Do you cook for the whole week when feeding a homemade diet?

[BabieChloe]

I tried The Honest Kitchen for Chloe and she loved it BUT.. her poop was literally (and I'm not exaggerating!).. the size of the whole length of her body. So, that is probably not a good idea to feed her that.

I want to feed her dry food less, I've been feeding her Wellness but I'm starting to doubt theres any health benefits in it because it has a lot of "meal" in it. Any better suggestions for more natural kibble or something closer to homemade?

For a homemade diet.. I'm getting scared to try because I know that she needs many vitamins/nutrients that just baked chicken and a sweet potato can't give her. Also, how much do you cook.. is it for the whole week and then portions are frozen until ready to eat? How do you measure food amount? I currently feed her 1/4 cup of dry food a day with added fruit or cottage cheese for breakfast and boiled chicken or vegetables for dinner. For vitamins/supplements.. what do you add? I have heard of BalanceIt but it isn't sold in any store beside me so I wanted to know if there are other options?


Thank you!

[107barney]

BalanceIt is sold online and it's the only appropriate addition to a home cooked diet. What you are currently doing is bad news, I know you won't like me saying that, but it's true. If you aren't going to home cook properly then you should feed commercial food.

[107barney]

Revised to add: it's the only appropriate all-in-one product. You can add human supplements but it's difficult.

[BabieChloe]

Originally Posted by 107barney

BalanceIt is sold online and it's the only appropriate addition to a home cooked diet. What you are currently doing is bad news, I know you won't like me saying that, but it's true. If you aren't going to home cook properly then you should feed commercial food.

What part was bad news.. dry food (Wellness) with added fruits or veggies? I didn't start to home cook yet. I think you might have misread my post.. I meant that I add the chicken/veggies to dry food.

[107barney]

Originally Posted by BabieChloe

What part was bad news.. dry food (Wellness) with added fruits or veggies? I didn't start to home cook yet. I think you might have misread my post.. I meant that I add the chicken/veggies to dry food.

No, I read it correctly. You shouldn't add all these foods to commercial food because you're throwing the nutrients ratios off and unbalancing her commercial diet.

[megansmomma]

Originally Posted by BabieChloe

I tried The Honest Kitchen for Chloe and she loved it BUT.. her poop was literally (and I'm not exaggerating!).. the size of the whole length of her body. So, that is probably not a good idea to feed her that.

I want to feed her dry food less, I've been feeding her Wellness but I'm starting to doubt theres any health benefits in it because it has a lot of "meal" in it. Any better suggestions for more natural kibble or something closer to homemade?

For a homemade diet.. I'm getting scared to try because I know that she needs many vitamins/nutrients that just baked chicken and a sweet potato can't give her. Also, how much do you cook.. is it for the whole week and then portions are frozen until ready to eat? How do you measure food amount? I currently feed her 1/4 cup of dry food a day with added fruit or cottage cheese for breakfast and boiled chicken or vegetables for dinner. For vitamins/supplements.. what do you add? I have heard of BalanceIt but it isn't sold in any store beside me so I wanted to know if there are other options?

I feed 1/4 C of kibble to each of mine twice daily and they are all over 10 lbs. If you are feeding this amount and adding cottage cheese, fruit, chicken and vegetables you over feeding Chloe. Over time feeding Chloe this will will eventually catch up and not in a positive manner.

Originally Posted by 107barney

Revised to add: it's the only appropriate all-in-one product. You can add human supplements but it's difficult.

As for the above statement, my suggestion to you BabyChloe is to listen up to 107Barney. She is very experienced with home cooking, uses a veterinary nutritionist to managed all of her dogs who have a variety of different issues and has done so under the guidance of Dr. Remillard for many years.

If you are serious regarding home cooking it needs to be done properly or not done at all. It's your choice, BabyChloe is counting on you to feed her properly. Good luck

[Teegy]

Feed-Sentials | Pawsitive Canine Connection
check out feedsentials.
Feeding chicken and sweet potato is not going to give your dog a balanced meal, you will need to look into other options. There are great books out there with homecooking recipes from Lew Olsson, Monica Segal have great books

[yorkiemini]

Just a reminder: don't add the Balance It until AFTER you have heated the food to serve.

[rubymoon2072]

Originally Posted by 107barney

BalanceIt is sold online and it's the only appropriate addition to a home cooked diet. What you are currently doing is bad news, I know you won't like me saying that, but it's true. If you aren't going to home cook properly then you should feed commercial food.

I am going to look into this thank you for the info.

[katy-yorkie]

Originally Posted by 107barney

BalanceIt is sold online and it's the only appropriate addition to a home cooked diet. What you are currently doing is bad news, I know you won't like me saying that, but it's true. If you aren't going to home cook properly then you should feed commercial food.

She has it going on in the home cooking department. I hope to be half as good as she is. I will never be as good...thank-you so much for all of the help and advice you have given me. I will keep trying...(if you want a good laugh at my expense, just ask).

[Britster]

Originally Posted by yorkiemini

Just a reminder: don't add the Balance It until AFTER you have heated the food to serve.

I was wondering about this. So if I cooked a weeks worth batch of food and stored in fridge, when it came down to meal time, I would just have to add in the Balanceit supplement and mix it in for that particular meal?

I was confused because I saw this on carnivore blend; PLEASE NOTE preparation instructions for dogs and cats provided on bottle for chicken, beef and tilapia. This supplement is designed to be cooked along with the protein source

I'll probably just e-mail them but didn't know if any one here on YT knew the answer to this.

Also... is a scale absolutely necessary for cooking for one dog?

[BabieChloe]

I’m suppose to feed Chloe 1/2 cup of wellness dry food a day according to the bag but since I add extras to it I give her 1/4 of a cup. I don’t think that’s overfeeding her, considering she won’t touch the food unless I add something that she likes.. also considering many other members here add fresh food such as small amounts of boiled chicken as well. She’s also been at the same weight for several months so I’m assuming the portion is fine.

I would, however, like to cook balanced meals for her instead of the dry food altogether which is why I came to ask for the opinion and advice of this forum. I’m new to cooking for a dog so I really don’t know if there is anything else that is the same as BalanceIT. If it’s the only and best supplement - that’s fine with me, then that’s the one I’ll get. I just didn’t want to start unless I know all the details on how to make a balanced meal for her since she isn’t really eating the dry food on its own, anyway.

Thank you for the advice everyone!

[107barney]

Originally Posted by Britster

I was wondering about this. So if I cooked a weeks worth batch of food and stored in fridge, when it came down to meal time, I would just have to add in the Balanceit supplement and mix it in for that particular meal?

I was confused because I saw this on carnivore blend; PLEASE NOTE preparation instructions for dogs and cats provided on bottle for chicken, beef and tilapia. This supplement is designed to be cooked along with the protein source

I'll probably just e-mail them but didn't know if any one here on YT knew the answer to this.

Also... is a scale absolutely necessary for cooking for one dog?

Carnivore blends get cooked into the meat.
Regular balance it is added after.

[107barney]

Originally Posted by BabieChloe

I’m suppose to feed Chloe 1/2 cup of wellness dry food a day according to the bag but since I add extras to it I give her 1/4 of a cup. I don’t think that’s overfeeding her, considering she won’t touch the food unless I add something that she likes.. also considering many other members here add fresh food such as small amounts of boiled chicken as well. She’s also been at the same weight for several months so I’m assuming the portion is fine.

I would, however, like to cook balanced meals for her instead of the dry food altogether which is why I came to ask for the opinion and advice of this forum. I’m new to cooking for a dog so I really don’t know if there is anything else that is the same as BalanceIT. If it’s the only and best supplement - that’s fine with me, then that’s the one I’ll get. I just didn’t want to start unless I know all the details on how to make a balanced meal for her since she isn’t really eating the dry food on its own, anyway.

Thank you for the advice everyone!

You can add human supplements but it's difficult and more expensive.
Is Chloe a year old yet?

[107barney]

Originally Posted by Britster

I was wondering about this. So if I cooked a weeks worth batch of food and stored in fridge, when it came down to meal time, I would just have to add in the Balanceit supplement and mix it in for that particular meal?

I was confused because I saw this on carnivore blend; PLEASE NOTE preparation instructions for dogs and cats provided on bottle for chicken, beef and tilapia. This supplement is designed to be cooked along with the protein source

I'll probably just e-mail them but didn't know if any one here on YT knew the answer to this.

Also... is a scale absolutely necessary for cooking for one dog?

The scale is definitely better than volume measurements but no, it's not imperative.