Is There Value To Occasional Home-Cooked?

[sobesmom]

I can't go all-raw or all-cooked right now. I use kibble I'm comfortable with, actually I rotate through a few brands, and supplement with the occasional raw, raw bones, and RAUOL. I figure variety is a good thing - since nobody has patented the perfect diet.

 

I've used cooked before for my previous grey when he had Cancer, and I think it helped maintain his quality of life.

 

So - what about occasional cooked? Maybe once or twice per week? Is it beneficial? Worth it? When my Sobe was on homecooked - I did a crockpot of ground beef, chicken, tuna fish, sweet potatoes. I know that's not nutritionally adequate for a maintenance diet - but it was what kept Sobe eating and maintained his quality of life while he was dying.

 

So I'm thinking of looking up the homecooked stuff on this site - I know I've skimmed lots of it before, and doing a crockpot and freeze thing. I'll freeze in single meal portions, and use them once or twice per week. My DIana will still be primarily on kibble - the occasional raw - occasional bones - and now the occasional homecooked.

 

What do you think?

 

BTW - Diana has no allergies, no food intolerance, and can change food at the drop of a hat with no transition needed. I know that not all dogs could tolerate the food rotation I do with her - but it works for her - so I figure - why not expand it?

 

 

[Busderpuddle]

I think she would like it and if she has no problems with switching food, I say go for it. I have been doing it with Ruby lately and she loves it. I just don't know how much to feed her so I feel better when she eats her quota of kibble most days.

I did a mixture of chicken thighs, sweet potatoes, spinach and peas in the crock pot for 24 hours (so the bones would soften) and then thickened it up with some dried mashed potatoes.

[sobesmom]

I'm thinking of doing a whole chicken, ground beef, fish (hoping my DD will catch some trout), sweet potato, and rice. I think I'll start with the chicken for several hours, then add the rest and cook longer. I've never done "bones" before - so I'll have to cook longer than I've even done before.

 

Also - DD is getting into fishing - so we're learning how to clean fish. We won't actually eat it (we don't like it)- but I'll certainly use it in dogfood! She does catch and release usually - but if I ask her she'll bring them home. Even if you like fish - the ones they're catching now are stocked - and have no flavor. Cheap dogfood though!

 

ETA: if I'm crockpotting - can we clean and skin the fish and put them in with the bones? Or should they be filleted?

Edited April 27, 2014 by sobesmom

[scullysmum]

Sounds delicious what time do you start serving?

 

But seriously, I dont see what harm it can do. As far as whether to fillet the fish, I have not ever cooked fish in a crockpot but i suspect that if given sufficient cooking time it can soften chicken bones then it can probably do the same for fish. I only would worry that a prolonged time might reduce some of the nutritional value, but on the other hand it is all sealed in with the crockpot so may not be the case.

[Busderpuddle]

I would assume the bones in fish would soften quicker than chicken bones. I know when you buy canned salmon there is the back bone of the fish in there and they are really soft.

When I cooked the chicken, I took off the skin and cooked it about 20 hours and then added the other stuff. I forgot that I added carrots too.

I felt like there has to be an easier way though, it took 24 hours and the house STUNK. I made a ton though so she is set for a while.

[silverfish]

We do home-cooked as an add-in - I cook up a batch of meat stew (with veggies if I have anything suitable) a couple of times a week to mix in with the kibble. Between times they have tinned pilchards or mackerel as an add-in, or good quality canned.

 

I use chicken carcases quite often. If you cook them for an hour in the pressure cooker (or for however long it takes in the crockpot) you can mash or grind up most of the bones, thus making great use of almost everything. When it's cooled, it almost has a canned food consistency, with the stock turning to a thick jelly. The dogs LOVE it.

 

They'll tolerate carrot or green beans in very small pieces, spinach, small amounts of broccoli, or sweet potato ... but Jeffie will not eat anything 'tainted' with tomato. Sid really likes it, but if I put it in the stew, Jeffie won't eat a thing!

[Guest greyers]

I would highly suggest the dog food dudes book called "Feed your best friend better". It is on amazon for under $10 and at many bookstores and has excellent reviews. I love his recipes but perhaps the best part is that he also provides you with all the nutritional info on each recipe on his website AND each recipe has the calories per serving on it so that you can easily know how much you are feeding. He wrote the book to be recipes that you feed WITH kibble, so as long as you do under 50% home cooked in the meals you will not have to supplement. If you do decide to go mostly home cooked down the line he explains clearly what you need to do to balance calcium/phosphorus and what supplements you should add. The info is great and recipes are easy, unique and awesome. (Yes, I have tried a bite of all of the meals I have made from the book and hubby thought the tuna noodle casserole was HIS dinner).

 

http://www.dogfooddude.com/fybfb.html

[sobesmom]

I would highly suggest the dog food dudes book called "Feed your best friend better". It is on amazon for under $10 and at many bookstores and has excellent reviews. I love his recipes but perhaps the best part is that he also provides you with all the nutritional info on each recipe on his website AND each recipe has the calories per serving on it so that you can easily know how much you are feeding. He wrote the book to be recipes that you feed WITH kibble, so as long as you do under 50% home cooked in the meals you will not have to supplement. If you do decide to go mostly home cooked down the line he explains clearly what you need to do to balance calcium/phosphorus and what supplements you should add. The info is great and recipes are easy, unique and awesome. (Yes, I have tried a bite of all of the meals I have made from the book and hubby thought the tuna noodle casserole was HIS dinner).

 

http://www.dogfooddude.com/fybfb.html

I'll check that book out! I know there are tons of resources for full-time cooked or raw feeders, I just assumed there wouldn't be much for the "under 50%" crowd. I'm not getting into rocket science here, but if I can pick us some easy, inexpensive tips - why not! Thanks.

Sounds delicious what time do you start serving?

 

But seriously, I dont see what harm it can do. As far as whether to fillet the fish, I have not ever cooked fish in a crockpot but i suspect that if given sufficient cooking time it can soften chicken bones then it can probably do the same for fish. I only would worry that a prolonged time might reduce some of the nutritional value, but on the other hand it is all sealed in with the crockpot so may not be the case.

My DH actually ate some of Sobe's stew once that was in the fridge. He told me "that stew was really bland".

[RedHead]

I have a nutrition book (Lew Olson) that also has some recipes for kibble add-ins. It says the same thing as the advice above-as long as the add-ins aren't over 50% and are reasonably made up, you don't have to worry about "unbalancing" the diet. So...you can still provide your dog with the benefits of fresh, flavourful, healthy foods, but can also have the convenience of kibble. I've fed dogs like this in the past and I have almost always found that add-ins actually aid in digestibility with sensitive dogs.

[cleptogrey]

if it works for your dog, you have the time and inclination, why not??? pre-kibble people fed their dogs ????? yeah, left overs...so, why not? your dogs will tell you very quickly if they like it- just watch out for weight gain.