Home made dog food

[Vixen]

If you're going to feed a homemade diet, you should go BARF and follow their guidelines. Raw feeding - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia So many success stories from using this method, from less doggy odor, better breath, firmer stools, disappearance of allergies etc and general being a lot healthier. I will be switching mine to the prey model when he's abit older.

The wiki is just a general overview, there are HEAPS of sites with more details into what to feed etc. They need more than mince to stay healthy, they need bones and offal aswell.

 

[amy5189]

home made food like this is excellent when fed with other things. a good quality dry food is completely nutritionally balanced and very good for your dog. feeding raw meaty bones is also a good thing. anything raw, no cooked bones as they can splinter and harm your dog.
our dogs get a tin of sardines every few days for the oil. it helps my kelpie as she gets lumps on her skin if she doesn't eat them. also give your dog a whole raw egg, shell and all. good calcium. and they love it. my puppy helps herself to the eggs from the chickens! lol. but if your dog isn't interested, crush it all up and they'll love it.
but yes, don't just think that you can feed your dog minced and boiled rice and veges. dogs can't digest most vegetable matter, it is of no nutritional value to them. so make sure you're mixing it up.

 

[Mousie]

You beat me to it VixenBabe. As my other half Lewy sort of said earlier BARF is the only way we feed our dogs now. We took a while to get right into it and it was during these early stages we realised just how much of a difference this feeding method made. Only now do we see the beautiful healthy end result but in the beginning we noticed every time we slipped up and went back to commercial food of any sort (even the big$$ stuff) we would end up with two hyperactive and dogs chewing up and destroying everything they could find, digging holes everywhere and chasing anything that moved. Feed a period of BARF style food and they would settle down again. It took a few of these obvious changes before my Lewy bought me a big juicer and now we juice and reconstitute veges every monthish and buy hamburger mince from Big Gun Underwood ($2.99/kg - super bargin!).

Feeding dogs a rice based diet is not the best. Better than commercial dog food which is full of ethoxyquin, euthanised pets, the cow down the road they tried to save with every drug in the vet's bag but could not, still wrapped out of date meat trays from supermarkets and the rancid used oil drum from the back of takeaway stores that gives it the irresistable flavour.

An extract from the wiki link Vixenbabe sent:
dogs lack the necessary enzymes to digest grains and plant material and claims that grains cooked at high temperature can cause starch, proteins and fats to become "denatured or toxic in variable degrees." The poorly digested grain is said to support toxin-producing bacteria in the lower bowel which may eventually lead to "poisons pass[ing] through the bowel wall into blood circulation" creating "further problems" in other organs

It is because of this that BARFers juice the veges. Grains are just totally unnecessary and difficult for dogs to digest.

A link to the BARF website:
What is Barf?

 

[JasonL]

lol @ this thread.... go to all that effort for your dogs whilst sucking down a ciggy then nip down to maccas for a feed....
Nah, I agree with you on the fresh is best thing (of course) just wonding how many of you treat yourselves as good?

 

[Kristy_07]

Thanks for your input, girls. Of course, there is more than one way to skin a cat (or feed a dog, as it were), and I have found this recipe to be a good staple food for my two large dogs, as well as cutting down costs by mixing with good quality dry food, on top of a couple of big marrow bones, tripe, liver, heart, and usually a whole chicken carcass each, as well. I, personally, would not choose to feed my dogs a raw diet, mainly due to cost and increased risk of zoonotic disease. I definitely could not be able to afford 6-10kgs or so in meat a day just for the dogs!

I found when I don't feed my dogs extra greens and roughage in their diet, they go looking for it by eating a lot of grass and plant matter from the garden. I also read that the oldest dog in the world (well, at one stage, anyway) was a pup living in the UK that was 27 and had lived on a totally vegan diet his whole life!

 

[ShaunMorelia]

I haven't checked recently, Word But if not, it goes straight through them, but I found the mixed veg better than just giving them carrots, so this is what my dogs get. This is just an outline, feel free to mix it up.

I wasn't saying that your recipe is rubbish I was just curious about the corn.
My fiance is keen to start "cooking" our pup's food as she rekons its crap for the pup.

We have a Labrador X Boxer. She'll eat anything and punches everything.....

 

[Choco]

I feed BARF to my Bull Arab/Mastiffs and swear by it. Can those who make their own feed give a rough price/kg of your mix?
Kangaroo mince is best to use if you can find it. Better protein levels and less fat, it's also a better fat(I think). I buy a pre made Kangaroo BARF by canine country Canine Country - B.A.R.F Diets. $3.75/kg plus some dry food. Has all the fruit, veg and oils in it.

Mousie,
Just a thought but you may have found the extra activity from your dogs was because the commercial food you fed may have had higher energy levels than your food. So if you fed the same amount your dogs had a lot more energy to expell. It's not as simple as a dog of X size needs X weight of food. Dog foods have all different levels and amounts need to be adjusted accordingly. Example is pig hunters obviously use high protein and high fat foods for their working dogs. These obviously provide the energy requirements for their dogs, however when not working they cut the food right back so the energy fed matches the need. Similarly if your home BARF has less energy than the commercial food you used yet they were fed the same amount that would explain the hypo activity. Just a possibility but hope that helps

Cheers,
Allan

P.S. Photos of my boys.

 

[Kristy_07]

I think this is a great thread! It's great to hear everyone's different ways of how their animals are best cared for, even if the opinions are different (and passionately so ). But the important thing is - WE ARE ALL PASSIONATELY CARING FOR OUR ANIMALS!!! which excites me no end, because too often you see people filling up their shopping trolley with the cheapest dry food, and chum cans on special, and I can't stand it! Whatever recipe you use for your dog food, at least we have all done our research and put it the effort for our furry critters

I wouldn't mind giving the BARF theory a go, but with moving to vietnam in a couple of months, now isn't the time. Maybe when I get back, though, as it does sound interesting. But I noticed the wikipedia link also included a note down the bottom saying the America's Vet Association (or something similar) disagreed with the scientific benefits of BARF... I'd want to know more before I committed to the cost.

Jason - no maccas, or ciggies for me I've cut most meat and preservatives out of my diet recently, and feel great for it, and I run with the dogs about 4 times a week But thanks for asking

 

[Kristy_07]

Thanks for that link, Choco. I'm going to check this out - might be a much easier option than making food for the next year while I'm away. Cheers

 

[blackthorn]

Rough prices for things that I put in my mixes:
5kg mince : $8.14 ($1.62/kg)
Pasta: $1.18/kg
Rice: $1.75/kg
Frozen peas: $1.99
Frozen corn: $2.99
Fresh vegies vary in price
Just did a rough total on the 2 mixes I do(the amounts above is not what I use, just price/kg) and it works out to about $14, which would make about 8kg worth of food(approx). So roughly $1.75/kg it costs me to make. Extra cost would be added onto each meal from sardines, eggs and occassional raw meat.

Cost of the dry food I use is $6.30/kg - $7.25/kg depending where I buy it from. So it works out a lot cheaper for me to cook food. I feed the expensive dry food as well because I'm sure the cooked meals I give them aren't complete with everything they need.

 

[Mousie]

Hi Choco. I prob didn't explain the behaviour all that well. Its not so much an increase in energy (believe me they have ooodles of energy on our BARF diet!!). Its the destructive activities they pursue only after being fed commercial dog food with all its preservatives and artificial crap. Just some kids with ADHD settle when fed a balanced and more natural diet. Thanks for your concern. Good to see people concerned about my babies

 

[imalizard]

This thread is great! Ive always wanted to get my dog and cat off of the commercial crap and this has helped me. My dog has been bringing his dog food up lately and never looks happy with his food.

I just cracked an egg in a bowl and my cat was lapping it up! I really didn't think he would eat it

My dogs ate a plate full of whole mixed veggies, 2 eggs, a bit of mince and a chop. I'm glad my dog eats his veggies but he has never been keen on cauliflower for some reason. He does get a mixed diet as he usually gets the leftover food we don't eat, (My mum is always cooking too many veggies and mash).

Any recipes for cats?

Thanks, Daniel

 

[JasonL]

My dog loves fruit, he steals apples out of the house, though he much prefers stone fruit....

 

[imalizard]

That reminded me of something Jason. Does any one de core apples when you feed them to your dogs? I have never removed the core them but recently I was told by a friend that the cores are toxic to dogs. My dog isnt dead from eating apples that dont have their core removed and he eats a fair few apples

 

[Kitah]

Just as a note in regard to making 'home made' diets for cats- cats are obligate carnivores, and a vital essential amino acid for cats is Taurine- If they DO NOT get sufficient taurine in their diets (less common now, as its added to all commercial cat foods) they end up with things such as dilated cardiomyopathy, where the deficiency actually causes the heart to dilate, and eventually leads to the cats death.

 

[imalizard]

Thanks, Shadow! Taurine can be found in animals can't it?

I think your post is great because some people try and make their cats vegetarians and wonder why they have health problems.

 

[AMY22]

Thanks, Shadow! Taurine can be found in animals can't it?

Yes, taurine is really only found in animal tissue. Cats cannot create their own taurine hence the reason they are obligate carnivours. Dogs only require 10 essential amino acids, cats require 11 (taurine). So dogs can cope with being vegetarians better than cats. Having said that if I had a dog I wouldn't make it vegetarian, even though I'm a veg myself.

With commercial foods, it IS true that the supermarket brands are basically crap. Premium brand foods (Royal Canin, Hills, Advance, etc.) are all great quality foods. I studied pet nutrition and had to delve into the technicality of different foods, ingredients, the companies themselves, and I actually found it all rather fascinating and now have product manuals for some of the premium brand companies.

There is a big difference in the quality and ingredients of cheap supermarket brands and premium foods. Supermarket brands tend to be left over offal, etc. that isn't fit for human consumption so it's made into pet food, premium brands on the other hand are a human grade food. The types of ingredients are different (including all the grains (which no they don't need) and water that tend to be packed into the cheap food that are really just there to take up the space of ingredients), and premium foods are very specific with HOW MUCH goes in. If you look at the ingredients and compare, cheaper foods might say the food may contain this or this or this, whereas premium foods will have exact amounts. You will also find that the main ingredient of premium foods is chicken meal, as it is a denser source of protiene.

Because the ingredients are so exact your dog or cat doesn't need to eat as much premium food to get all it's dietary requirements as it would on cheap food.

Premium foods are more expensive upfront and I think that's what puts people off. They look at the bag and think it's a waste of money. But the pricing of these foods is done as cost per day, not cost per bag.

I'm a Royal Canin girl myself, I don't have any doggies or kitties but if I did I know what I'd be feeding them.

P.S. rice is fine, a lot of premium foods do have rice in their ingredients, and in some products it will be the main ingredient.

 

[Kristy_07]

It must be time for some photos...

Lexi (the wolfie) and Kaiser (the mastiff)...

They look so........ hungry!

 

[Kitah]

I agree with Amy22; I've done a bit of nutrition studies for vet, and its all really quite interesting, and damn pet food companies can be bloody sneaky!

There are so many ways to distinguish crappy supermarket brands, and the genuine premium brands (e.g. Hills Science Diet, Royal Canin, Advance- Personally, I do NOT consider brands like Iams to be a genuine 'premium' brand, for certain reasons; namely that they don't run feeding trials). Heres a bit of a tip for trying to find some genuine premium brands;

There's 'groups' I suppose you could call them that aid in a kind of classification of pet foods. The lowest would be the ones that don't reference AAFCO anywhere- these companies can virtually chuck whatever they want into the pet food. Then you get companies that will say "formulated to meet AAFCO requirements"- these foods have the theoretical quantities of the different nutrients animals require, but they are only CALCULATED and not actually tested. Say for example a cat needs "X" amount of calcium in its diet; a cheaper company can just use the cheapest substance/formulation that provides "X" amount of calcium, and then claim it meets AAFCO standards- which is true, it does, but not all of this calcium may actually be absorbable by your beloved pet. The best level/group is when they say something like "Nutritionally complete based on AAFCO feeding trial." These brands have conducted feeding trials to establish/prove that "X" amount of calcium is actually ABSORBED by the pet, if that makes sense. Royal Canin, Hills Science Diet and Advance have all conducted feeding trials, whilst brands like Whiskas, Iams etc have not. Different sized animals, different breeds, animals at different life stages (e.g. puppy/kitten, young adult, adult, elderly, lactating/pregnant etc) etc have different requirements for protein, energy, fats and other nutrients (calcium, magnesium etc)- there is an important balance between these nutrients and if the quantities are stuffed up, then your pet may get ill. Many cheaper brands don't factor for these, either

Personally, my cats are both on the Hills Science Diet- Oral formula

Anyway I apologize for taking things off track from the home made diets. I just thought I'd try to give a tip to those who are still using commercial foods and are trying to figure out which ones are good.

 

[JasonL]

That reminded me of something Jason. Does any one de core apples when you feed them to your dogs? I have never removed the core them but recently I was told by a friend that the cores are toxic to dogs. My dog isnt dead from eating apples that dont have their core removed and he eats a fair few apples

Apple seeds (as do many fruit seeds / stones) contain cyanide, in extreme cases of a small dog eating alot of apple seeds, yes it could cause problems, a large bodied animal get digest a small amount without to much issues though.... So yes, technically they are toxic in the true sence of the word, not just to dogs, but everything including us, but issues arising from eating them would be rare... I let my dog eat them, he is sart enough to eat around the stones in peaches though , I really don't feed him peaches but he manages to steal a few every year...