Homemade food suggestions

[jdatwood]

Hi - I pressure cook my Siberian Husky's food, and have been doing so for two months now. I pressure cook the chicken for about an hour and a half. I transfer the chicken to a bowl to cool and add the vegetables (usually four vegetables) to the pot - skin and all, and cook for about half an hour. I then de-bone the chicken and put the bones into my liquidizer with some of the stock from the pot. The end product is a thick paste type substance with NO pieces of bone floating around. I also add cooked brown rice and soup mix (barley etc) which I cook separately. I cook enough for one week, and freeze his food in tubs. My Siberian has a very sensitive stomach and cannot eat processed food. Since he has been on this diet he has done extremely well. He looks fantastic and loves his food. He also gets meaty bones to chew on to keep his teeth healthy, and loves yogurt and scrambled eggs which he gets as a treat once or twice a week.

Since you already feed RMB's, have you considered just feeding your meat & bones raw? He'd benefit even more from what you're feeding him and it would take you about 2 minutes to feed vs. a few hours

[Rosemary]

Hi - yes, feeding raw is the ultimate goal. The diet he is currently on is working for him, and we have started feeding raw meat for lunch, but we are taking it slowly and hopefully with time, we will phase out the cooked food, but until then he is doing well and enjoying his food.

[Shamrockmommy]

I feed cooked to my 3 little guys. I got the recipes from _Home Prepared Dog and Cat Diets_ by Dr Donald Strombeck.

They just had bloodwork done and everything looks great. Coats are good, digestion good, all good, no complaints.

I feed cooked because of several different reasons. But anyway,
I multiplied the recipe enough to make 2 weeks worth of food at a time for all 3. They seem to do great on potatoes more so than rice or noodles.

So in my giant pot I cook the meat and potatoes together with some water and veggies. Once everything is cooked, I add in the bonemeal, oil and (if poultry) no-salt suppliment. Very easy. Mix and stir and then cool and store in rubbermaid containers. I freeze the extra containers.

Also then they each get 1 pet tab per day. My guys are much smaller than yours but I watch for sales on ground meat/chicken/turkey.

Super easy. Then all I do for their meals is- take out the container from the frige, scoop out a serving into their bowl, add vitamin (and if the dog needs meds, this works great to hide the pill in) and feed.

I know that many people feel raw is the best of the best, I do what works for me and them, and they are doing great.

ETA: If you do have a pressure cooker and want to try that- google "dale's boxer stew" and read his page. Scroll down to 'pressure cooker method." He pressure cooks chickens until the bones are soft and then adds potatoes/etc. for his boxers. I am thinking of trying this actually, once my bonemeal supply runs out.

[jdatwood]

I feed cooked because of several different reasons.

I'm just curious... do you mind sharing those reasons?

[Shamrockmommy]

I'm just curious... do you mind sharing those reasons?

There have come to be a few, actually...

I have an autoimmune disorder and any other immune challenge could make me very sick. I do handle raw meat, for myself and for the dogs, but the food we eat is cooked and I wash hands and sanitize surfaces.

I also have small children who kiss doggy faces and play in the backyard where the dogs potty (even though I pick up poops when we're outside). The risk to me is just not worth it.

My minpin also gets explosive diarrhea on raw. Even the smallest raw tidbit or wing tip sends his stomach into exit mode LOL.

The last reason is my bichon girls have furry faces and they can get quite bloody when eating raw. It's not a matter of using a baby wipe to clean their beards, the stuff gets smooshed in them. So then it sours and stinks and I end up washign faces too much. Not very much fun to snuggle close to them when they are gooey and stinky.

I only cook the meat until there are no traces of pink.

:) Works for us.

[jdatwood]

Thanks for taking the time to reply!

[Shamrockmommy]

You're welcome!
Congrats on your pregnancy :)

[CathyHubbard]

I cook the food i feed my Chinese Cresteds and supplement their calcium source with nutritional bone meal that I purchased at my local health food store. You can also purchase it from vet supply stores, online nutritional shops, etc. It was very inexpensive. The brand I use is a NOW product.

[sapphos]

I know the original topic is quite old but if anyone ever has concerns about Toxomoplasmosis because of pregnancy it's quite easy to be tested for the antibodies. When I was pregnant the doc had me tested because I have cats and always have since I was a kid and wouldn't ya know it, no problem with cleaning cat poopies since I already had antibodies. It can be a scary thing however if you haven't got the antibodies since you can lose a fetus hence probably why the original poster was worried.

[Jodysmom]

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