vita gravy

I think it would be good if you are not giving them any vitamins currently....may also help entice eating.

I tried it a long time ago... none of them would eat the food when we put it on there.

I tried this about 6 years ago and my dog loved it. []

Papillon,
 
Why give it to them only if they are not taking any vitamins?  I give Jake EFA Vites, so why would this be a bad thing to add if he gets a vitamin already?

none of them would eat the food when we put it on there.

 
Same result here.
 

Sorry I have to throw this in here:

Ingredients: Natural Vegetarian Broth (Beef, Chicken, Ham depending on flavor), Rice Flower, Safflower Oil, Natural Flavors, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Honey, Carrots, Potato, Celery, Vitamin Suppliment Premix: (A, D, E, Thiamine HCL, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pyridoxine HCL, B12 & Biotin), Tomato Paste, Garlic, Mineral Premix: (Calcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Magnesium, Oxide Maganese sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Iron Oxide and Copper Sulfate), Lemon Juice, Caramel Color, Xanthan Gum.http://www.petpro-products.com/nutritional-info.html#Ingredients

Hydrolyzed Soy Protein (this is nasty stuff)http://www.soyinfo.com/soydefs.shtml

The extraction process of hydrolysis involves boiling in a vat of acid (e.g., sulfuric acid) and then neutralizing the solution with a caustic soda. The resultant sludge is scraped off the top and allowed to dry. In addition to soy protein it contains free-form excitotoxic amino acids (e.g., MSG) and other potentially harmful chemicals including cancer-causing chemicals in many cases. A newer method of hydrolysis involves the use of bacteria by itself or in addition to the chemical processes described above. There is a possibility that genetically-manipulated bacteria may be used.

The food industry sometimes uses large amount of hydrolyzed proteins as a "taste enhancer" because it contains significant amounts of MSG (monosodium glutamate). This is what is known in the food industry as "Clean Labels" -- adding MSG to food, without having to list it as "MSG" on the label.

In almost all cases, hydrolyzed soy protein contains a significant amount of genetically-manipulated soy. The hydrolyzed protein products currently added to foods should be considered a detriment to one's health.

Am I missing something here? How can you have "natural vegetarian" beef, chicken, or ham broth?

Kelly,
 
Thanks so much for that info.  I had no idea!  Forget it!  I'm not using that stuff.  I appreciate you letting me know.
 
Michelle

Kelly, Maybe they use "natural artifical flavoring" depending on the flavor! LOL

Why is his food dry? My homecooked food is quite wet.

Maybe try adding some fish oil?

Shelley, I too was wondering how you are cooking it to make it dry? When I homecooked for Mattie, most of the time it was like making beef stew or chicken soup for yourself. If it was boneless meat, I would brown it a little in olive oil, add some water, and let it simmer a couple hours, then add the cut up veggies,simmer til tender. Meat with bones, cook like chicken soup. Simmer chicken, rabbit, whatever meat your using, in enough water to cover . Simmer several hours til meat comes off the bones easily. Remove all bones, add cut up veggies, simmer til tender.Then you could throw in some pasta and cook til done . Then just divide up into containers for storage.For plain veggies, I bake whole sweet potatoes, and halved acorn squash on a cookie sheet for around an hour. While those are baking I cook sliced zuchini in a little water on the stove in one pan, and cook cubed turnip in another. Scrape out squash and sweet potatoes into food processor along with the zuke and turnip (with their liquid) . I open a can of sardines in spring water, and pour the juice in with the veggies . The sardines go in the fridge , she gets a piece with every meal.Whir it all up, divide into portions and freeze.I just take a portion out every night and put it in the fridge, its thawed by the next day.She loves this stuff, its the first thing she eats out of her dish, every time. I  stir her supplements in before serving.

shorthair,
 
I have been boiling his boneless meat.  I have now started broiling it in the oven, so I have the meat juices from it.  I broil it plain.  I also boil sweet potatoes with skin and cut them up.  He gets sardines in soybean oil and I add 2 teaspoons of canola oil to his food.  He gets veggies too.  But for some reason it's all dry when I go reheat it the next day.  I was thinking of putting it in a pan with another teaspoon of canola oil and heating it up that way.  What do you think?
 
Also, I want to make zucchini for Jake.  How do you make it.  Just slice and it boil it?  For how long?

You could make gravy from the meat juices, and pour that over his potatoes and veggies.  Or, he might like it if you cooked everything together to make soup or stew. That way the veggies would have some of the flavor of the meat.  You can season it, too, the same way you would if making soup for yourself (no onions, of course).  I used to make chicken soup for my dog's meals, as it was easy to mix the supplements into the broth.

Why reheat?

Are you pouring out the water from the sweet potatoes?

Yes, just slice thinly and cook in a covered pot in a small amount of water. Stir a couple times , they will get a little translucent green looking after maybe 5 min. Blend them up with the liquid. I think you'd be better off making your meat like you would stew, but without thickening it with flour at the end like you would people stew.Then you have a lot of nice meaty "juice" to go with it, it won't be dry.You don't need to reheat it. Make a week or twos worth at a time and divide up into daily portions in either freezer bags or the gladware freezable storage containers. .I use a piece of making tape on the gladware to write on.  I feed raw know, but I still cook her veggies as I stated above. I still do the same thing, when I bring home her meat , it gets cut up into her daily portions.I  write on the container for instance," beef and beef liver", or" turkey neck and lamb".I have her "menu" on a calendar, so after I feed her this morning, I look on her calendar and see that I need to pull out a package of rabbit from the freezer  for tommorow . Tonite , I will ull out beef heart and a container of veggies. That way everything has 24 hr to defrost in the fridge. It makes it a lot easier.