Hi all,

Just a question for my mum who has a 4 month old chocolate lab. She has been reading various books about home cooking dog food with rice, liver chicken etc ( with increased ingredients for puppies ). Does anyone already do this, if not do they know of any good books etc that will suggest home cooked foods provideing a balanced diet for puppies.

Any help would be gratefully recieved,

Many thanks

Mark

Can anyone help?

Melody :)

Hi,

I feed a home made diet, but its a raw one, not a cooked one.

anyway been racking my brains on this one. Errrrrrr, do lots of research, books, vets, net, loads.

The main thing is to know what dogs can and cannot digest. So, cereals arent really worth feeding, apart from rice, occasionally (dont ask me why, rice is an odd cereal), it is better utilised if you blend it up as well, as dogs, like humans, dont produce the necessary enzymes to break down cell walls in plants (which, is why sweetcorn goes out the same as it went in, in case u wondered!).

Basically, if the foods must be cooked, then cook it as little as possible, steamed if possible. Veg neednt be cooked at all, just blended in a food processor.

The best thing to do, i reckon, would be to read up on the raw diets, BARF etc, and then just adapt it , cooking the meat lightly, etc.

Other than that, cant really think of anything. Dont feed cooked bones, dont over cook meats, and dont rely on cereals, as they are fairly useless as a food for dogs.

Em

Hi Mark

My Lab, although adult, had a leg removed due to bone cancer 2 years ago, when she had the operation the oncologist told me to feed her chicken or fish, with a green vegetable, carrots, with rice or pasta. We have fed her on this ever since with the occasional meal of liver or lamb or pork or turkey and she has thrived. (the life span they gave her once her leg was removed was a pain free six months!! so we are delighted to be over the two year mark) We are getting another Lab puppy in August, and on our three monthly visit to to oncologist last week to check bracken is still free of cancer, I mentioned this and asked her if we could feed the puppy the same, she said absolutely, obviously being a puppy it will be fed more often, than bracken and different amounts but she sees no problem in this at all. We do always give our dogs skimmed milk and cereal in the mornings but we have always done this.

kind regards

Ruth

Hi All,

Many thanks for your replies, i know this is a subject that quite often isnt talked about, but there again hence the post :p.

I will see if anyone else has anything more to add and i will then pass the information on to my mother :d

Kind regards

Mark

P.s aww blesssss to the cereals and milk in the mornings :p

Ruth
Is it better to give skimmed milk than semi skimmed with the cereal, and what cereal do you give them?
Jane

We started giving skimmed milk as one of my labs was prone to weight gain, and didn't want that for her, but they were alright on semi skimmed and whole milk. I never found much difference bar the weight problem. She has wheatabix in the morning.

Don't do it. Even the experts in specialized veterinary referral centres don't reccomend it. The chances of actually coming close to getting the right balance of vitamins, mineral, essential amino acids. Not to mention the all important anti oxidants and just the right kibble shape to clean and maintain healthy teeth is virtually impossible.Millions of pounds worth of research has gone into producing Balanced pet food. Admittedly not all are good, I can however reccomend the RCW (royal canin) range of both veterinary diets and every day food. Its less hassle, better for your pet. I have been on numerous nutritional courses all held by differant companys and if i thought a home made diet was the best thing for my pet i would be feeding it, However i'm NOT!

Regards, Karen

Karen,
I don't usually get into raw v complete as I believe in live and let live but I think the telling statement in your post is "I have been on numerous nutritional courses all held by different companies" I bet they all said theirs' was best. We don't feel the need to eat ready prepared food exclusively for ourselves in fact we are actively told by NHS type organisations that we eat too much processed commercial food, too many additives etc. Makes me think a bit
Anne

Karen,

Processed pet foods were created for owner convenience, not better nutrition for dogs. It may have taken millions of pounds to come up with a packaged food that replicates fresh and does not spoil without refrigeration, but that does not mean processed food is better than fresh. Home made diets can be every bit as nutrious and are most likely better than packaged foods. All it takes is a bit of owner education to know the proper balance of ingredients.

Kibbles do not clean teeth, they are useless at removing tartar.

Stacey

Hi B/Rigg, If you go to the link below you will find info on cooked diets for dogs & cats.
http://www.drpitcairn.com/
It`s a great book as not only does it have diets in it but also loads of health tips as well. Oh & it also provides tables about nutritional factors for a wide range of foodstuffs.

Christine, Spain.