/8 with new food at 7/8
- Week 5: only serve the new food
By spreading the dietary change over the course of 5 weeks, your Chihuahua will gradually accostume to the new Chihuahau food and risks of digestive problems are reduced to a minimum.
In later sections we’ll cover dietary best practices and what makes up good chihuahua food. In general, the food you serve your chihuahua shouldn’t change significantly with age. However, there are a few macro-nutrients that you need to scale down as your Chihuahua gets older. Most notably, protein and fat. Protein is a very important macro-nutrient that you need to scale down as your puppy grows.
We recommend serving a diet with 22% protein when your Chihuahua is still young and growing. Scale protein down to about 18% when your Chihuahua is fully grown. When looking at fat percentage included in a diet, it is important to make sure your chihuahua’s diet includes more fat when it is young.We recommend serving a diet with about 8% fat for a young and growing Chihuahua. Scale this down to about 5% when your Chihuahua is fully grown.
In the following section ‘The best Chihuahua food’ we’ll go more in depth on a general Chihuahua diet.
Feeding Shedule
Know that we know what the perfect Chihuahua food should consist of, let’s discuss chihuahua feeding schedule. Just like with humans (and especially kids) providing a proper chihuahua feeding schedule is important. Feeding your Chihuahua too much can cause weight issues while not feeding it enough can also cause health problems. Finding a right balance is key. When and how much to feed your Chihuahua will vary depending on their age. Short overview:
- Puppies (under 3 months): free-fed so they can eat enough to stay strong. Regular food swaps are important to keep the food fresh
- 3 to 6 months old: try adhering to 3 to 4 meals a day.
- 6 months to 1 year: 2 to 3 meals a day. Morning, noun / late afternoon and night.
- From 1 year: preferably 2 meals a day. Morning and night.
As your Chihuahua gets older, you’ll start to have a better idea of its ideal dietary needs. Every Chihuahua is unique and some might be more picky tothers!rs !
Feeding Amounts
The amount of Chihuahua food you give your Chihuahua depends on several factors:
- Age: young Chihuahuas need more calories than senior Chihuahuas
- Food type: wet home made food vs dry kibble will yield different calorie levels
- Activity level
- Metabolism of your Chihuahua.
Feeding Amounts: Framework
As we can’t control what type of food you are giving your Chihuahua, it does not make sense for us to stipulate the amount in grams or sizes. Furthermore, dry kibble requires more in volume to provide the same amount of calories as wet home made food. Therefore, we have set up a best practice framework:
A young and growing puppy will typically need about 50 calories per pound of body weight. This best practice holds true until they are about 1 year old. Young and growing puppies typically have a high activity level and thus need more calories than older Chihuahuas.
Adult Chihuahuas – between 1 and 7 years old – need about 35 to 40 calories per pound of body weight. By now the growing has stopped and the activity level remains relatively constant. Hence, a slightly lower calorie intake is advised.
Senior Chihuahuas that are 8 years and older are less active and can unfortunaly already be plagued with health issues. We advise about 30 calories per pound of body weight.
Feeding Amounts: take away
The above mentioned instructions are general best practices and should be taken up in the context of your own Chihuahua. Depending on the activity level and metabolism, amounts can be upped or lowered in a range of 20%. The main thing is that you provide the correct amount of Chihuahua food.
The best Chihuahua food
Selecting the Food
Selecting the right food for your Chihuahua is essential for it’s wellbeing. In the full article we cover the most important nutrients for your chihuahua. The first step in the process is going to the store and selecting your food of choice. Before you head over, we want you to be aware that the choice of store is also an important factor. Marketing campaigns and commercials make it seem like they have the best food. Unfortunately the nutritional value of food is not influenced by the marketing budget.
In the full article, we’ll talk about all the different elements you need to know and consider concerning your Chihuahua’s meals. We’ll cover best practices when selecting the food, highlight why home cooking is by far the best option, cover the different food types and finally close of by presenting you an ideal well balanced Chihuahua meal.
Take-aways from the full article:
- Say NO to big retailers/big dog-food brands
- Chihuahuas are not the average (sized) dog
- Visit local pet-stores or respected online stores
- Homecooking is the best dog food!
Chihuahua food and nutrition to avoid
There are some things that dogs in general shouldn’t eat. Chocolat is an obvious No-No when it comes to dogs. Chihuahuas have some other food types they best avoid. We have dedicated an entire section to explain why these foods are not allowed. Below you can find them summarized by ‘level of harmfulness’, 1 being the most harmful. Read the full article for more information.
- Macadamia Nuts
- Chocolate
- Onions and Garlic
- Some fruits, seeds and pits
Next to these dangerous foods, Chihuahuas shouldn’t drink:
- Alcohol
- Caffeine
Chihuahua Food: Take Aways
Whoa you made it all the way down the article. Thanks for taking the time and reading through all of this ! We hope we made you a bit more knowledgeable on everything related to Chihuahua food. If you’re looking for a TL:DR, we are happy to summarise the take-aways below:
- Adapt the food amounts and feeding shedule according to the age of your Chihuahua. As your Chihuahua ages, scale down the feeding amounts and intervals.
- Chihuahua’s will eat almost anything you serve them. It’s therefore important to provide them with qualitative Chihuahua food. Out of the vairous options out there, our vote goes to Home Cooking. This allows you to have full on control on what you feed your Chihuahua.
- Meat, vegetables and Carbs make up the core of a well balanced Chihuahua meal. Add some fruit for extra vitamins and anti-oxidants.
- Include: lean meats, healthy vegetables focussed around vitamins, pasta or rice.
- Avoid: chocolate, garlic, onion, macadamia nuts and any fruit seeds, pits and cores
Now go out and make those little buggers a delicious meal ! Feel free to comment and post pictures of your meals in the comment section below.
Planet Chihuahua team.