Cooked food

[scrufnjoey]

Okay so we have had Rockie for about a week now and he'll be 12wks on on the 18th (his name was joey but we learned rockie grabs his attention so looks like he picked his own name lol and our 6yr old daughter wanted to name him rocket so close enough after she named him joey and he just ignored it)... we also have a 2yr old wauzer (westie/schnauzer mix) and i know in another thread I brought up about cooked food, and after thinking about it I'd like to start doing it again but have a few questions.

I'll also still keep kibble out 24/7 but cooked will be for the 2 feedings a day.

ok so scruffy (the westie mix) eats dry kibble: diamond naturals chicken and rice (i know not the greatest brand but is grain and corn free and the only kind that doesn't give him hives or red skin with his allergies and rockie eats it when he wouldn't touch all the puppy feed that we tried and got samples of from our pet store to find out what he would eat).

Prior to rockie we did cooked for scruffy of chicken quarter meat, rice, and yogurt and I would rotate the veggies in from peas and green beans. then once a week he would get a sardine and a few apple slices (which he loves lol). but had the issue where his stool got so loose he could barely hold it to get outside. that is why I stopped. but i would really like to start again because he did benefit from it before the lose poop and I'm sure rockie would benefit from it also.

my questions are:

could just chicken, rice, a little yogurt, and the veggies alone be a bad cooked recipe idea should I do something else (even though im leaving out the kibble 24/7 and we do, do a multivitamin that gets put on the food) as the reason to lose stools?

if not should it be balanced a certain percentage? ex. chicken 40% rice 30%, yogurt 5%, and the veggies 25% something like that.. as before i think the chicken may have been to high of a percentage and having to much protein I don't know if that will cause loose poop.

the other thing is if there is loose poop i know canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling) is good we are growing pie pumpkins and I was going to pure them and freeze them for when we want pumpkin pie (I don't add any of the seasonings like you get in the canned stuff) could I use this when we would need to or would it be to strong?

has anyone ever made up some cooked food and instead of feezing it dehydrated it? we have a dehydrator and that thought came to mind but didn't know how good it would work out, storage wise, and if it would be better then freezing it in the normal cooked form.

any help would be great as its our first yorkie and we already have experience the allergy aspect of a terrier from our westiemix so we know how important a good kibble is and the benefits cooking their meals can be. once we get the hang on the cooked part and still have solid stools ill add their vitamins to one of the cooked feedings as right now its added to their morning kibble which they eat separate so they get the right amount for their size and then their other feeding they eat out of the same bowl together.

thanks in advance

[lovespandp]

I feel if you are going to home cook for your babies, you should talk to a certified canine nutritionist to make sure you are giving them everything they need.

A lot of YTers home cook so I know you can get lots of advise/ recipes, but I think it should be ran through your vet and then discussed with a certified canine nutritionist.

[Lovetodream88]

If you are going to home cook you need to consult a vet nutritionist or you could be doing damage to your dogs also puppies really need to be on a puppy food more then anything else. Also a little side note they are finding arsenic in rice and say human babies should at the max only have it twice a week.

[scrufnjoey]

our vet has given tips on this thats how i got the last recipe. but she doesn't specialize in cooked meals (nor raw or anything like that specifically) and we don't have a canine nutrionist close (we are in a small town the closest one is over 60 miles away and with 3 kids (non fury ones) under 7 it would make it a hard trip to try and even see that person let alone what they want to charge (ive already talked with them over the phone a bit but wont help unless i come in).

and we wont be doing cooked only as we will be having dry kibble out for them all the time for them to self feed. just the 2 daily feedings that we give to them personally is the cooked.

but thanks for the tips trust me before getting our baby yorkie, i thought of it all with the westiemix within our means and my husband's parents helped us out with the allergy treatments with him at first (we just can't ask for them help gain we don't like doing stuff like that unless we really need too ).

[lovespandp]

Originally Posted by scrufnjoey

our vet has given tips on this thats how i got the last recipe. but she doesn't specialize in cooked meals (nor raw or anything like that specifically) and we don't have a canine nutrionist close (we are in a small town the closest one is over 60 miles away and with 3 kids (non fury ones) under 7 it would make it a hard trip to try and even see that person let alone what they want to charge (ive already talked with them over the phone a bit but wont help unless i come in).

and we wont be doing cooked only as we will be having dry kibble out for them all the time for them to self feed. just the 2 daily feedings that we give to them personally is the cooked.

but thanks for the tips trust me before getting our baby yorkie, i thought of it all with the westiemix within our means and my husband's parents helped us out with the allergy treatments with him at first (we just can't ask for them help gain we don't like doing stuff like that unless we really need too ).

I don't think they should be getting both? Seems like too much

[Lovetodream88]

You can do a phone consult with a nutritionist but even half home cooking can be very bad for your dog if not done right so maybe for now it is best to stick to dog food.

[scrufnjoey]

Originally Posted by Lovetodream88

If you are going to home cook you need to consult a vet nutritionist or you could be doing damage to your dogs also puppies really need to be on a puppy food more then anything else. Also a little side note they are finding arsenic in rice and say human babies should at the max only have it twice a week.

thanks for that info on rice. they wont be feed solely cooked. and our vet gave me some of the tips i talked about and just said to give pumpkin if stools are lose that's about it we live in a small town so not to many options vet wise.

they will only get cooked 2 times a day they have a bowl all the time of dry kibble out to self feed all the time and we give them an als food (we are switching to 4health natural since it is grain, wheat, corn, and soy free and is almost identical to TOW brand just a bit more affordable).

[lovespandp]

Originally Posted by scrufnjoey

thanks for that info on rice. they wont be feed solely cooked. and our vet gave me some of the tips i talked about and just said to give pumpkin if stools are lose that's about it we live in a small town so not to many options vet wise.

they will only get cooked 2 times a day they have a bowl all the time of dry kibble out to self feed all the time and we give them an als food (we are switching to 4health natural since it is grain, wheat, corn, and soy free and is almost identical to TOW brand just a bit more affordable).

If they are getting home cooked food twice a day they really shouldn't have kibble down at all times… way too much food for them. Home cook feeding is to take away the kibble… yes? So they get fed their home cook, then they can go to their bowl and eat more dry food?? I don’t think that sounds right.

[lovespandp]

Also if their stools are loose, something is going on- something is not agreeing with them.

[chachi]

You cant home cook without supplimentation chicken rice vegetables and yogurt arent a balanced diet for a dog and also if its giving them diahrea it sounds like something is not aggreeing with them

[scrufnjoey]

Originally Posted by lovespandp

If they are getting home cooked food twice a day they really shouldn't have kibble down at all times… way too much food for them. Home cook feeding is to take away the kibble… yes? So they get fed their home cook, then they can go to their bowl and eat more dry food?? I don’t think that sounds right.

the only time they touch the kibble is in the middle of the day inbetween cooked feedings. they are not eating 24/7 they are still eating their needed feeding servings a day.

for example our westiemix gets 2 cups services total a day so that is 1/2 cup cooked in the morning, 1 cup kibble middle day, and then 1/2 cup cooked in the evening. our yorkie if i do give him cooked he gets maybe gets 6 teaspoons of cooked food in the morning and evening(this comes out to equaling 1/4cup total) , dry kibble wise in the middle of the day he may eat 1/4 cup to 1/2cup.



I also should have said the loose stool issue i experience was when it was just our westie and we had him on completely cooked food because we couldn't find a kibble at the time yet that agreed with his allergies and body. but since then that has changed and we have 2 kibbles now that work with him we just want to do a little cook for them during the day. as even studies have shown that dry kibble from the store is not 100% nutritional filling as it should be, so that's why we just want to give them the best.

[lovespandp]

Originally Posted by scrufnjoey

the only time they touch the kibble is in the middle of the day inbetween cooked feedings. they are not eating 24/7 they are still eating their needed feeding servings a day.

for example our westiemix gets 2 cups services total a day so that is 1/2 cup cooked in the morning, 1 cup kibble middle day, and then 1/2 cup cooked in the evening. our yorkie if i do give him cooked he gets maybe gets 6 teaspoons of cooked food in the morning and evening(this comes out to equaling 1/4cup total) , dry kibble wise in the middle of the day he may eat 1/4 cup to 1/2cup.



I also should have said the loose stool issue i experience was when it was just our westie and we had him on completely cooked food because we couldn't find a kibble at the time yet that agreed with his allergies and body. but since then that has changed and we have 2 kibbles now that work with him we just want to do a little cook for them during the day. as even studies have shown that dry kibble from the store is not 100% nutritional filling as it should be, so that's why we just want to give them the best.

To me it sounds like your Westie is getting too much food.. I would highly recommend you find a canine nutritionist to talk to. What you are doing doesn't sound right. There is way more to home cooking than you think.

Hopefully someone comes on and can talk to you a little more, I know we have a handful of members that home cook. I will ask some of my friends that I know home cook to see if they could respond to you.

[chachi]

Originally Posted by scrufnjoey

the only time they touch the kibble is in the middle of the day inbetween cooked feedings. they are not eating 24/7 they are still eating their needed feeding servings a day.

for example our westiemix gets 2 cups services total a day so that is 1/2 cup cooked in the morning, 1 cup kibble middle day, and then 1/2 cup cooked in the evening. our yorkie if i do give him cooked he gets maybe gets 6 teaspoons of cooked food in the morning and evening(this comes out to equaling 1/4cup total) , dry kibble wise in the middle of the day he may eat 1/4 cup to 1/2cup.



I also should have said the loose stool issue i experience was when it was just our westie and we had him on completely cooked food because we couldn't find a kibble at the time yet that agreed with his allergies and body. but since then that has changed and we have 2 kibbles now that work with him we just want to do a little cook for them during the day. as even studies have shown that dry kibble from the store is not 100% nutritional filling as it should be, so that's why we just want to give them the best.

I understand why you want to do this but you can cause more harm than good by not doing it the right way. You can cause skeletal problems or problems with the organs by not feeding a balanced diet' you need a recipe from a nutritionist

[ritapatt]

I homecooked for a while when my Wheaten terrier's allergies were out of control. I found probiotics in addition to the food was a great help with her scratching. We have been back on kibble for quite a few years and I use one that has a fish protein as its only "meat" and grainfree(pea or potato), with lots of probiotics and digestive enzymes. Lucy is now 12 and the vet is amazed at how well she has done (she eats only 1/2 cup day and 1/2 cup night)

[scrufnjoey]

Originally Posted by lovespandp

To me it sounds like your Westie is getting too much food.. I would highly recommend you find a canine nutritionist to talk to. What you are doing doesn't sound right. There is way more to home cooking than you think.

Hopefully someone comes on and can talk to you a little more, I know we have a handful of members that home cook. I will ask some of my friends that I know home cook to see if they could respond to you.

thank you.

ive said that to my vet i think he's eating to much but the vet says its fine (our westie is a schnauzer mix so hes on the larger side not as small as the westie) we have been through a lot with him along the lines of his allergies and him keeping weight on so the 2cups a day feed rather all dry kibble or half cooked and half dry hes actually keeping weight on and at his weight he's suppose to be at.

i just went back and reread what i initially typed. i guess i should have worded it better. they dont have lose stools our westie did when we had to do solely cooked before finding a kibble that worked for him. i should of wording it asking if that little recipe that our vet gave us looked good or if the is another recipe that would be better or something we should be adding to that recipe since our vet isn't a complete specialist on it and the nutrionist i talked to on the phone said that would be okay and we give the multi vitamin that was recommended and still do dry kibble. I'm afraid to do completely cooked food only again since my past experience and the nutrionist over the phone that i was given the number for won't help me with that aspect without a sit down consult... im still looking for one that will talk with me over the phone more without requiring this to help me with my questions more (I dont mind paying for a phone consult but the one right now wont consult over the phone any more unless we see her so its just a pain lol).