calliecritturs
Posted : 1/18/2009 2:21:24 PM
sillysally
Also, I think with special needs dogs it comes down to quality of life vs quantity of life. If a dog that has health issues is doing very well on a particular kibble and the owner wants to switch to homecooked because they've been told it's better for the dog, then the fact that the dog's condition could actually worsen must be factored in.
I have to qualify that and say it depends on WHO TOLD YOU to switch!!!
The big reason *I* homecook is because it actually LESSENS our vet bills. For example last Nov when Billy's liver values whacked out (for no discernable reason) the vet simply said to me "I want you to add pureed, uncooked wild greens and radishes to his diet to cleanse the liver ... and add at least a few shrimp to his diet for a couple of weeks"
I'm not sure if I said it above, but Prissy was the first dog I ever home-cooked for. That was 35 years ago -- and the vet handed me a recipe when I took her home after her pancreatitis (I spent the unheard of sum of $385 on my dog in hte "hospital" -- that was 3 months ... not four -- rent at the time). It had ground beef, white rice, garlic powder and an egg. That's all.
She essentially ate that for 18 more years (she lived to be almost 21). I didn't add "supplements" -- they were unheard of at that time. She did get the odd bit of one spaghetti noodle with sauce or a bit of dry hamburger (cos one tiny piece of even a pecan or walnut would make her sick enough to die!). Years later (like when she was 18) I began to mash up peas, carrots, and try to make them mush enough so she couldn't pick them OUT of her food.
There 's a middle ground between fear and not caring. And everyone has to find that for themselves. Now me? i'm willing to troll bodegas and fruit stands and find the veggies that don't "look" so nice, to add the fresh veggies. I slow-cooked kale all night (it is the biggest p.i.t.a. to cook but its food value is beyond compare) to break the darned stuff down enough so I didn't have to food process it into oblivion.
A whole lot of it is our individual lives and what we'll do. But (scarey thot that mudpuppy and I are SOOOOO in the same place with this *grin*) I don't meaure a thing. But I shudder when I think of how many people immediately translate "veggies" to mean carrots and that's all. As someone said above you DO have to educate yourself a bit on what nutritional value is in what veg.
My family NEVER got beyond carrots, peasa nd corn. My parents are in their late 80's and still eat that way. If you were to pick two veggies out of a vast list for the "worst" calcium/phosphorous ratio carrots and peas would be about at the top of the list (up there with buttnernut squash *LOL* -- my mother's "other" vegetable reserved for Thanksgiving)
I've been "cooking" for dogs for literally about 35 eyars. And honestly I've probably learned more in the past 8 years than the rest of the time all put together. But it's ALL been good.