Homecooked meals

[Punkygirl0101]

Background:
My middle aged-senior Chihuahua Lucy was rescued from a neglectful home where she was starved. She weighed 1.3 pounds when we rescued her and she currently weighs 2.3 pounds, but definitely should weight more around 3-3.5 pounds. She is still skinny. She is VERY picky! She won't touch kibble. She will eat wet food, but only once a day and teeny tiny amount. She won't eat treats. My mom made her some homecooked food (She put chicken noodle soup,chopped unseasoned baked chicken,peas,and carrots. Lucy LOVED it, and has been eating it TWICE a day! That is a first for her, she would never eat anything twice a day. I think i found the perfect food for her that she likes and will actually eat a decent amount of.

My question is, is whats in it all that should be in it? What should I put in it? Does she need to be supplemented with anything else? If you feed home cooked food what do you put in it?

 

[PoodleMommy]

just be careful with the chicken noodle soup most of the store bought ones are very high in sodium.. I would just boil the chicken yourself and use the broth that it naturally makes...

If you plan to do homecooking I would buy Dr. Pitcarin's (sp?) book.

Just a heads up it will be a lot of work... it takes a lot of effort to get the right ratio of ingredients.

When I was dealing with a picky dog the vet told me if at least 50% of their diet was a balanced dog food then you could be less concerned with the ratios. I would make a mixture of brown rice and sweet potato and chicken or ground beef and some veggies and then add crushed kibble to it.

So glad that finally ended though because it took so much effort.

good luck.

 

[Linds]

Could just be me, but homeCOOKED meals seem a lot harder to balance and get all the nutrients added back in than raw meals.

So I would definitely do a lot of research on how to balance a cooked meal for a dog. But then again it could just be me who is intimidated by homecooked meals for a complete diet.

Good luck!

 

[noludoru]

Agree on research.. other than that, VARIETY. That is the key. Different veggies/fruits/protein sources every couple of weeks at least.

 

[Punkygirl0101]

I know Lucy wouldn't eat raw. We are talking about an extremely picky dog. She would rather starve herself then eat certain things.

 

[ihartgonzo]

You DEFINITELY need to add a source of calcium to her diet... at the very, very least. There are many websites out there that give specific ratios as far as how much bone meal to feed per ounce of muscle meat. She will also need some organs in her diet.

If you're feeding veggies, peas and carrots are not all that vitamin-rich. You want to be feeding lots of leafy greens, tomatoes, kelp, etc.

Home-cooked is MUCH more than making some meat and throwing in some carbs and vegetables... it really can be a challenge, but it sounds like it's worth it for your girl! You need to balance calcium and phosphorus, research what veggies will provide the nutrients she needs, and feed the necessary supplements and/or multi-vitamins. And, like Nolu said, you should be feeding variety.

There are lots of good home-cooking Yahoo and Livejournal groups. : )

 

[Tess32]

It's going to be hard for you to balance that diet. You do need to add a calcium source, and you do need to add the same nutrients that offal/liver provides.

 

[SJ_Bostons]

I would add a high quality multi-vitamin to her food or give it by mouth (we use fosters & smith brand vitamins)

 

[girlbuffalo1]

For calcium if you don't want to use bones you can use ground up egg shells. Eggs are also good in their food. Other veggies can include broccoli, sweet potatoes, zucchini, ect