Home cooked meals fed long term

[AUSgrey]

Has anyone had any experience with home cooking over a long period of years? Wondering what you found helpful in terms of overall health and digestion? 

[macoduck]

Weekends are slow here but eventually someone will chime in with that info.

I did have a gourmet chef friend with a greyhound. Her dog had some allergies and gastro upsets periodically so she started home cooking for her. This ended up being a big mistake, despite all her research to make it well balanced. 

Although her dog's symptoms seemed to improve, the actual lab test results were awful. She returned to commercial food with guidance from her vet.

[AUSgrey]

On 9/25/2023 at 4:25 AM, macoduck said:

Weekends are slow here but eventually someone will chime in with that info.

I did have a gourmet chef friend with a greyhound. Her dog had some allergies and gastro upsets periodically so she started home cooking for her. This ended up being a big mistake, despite all her research to make it well balanced. 

Although her dog's symptoms seemed to improve, the actual lab test results were awful. She returned to commercial food with guidance from her vet.

Thank you; yes, very much agree with you- need to ensure no nutrient deficits. We are conscious of new information regarding animal longevity and health when adding fresh food (meat, veg, appropriate grains etc.) and hoping to hear from those who have done this successfully. 🙏

[Jerilyn]

I home cooked for a super senior for the last year or so of her life (13-14). She ate chicken and egg noodles with toppings of full fat yogurt and canned pumpkin. Because of her advanced age I wasn't super worried about getting all the nutrients right, in our case it was just about getting food into her that she could tolerate. It was pretty good though; protein, carbs, calcium, and fiber. I was working with a palliative care vet who approved of it and Lila did really well on it, maintained her weight, perfect poops, beautiful fur, and was happy and bright.

This company sells supplements, https://balance.it/recipes but the recipe builder section will also help you put together a balanced meal based on your dog's needs. That palliative care vet recommended it and said it provided good nutrition even without using their supplements.

Good luck!

[greysmom]

There are several reasons that commercial dog food came into existence, one was convenience, another was proper nutrition for pets, a third was to decrease the cost.  I can remember my grandparents had a huge soup kettle sitting by the back door, and all the days food scraps from their meals went into it - all the leftovers from cooking, all the garbage from the finished plates, cooked bones, all the grease from cooking - and that kettle was given to their hunting dogs at the end of the day.  Something we would never consider doing now.  The reasons for commercial dog food still apply.  If you're considering doing home cooking for other reasons you really need to do your research to make sure you're not harming your dog instead.

We had one poster here on GT many years ago who began to home cook for her greyhound because she thought commercial foods were (in her words) "poison."  She had been feeding her dog basically a human keto diet - high fat meats, with added fat, and very few carbs or vegetables.  She was posting here in Health & Medical because her dog was experiencing repeated bouts of pancreatitis, was rapidly losing weight, had horrible diarrhea, and was generally not thriving.  She was upset because her vet was trying to get her to switch to a commercial diet, and was convinced that what she was feeding her dog was nutritious and safe because she found the recipe on the internet   .  She stopped posting here when most of us supported her vet, so we don't know what happened, but I can't imagine her dog survived much longer.

A dog can be fed homecooked food, like a bland diet of low-fat cooked meats and a carb source, for many months, if you're trying to diagnose a food intolerance or allergy, or deal with some illness, but they do eventually need a source for trace chemicals and vitamins they need for a healthy life.  Commercial foods labeled as a "complete diet" have all of those already added in.  Most of the larger commercial food manufacturers also do extensive scientific testing of their food mixes to make sure they are nutritious and palatable, and do what they say they are supposed to do.  Many of the smaller "boutique" food brands are capitalizing on human food fads or outdated feeding models based on incorrect and disproven theories from wild wolves and canids.  Grain free and "fresh food" brands often don't give proper nutrition, even though they "say" they are better for your dog.  There is very little long-term scientific testing supporting their claims.

If you google Diet-Mediated Dilated Cardio Myopathy you will see a huge debate on commercial pet food diets and grain-inclusive vs grain free.  No one really knows - including the FDA scientists researching it - why dogs fed grain free diets develop this life threatening heart condition.  We do know that ones given proper medication support, and switched to a grain inclusive diet often completely resolve the issue in time.

FWIW, some raw food diets are also implicated in dogs developing DCM.  Which is something to consider when developing your prospective diet.

One thing I will add here as my own cautionary tale - it's a lot different feeding a sedentary senior dog than a higher energy younger dog.  I've done both.  A younger dog needs a LOT more food per day to have good energy and maintain a good weight.  When I was feeding home cooked to my year old greyhound puppy for a food intolerance test I was making a whole crockpot's worth of food every three days, while a senior could get by on every 4 or 5 days.  It's *very* labor intensive, and I was never happier than when I finally found a commercial food that my puppy would/could eat and give her proper nutrition.

So, long answer short, yes, home cooked diets can work for your dog, with the proper research, and making sure you are giving them additional vitamins and minerals.  The website linked by Jerilyn below is a good place to start.  You might also consider finding a certified canine nutritionist to develop a complete diet for your dog.  But there isn't anything wrong with continuing to use properly researched and developed commercial foods.  Also, there's no law or rule that says you *must* feed your dog kibble.  If you can find an acceptable wet food it's perfectly fine to feed only that.

Good luck!

[AUSgrey]

Thanks so very much Jerilyn and greysmom. Such good advice! Totally agree that a properly formulated diet is essential for a healthy dog. Have recently come across the work by Dr Conor Brady (on dog nutrition) and it helps to hear from others who are greyhound specific. And it seems even in this category, each dog is or can be somewhat different, requiring a nuanced approach. Thank you again for your detailed reply - very kind of you to do so.