[weimlove]

Hi everyone! Most of you know that I was feeding shadow a raw diet. After having a bout of pancreatitis, I have switched back to a high quality kibble because I got so freaked out. I don’t plan on going back to raw, but I am very interested in making a home cooked diet for him. I plan on this diet being grain free as well. I need some information about what supplements he would need. Especially calcium since he will not be consuming cooked bones. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[pugmomsandy]

dogaware(dot)com has recipes and supplement guidelines. HDM posted a chicken and rice recipe in the raw dog food menus but you could cook it. Sorry it didn’t work out.

[pugmomsandy]

Have you thought about using something like Sojo’s or The Honest Kitchen?

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi weimlove –

Any raw recipe can easily be converted to a cooked recipe. The raw feeding model, as you know, is 80% muscle meat, 10% organ meat, 10% bone – to convert to cooked you would omit the bone, increase the muscle meat portion to 90% and supplement with 800 – 1,000 mg. calcium per pound of meat fed. Any human calcium supplement would work. On the days I feed boneless meals I use Swanson’s calcium citrate powder. Ground eggshells work too – 1 tsp. ground eggshell has about 800 – 1,000 mg. calcium.

I hope the cooked food works out better for Shadow than the raw did 🙂

[weimlove]

Pugmomsandy,
I have thought about using a pre mix but it would be a lot cheaper to just make my own. What I’ll probably do I just use a crock pot and slow cook the ingredients.

Hdm-
Ok great, I’ll probably use the egg shells. If I am using liquid vitamin e an it had a dropper in it, how many drops per pound of food? I will also be feeding fish every now and then. I’ll be adding a weekly variety of chicken beef turkey and fish plus a variety of fruit and veggies. Anything that I’m missing? I’ve made a small batch of beef with veggies and I’ve been putting a bit on his kibble. He loves it! Although I’m feeding a high quality kibble I would feel more comfortable feeding home cooked. I’m also getting a vizsla puppy in a week. Is it on to start her on home cooked and not even start kibble?

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi weimlove –

You’ll have to check to see the concentration of the vitamin e supplement you have – different liquid supplements have different concentrations. It should tell you how many IUs per drop. I’d say 100 IU per lb. would be fine.

As long as you’re feeding a fatty fish (like sardine or salmon) a few times a week you shouldn’t need to worry about Omega 3’s or Vitamin D. I would just suggest kelp and alfalfa (like I did with the raw) – or some other “superfoods” (wheat grass, spirulina, etc.). I would feed at least one egg per one. I would also suggest occasionally adding items like tinned oysters, nuts and seeds to provide important trace nutrients (this doesn’t need to be done daily, but once in awhile). As long as you’re balancing the c:p ratio, feeding a variety of protein sources, feeding 10% organ meat, adding vitamin e, omega 3’s (fatty fish, cage free eggs or fish oil) and adding a whole food supplement everything should balance over time. Variety is key.

Congrats on the new pup! I would certainly say it would be fine to start the new pup on homemade. I started Mabel right up on homemade raw when she came home.

[weimlove]

The vitamin e I have is a liquid. On the cover it says 20,000 iu. The serving size is five drops and that would be 100 iu. When it says drops does it mean little drops or to fill the whole dropper up? Sorry I probably am being dumb.

[weimlove]

And thanks for the congratulations! I am so excited! I think shadow will be happier with a playmate too

[theBCnut]

If it says drops, it means drops. If it says droppers or dropperfull, it means a whole droppers worth. Vit E is usually concentrated, so a little goes a long way.

[weimlove]

Oh ok great tganks

[rogerharris]

Here are top 10 wholesome dog treats you can make at home:

1.Dog Cookies: Include kiss me cookies, peanut butter cookies, pink delight paw print cookies, etc. that are specially made for puppies.

2.Pumpkin: You can use wheat cream or rolled oats with pumpkins. There is no need to cook first; you should bake for 20 minutes at 300 degrees F. This treat is made mostly for senior dogs.

3.Peanut Butter and Banana Dog Biscuits: This vegan diet is great for gluten intolerant dogs. You can use millet, almond, rice, corn or oat flour if your dog is allergic to wheat.

4.Apple Cinnamon Dog Biscuits: The treat is meant for dogs with arthritis and/or diabetes. This dish should be refrigerated overnight or for one and a half hours then baked for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

5.Oatmeal Bark Bites: This treat is good for dogs with pancreatic or liver disease since it has low animal protein and fat.

6.Veggies Treat: The treat contains low levels of phosphorous and fat. This is restricted for diets that curb liver and kidney diseases. When cooking, include vegetables like zucchini and sweet potatoes which are low in phosphorous.

7.Crispy Yam Doggie Snacks: Bake slices of sweet potato and make the dish sweet, salty, crunchy or spicy.

8.Vegetarian Muffins: Include ingredients for vegetarian diets like apples, carrots, wheat flour, molasses, oats, etc.

9.Beef Dog Treat: These biscuits are meant for dogs that love meat.

10.Chicken Dog Biscuits: To make the treat, you have to use organic low sodium chicken broth that is organic.

These and other dog meals are easy to make and the ingredients are readily available. These recipes are a great way to offer wholesome treats to your dogs unlike the commercial foods in the market which cause kidney complications. Make your dog treats from 100% natural and organic ingredients.

[theBCnut]

I suppose you read the name and just intuitively know what goes in them in what amounts.

[pugmomsandy]

LOL! That’s what I was thinking. I was going to throw stuff together and just make it to the consistency I think it will bake and hold together! I’ve only baked one homemade treat before (pumpkin cookies) so I have a general idea. Actually I don’t like baking much. I make a big mess. And now I just like to mail order 😉

[theBCnut]

I used to have this recipe for liver cake and that was really how the recipe went. You can put in so much, but if you want to use more… or less…You can add in this or instead that, however much sounds good to you. I finally figured out that the important things were the right amount of some kind of flour, the right amount of some kind of oil, 2 eggs, and the right amount of some kind of meatlike substance. After that it was fun to experiment with. It came out like liver brownies and the dogs <b>loved</b> them, but I’ve gotten lazy, and the dogs prefer pure meat, so that’s what I like best now. I’m on my second bag of Vital Essentials and my dogs are still going nuts for them.

Someone on one of my BC sites was asking about what everybody likes for treats and somebody mentioned how they use dog food for treats, so of course I had to tell them about the dog food I use for treats. 🙂

[pugmomsandy]

loved them! You can tell them where you got it too! I don’t have much time for baking so I love the VE, PureBites and Dr Becker Bites and Nutrisca is now making their freeze dried into tiny bite sizes instead of the rounds so that will be a good treat size too.

[weimlove]

Crock pot recipe:
Would this be balanced?

1. One whole chicken (will remove bones after cooked)
2. Veggies (carrots broccoli cauliflower)
3. Sweet potatoes
4. 4 or 5 egg shells
5. 100 Iu vitamin e
6. Recommended fish oil amount (if fish isn’t included)

[Hound Dog Mom]

I’d personally want to give a multi with a recipe like that. Just a small dose for assurance. Maybe 1/4 – 1/2 of a human once daily type multi vitamin/mineral – especially for cooked food as some nutrients are lost during the cooking process. Steve Brown has a great “pre-mix” that’s very reasonably priced and would give you the assurance of knowing the meal is balanced. I believe one bag is enough for 26 lbs. of meat (or somewhere around there) and it only comes up to around $11 a bag if you buy a six pack. A cooked recipe like that could definitely be balanced without multivitamins, but it would take a lot more ingredients than that. It also really comes down to variety. I mean no this recipe probably isn’t completely balanced, but if you’re feeding a very wide variety of foods at each meal it would likely balance over time.

[weimlove]

Hdm- ok thanks, what other ingredients is this recipe missing? Keep in mind that I plan on switching proteins weekly as well as vegetables.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi weimlove –

I figured you’d be feeding a variety of proteins – thanks for verifying though. I would say to make sure you’re feeding either sardines or cod liver oil – I would say enough to ensure at least 100 – 200 IU of vitamin D per day for a dog the size of Shadow (can give in larger doses a few days a week rather than daily – just average to this amount over the course of a week). I’d add a source of manganese – oysters and most nuts and seeds are a rich source of this mineral (I frequently feed tinned oysters, sprouted pumpkin seeds, sprouted sunflower seeds, sprouted flax and sprouted chia to ensure adequate amounts). I’d add whole “super foods” to ensure adequate amounts of vital trace nutrients (like iodine) – kelp, alfalfa, spirulina, etc. You’re also going to want to add some salt – I know salt gets a bad rap and it is definitely unhealthy in excess but it’s an essential nutrient. Salt deficiency isn’t typically a concern with processed foods but many homemade diets are deficient in sodium. I add a little sea salt or himalayan crystal salt to my dogs’ meals.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 4 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 4 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.

[lk]

I think I have sooo confused myself, and I would greatly appreciate it if someone could look over how I am feeding my dog and let me know that I am doing it right? or wrong?
I have a 12 year old 50 lb guy with a few issues.
I feed him one pound of food a day.
he gets
8oz cooked meat
2oz cooked liver
4oz cooked veggies
1 raw egg
1/2 cup raw goats milk
fish pill
vit e
Calcium is an issue he has and the Vets monitor his calcium levels closely.
I plan on adding in the mulit vitamin and getting rid of the vitamin e
his meat and veggies vary every week.
does this sound like i’m on the right path? or do you think his meat should be more?
thank you
lk

[theBCnut]

Why is calcium an issue? The reason I ask is this diet looks to be calcium deficient. Do you also feed the egg shell? It’s also high in liver and needs another organ meat. Personally, I like more meat and less veg, but many dogs do just fine with that amount of veg. Do you puree the veg? Why are you planning on getting rid of the E, or is your fish oil vit E stabilized? Have you looked into Dr Karen Becker’s book “Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats?” I think you are on the right path with a few tweaks.

[lk]

Thanks for responding Patty! Calcium is an issue because my dog has had surgery for Hypercalciema. He had a tumor on one of his para thyroids and the thyroid was removed . all of this is which regulates my dogs calcium levels. His other para thyroid and his thyroid are just starting to kick in to work again. He is on Calcium meds, which we are slowly kickin to the curb!
No egg shell, just the egg.
What other organ meat is there? The veg are chopped up, not pureed. should they be? I though I would be able to get rid of the E if I used a multivitamin.

Greatly appreciate your help

[theBCnut]

Dogs don’t have the enzyme to break down plant cell walls, so pureeing is best.

If the multi has enough E then it will do. E is a fat soluable vitamin, so it should be in a capsule, like fish oil. A LOT of fish oils are preserved with E.

There aren’t too many organ meats available at the store, but kidney is one of them. I order in bulk from Hare Today and they have a nice organ grind and several whole animal grinds. You may want to look into getting a glandular supplement instead. I believe Swanson’s has one.

[lk]

Thanks for the info Patty, I didn’t know any of those things. I feel better now knowing i’m pretty close! I will check out Swanson for the organ grind, and keep his E where it is, and get those vegggis ground up!
Thanks again for taking the time to help me its Truly appreciated

[lk]

More questions, I was reading that some give there dogs green super foods, Now I take green superfoods powders myself! can I give this to my dog instead of veggies? and how much?
50 lb dog eating 1 lb of food aday

[theBCnut]

I wouldn’t give it instead of veggies, I would give it with veggies. Your dog would need about 1 teaspoon a day. Make sure you have one that does not have green tea in it. Green tea is caffeinated and dogs should not get caffeine. My 40 lb dogs get about 1 1/2 oz of veggies in their pound of food. That’s about 10%. My JRT needs more veggies to stay regular and she gets about 20%. I don’t like to go any higher than that with veggies.

[sanmac]

I have a question for every one about crockpot homemade dog food… Has any one tried Dr. Greg Martinez DVM “Dog Dish Diet” or “Feed Your Pet to Avoid the Vet”, both are his books. Sounds easy, but I’m wondering if they are healthy enough for dogs?

[lk]

Patty I found some kidneys! really gross LOL.
This is my New formula for my 11 year old 50 lb best friend
12 oz cooked meat
2oz mixed organ meat * liver, heart, gizzard, kidney
2 oz ground veggies
1 raw egg no shell
1/2 cup raw goats milk
fish pill
vit E
Multi vitamin.
all foods vary weekly. CALCIUM question! My dog is doing better and better and will be off his Calcitriol pill very soon. One of his other calcium pill was…..Tums! apparently Tums is Calcium carbonate. Do you think I could just continue to give him these for his calcium needs?

[theBCnut]

You are going to have to get with your vet on that one. I have no idea exactly how much calcium is in Tums or how much calcium your dog should have since he has his own specific needs. Tums should be fine, not the best form for the body to readily use, but giving it with food mitigates that anyways.

You want your liver to be 5% of the meat portion and the kidney to be another 5%. Heart and gizzard actually count as muscle meat and are really good to use as part or all of the muscle meat.

You may need to check your multivitamin and adjust things, like calcium, due to what is in the multi.

[rogerharris]

Hi
There are so many good books on Home made cooked food for dog are available in the market. You have to go through. Second think many VET have the diet plan for dogs. You may follow.

[Author]

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