Home Cooked Meals

[The Food Group]

About a month or more ago Skye and Sadie both came down with the runs. I couldn't tell if it was the canned food or something they got into but it was a huge mess.

I decided to go back to the basics and cook for them myself like I did when they were little. I boil carrots, green beans and a protein source like chicken, turkey or pork tenderloin  and then skim the fat from the broth and save it in a separate container. Then I add rice with a little broth to the veggies and meat and take the chill off by putting it into the microwave.

They both eat everything in one go and they don't throw up afterwards. The throwing up was a problem even before the diahrrhea. It seemed like ever couple of days one or both dogs would vomit up their breakfast. Sometimes it was hardly digested and other times digested but a mess. I could never figure out why.

In a months time they both went from loose and icky stools and periodic vomiting to no vomiting and  perfect poops. Skye has always had a sensitive tummy. He loves the home cooked meals. Sadie's a little sturdier but the explosive diarrhea was enough to convince me I needed to control their food. The vomiting was also weird.

They get three small meals a day. Two don't work because Sadie will vomit bile in the morning if her tummy gets too empty.

In the middle of the day I give them each some puppy kibble for the vitamins. They still love it. Neither dog is overweight. My husband says if we all ate as good as the pups we would lose weight and feel much better!

I am curious if other people have found that their dogs go off canned foods and kibble. These are the first dogs I have ever owned with the sensitive tummy issues. Since feeding them both home cooked meals I have also found we have no problems with anal glands.

I am just hoping it lasts. I switch protein sources but keep the green beans and carrots because they seem to enjoy them. When they were puppies I gave them yams or sweet potatoes or pumpkin. They don't seem to like this as much as the carrots and green beans.

Any thoughts about needing other vitamins or minerals?  Any thoughts in general? Thanks!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

We have quite a few discussions about homecooking for your dogs here in TFG, and many recipes as well. 

If your dogs are getting 50% or more of their diets in the form of homemade food, you absolutely must give a vitamin & mineral supplement. There are products made for dogs, or you can use a human multivitamin. At the very least, they need a calcium and vitamin D supplement, and an Omega 3 supplement. 

I highly recommend that you use a good cookbook for dogs, or follow a recipe that has been verified as being nutritionally complete. 

Homemade dog food is always much lower in calories than kibble and most other types of commercial foods, due to the very high moisture content. Therefore, you must feed more. When JD was first diagnosed with IBD, I considered cooking for him, using the recipe that Jane has posted here in TFG and which was approved by her vet. JD's internist also approved the diet, but calculated the calorie content and informed me that he would need 8 cups of homemade food per day. That was just not a possibility for me. His diet now consists of about 60% limited ingredient kibble and about 40% homemade food. 

[Kelly & Zoe]

Thanks for that Karen!  That's about the proportion we do - I love cooking for my dog, but you're right, it's hard to do it 100%.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

At least for the big guys, lol. I might have been able to manage it for my 18 lb Poodle!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You might consider using Honest Kitchen's base mix, and just adding your own meat or chicken. That way, you know your dogs are getting all of the nutrients they need in the right amounts, and most dogs with digestive issues do very well with Honest Kitchen. http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/dog-food/preference

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

And here's a link to a discussion in which Jane posted a link to her recipe as a pdf file. Look for her comment on the page and then you can just click the link to see the recipe: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/home-co...

It's been approved by both Jane's vet and JD's internal medicine specialist, and contains about 200 calories per cup. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

JD's internist told me to buy a plain basic multivitamin, not one of these "mega" things, lol, and not something for special populations (over 50, women, etc). It was not so easy to find. I ended up with Nature Made Multi Daily: http://www.naturemade.com/products/multivitamins/multi-daily

You should also give them a fish oil softgel for the Omega 3 fatty acids. I like Nature Made Minis: http://www.naturemade.com/products/supplements/ultra-omega-3-mini-f...

[Linda And Callie]

I have been using Honest Kitchen for six months now and thankfully have no problems with Callie's stomach issues. She never had the runs but was constantly vomiting in the mornings.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I give JD his meds and supplements separately, because he gets an awful lot of them, (he has two immune-mediated diseases) and he sometimes won't just eat them if they're in with his food; I've found too many on the floor, lol. I coat them with mashed sweet potatoes and put them down his throat. You can try putting the supplements in with their food, and they might eat them, especially the fish oil capsule, but I think they'll spit out the multivitamin. 

Without knowing the calorie content of your homemade food, I can't tell if they're getting the right amount of calories or not; gradual weight loss (or gain) is usually not something that you'd notice.in a month's time.Giving them access to kibble helps, and monitoring poop volume. Assuming that they are moderately active, Skye should be getting approximately 700 calories per day and Sadie should be getting about 500. 

[Tanya and IsaBella]

Karen, what are your thoughts on justfoodfordogs.com? I am not affiliated with them but their online recipes look intriguing. Thank you

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Without doing deeper research due to time constraints at the moment, my thoughts are that the food looks wonderful, and if I ever win the lottery, I might try it. :)