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The dog food
you're buying is bad for your dog
Read why I quit feeding my
dogs commercial dog food here: What's
Really in Pet Food -- An API Report
I'm feeding my dogs home made food. After doing some research
on "dog food" and the ingredients that most
manufacturers put in it, I decided the dogs were worth 20 minutes
a day and started feeding them fresh good food. I started at the
end of August, 1997.
My experiences
| It's July 02, 1999 now and I'm
still making my dog's food. It is way easier than I
thought it would be. I spend about 30 minutes every three
days to feed my two dogs (one 55 lbs., one 75 lbs.). I'm
spending about $60 a month. Mostly
they get Doggy Oats, a recipe by Dr. Richard H. Pitcairn,
D.V.M & Susan Hubble Pitcairn in their book Natural
Health for Dogs & Cats. It's a mixture of cooked
oatmeal (or other grains), uncooked
ground turkey (or other uncooked meats),
raw grated vegetables, and some supplements for vitamins
and minerals. It's really easy to make, boil the water
for the oats, pour them in and let them soak for 15 or so
minutes, then mix in the other stuff. I make enough for 3
days at a time and keep the extra in the refrigerator.
They also get uncooked bones for their teeth and for the
extra calcium. I feed them beef bones, chicken thighs
with some of the meat cut off or chicken wings or backs
when I've got some extra money to spend on them.
Sometimes if I have no food cooked, and no time to boil
the water for oats, I'll just give them a whole uncooked
chicken apiece. They really
like that.
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What changes have I noticed in the dogs?
The biggest change in both dogs has been their
skin and coat. Toby (my Chow-mix) has always had skin problems.
He used to chew on himself and scratch all the time (during the
summer he used to chew all the fur off by the base of his tail).
He smelled "doggy". He shed lots of hair all the time.
Now he hardly ever scratches, he doesn't smell bad (I haven't
given either dog a bath since I started making their food), and
he sheds less. He has also had chronic ear problems because of
his floppy ears. That became much better in the first 6 months.
Both dogs have amazingly soft thick coats now.
The vet says they are exceptionally healthy, and have beautiful
white teeth (I'm way too lazy to brush my dogs teeth, and they've
never had their teeth cleaned). Friends of mine with dogs tell me
they wish their dogs coats were as soft and full as my dogs.
Trade offs
Time--It does take more time to feed
them this way than it does to pour 25 lbs. of kibble into the
feeder and let them eat it. I think the better health that my
dogs are in is more than worth 10 minutes a day
of my time.
Feeding raw meat--Some people think it
is too dangerous to feed raw meat to their dogs and cats. When I
first decided to feed something besides commercial dog food, I
was kind of worried about parasites and bacteria in raw meat
harming my dogs, but I've found out:
- Dogs and cats have much shorter digestive
tracts than humans so the meat isn't in their system as
long
- Dogs (I don't know about cats) usually
throw up if they eat something too nasty for their system.
- They have stronger stomach acids than
humans, which helps kill bad stuff.
- It's what they evolved to eat. Dogs and
their ancestors have been eating raw meat for a long time,
it's what their systems are designed to digest and use.
I think feeding home cooked dog food with
cooked meat is way better than feeding commercial dog food, but
cooking the meat breaks down and destroys vitamins and enzymes
the dog needs. You should do what you and your vet feel most
comfortable with.
Bones (and chicken bones)--I've had dogs
ever since I was little and have always heard "Don't feed
dogs chicken bones because they will splinter and choke/kill them".
I always belived this until I found the K9 cuisine list. There I
found a bunch of crazy people who were feeding their dogs raw
(all this pertains to UNCOOKED chicken bones, cooked
chicken bones are much more brittle and I don't recommend that
you feed them to your dog) chicken wings, backs, and
other bony chicken parts. It seems none of their dogs were dying
from eating chicken bones! (There have been a few people who have
said that bones may have caused some abrasions to their
dog's esophagus, and my vet told me she has seen raw chicken
bones that splintered and caused intestinal blockage and
perforated intestines)
I think it probably could be dangerous to feed
your dog smaller bones that could splinter. I do feed these to my
dogs because I think the risk is very low. They both chew up
their raw chicken pieces thoroughly, crunching the bones up
pretty small. I watch them while they are eating and after they've
eaten just in case... They enjoy chicken parts, their teeth stay
clean, it's keeping them healthy, so I give them chicken parts.
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Last revised: July 02, 1999
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