Snickers is a MVD baby. When he was diagnosed at UT last summer, I discussed with his specialist there (who is also a nutritionist) about my desire to feed a home cooked diet. He was really sick at the time and tested positive for clostridial overgrowth also. We decided to put him on L/D for at least 6 months, until he was more stable.
He has been on a really strict diet of absolutely nothing other than l/d since last August. He gets L/D for food and he gets L/D for treats. He loves the food and has been doing pretty well on it.
But, I have always felt in my heart that home cooking was a better option. I have read about people who try it and have great success with it and feel it has improved the health of their dogs. I think my whole thing is that I want to know that with whatever happens later on, I did everything and all I could to help my dog live the highest quality of life possible. I don't want to regret when he is older that I could have done more to make his life longer or better.
My husband is not too thrilled about my home cooking plan. He's kind of got the mentality of if it isn't broke, don't fix it. He thinks that Snickers has been doing well on the L/D so we shouldn't change anything. I see his point, but what if he could do
better?
I recently went back to UT with Snickers and we had a nutrition consult there. We discussed the pros and cons of home cooking, which I am aware of from the research I have done on the subject. The Dr. said it was OK if I wanted to add a few veggies now as treats. So, last weekend I gave about 2 or 3 peas one night and then 3 or 4 the next....And Snickers also started getting sick again around the same time. Lethargic, vomiting and bloody diarrhea. Same as last year. Both the vet at UT and my local vet said that it was highly unlikely that those few peas caused him to get sick. My local vet said he thought the sudden symptoms returning could have been stress from traveling to UT and having all the tests and consults with the different Dr.'s there. My husband still thinks it was the peas, since that was the only thing different he has been fed since last summer.
This episode of Snickers getting sick just gives him more of a reason to think we shouldn't not change the L/D.
I personally think he may be jealous that I don't like to cook for us, but am more than willing to cook for the dog!
So, for all you who home cook: What is your argument for why you feel it has been the best for your dog? What kind of success have you had with it that I could share?