|
Welcome to the YorkieTalk.com Forums Community - the community for Yorkshire Terriers. You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. You will be able to chat with over 35,000 YorkieTalk members, read over 2,000,000 posted discussions, and view more than 15,000 Yorkie photos in the YorkieTalk Photo Gallery after you register. We would love to have you as a member! Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today! If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please click here to contact us. |
|
| LinkBack | Thread Tools |
11-22-2007, 04:55 AM | #1 |
Love My Furbabies! Donating Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: somewhere
Posts: 4,427
| Home Cooking I am thinking of making the switch to home cooking completely for the furkids. I know some on here do this and was wondering what the pros/cons/costs are for home cooking and how you like it Thanks so much guys |
Welcome Guest! | |
11-22-2007, 05:32 AM | #2 |
Donating YT 500 Club Member | I've been home preparing for our dogs since late March, when all of the recalls started. This includes my sons boxer, 14 yr old blue heeler, my husbands lab and of course my Ruby and Reno. I can home prepare for less cost than any "premium" dog food made. I know they are getting quality nutrition and I don't have to worry about the next thing the Chinese mfgr's decide to include in our food. I bought Pitcairn's book for my guide, also consulted with a canine nutritionist for reassurance. I did lack confidence at first so continued to offer a good quality kibble (Innova Evo) for free feeding and still do with having a puppy now. It is more trouble than just opening a bag and pouring out food. But knowing what they are eating makes it worth the effort.
__________________ ~Ruby, Reno, Razz, & Jack~ |
11-22-2007, 08:01 AM | #3 |
Loved by Layla Donating Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Canada
Posts: 11,257
| oooo so glad you are thinking about changing! it can be a bit overwhelming at first but like someone else said, get Dr. Pitcairn's book for a starter. That's what i did and made a receipe in there but now i just make up some meat, some veggies and sometimes some whole wheat pasta and i freeze it. Last week i bought about 25 dollars worth of meat and it should last about a month. maybe a bit more... Also keep in mind you need to suppliment when you home cook. The book has a receipe for a suppliement that i use but you can always buy a pre made one. Layla's health has been amazing since the switch and her vet is very impressed! You should get a blood panal done if you are going to do this long term (we just got our first one done after about 6 months of homecooking to check Layla's levels) and everything came back great! if you need any more help you can always PM me |
11-22-2007, 11:01 AM | #4 |
And Rylee Finnegan Donating Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Metro Detroit, MI
Posts: 17,928
| We used to pay about $70 a year for Science Diet (yuck). Now we buy high quality ingredients and pay about $300-$350 a year plus vitamins. I think it is more expensive, some don't. It doesn't matter to me though since it is so much healthier. The pros are you know what your dog is getting and it isn't processed garbage. On the other hand it does tie up some time to cook, you can't free feed, you have to travel with a cooler, you may spend more money and there is some work to getting the recipe balanced (I recommend either a nutritionist or a really good book for this).
__________________ Crystal, Ellie May (RIP), Rylee Finnegan, and Gracie Boo🐶 |
11-23-2007, 07:12 PM | #5 |
Love My Furbabies! Donating Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: somewhere
Posts: 4,427
| Thank you guys so much for the info! Right now I'm feeding Canidae ALS w/occasional Wellness wet canned food at times. I would say we go through the biggest bag of Canidae in 3 1/2 months or so at $40 a bag and that's with 4 eating. Financially that is totally inexpensive in my book -- I think it works out to under 10/month for food for 4!! So I wouldn't mind spending more if it is a lot healthier for them. I think I am more scared I'll screw it up completely as I can barely cook for myself |
Bookmarks |
|
|
| |
|
|
SHOP NOW: Amazon :: eBay :: Buy.com :: Newegg :: PetStore :: Petco :: PetSmart