Guest DogNewbie Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Hey everyone! So I am seriously considering starting to feed Wiley a home-cooked meal. Raw is not an option as he can't be fed raw and be in a nursing home for his therapy work. Anyways, so I was thinking some home-cooked meals. How did you start? Did you buy a cook book? I found this one here, that looks good. Any recommendations? So some questions, 1. Do you find it cheaper to feed home cooked/raw then purchasing kibble/canned dog food. 2. How much time do you spend making it? We recently got a small deep freeze so we can store some stuff. Maybe, cooking big batches every two weeks and freezing baggies? 3. Wiley is allergic to Wheat, soy, eggs and beef (mildly), so we are restricted to what we can feed 4. Do you try to get your meat from a butcher or costco or what is the cheapest route? 5. Where do you buy your supplements? So my two main concerns are, not balancing the diet properly and it being way to expensive. Right now we are spending about $100+ per month on dog food. I just want what is best for my houndie and I want him to be as healthy as possible for as long as possible. Plus, he loves things like chicken, deer and beef! Thanks for the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbhounds Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Perhaps this will help...... I highly recommend Dr Remillard. https://www.petdiets.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DogNewbie Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Awesome! Thanks. I was on their site earlier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sobesmom Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 I've done home-cooked for 2 of my dogs that had medical issues. The first thing I'd suggest is DO YOUR HOMEWORK! When I've done home-cooked it was for dogs with life-ending medical issues, and I still did my homework and tried to give them the most complete diet possible, that worked with their medical issues. If I was doing it for a healthy dog - I'd do even more homework. Doing home-cooked can be VERY healthy for your dog. And I found that it cost no more than a premium dogfood. You just need to shop well - buy high quality proteins in bulk. As far as time - I boiled up pasta and sweet potatoes and eggs, cooked chicken, and put it all in a dish and added ground eggshell in 45 minutes tonight. That will feed my dog for 5 or 6 days. At each meal, just scoop it into the bowl and add fishoil caps and supplents. Done. I'm also adding canned prescription food. Yes, it takes about an hour extra per week more than feeding kibble. But once it's done, put it in the fridge, and scoop it out for each meal. Or - you can throw it all in a crock-pot, let it cook, and you're set for meals for a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryJane Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Dr. Remaillard (mentioned in earlier posts) was the doctor that I originally went to get diets for kidney, cancer and then regular diets. After years of doing this, it is second nature for me but, it takes quite a bit of time in my case because 2 of my dogs have special requirements. My Larry has chicken/noodle allergies with slight issues with his kidneys. My Lucy is a seizure dog that has IBD. My youngest, Adam, has no issues with eating but might have a tendency to develop kidney stones - he has had 1 ultrasound already a few months ago and will be having another later this month. Larry can only get beef/hamburger for the main protein because of allergies. Lucy only gets fish for the main protein because of IBD. Adam usually gets beef/hamburger but, might get a bit of fish. They get the protein for breakfast and again for dinner. They each get veggies for dinner along with about 2+ cups rice. For breakfast, they all get oatmeal (helps Larry's skin allergies and keeps poop nice and firm) mixed with rice, a touch of honey and some almond milk. They get toast with peanut butter for a treat in the AM and yogurt mixed with applesauce in the PM. I also bake all their treats because of Lucy's seizures & Larry's allergies, I can't trust that there will not be some ingredient in the treat that might trigger an event for Lucy or diarrhea for Larry. For supplements, they get calcium, multi-vitamins, and fish oil. It is more expensive than feeding premium and it take at least 1+ hour each day for preparation but, I have special needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DogNewbie Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Where do you get your supplements from? How do you know how much supplement to feed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryJane Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 (edited) Where do you get your supplements from? How do you know how much supplement to feed? I order a bottle of 1000 Calcium pills (500mg) from Amazon and I get the multi-vitamin from CVS that has the lowest phosphrous. I also get the fish oil from CVS. My dogs get a multivitamin in the AM along with a calcium pill. At night, they get another calcium pill along with a fish oil pill. I used to give more calcium daily but, cut back recently to 1000 mg a day for them. Make sure that the calcium DOES NOT have the vitamin D. Edited May 21, 2015 by MaryJane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Johberry Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 1. Do you find it cheaper to feed home cooked/raw then purchasing kibble/canned dog food. I don't know If this will be much help since we feed raw, but I can attest to it being daunting at first. Because we don't have an extra freezer, we can only buy food for one month and the cost can get up to $200. We get raw meat delivered frozen from an independent company who gets meat from grass/alfalfa-fed cows, lamb, sheep, etc. from her local farmer, and we also use Oma's Pride for bone-in mixes from an independent distributor who also home delivers. Buying in bulk from a butcher appears more cost effective but taking advantage of sales at local grocery stores works as well. Yes, there was sticker shock at first but our hound is doing so well that it has been worth it. The only supplement we use is cold-pressed Alaskan wild salmon oil and sometimes extra virgin organic coconut oil. The only prep we do is partially defrosting the meat, weighing out daily portions, and bagging in plastic freezer ziploc bags. Then we defrost a bag or two for daily meals. I imagine that you'll spend a bit more time prepping since you'll be cooking. Reading up on different methods and recipes was most helpful for us. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DogNewbie Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 Thanks so much everyone! I want to make sure he has a balanced diet for sure! Has anyone used Just Food For Dogs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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