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Exploring Different Feeding Options (Raw And Homecooked)


Guest kkaiser104

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Guest kkaiser104

I've been noticing that Teddi's fur is changing (stiffer? less silky?) and he also has a LOT of dandruff. I have an appointment with the vets at OSU for next Friday, but I wanted to have some different ideas before I talk to the vet.

 

Right now Teddi eats 4.5 cups of Iams Green bag daily. He is 2.5, high activity level, and weighs 73 pounds. This is the only kibble that has given him solid (though sometimes soft) poops. His coat looked great when I first started him on it, and his dandruff had disappeared. However, it's recently made an appearance. He also seems to be gnawing on himself a lot--especially on his back and legs. He gets frontline plus every month, and I've never seen a flea or tick on him (and I check often). Sometimes his skin will turn red on his belly and thighs.

 

After some research, I'm wondering if Teddi might do better on an alternative food (not kibble). I've been looking into raw and homecooked and was hoping to hear from some people who feed their dogs this way. How do you do it? Is the cost a lot more? What all do they eat? Are there any websites with "recipes", or do you just kind of go with it?

 

Thanks for the help in advance!

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I've been feeding home-cooked for better than 10 years now. I started with one dog that had an acute kidney issue and had to control his protein levels and a home-cooked diet was the best way to control all the protein he got. I then ended up doing a cancer diet with that same dog. With my current dogs I have one that has seizures and she can't get anything "fancy" like preservatives and the other one has chronic kidney issues - so both of them need to get home-cooked for the best results. My new boy one can get regular food but, he turns up his nose at kibble now and wants all home-cooked (I try and mix some kibble in his).

 

I went to a vet nutritionist at Angel Memorial in Boston, Dr. Remaillard to get a regular, kidney, and cancer diets because you do have to make sure that your dog gets all the supplements (calcium and vitamins). I believe she now has an on-line site and will do diets through that.

 

It does cost more - with two dogs it was over $100 a month a few years ago so now it's probably closer to $250 for all three (with the supplements).

 

I make about 10 cups of rice every two days and roast up vegetables every few days - that gets refrigerated. I fry up 6 pounds of ground beef at a time and put in the refrigerator and use as needed.

 

Basically, my dogs get oatmeal, grits, rice/polenta, beef (maybe beans) and milk in the morning and at night they get rice, veggies, and beef. Two of my dogs have chicken allergies so, no chicken in my house. One of my also dogs has noodle allergies, so no noodles. They get calcium and vitamins along with fish oil each day.

 

They also get some toast in the morning, peanut butter at lunch and at night they get yogurt with applesauce. Every other day or so they get some cucumbers and some salad (romaine stems).

 

Some people make the food in batches and freeze but, I only have room for hamburg/roasts in my freezer. And, it's actually easier for me to do smaller batches and just do more often. It;s also easier for me to keep all the ingredients separate and I mix them together at their food time.

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MaryJane your hounds eat better than I do-really, no kidding. I have home cooked for one of my girls in the past-I did have a recipe designed for her by Dr Remillard. I found it to be a lot of work but, I made big batches at once. I'm not much of a cook but, she did well with the diet so I found it very fulfilling. I am currently feeding my two half kibble and 1/2 home cook-- it's my intention to go completely over to all home cook.

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I have fed homemade for 15 years (mostly raw, but also cooked) and I have found there are advantages and disadvantages to both. It does take some dedication, but for me it is totally worth it, and all the dogs I have fed have done very well compared to kibble. If you aren't sure, I would maybe try out a simple version of both diets (maybe a week or two each) to see what is more compatable and what works. From my experience pricewise, the diets are pretty similar. Raw can be more pricey because it contains way more meat, but cooked needs a lot more vitamin supplements so you have to factor in that cost. The key is finding a good supplier and buying more in bulk if you really want to make it cheap (I have lists of suppliers from various yahoo groups, I can do a search for your area if you like :) ). Once you decide what may work then I would definitely go and order some books and look up literature on the subject. Home feeding isn't necessarily hard but a lot of people jump onto the bandwagon and don't do their proper research. I have a library of books, all under $20 and they have given me a lot of info on the how and why of things.

 

With Teague I feed a meal of raw meat mince which contains beef, chicken and pork trim, heart, liver, kidney, spleen, and lung (get this from a supplier all ground up) and another meal of a meaty bone which he chews. As an easy rule I try to feed half boneless muscle meat, half meaty bone. I supplement about 10-20% of his diet with kibble, eggs, fish, healthy table scraps (pasta, rice, cooked veggies, etc) and add a fish oil. He has done fabulous on this so far.

 

Karma, my picky little girl was a rescue who previously only ate human leftovers. She is a little picky with raw so I modify a raw/cooked diet with her. I get a lot of my cooked recipes from Monica Segal as well as Lew Olson.

 

I could go way more into detail about diets, books, suppliers etc. but this would be way to long, so if you have any specifics ask away or pm me. I have gathered quite a bit of info over the years :)

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Does the Iams have wheat in it? I've seen wheat allergies cause itching and chewing. If you do decide to homefeed, you might check with OSU to see if they have a nutrionist to make recommendations, often vet schools do.

Beth, Petey (8 September 2018- ), and Faith (22 March 2019). Godspeed Patrick (28 April 1999 - 5 August 2012), Murphy (23 June 2004 - 27 July 2013), Leo (1 May 2009 - 27 January 2020), and Henry (10 August 2010 - 7 August 2020), you were loved more than you can know.

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