Your dog may not be dipping into the kugel, but their kibble still counts. In this quick video, I walk you through what you actually need to do with pet food for Pesach – including chametz ingredients, kitniyot concerns, and how to avoid digestive drama by not switching their food cold turkey.
Transcript is below.
Transcript:
Chametz, isn’t just for humans, it’s for pets too.
You need to turn over your [pet’s] food just like you turn over your food for chametz each year for Pesach.
You don’t need food that’s certified kosher for Pesach,
and there’s not much of that anyway,
Checking the ingredients is fine. For dogs, it’s particularly easy because you can just choose a grain-free food.
Some Ashkenazi communities say no to kitniyot too for pets,
but most say that even if the humans wouldn’t eat kitniyot, it’s fine for the pets to do so.
The key is not switching over your pet too quickly.
Start a week or two early AKA right now and switch over the food gradually, adding in a little bit of the new food over time.
Otherwise you might end up with an upset tummy and grossness.
If your pet takes a medication that’s made of chametz, you should talk to your rabbi.
If it’s inedible or there’s no alternative, it’s probably going to be just fine.
But what if you have a pet that can only eat chametz
like a chinchilla?
Talk to a knowledgeable rabbi because this, I can tell you from experience that this situation is extremely complicated. Don’t adopt a chinchilla.
Tell me about your Jewish pets in the comments below. My turtle wants to say hi!
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