Who mixes kibble & homecooked??

    • Gold Top Dog

    Who mixes kibble & homecooked??

    Do any of you mix kibble with homecooked in the same meal??  Has your dog done well on this?  Thanks. 
    • Gold Top Dog
    This is not what I call home cooked but I do cook meat lightly, (either ground beef, pork, or turkey and occasionally chicken) and mix cooked veggies in it, sometimes a can of pumpkin or babyfood veggies and add on top of her kibble in her dinner meal. She also gets yogurt every meal, and in the morning she gets a raw egg on top of her kibble instead of the meat.
    • Gold Top Dog
    That's sort of what I do too, Dyan.  But, Willow only gets the lightly cooked meats and maybe some broccoli mixed in too when I have it. 
     
    She should be fine with this, right??
    • Gold Top Dog
    Before I got Bubblegum I used to do it for Ollie, now I buy double meat and veggies and cook if for them both. I freeze Ollies in yogurt containers and when I see Mike once a week I give them to him.  Of course now that I the place I worked at closed down,,,DH buys the meat,,,,just that he doesn't know it.  LOL!
    • Gold Top Dog
    I always did, until recently. I almost never fed a dog a bowl of plain kibble. I've ALWAYS put canned, or cooked or raw meat and veggies on it.
    • Gold Top Dog
    If I were to just straight homecook, I'd need to add organ meat to her diet, right?  But, if I use a kibble base I won't have to??  Is that right?  She can't eat organ meat for the most part, it flares up the IBS.  So, I want to be able to cook a lot for her but still have her getting the right nutrition.  I'm tired of spending so much on i/d when she can also tolerate me cooking.  So, I'd like to take a little break from the i/d.  At least for the summer, when it will be easy for me to get groceries. 
    • Gold Top Dog
    Have you tried the dehydrated liver?  Or other organs - kidney or brains?  Sometimes chicken liver is less 'rich' than beef liver.

    Otherwise, whether or not she'll do ok on cooked and raw in the same meal will depend on the individual dog.  Some have cast-iron stomachs and seem to have NO problem with it.  Some can't even LOOK at kibble mixed with anything! :)
    • Gold Top Dog
    In the beginning I used to put meat in w/the kibble but not anymore. Now they get a kibble meal and a homecooked meal w/fresh veggies, fruits, yogurt and fish for snacks.  I feed them beef liver once a week, I grill it lightly in olive oil and garlic powder and then cut it up really small and mix it into a huge bowl of pulverized mixed veggies and mashed sweet & white potatoes or brown rice along w/apples, cranberries, melon or whatever other fruit I happen to have onhand, plus the appropriate amount of The Missing Link to supplement.  I also feed chicken livers, gizzards,  fresh salmon filets, fresh trout or whiting , canned mackeral or tuna, ground turkey, ground buffalo or lamb. I can't get any other kinds of organ meats here. No one sells kidneys or green tripe and the butcher didn't even know what 'sweetbreads' were !!
         When I do want to feed 'meat' w/kibble, I buy Pet Botanics dogfood rolls. They're solid meat like a summer sausage and made with lamb or beef or chicken and includes all the organ meats like liver, kidneys, lungs, hearts,etc plus usually rice, omega 3 & 6 , rosemary, vitamins & minerals.  The dogs go crazy for it. I just cut off a big hunk and grate it into their food. I also cut it up and use it for training treats or to shred into other recipes like when I make homemade dog biscuits. It's great for when you're away from the house too. They come in 2oz, 8 oz, 1lb,3lb and 5lb sizes and keep in the fridge for weeks and on the shelf unopened for months.
        I just find that if I'm going to go through the trouble of cooking meat, I'm going to cook the entire meal . I feed Timberwolf kibble and the dogs love it so I don't have to add anything to it. I had to add stuff before to kibble that the dogs weren't too crazy about just to make them eat it.
    • Gold Top Dog
    I feed 2/3 kibble and 1/3 homecooked at each meal.  I learned by reading Monica Segal's book and booklets.  Callie suggested her to me.  She even has a booklet specifically on supplementing kibble called Enhancing Commercial Diets.  Here's a link to her site:
     
    http://www.monicasegal.com/
     
     
    • Gold Top Dog
    I do the same as luvarescue,coz my dogs WONT eat a large enough variety of fresh foods,they get kibble mixed in with every meal(evo&innova),be it raw or homecooked.
    • Gold Top Dog
    I mix kibble and meatloaf for the evening meal.  However, the last 2 nights my brindle boy got cooked chicken breast and meatloaf at dinner.  (Special treat for a job well done.)
    • Gold Top Dog
    I do not put real meat on kibble because Bubby won't eat Kibble without it, in fact she LOVES kibble,,and she LOVES to eat.  I add it because I feel that it is added protein and of course the veggies have added vitamins.
    • Gold Top Dog
    So, at the moment, Willow is getting 1/2 cup kibble and about 1/4 cup of a mix of beef and broccoli (the veggie, is cooked and mashed).  Does that sound about right??  She's lovin' it which is very, VERY odd for her and it's also agreeing with her.  So, if I'm good I don't want to rock the boat. 

    Do I need a vitamin if I've got kibble??  I don't want to overdo it either.
     
    Edited to add----She's getting this mix 3x's per day.  Didn't want anyone to think the poor kid is starving! 

    THANKS!! 
    • Gold Top Dog
    One of the reasons I continue to feed only 1/3 of my dog's diet kibble is just so that I don't have to supplement (per Monica Segal).  I also am very careful about the phosphrous/calcium ratio of the homecooked I give my dogs, as one is 11 years old and I am paranoid about kidney disease.  Both beef and brocolli are high in phos so I don't feed them (however, you can feed them if you pair with a veggie that is very high in calcium so that the meal has the proper ratio).
    • Gold Top Dog
    Well, I add Solid Gold Bonemeal to the beef does that help any??
     
    Also wanted to add---Willow is very fussy and also has intestingal problems so I only have a small amount of stuff I can mix in that she'll eat and/or be able to eat without problems. 
     
    I've looked at Monica's site and do intend to get a few of those booklets!  Thanks.