Emmasmom
Forums Sage
Thanx Caro. I don't like the idea of eggshell either. Mine love scrambled eggs. We do ours in a pot with milk. Gives them some dairy as well.
Cooking for your dogs - how to supplement?
- Thread starter Emmasmom
- Start date
ClantyreSheltie
Forums Sage
I feed the shell. Some of my dogs ignore it, others run around and gobble up everyone elses.
k9kreationz
Forums Celebrity
Definitely get the book. Lots of great information.
After trying to feed Miko homecooked w/o help, I finally gave in to my vets recommendation on seeing a nutritionist. So I did. Cost a lot of money to get a menu created for a kidney dog. lol.
And YES, you do need to add supplements. The biggest concern to my vet and nutrionist was the lack of specific nutrients because I could not feed Miko just anything (kidneys). Now, can you feed Liam anything? Probably. Would it be more balanced than Miko's? Probably. But trust me, even if you add in vitamins, you still have to add more than just a multi-vitamin.
Not sure how money is for you, but I'd suggest a nutritionist consult. Some will give you human vitamins to use, others will use pre-made dog supplements (e.g. I use Balance IT, but there are many out there).
This is just MHO, coming from a poor person, who finally gave in and went to see one and realized I was close to doing it on my own, but still was lacking in some areas (nutrients). And, like I stated earlier, this is for a kidney dog, so its harder to balance their diets, which means it should be easier for you to balance a diet for Liam.
If you do want a nutrionist referral, let me know. There are a couple that I know of.
After trying to feed Miko homecooked w/o help, I finally gave in to my vets recommendation on seeing a nutritionist. So I did. Cost a lot of money to get a menu created for a kidney dog. lol.
And YES, you do need to add supplements. The biggest concern to my vet and nutrionist was the lack of specific nutrients because I could not feed Miko just anything (kidneys). Now, can you feed Liam anything? Probably. Would it be more balanced than Miko's? Probably. But trust me, even if you add in vitamins, you still have to add more than just a multi-vitamin.
Not sure how money is for you, but I'd suggest a nutritionist consult. Some will give you human vitamins to use, others will use pre-made dog supplements (e.g. I use Balance IT, but there are many out there).
This is just MHO, coming from a poor person, who finally gave in and went to see one and realized I was close to doing it on my own, but still was lacking in some areas (nutrients). And, like I stated earlier, this is for a kidney dog, so its harder to balance their diets, which means it should be easier for you to balance a diet for Liam.
If you do want a nutrionist referral, let me know. There are a couple that I know of.
Emmasmom
Forums Sage
To see a nutritionist I would have to travel to Guelph, which is a good two hours or more from here. That just doesn't fit in with what is going. I have to take Liam back to the vet's in a couple of weeks, so I'll talk to him then. I can probably get by with just about anything with this dog who eats just about anything. I was looking at some supplements today in the pet store but need to do some more research. One was a kelp supplement.
k9kreationz
Forums Celebrity
You can do it online. That's how I did it. I didn't travel anywhere to get my special diet created. And knowing Liam doesn't have any special concerns, I think you can get a "basic" menu cheaper.
Definitely research the different supplements and what is in them. I mean, if you overall cover the basics, you can probably get away with some sort of multivitamin. Us kidney dog ppl would use http://nutritiondata.self.com to see how balanced we are. You can go there and input a menu and see what it's lacking. That way, you can tell what kind of vitamins you need. Granted, this is for humans, so I'm not sure how it'd differ for dogs.
You can call Natures Farmacy, they sell everything but more important they will talk with you about your dogs issues and what to feed. They also suggest supplements. Good luck, my Max has pancreatitis, hypothyroidism etc. so I am very caucious. This forum has helped alot and i use an allergist besides a vet because Max has auch bad allergies.
Lynne
Lynne
Emmasmom
Forums Sage
I gave in
I got thinking about raw and realized that when I was a kid, we did feed raw. We could get soup bones from the butcher that had enough meat left on to make a nice pot of soup. These were considered scraps 45 years ago and cost nothing. The dogs always enjoyed a nice raw bone.
I have now been feeding Liam raw since last Friday night - a mix of ground meats, pureed cooked California style veggies, and cottage cheese for each meal. The girls have gotten raw at suppertime only. Last night, they had sardines instead of cottage cheese. Liam's system seems to be handling this much better than even the canned. If push comes to shove, I will cook the food. I have not talked to the vet yet about this, but have to take Liam in for the first series of his boosters (given what he has been through, the vet suggested on his own that we wait to give the boosters and then split them up instead of giving all at once. What a great vet!).
I did get Lew Olson's book, which is great. Just looking now at supplements for Liam to get him built back up. I have Plaque-Off now that I add to the food for the teeth.
I got thinking about raw and realized that when I was a kid, we did feed raw. We could get soup bones from the butcher that had enough meat left on to make a nice pot of soup. These were considered scraps 45 years ago and cost nothing. The dogs always enjoyed a nice raw bone.
I have now been feeding Liam raw since last Friday night - a mix of ground meats, pureed cooked California style veggies, and cottage cheese for each meal. The girls have gotten raw at suppertime only. Last night, they had sardines instead of cottage cheese. Liam's system seems to be handling this much better than even the canned. If push comes to shove, I will cook the food. I have not talked to the vet yet about this, but have to take Liam in for the first series of his boosters (given what he has been through, the vet suggested on his own that we wait to give the boosters and then split them up instead of giving all at once. What a great vet!).
I did get Lew Olson's book, which is great. Just looking now at supplements for Liam to get him built back up. I have Plaque-Off now that I add to the food for the teeth.