[beagleowner]

Am making my beagle ground turkey, beans, sweet potatoes, eggs, carrots and apples. Thinking about baking it. Thought about feeding this to him and adding his grain free kibble to it at mealtime. He cannot have any grains. Thought this would give him a more nutritious meal since the Nature Variety chicken is a 5 star food. Wondering if this is OK and what proportions to feed him for a 40 lb. dog. Any ideas. He is 14 and inactive. He can’t have grains because allergies and fatty tumors.

[theBCnut]

HDM is really great at looking at what your feeding and seeing what is missing. Do you feed the egg shells too? Do you mean green beans or real beans? Are the eggs regular commercial eggs or organic free range eggs? I would definitely add fish oil, high antioxidant foods, and some kind of green super food. I would make the animal based foods 80% of the meal and the fruits and veggies only 20%. Getting the amount of calcium right is important too.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 6 months ago by theBCnut.

[beagleowner]

I am going to include the egg shekels. We have a food processor and so it makes it quite easy. The eggs are commercial eggs. I can add fish oil. How much would you suggest? We use store bought green string beans. Henry weighs 48 lbs but I need to feed him so he can lose at least a pound a week. I need to get him to around 42 lbs. however his lipomas are large and probably add 3 lbs to his weight. We are giving him Chinese herbs that are to help dissolve the lipomas. The very good news is that we joined an organic farm program and will be getting produce, herbs, fruits soon. I can include those in his diet as well as our own. We want to do the best for Henry. There are so many recipes out there it is hard to determine what to make for him. The Nature Variety Instinct is rated 5 stars on Food Advisor so I had hoped I could use the kibble as a base and add the turkey, vegetables, eggs to it.

[Hound Dog Mom]

As long as the homemade portion is 20% or less of the meal you don’t need to worry about balancing it. If you plan on feeding more than 20% of his diet as homemade food you’ll need to balance the recipe. Add a variety of fresh cooked and pureed vegetables , pureed fruit (don’t go overboard, fruit is high in carbohydrates) and fresh minced herbs (parsley, cilantro, etc.). To balance the fats in the turkey add 1 tsp. flax or chia oil or 1 tbs. ground flax or chia seeds (provides essential fatty acids without contributing to the level of linoleic acid which is already high in poultry) per pound of turkey. For dogs with cancer the recommended dosage of fish oil is the amount that provides 300 mg. combined EPA and DHA per 10 lbs. of body weight – so for your dog you’d be aiming for around 1,200 mg. combined EPA and DHA daily (most fish oil capsules have around 300 mg. combined EPA and DHA). If you’re feeding predominantly homemade, I would recommend making one of the capsules a vitamin a and d rich quality cod liver oil (I like Carlson’s brand). I would definitely feed eggs once or twice a week – cage free are best as they’re higher in omega 3’s and vitamins such as d and e. I would supplement with around 100 IU vitamin e daily (could give a higher dosage 2 – 3 times a week). You want to add 1 ground eggshell per pound of meat to balance the calcium to phosphorus ratio. I’d also add a whole food supplement comprised of nutrient rich “superfoods” – you can buy pre-made supplement’s (such as Nature’s Logic All-Food Fortifier, Dr. Harvey’s E-mune Boost, Wysong’s Wild Things, etc.) or make your own. I make my own, I buy bulk ingredients from human supplement stores – the current blend I’m feeding is 1 part kelp, 1 part spirulina, 1 part alfalfa, 1 part wheatgrass and 1 part bee pollen. Whole food supplements will help supply vital trace nutrients. Lastly, I would recommend switching up protein sources often. Is there a reason you’re looking at feeding only turkey? If your dog doesn’t have any sensitivities it’s best to feed a variety of poultry and red meats (if you’re feeding red meat use hemp seeds/oil instead of flax or chia).

[pugmomsandy]

Sojo’s Complete is grain free and is for “all life stages” so it does have vits/minerals. This would be something you could use if you needed something convenient in between making homemade food. I always add kibble or egg or sardine to this since it is low in protein. I also give digestive enzymes with this food for all the veggies in it. I am currently feeding it to a 14 yr old right now.

[beagleowner]

Thanks for the suggestion. I will look into it. Now feeding Natures Variety Instinct. Where did you purchase it? Do they have a site online?

[pugmomsandy]

Not sure if you’re talking to me but..

sojos.com and another brand The Honest Kitchen is thehonestkitchen.com. They all have different calorie counts to take that into account. Sojo’s is low calorie so he gets to eat alot but for not alot of calories. I also just bought some Addiction dehydrated to try on him too. Addictionfoods.com. It takes the worry out of balancing the diet since they are already balanced. You can buy these online even on Amazon or at better pet stores.

[4dogmom]

I do about a 50-50 mix of high quality grain free kibble to homemade. Homemade as follows:
5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
3 – 18 count cartons of large eggs
various veggies (usually a couple of sweet potatoes, green beans, a little broccoli, peas, carrots, zucchini, spinach)
Flax seed meal
Lentils
I cover the chicken with water in a slow cooker, and cook until I can shred it. Then I cook the veggies and lentils in that water. I scramble the eggs. I cook the shells in the oven for a bit to cook any remaing egg particles and then grind them to a powder. I use 2 large foil pans to mix – the kind for a steam table. I layer the chicken, veggies, eggs, lentils – this way I know I have about the same amount in both pans – then sprinkle with the ground egg shells and the flax seed meal. Mix it all together by hand (think mud pies) and freeze in containers. I’ve tried tons of recipes and my dogs thrive on this. I feed my 12 pounder 1/4 cup homemade and 1/4 cup kibble twice per day, y 60 pounder 3/4 cup each twice daily, and my 85 pounder 1 cup each twice per day. I also have a 116 pounder – a very overweight lab who is lethargic and has symptoms of thyroid problems (hair loss, rough coat) but the vet could never find anything wrong with him. That is when I figred the heck with crappy food. Since feeding him this way, his coat is shiny took about 2 months), hair is growing back, and he is losing weight slowly. I feed him as the 85 pounder, but give him 1/2 cup of green beans too in order to make him feel fuller. Hope this helps.

[beagleowner]

4dogmom: Am I reading you right the eggs come out to 54 eggs in your cooking. Like your contents and examples of your servings. The eggs seemed like a lot so thought I would double check. Henry is 48 lb and needs to lose weight. Thanks for the info. I haven’t tried broccoli, zucchini or spinach or lentils. Never thought of it. Where do you get flax seed meal.

[4dogmom]

It is a lot of eggs, but this recipe will serve all four of my dogs for about a week and a half to 2 weeks. Remember – I have about 273 pounds of dogs! You could probably cut the recipe down to 1/4 of this and it would last your little dude quite a while. I get the flax seed meal at the supermarket in the natural foods aisle – the brand is Bob’s Red Mill. It comes in a yellow bag. You could cut down his portions and then feed some green beans in place of it like I do – frozen are better than canned since they have less salt (I use canned because that’s what the old man bought).

[4dogmom]

Oh yeah – and I occasionally give them a water packed sardine for a treat. I can’t stand to look at them, but they love them, and I hear the bones are good for them.

[theBCnut]

I have a recipe that calls for 10 lbs of meat and claims that 18 eggs with shells is the right amount of calcium so I thought that that sounded rather high too. But mine uses a specific supplement, so I suppose that could have something to do with it, though I didn’t think their supplement had much additional calcium.

[Hound Dog Mom]

The shell of one large egg yields approximately 1 tsp. ground shell which should be around 2,000 mg. calcium. You want between 800 and 1,000 mg. supplemental calcium per 1 lb. boneless meat (really fatty meat may require a bit less and organ meat may require a bit more) to remain within the 1:1 – 2:1 calcium to phosphorus ratio. An egg without the shell has about 100 mg. phosphorus.

[4dogmom]

I did some checking – supposedly excess calcium is excreted by adult dogs. I use a lot of eggs as my dogs find it easily digestible – no more running poops, as they have had when I used more chciken or red meat.

[Sheila R]

4dogmom,
I know this is a late reply but just found the website. I just started feeding my two Chocolate Labs homemade food one is 120 lbs and the other is 88 lbs. They were on Blue for years and with all the law suits I decided enough is enough, to make my own. I have a great Turkey and Veg with Rice recipe but need a vitamin supplement, trying to make a working Mom ‘s life a little easier. I saw Dinovite looked good any thoughts? Also I need to add a kibble, this is getting expensive. Any recommendations for a crunch?

Thanks,
Sheila

[crazy4cats]

Check out http://www..balanceit.com for recipes and supplements. It is run by board certified vet nutritionists. You can build your own recipes for free if your dog has no health issues and does not need a vet’s approval. It’s a little confusing at first, but it’s well worth the time to figure out a recipe and buy their supplements to make it truly complete and balanced. Good luck!

[Sheila R]

thanks for your help.

[anonymous]

Regarding dinovite
/forums/topic/serious-food-help-needed-itchy-dog/#post-102224

[Carmen N]

I had three dogs, one the mom she is about 88 lbs and she is 16 years old..her kids are about 150lbs and are 12 years old…Brandy start loosing weight, her kids start having skin problems…well, I decided to start cooking for them…Brandy start gain a little more weight and her kids skin problem goes away….I cook celery, yellow squash, pumpkin, bok choy, carrots and breast chicken without any fat or skin….I blended all vegetables with the same broth from the veggies and chicken…I add one cup of puree and one cup of dry food (Beneful), I also give them 1500ml of glucosamine, Brandy have rheumatic and osteoporosis in her hip, and one of her kids had a knee surgery (sorry my English ), also I put 5 pumps of salmon oil and a multivitamin…the skin problems, itching and hip and knee pain just go away…I have been read about overdose on vitamins and minerals and confuse me, do you think I am giving to much of all this?, ..Thank you

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