Home Cooking?

[Guest brit1]

I know there are many raw feeders on the forum but this question is addressed to those who cook the meats I have fed raw for a long time but for several reasons am considering cooking the meats other than continuing to give a raw turkey neck every week for teeth cleaning. Those of you who cook could you give me some ideas of which meats you use etc? Thanks brit

Edited July 23, 2011 by brit1

[OwnedBySummer]

I'm anxiously awaiting seeing some recipes! I feed kibble & canned but, sometimes, I do enjoy cooking for my dog and always welcome an interesting recipe.

[Batmom]

I use almost exclusively beef, almost always ground. Reasonable and predictable number of calories. From time to time I've also used chicken breasts and ground turkey, usually mixed into the beef, not in place of it. From time to time I'll add in chicken livers, steamed fish, canned fish (jack mackerel), Tripett (canned green tripe), and dog-appropriate people leftovers such as pork.

 

For most dogs I use a lot of eggs as well.

 

I find the eggshell doesn't digest well when whole so I'll either dry it out in the microwave and then powder it, or give a purchased calcium supplement if I'm feeding boneless meats on a regular basis.

 

 

 

Recipes here for *supplemental* feeding (to add to kibble, for example) tend to be whatever I've got -- some beef, some chicken, some veggies such as spinach, maybe an apple, egg, chicken liver, small dollop of molasses, pinch of kelp. I usually don't add carbs for "homemade canned" food unless I have a dog who needs lower protein. In that case, I tend to use rice or barley; some folks prefer pasta, potatoes, oatmeal but I have not had good results with those.

Edited July 23, 2011 by Batmom

[MaryJane]

I almost exclusively use beef chunks and occasionally hamburg for their dinner. I get London Broil, chuck roasts, sirloins, whatever is on sale for the week and it get quickly fried up. Their dinner also includes veggies and rice. I might occasionally mix in a small amount of pork. For breakfast they either get eggs or meat chunks with cooked oatmeal and grits.

 

During the day they also get toast, applesauce/apples, and yogurt. They also get supplements of Calcium, vitamins, and fish oil.

 

I stay away from chicken and turkey because Larry is very sensitive to chicken and gets extremely bad diarrhea when he gets any (this was also an issue with my "angel Jake"). I also stay away from noodles because Larry is also sensitive to that.

 

Larry has some slight kidney issues (lower than normal specific gravity and slightly high creatinne) and as a result is on a slightly lowered protein (and phosphorous) diet.

[Guest brit1]

thanks everyone for your input. I know many people use raw and have had wonderful results but I sometimes wonder if same results would have occurred if they had switched to cooked meats as anything other than kibble will do wonders for a dog's health. I do wonder if rice and other similar grains can cause more tooth decay and if perhaps giving turkey necks weekly would eliminate that hazard or just not feeding grains? Many people feed the prey model diet and I do think that is probably the most natural but unfortunately the slaughterhouses have changed the safety of meats especially chicken (yes I know dogs can tolerate ecoli/salmonella etc but the death of a dog eating Costco chicken makes me nervous among other similar incidents so definitely prefer to cook chicken). brit

[Guest greyhound9797]

I do wonder if rice and other similar grains can cause more tooth decay and if perhaps giving turkey necks weekly would eliminate that hazard or just not feeding grains?

I'm a raw feeder but am curious why you think rice or other grains could cause tooth decay? In humans, sugar (among other foods) is the primary cause of tooth decay but one of the reasons is because our digestion starts in our mouths, not our stomachs like dogs. The primary reason is not brushing often enough or properly; your teeth will suffer, no matter what you eat. Because of this, a weekly turkey neck isn't going to keep teeth clean. It would be like you and I only brushing our teeth once a week. Will we have healthy teeth? Nope, and neither will our dogs (or cats).

 

Many people feed the prey model diet and I do think that is probably the most natural but unfortunately the slaughterhouses have changed the safety of meats especially chicken (yes I know dogs can tolerate ecoli/salmonella etc but the death of a dog eating Costco chicken makes me nervous among other similar incidents so definitely prefer to cook chicken). brit

I'm not trying to talk you out of feeding raw but nothing has really changed with the slaughterhouses. They are regulated by the USDA and if anything, the safety of meat handling has INcreased, not decreased. You've already said that raw is the most natural and though I'm not familiar with a dog dying from eating Costco chicken, one incident doesn't equal a crisis. Go with what you think is best for your dog.

 

Sandra

[silverfish]

I cook mostly for add-ins to kibble, and I use beef, small amounts of pork, chicken, turkey and lamb - pretty much whatever I can get that's cheap this week (although I refuse to buy intensively farmed chicken). I add in whatever veg I have left over, and if there's nothing going spare, I chop a carrot or two and maybe add in a handful of frozen spinach, and a sprinkling of herbs. Sometimes I'll had a little garlic. I pressure cook it all up with a generous amount of water to make gravy for them.

 

I like to add in some organ meat, but steer clear of liver usually, because it does tend to make them loose. Heart or kidney is good. If I cook chicken bones for long enough, I can slice the ends finely, and then scrape out the marrow. All good stuff.

 

One thing to remember when cooking a complete diet for your dog is that their calcium requirements are quite high. They will not get enough simply from meat, and it's unlikely they'll get enough calcium from vegetable matter. If you're not using bone, you need to use a calcium supplement.

IIRC, you need to add one or two teaspoons of calcium supplement each day for a greyhound. They need about 1000mg. You can add eggshell, but you need a LOT of eggshell, and I never have enough.

 

Here's a good link: Home cooking for dogs

 

It makes the excellent point that, while bone (and therefore bone meal) is a perfect source of calcium and phosphorus in the correct proportions for carnivores, if you are feeding a diet rich in phosphorus (from the grain in biscuit, for instance) you will need to buy a supplement instead and make sure you get the balance right. Too much phosphorus/too little calcium over time will leach calcium from the bones and cause a whole host of other problems.

[MaryJane]

 

 

It makes the excellent point that, while bone (and therefore bone meal) is a perfect source of calcium and phosphorus in the correct proportions for carnivores, if you are feeding a diet rich in phosphorus (from the grain in biscuit, for instance) you will need to buy a supplement instead and make sure you get the balance right. Too much phosphorus/too little calcium over time will leach calcium from the bones and cause a whole host of other problems.

 

 

Just a brief note that the vet nutritionist at Angel recommends NEVER feeding bone meal - my understanding is that the purity is questionable. She does recommend calcium supplements and she approved the "Oyster shell calcium" that I use. You also want to make sure that the calcium does not have Vitamin D added.

[silverfish]

 

Just a brief note that the vet nutritionist at Angel recommends NEVER feeding bone meal - my understanding is that the purity is questionable. She does recommend calcium supplements and she approved the "Oyster shell calcium" that I use. You also want to make sure that the calcium does not have Vitamin D added.

 

Both true.

 

I understand that lead is just one of the contaminants that bone meal can contain.

[Guest Plygreygirl]

With first hound I took the reciept form one of the greyhound books I read before getting her

 

 

It was follows.

 

One can green beans

One can tommatoes

One can peas & carrots

On can chicken or turkey gravy

4 oz un cooked pasta (one cup cooked)

2 lbs ground turkey or chicken or beef

 

I would add 1/2 cup kibbles and she was fed only once a day at night.

 

My Carly girl loved it and was a happy heathy girl. She was 13 and in the 10 1/2 years I had her never had problems with the combo.

 

I now have one that can not eat this way and we are doing raw! So do what makes your dog happy and healthy is what I say!

 

And keep the commercial food to a min!!!!!

[iluvgreys]

We supplement the kibble and the hounds love the "extra's" on their food. We use whole chickens (Costco $.89/#) and either bake or throw in crockpot for hours, plus bake up a bowl of sweet potatoes.

[Guest brit1]

I get Animal Essentials Calcium, its made from seaweed and contains - Dehydrated Seaweed Meal (Rhodopyta - Lithothamnion calcareum)

 

Mineral Analysis (per teaspoon)

Calcium (min) 1000 mg

Magnesium (min) 90 mg

Sulfur (min) 13.5 mg

Potassium (min) 1.0 mg

Phosphorus 1.5 mg

Sodium (max) 66 mcg

Zinc 66 mcg

Iodine 60 mcg

Selenium 3 mcg

 

 

 

Just a brief note that the vet nutritionist at Angel recommends NEVER feeding bone meal - my understanding is that the purity is questionable. She does recommend calcium supplements and she approved the "Oyster shell calcium" that I use. You also want to make sure that the calcium does not have Vitamin D added.

Edited August 2, 2011 by brit1

[fourofem]

I homecook as an "add in" for kibble. Generally, it's chicken, sweet potatoes, carrots, a little celery, green beans and spinach but sometimes I mix it up a bit. I get my chicken at Sam's...one big pack of leg quarters and a big pack of thighs. I think it's about 8-10 pounds total. I remove all the skin and as much fat as I can, throw it in two crockpots with water and some garlic and cook low (OUTSIDE...it stinks after a while!) for 24 hours. To save time, I cook the vegetables separately. When the chicken is done, I mush up all the bones, mix in the vegetables and there you go!! It freezes great and cooking that much lasts me a good while with my four. Mine love it and it probably works out to be cheaper than adding in canned food plus I think it's better for them. In a pinch, I'll cook some hamburger and add in what vegetables I have on hand. They seem to like the chicken better.

[HoundHeavenAZ]

This week's batch was about 7 pounds of chicken leg quarters, brown rice, broccoli, spinach, sweet potatoes, green beans. I boned the chicken then cooked the rest in the broth and some water. Often I use butternut squash, carrots, apples, cranberries or what is on sale - 70/30 hamburger is our rotation meat usually. I mash the veggies since I've read that they don't absorb the nutrients as easily otherwise, but I keep the meat in nice chunks so they can pretend they are animals

 

I also make cookies- tomorrow's batch will be boiled sweet potatoes, fried chicken livers, eggs and their ground shells, oatmeal.

 

Hardly a hip bone to be found here

[sobesmom]

I'm a kibble-feeder because it works for our lifestyle. I think raw is a fine way to go too, but you've got to do what works in your house.

 

That said - I dabble in raw and homecooked. My dogs get variety. I give raw something probably once per week. I only did cooked when my Sobe had cancer, and I gave it to him as all his food, and supplemented 50% cooked, 50% kibble for the other dogs.

 

I did a crockpot meal. Cook once per week in a big crockpot, food for a week.

 

I used ground beef, chicken, and pork. I added a bit of sweet potato and a bit of brown rice. The stew was probably 80% meat, 20% sweet potato and rice. But - that was a short-term diet for a dog with Cancer, and an add-in for the other dogs.

[Guest june]

I cook crock pot chicken for add in's for my girls. Add in's usually are chopped carrots, apple, zucchini, and/or yellow squash. If you cook it in the crock pot long enough the bones turn to mush and my dogs LOVE it. I add in about 1/4 of their meal.

june

[Guest cocomom]

Thank you all for the great ideas. I found this link and I am going to try it with the crockpot chicken. http://www.monkeysee.com/video_clips/6566-how-to-make-dog-food