Anyone feed completely home cooked?

[MishathePooh]

I'm going to start this. Was meaning to start about 6 months ago, but here I am. I have done extensive research, and will be buying a few supplements this week along with meat and offal. My pup is currently on raw, so it'll be interesting to see the differences with the cooked.

I was wondering how other peoples' dogs do on this type of diet and if there are any good recipes out there.

Also wanted to mention I'm using www.nutritiondata.com for full nutrient profiles of the diet I have picked to start out with.

[*Pauline*]

I can't offer any advice but I'm sure others can help you.

I was just wondering what you do if you go on holiday. Do you cook and freeze in advance and give this to your dog sitter? Would kennels defrost and cook a meal for your dog?

I think home cooked is the best as long as it is varied. You sound like you have done your research Why do you want to change from raw? I have never fed raw but, after my dog was very ill after picking up the Campylobacter bacteria, I wouldn't feed raw myself. Just my humble opinion.

[Karlin]

I've got many recipes posted in the Library section.

Also, here are numerous links to recipes and nutritional info:

http://www.dogaware.com/dogfeeding.html#Balance

Also Monica Segal has a book and a pamphlet of recipes:

http://www.monicasegal.com/catalog/p...products_id=66

http://www.monicasegal.com/catalog/p...products_id=87

She now has this pamphlet specifically about cavaliers (she owns cavaliers): http://www.monicasegal.com/catalog/p...roducts_id=161

[Elude]

I feed almost comlpetely home cooked and have been following Monica Segal's pamphlets. She also runs a great email group on yahoo called k9kitchen. My girls are both doing very well on home cooked diets. They have super shiny coats and i've been really pleased with the results.

I won't feed a full raw diet because I've seen some of the effects of bones not completely passing. (despite what you will read) I'm halfway through my DVM, and have worked in vet clinics for many years. Those bones do not always pass! I've also seen cases of food poisoning. More than enough for me to never feed it.

What my girls look like on a almost full home cooked.

[ruby2]

My god those last two pictures were fab. The coats were so shiny.

Whatever they are having i should feed my dog. I'm going to look at the recipes. I thought i was supposed to give my dog the puppy food. Like royal canin. I really must study all this.

[MishathePooh]

Thanks for all the advice!

I actually love the raw. And Misha gets ground bones, so no worries on them passing through! I worry about it being too high in protein though. There's no good info that I've found on whether high protein/acidity affects dogs the way it affects other animals. I just figure on trying the home cooked to see if he does better/worse than the raw. Per a DVM who also has a PhD in small animal nutrition, raw meat should pose no problem to a healthy animal if it's handled properly. The problem is in the handling. Your cow meat isn't the same as a freshly killed rabbit. That said, I think if you find reputable sources, it should be fine.

I've come to the conclusion through others and much reading that just because an animal can survive without something (carbohydrates), doesn't mean that these things are not beneficial in the diet. Human do OK without antioxidant-packed foods like colorful fruits and veggies, but does that mean we should go without?

As a vegetarian, I'm a little lost on where to find giblets. May have to see if butchers have them. I'll have to check out the reading material Karlin posted now. Also, thanks for the photos of your girls and the encouragement =)

[Caraline]

Though we do raw now, I had my dogs on completely home cooked for a while and they did extremely well on it and they loved it. Variety is the way to go I believe. Lots of different types of meats & fish, and all the safe vegies & fruits as well. As you will not be using bones (as they must never be given cooked) you might like to consider grinding up eggshells with a mortar & pestle as a great source of natural calcium. Don't over do it though. I eggshell, cleaned & left to dry (or better still, baked for a short time in the oven to make it really brittle) should give your dog enough calcium for almost a week. You only need a small amount and I can't remember the quantities but you should be able to find it on some of those sites Karlin recommended. With the mortar & pestle you can grind it to a very fine powder to sprinkle on the food.

[Ashley]

I feed completely raw!!

She was on James Wellbeloved..... but raw is just much better for her!!

[Karlin]

I had a close emergency with Jaspar due to raw bones hardly being digested at all and remaining in long shards, and I also know people who have had dogs very ill with salmonella and campylobacter and tests on commercial raw in the US showed plenty of levels of these (salmonella on most, and this is shed on in all poops, so anyone feeding raw needs to be extremely stringent in cleaning up after their dog) so it is now beyond what I feel comfortable with to feed raw all the time, though I did so at one point. It's a matter of what people's comfort level is with various degrees of risk but once I saw the size of the bone pieces that Jaspar threw up, and given how badly in distress he was before he did his and before I could get him to the emergency vet -- no more for me. There's absolutely no proof that a raw diet is 'better' than anything else for dogs, any more than that humans would be healthier if they ate nothing but raw food. But it is a valid feeding choice if people research what they are feeding and feel the benefits to their dogs outweigh the risks. There are obviously risks with commercially prepared foods as we all saw in the past 12 months so that all needs to be weighed up.

Having had a pyrenees that lived years beyond the average life expectancy (to 13, and the life expectancy is about 8-10 max) and who never was ill despite fed daily on supermarket foods, I think dogs can adjust to pretty much anything and many other factors go into longevity and health than a premium diet (it seems peculiarly of our time to be obsessed with what goes into the mouths of dogs, even though they are natural scavengers happy to eat quite disgusting rotting things!). I like foods that are good quality non supermarket brands in the medium price range -- I don't buy the most expensive. And I like feeding homecooked and occasionally some raw meat for variety. I don't plan it all out formally and rotate around kibble brands with each bag. I think there are pluses and minuses with each type of feeding -- raw, cooked and commercial.

I just think people shouldn't get over worked up about their dog's diet (especially if not looking after their own!), read around on the types of diet that might interest you, and make a choice you are comfortable with. But don't fall for arguments that one diet is superior to another type of feeding. One type of diet might suit a particular case -- eg raw for a dog with allergy problems -- but no one should ever be put in the situation of feeling they are inadequate (or superior!) for cooking or not cooking, buying or not buying...

Sometimes I think our poor dogs are the recipients of a guilt transfer -- our refusal to eat correctly ourselves -- so we take it out on the dog and force the dog to eat only this or only that while we grab another handful of crisps or processed meats. More seriously, there's something a bit off kilter with the world when people obsess about feeding organic this and fresh that to their *dogs* and the majority of the world's population does not get enough to eat daily of anything.

[Elude]

I absolutely agree with you Karlin. People get very obsessed with what they are feeding their dogs, and it very easily turns into a heated issue. I will never tell someone not to feed their dog this and that. I will only say "I choose not to feed it".

Also like you pointed out, I think the biggest thing is to feed what you are happy with, and what works best for your dogs. I believe in feeding variety, and if you are feeding kibble to change it around fairly often. Dogs are scavengers and are supposed to have a lot of variety in their diets. I feed mostly homecooked, however they are also on some kibble for travel reasons, and do get raw marrow bones to chew on for dental reasons.