[gemy]

I really dis-like some of what goes on in these threads. My experience with kibble with my first male, I have shared before, he was fine up until about 11 months old, then wow diarrehea, I switched to two diff other kibble brands again top name and same thing, okay for two weeks then liquid diarrehea. In desperation I changed to raw. And it has worked for 6+ years for him. If as sometimes happen when I travel and can't get to raw or homecooked, and have to feed 2lbs of kibble a day, now on the third or fourth day he has diarrehea of the very loose kind. Obviously something disagreed with him in the kibble, that is not present in the raw and or home cooked meals.

When Zoey got sick, I had to switch fully to home made, as the vet hospitals were going to institute some pretty stringent handling requirements of her. When Zoey got sick again with cancer I maintained the home cooked as I knew her immune system was compromised and I did not want to stress it further. Neither sickness had one lick of anything to do with feeding raw/or home cooked.

And yes home cooked or raw with bearded breeds I wash down the beard. It is just a lot cleaner and keeps their beards mat free. Home cooked or raw their stainless steel dishes are washed in very very hot water and soap twice per day - it only takes a few minutes. And for me personally I worry more about the paws outside especially in summer with free pesticide use, and in winter when the salt trucks are out, then if they chew a few raw bones a week. I wash paws a lot in summer (unless we are swimming that day), and daily in winter especially when the bloody salt trucks are out. Their retrieve toys are always washed in very hot soapy water every day that we use them.

Personally I love the links LadyJane and 107Barney provides, and the links of Teegy and other members.

Let us remember to recognize that we are as passionately dedicated to the health and well-being of our pets as every poster on this thread is.

For me it is quite obvious the number of kibble recalls every year. If you can home cook to a vet nutriontists diet plan, and or do a Raw Balanced Diet, why ever would you buy kibble? On the other hand there are dogs that do alright on these kibble meals, and some of the prescription diets I understand are very very effective for certain diseases.

Gawd knows these Yorkies only eat what 1/2 to 3/4 cup a day, how hard can it be to home cook? Try feeding two dogs who eat 4lbs a day, and then understand that it is a labour of gladly given love to feed my beasties a well balanced home cooked diet.