[natdobe]

I was just wondering what everyone's thoughts were on cooking for dogs. We aer currently feeding Canidae. We usually mix stuff in with it, such as yogurt, cottage cheese, raw eggs, and cooked meat. We used to cook for our two, but it got a little expensive, but my husband got a job promotion, and I'm interested in cooking again for them. They did look excellent on the home made diet, and they loved it. I have a friend who used to be a vet tech, and she told me that home cooked food damages their kidneys and pancreas, and that scared me. We are not interested in raw at this time. All the dog food recalls are scaring me a little, even though we don't use grocery store dog food, so I was just wondering what you all thought about this issue. Thank you.

 

[dobebug]

I have a friend who used to be a vet tech, and she told me that home cooked food damages their kidneys and pancreas, and that scared me.

HUH???? I'd ask her to explain what it would be that would damage kidneys and pancreas in a home cooked diet.

I think the biggest problem with home cooked is that unless you have a lot of knowledge you can end up with an unbalanced diet for a dog. And I know from what I read and people tell me that a lot of folks who home cook cook the diet for the dog as if it were intended for people--adding salt, onions, garlic--things that are added to people's diet for flavor.

Personally I'll let the guys who have the big labs and extended testing make food for my dogs. And I do add things to their diet from time to time but basically it is a manufactured diet and they look and seem to feel great on it.

 

[Mama&PapaTeak]

I have a friend who used to be a vet tech, and she told me that home cooked food damages their kidneys and pancreas, and that scared me.

Our VET recommends feeding the same thing we eat as long as it is healthy, beef, chicken, veggies and fruit. She has an oatmeal allergy so we had to watch everything we fed dog food and treat wise. Our dog did pretty good on it until she developed bladder stones. Now we have to use a prescription diet (I hate it) or we can expect to be back in for surgery every 12-18 months to remove stones.

 

[natdobe]

I forgot to mention that when I did cook for them I used a canine nutrition book, and it had a recipe that consisted of ground beef, russet potatoes, broccoli, squash, fresh cabbage, safflower oil, fresh carrots, cottage cheese, shredded chedder cheese, comfrey leaf powder, and comfrey root powder. It also had a list of vitamins, minerals, and supplemental amino and fatty acids and how much of them to add the diet. It told how much of everything to use. It may not have been as balanced as a bag of dog food, but my dogs did thrive on it. Dobebug, what do you feed? if you don't mind me asking? Thank you for your input. My friend just told me that they saw dogs from time to time wtih liver damage, and when they asked the owners what they fed their dogs, they told them that they cooked for them. Maybe some of those people didn't know the right foods to cook, or they just fed them table scraps, and lack of knowledge is what hurt their dogs. Who knows? I would never cook for them without doing research and careful planning, because I love them too much.

 

[JavasMom]

Java's diet is home cooked - not table scraps - but food I prepare especially for her: brown rice, yams, carrots, lean chicken, beef, potatoes (not a lot), green beans, apples, cottage cheese, plain yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, canned salmon, etc. Her diet isn't really that different from what I feed my family. Processed human food isn't great for humans (due to high fat and salt content), so it can't be great for dogs!

Given the high content of processed corn meal in most commercial/store brands and the recent recalls of canned dog food, I think it's worth the extra effort. Mind you, I boil up a big pot of rice at one time, cook extra veggies for Java when I'm cooking them for dinner anyway, so it really doesn't take that much more time.

 

[Dobesanddragons]

Join the yahoo homecooking for dogs list. I forget the exact name. There is a member on that list who does home cooking for her two CH. & performance titled Dobermans.
I think homecooking is an alternative to kibble, provided you research, pay special attention to the needs of the dogs, and know what you are doing. I cook meats and feed them as a small part of the diet. Eggs are a weekly favorite. I crush the egg up, shell and all, cook it, and then feed it to them.

 

[natdobe]

Javasmom, do you add vitamins and other supplements? Or, do you give any multivitamins along with your home cooked meals for Java? Thanks everyone for the comments.