Thinking of switching to homecooked meals instead of commercial

https://naturesfarmacy.com/blog/natures-farmacy-homemade-diet/

 

Sorry for reviving a months old post, but I’m thinking of doing the same and it seemed silly to start a new thread on it. Have you tried making your own food yet? If so, how is it going along?

I was feeding my 2y/o guy Orijen until my vet suggested to switch him to something with grains. We went with Fromm, which has oatmeal in it. But he’s gained so much weight despite us feeding him slightly less than the recommendations. He’s also developed redness in his ears (which our vet noted but said they were clear of any infections) And he has begun to itch his face against the carpet.

I’m going back to Orijen but did some more digging around this forum and saw that something that high in protein isn’t necessarily great if he’s not incredibly active. I mean, he’s an energetic boy but a far cry from a farm dog.

 

Actually, I use their probiotics for him! I think it was recommended to me from this forum - possibly by you a couple years ago!

It’s works super well for him. I’ll definitely be reaching out to them, thank you so much for the advice.

 

Wow, that’s great news! I’ve seen a lot of mentions given to Balance IT and I’ll be checking that out as well.

He didn’t have any itchiness, bloating, or redness before we switched to Fromm. Before that, he was getting 1/2 Orijen and 1/2 Tucker’s Frozen Raw with some pumpkin occasionally. But we switched to Fromm when we switched vets because they said he shouldn’t be eating grain free because of the potential heart issue that’s come up. Since switching him (it’s been about six weeks) he’s gained several pounds and all the itchiness began.

My mom’s dog is severely allergic to something. Itching, chronic ear infections, tummy troubles, you name it. So it definitely seems like a really mild version of what I’ve seen in my moms dog. (He’s okay though - he can eat Zignature Kangaroo recipe with no reaction)

 

Did the Orijen and Fromm have the same protein source? Often it's the protein they react to. In any case whatever diet you end up with, it should NOT be high protein for Shelties, 28% or so tops.

 

We would switch up the flavors for him at every bag, so protein sources rotated. It is a pretty high protein content so we’ve been adding some fresh veggies like carrots and string beans plus some oatmeal. It’s admittedly not very scientific though.