Anyone cook for their dogs?

B

blacknblue

Forums Regular
The other dog food thread made me think of this...my shelties have very sensitive stomachs, Ripley in particular. We've tried lots of different foods, everything from store brands to super premium, and we've had everything from diarrhea to coat troubles. Usually what is good for Ripley is bad for Frosty and vice versa. We've also been to the vet at least 5 times, and they've done everything from send us home with antibiotics, to just send us home.

Anyway, our latest bout of diarrhea was just last week, and we started cooking a bland diet for them, chicken, brown rice, and pumpkin. My husband and I were surprised that it wasn't much trouble....I know we would have to add other things to it to make it completely nutritional, but do any of you do this, and particularly those of you whose shelties have stomach troubles, have you seen any better results than with kibble?
 
We've had to cook for Lassie, our ancient rescue Collie. She's not a very good eater, and we think she was fed mostly scraps her whole life. It shows. We cooked for her when she was recovering from a bacterial infection and the antibiotics had made her lose what appetite she had. We fed her chicken (poached), brown rice, steak, macaroni and cheese, and spagheti -- and her favorite, pad thai. Once she was over the infection, we went back to Pinnacle and Evo, with periodic Pedigree soft food. In her case, our vet said calories of any kind are most important.

Oh, and the vet has us giving her a Pepcid AC 30 minutes before her AM and PM meal to ward off unrinary tract infection (changes the Ph balance).
 
I don't know whether it would work for your guys, but you might try slowly transitioning them to a raw diet, or even a few raw meals a week. The only thing you can't do is mix raw with kibble or canned food. Their systems digest raw differently. When I did this, my vet told me to be sure and get the ready-made raw food...he's had several clients get salmonella from making it themselves. I buy Country Fresh Chicken kibbles which are small round meatball size pieces and you can just count out as many or as few as you need. That's worked very well for my girl with colitis. I give her a raw dinner every other night, and regular Timberwolf chicken kibble the rest of the time. I use pumpkin too when she has flare ups, and she gets Dr. Goodpet probiotics with every meal which were recommended by a nutritional vet for dogs with problem stomachs. You can find Dr. Goodpet online, it's great stuff, or any of the catalogs carry canine probiotics.
 
cooking for sensitive tummies

Since we are a rescue and have many Shelties coming through we have to find out what is upsetting asap. We have had many Shelties with all types of tummy upset and food allergies. We found that Nutro brand, Natural Choice Senior formula, small bite kibble works well with the majority of Shelties that have had previous upset and allergy issues. Results are immediate.

Cooking and or kibble has to be FREE of grasses, corn, beef, and byproducts.
We use herring and potato, duck and potato, or venison and potato as a fool proof diet.

Our sensitive Shelties receive: a 1/2 c of kibble, 1/2 c white rice, and veggies (plant protein) that is easy to digest. (White rice is easier to digest even though brown rice has more nutrients.) The rice is cooked daily in the rice cooker or on occasion with chicken in the crock pot. Canines are not supposed to have as much protein as felines. Fruits and veggies that are easy on the tummy are bananas, apples, pear, apricot, carrots, green beans, squash, zuccini, etc... (Never grapes or raisins) To make cooking easier we cook a large amount of a veggies and freeze them ice cube trays. While traveling I use baby food jars and let the Shelties lick out the jar. Great fun!

sj
 
blacknblue said:
The other dog food thread made me think of this...my shelties have very sensitive stomachs, Ripley in particular. We've tried lots of different foods, everything from store brands to super premium, and we've had everything from diarrhea to coat troubles. Usually what is good for Ripley is bad for Frosty and vice versa. We've also been to the vet at least 5 times, and they've done everything from send us home with antibiotics, to just send us home.

Anyway, our latest bout of diarrhea was just last week, and we started cooking a bland diet for them, chicken, brown rice, and pumpkin. My husband and I were surprised that it wasn't much trouble....I know we would have to add other things to it to make it completely nutritional, but do any of you do this, and particularly those of you whose shelties have stomach troubles, have you seen any better results than with kibble?
Click to expand...

My Chloe has always had a sensitive stomach-pretty much throws up any kibble you give her. When we found that she tolerated Bil-Jac, that was her staple. Even so, she's not exactly a hearty or eager eater. Then we have Woody, a really obese rescue with a hearty appetite, who was fed table "crap" for 8 years. He's lost 12-14 lbs, but still could lose another 5-10. But his weight loss has been plateaued for a while, he has skin problems (dry skin, hot spots) and now he has cancer.

So in an effort to get my Shelties healthier, this week they started the BARF diet! Of course, Woody LOVES it since he's all about "people" food. But to my biggest surprise, Chloe is on fire about it too, and NO throwing up! I seriously spent the first night (sunday) waiting for one of them to wake up at 2am barfing or pooping. Didn't happen. Chloe did get runny stools on Tuesday, but I added some pumpkin, and it seems to have subsided. So far, they both love it and very eagerly finish their bowls. Both are tolerating the "cold turkey" change very well. I thought it was going to be a real chore doing all this food prep, but it's been easier than I anticipated. It's only been 4 days, so the only benefits I can report so far are the WAY smaller stools! Nice! :biggrin2: We'll see how it goes long term.....
 
cooking for my shelties

I started making food for my shelties because Izzy had a red and sometimes bleeding rash on her muzzle and one eyelid. Everytime I make an appointment to take her to the vet, it clears up so I cancel the appointment. I've been making turkey burger with rice and adding different baby food veggies. It seems to have helped. I also found a dog food that is No corn, No gluten, No beef. I'm hoping to wean her onto that food and see what happens. Has anyone else had the rash thing?
 
I cook for my dogs separately in some times.He eats all foods we are eating. there is no need of cooking him separately.He likes meat and fried fish more.So i cook some times it for him.
 
Yes, We do!

LOL, we do cook for the kiddies and add it to their dry food.

Ground beef, turkey, chicken or lamb, rice, green beans, carrots are mostly what we cook for them.

So, in other words, our kids are spoiled rotten!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top