I recently got into a debate with my brother. With so many recalls over dog and cat food (most recently, a bag of 'Taste of the Wild' dry food for dogs was sent back to the store), has anyone considered home cooking for their pet? My brother suggested I cook some brown rice, plain de-boned chicken in broth, add some potatoes, and mush it all up. In my research, I came across a blog that stated dogs do not digest vegetables and vegetables found in current dog food (wet and dry) have been pre-digested. Does anyone know if this is true? For years I've been buying dog food with vegetables thinking it was good for my dogs. What are your thoughts on this? I like to buy my dogs high quality food (since my older dog is 11) but $4 (CAD) for a tin of can food seems pricey - especially since it would last 3 meals, at most!
Before my beloved dog passed away we used to feed her the Royal Canine pellets and treating her with a bit of dog tinned food now and then. On the other hand my sister-in-law firmly believes in feeding her dog raw chicken carcasses. Her dog is in a good condition but then again so was mine when we fed her Royal Canine. So its really difficult to say which is the best. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.
I have friends who have a dog that is practically vegetarian and very healthy. I know that dogs can eat vegetables and in fact, in the past our vet recommended cooking food for our dogs from scratch. Many stores sell pet meat or regular chicken and you can fortify it yourself with the vitamins that will keep your dog healthy. You could even purchase pre-digestive enzymes and add it to the food that you make. Chances are your furry buddy will adore you for doing that for them. This is an interesting and helpful site that you may already know of?....Log In Here is an interesting article I found that may help you maybe:Log In All the best.
At home I try to combine the two types of food. One that is balanced feed is important because it is made to meet the basic needs of the animal, but it is also important that the animal has contact with home cooking. Not only is it a sign of affection, but in times of severe winter or very strong heat is important to adapt our pet food. In addition, there is nobody better than us to feed our animal. We know better than anyone.
I make my own and I did a TON of research on it. Log In Yes, it's a long post. I'd recommend skipping down toward the middle to get to the actual research and recipe sections.
Thanks for all the suggestions!! I've got a few tins of can food and am really considering making my own dog food or mixing the two. I had a friend who fed their Rhodesian Ridgeback a raw food diet - the dog turned into a lean, muscle machine! It also amazes me that some street dogs, if regularly fed, live quite healthy lives. I was in Bali last January, this lady introduced me to the street dog she was feeding (the dog refused to live inside!!) was 12 years old. She fed her some kibble and mostly cooked chicken. Makes me wonder if most North American dogs are sick because we feed them junk (junk food). I guess that's another topic of discussion! anyway, thanks!!
Well I don't know how many NA dogs are sick. I do think that's probably part of the reason, though. Either they're being fed junk dog food from the grocery stores....or they're being fed table scraps of the same junk that makes Americans so sick.
Can anyone who makes their own dog food tell me if you've had any success with getting rid of your dog's tear stains (if they had it to begin with) since feeding them this food? My poodle has terrible tear stains and I've fed her all the best dry foods out there with no difference in her tear stains. Aside from that, I wish I had the desire to cook her her own foods, but I barely have the desire to cook mine. But if someone tells me it worked at getting rid of their dog's tear stains, I would certainly give it a go.
I haven't had issues with tear stains before, so I have no idea. I do know that diet might not be the only factor, so it may be a genetic thing that won't go away regardless of what you feed your dog. That being said, it's worth a shot, isn't it? Just make up a bunch of food at once and freeze it, so it's not a hassle to make it every day.
My dog had terrible tear stains too. I gave him some angel eye supplement - I sprinkle a little bit on his food now and then. It worked. I did some research before and this is what I found: 1. your dog's water might have a high mineral content. So give him/her distilled water. 2. avoid foods that may trigger an allergy, even if your dog has no such allergy - such as gluten or wheat. 3. avoid dog food that contain foods with 'color' - like beets or sweet potato 4. avoid dog food that is multi-ingredient. For instance, I was told to avoid food such as "Chicken-Turkey-Salmon" formula. The ingredients are great, but it might not digest well with your dog. has it worked? Not sure.. i'm feeding him a chicken dry food instead and his tear stains seem under control. I only give him the angel eye when they reappear and stubborn to clean. I'm not even sure what triggered it. But the food's something to think about. Good luck!
Instead of researching or trying out home remedies to dog food, purchase Iams. It's a wonderful brand that doesn't have bad stuff for any animal. Also, when it comes to wet cat or dog food purchase the natural stuff. You'll be better off in the end. As long as there's no corn, corn syrup, gum and other chemicals you can't pronounce, you'll be fine.
Fresh food is better if you know what your doing. I have been reading about people who are making their own dog food, and their dogs getting sick on it. Your dog is probably ok on Natural Balance. You could supplement with a little cooked meat or some fresh veggies. I buy Fresh Pet a freshLog In that you keep in the refrigerator.(Giant Eagle) They can eat a little bit of cooked potatoes too. (not processed food)..
My dog hates dog food, period. She eats very little and is finicky. I make a simple chicken broth ( bones and flesh) with a few carrots, parsley, onions thrown into it. I feed her brown rice and chicken broth. She loves it. She will not eat the same food for every meal so I add couple of spoons of canned beef into her broth to make it taste different.
I have often thought about home cooking for my dog to save money and to get her on a better diet. After lots of research, I never decided if it would be healthier for her or not. I am still not sure which would be healthier. There are times where I give my dog some of our food because of the fact that I have lots of leftovers. Sometimes I will make my own dog bones and boil them in chicken broth however, I am not sure this is so healthy either. I know they like it and it tastes good.
I do prefer a raw diet for dogs (as well as for other carnivores). Raw meat is best for them, cooking the meat removes many important nutrients, so it isn't nutriently complete and they do not get to chew on the bones and meat, which cleans their teeth and gums and is mentally stimulating. Raw also makes their poop smaller and less smelly and makes their breath not smell. There's so many pros to raw. Some people mix in a bit of raw veggies, raw fruit, raw eggs, fish oil, coconut oil, ground flax seeds, apple cider vinegar, cottage cheese, plain yogurt, plain applesauce, canned pumpkin, etc but mostly the raw diet is made up of meat and organs and the other stuff is just supplements. Some people do the whole prey diet and some people chop their meat into smaller pieces. Either way is fine but you do want to make sure you don't chop it too fine, you want to encourage chewing on the meat and bones. You want to give a variety of meats too, not just chicken or just fish, etc, that is not a complete diet and could make the dog sick. Raw feeding for dogs takes very little research and is overall very easy and very healthy. If you Goggle you'll find so much info on it. Iams isn't a high quality food, a lot of it is fillers instead of meat. It has corn meal, corn grits, brewers rice, brewers ground yeast, dried beet pulp and other questionable ingredients. Here is the ingredient list:Log In
I believe that feeding your dog meat at home is much healthier than commercial dog food. That food is full of corn and fillers. I'd rather give my dog some of my meat and rice instead of giving him corn and more corn.
Ever since my cat developed kidney stones and was unable to urinate properly because we were feeding him Whiskas, I have never, ever tried to buy any commercial cat food again. If we didn't take him to the vet and fed him liquid supplement food, he would have died already. So now, I just feed him table food and he has never been sick ever since.
