[107barney]

I've been a home cooker now for my dogs for 12 years. I would never formulate a diet for a dog w/ a problem all by myself. I am experienced at this and probably could write my own diet of ingredients including supplementation but I don't. I consult with Dr. Remillard veterinary nutritionist and Diplomate of the ACVN and let her guide me. As much as I know about this topic from 12 years of doing it, I will never come close to knowing what she knows. I'll give you an example -- my dog Daisy is showing some very early signs of kidney disease. It is so early that it was picked up in her urine. Naturally, I want to slow the progression as much as possible. I took her to my vet, and then to her internal medicine specialist. Both of them had some diet suggestions. To be thorough, I emailed Dr. Remillard with whom I have a long relationship. She made a minor adjustment to Daisy's diet that no one else thought important to make. She is a specialist....to think I could ever come close to someone with all her experience who has worked in a large urban boston hospital that sees 40,000 animals per year and now at a large university vet school.....I could never do my dogs that injustice of leaving their nutritional needs to me and me alone.

Just my thoughts, take what you want from them.