Vasquezrocks

ThatOwlWoman said:
It sounds as though vets are sometimes like human physicians -- pushing stuff on their patients because a food or pharm company provides benefits to doing so.

We haven't had a dog companion for many, many years. Question: Is it difficult to fix a nutritious and balanced diet for them using your own ingredients, like you do for your human family?
Click to expand...

Yeah, it kinda is. We all know our human dietary needs pretty well, but our pets are a different matter. Each pet is different and, unfortunately, they can’t verbalize what’s going on. For instance, what will be their protein source? ALWAYS chicken? Beef? Pork? We can change ours to even include beans, etc. Not so easy with pets. The right balance of omega-3 and 6 for their coats. The right balance of protein, fiber and fat. All of that.

I have an open bowl for my dogs and always have. Never a problem with weight gain. But some dogs will eat til they puke. There are different dietary needs at different stages in life.

Find a high quality food and stay with it. That’s been my experience.

The first ingredient on the label should identify the protein source. Not “meat” or “meat by-products”. Beef, chicken, pork, etc. “Meal” (ie chicken meal) has greater nutritional density than just the meat itself. Meal is merely dehydrated meat. That should be number one. Avoid fillers like corn and wheat as a major product.

So you see, lots of isdues to balance the diet of YOUR particular pet.
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
A lot of those are no-nos for many animals, including avians. Raw meat though -- what is the problem with that? Have they lost the ability to fully digest it?

I was thinking more of a person preparing some sort of special cooked burger for his/her dog every day, amount based on the body weight and activity level of the dog. Maybe rotating ground turkey, chicken, and lean beef, with a "filler" of whole grain flour/crumbs, some nutritionally-dense minced veggies, and vet-recommended supplementary vitamins.

Of course, given what a lot of working parents feed their human children, this might be far too much work for the avg. dog person.
Click to expand...


Raw diets for dogs are making a comeback. There are generally two types. Frozen or refrigerated raw and freeze-dried raw.

They can be quite expensive, especially for large breed dogs who eat a lot more.

I love freeze dried raw, a brand called Stella and Chewies. They are great as a supplement, a treat, or an occasional meal. I had a Yorkie that had a stroke and could not eat her kibble. I had to make a soupy diet and the freeze dried was perfect. Great nutrition and you add as much water to make it as soupy as needed. Great for dogs who need soft food (old digs)
 
domer76 said:
Yeah, it kinda is. We all know our human dietary needs pretty well, but our pets are a different matter. Each pet is different and, unfortunately, they can’t verbalize what’s going on. For instance, what will be their protein source? ALWAYS chicken? Beef? Pork? We can change ours to even include beans, etc. Not so easy with pets. The right balance of omega-3 and 6 for their coats. The right balance of protein, fiber and fat. All of that.

I have an open bowl for my dogs and always have. Never a problem with weight gain. But some dogs will eat til they puke. There are different dietary needs at different stages in life.

Find a high quality food and stay with it. That’s been my experience.

The first ingredient on the label should identify the protein source. Not “meat” or “meat by-products”. Beef, chicken, pork, etc. “Meal” (ie chicken meal) has greater nutritional density than just the meat itself. Meal is merely dehydrated meat. That should be number one. Avoid fillers like corn and wheat as a major product.

So you see, lots of isdues to balance the diet of YOUR particular pet.
Click to expand...
I bet you're a big fan of dogfoodadvisor.com.
 
domer76 said:
Yeah, it kinda is. We all know our human dietary needs pretty well, but our pets are a different matter. Each pet is different and, unfortunately, they can’t verbalize what’s going on. For instance, what will be their protein source? ALWAYS chicken? Beef? Pork? We can change ours to even include beans, etc. Not so easy with pets. The right balance of omega-3 and 6 for their coats. The right balance of protein, fiber and fat. All of that.

I have an open bowl for my dogs and always have. Never a problem with weight gain. But some dogs will eat til they puke. There are different dietary needs at different stages in life.

Find a high quality food and stay with it. That’s been my experience.

The first ingredient on the label should identify the protein source. Not “meat” or “meat by-products”. Beef, chicken, pork, etc. “Meal” (ie chicken meal) has greater nutritional density than just the meat itself. Meal is merely dehydrated meat. That should be number one. Avoid fillers like corn and wheat as a major product.

So you see, lots of isdues to balance the diet of YOUR particular pet.
Click to expand...

You are definitely extremely knowledgeable about this topic, thanks for sharing some of it.

We've both talked about adding a dog friend to the family. I'm just worried about how it would work out with the birds though. One is totally flighted and free to roam the house at will; three of the others can fly but choose to walk (or use their motive sticks, as Mr. Owl calls it, lol) to get around. But the one that makes me the most nervous is a Quaker that we were gifted with just before we moved here. Someone had found her in their backyard, close to death from starvation. She can fly, kind of, but has little control over where she goes. Plus she only flies when startled, never voluntarily. I could see that erratic flight and inability to land in a safe spot triggering the predator instinct in a canine companion. Or in a kitty for that matter. I know plenty of ppl who successfully mix dogs and birds. But also a few with tragic stories. The only tragic story I want to be a part of is eating too many magical gummies. lol
 
Life is Golden said:
I bet you're a big fan of dogfoodadvisor.com.
Click to expand...

Not really. I’ve used the same food for my dogs for years, so I rarely would need to go there. If I want to know about any particular food, I read the ingredients. That gives me a pretty good idea.
 
Last edited:
ThatOwlWoman said:
You are definitely extremely knowledgeable about this topic, thanks for sharing some of it.

We've both talked about adding a dog friend to the family. I'm just worried about how it would work out with the birds though. One is totally flighted and free to roam the house at will; three of the others can fly but choose to walk (or use their motive sticks, as Mr. Owl calls it, lol) to get around. But the one that makes me the most nervous is a Quaker that we were gifted with just before we moved here. Someone had found her in their backyard, close to death from starvation. She can fly, kind of, but has little control over where she goes. Plus she only flies when startled, never voluntarily. I could see that erratic flight and inability to land in a safe spot triggering the predator instinct in a canine companion. Or in a kitty for that matter. I know plenty of ppl who successfully mix dogs and birds. But also a few with tragic stories. The only tragic story I want to be a part of is eating too many magical gummies. lol
Click to expand...

Yeah, a dog probably is not recommended. That’s another thing people forget when choosing a dog.

Lifestyle.
 
domer76 said:
Yeah, a dog probably is not recommended. That’s another thing people forget when choosing a dog.

Lifestyle.
Click to expand...

Good point. It's the same way with parrots. Adopting a bird is almost the same as getting married -- it can be literally a lifetime commitment. Ours will most likely outlive us.
 
Phantasmal said:
That’s just astounding.
Click to expand...

It is, and a bit scary too. I adopted Koko when he was five years old. He will be 30 in September. His lifespan is estimated to be 40-60 years. Our macaws are in their early 20s; they've been with us for 20 and 21 years. They can live upwards of 70 yrs.
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
It is, and a bit scary too. I adopted Koko when he was five years old. He will be 30 in September. His lifespan is estimated to be 40-60 years. Our macaws are in their early 20s; they've been with us for 20 and 21 years. They can live upwards of 70 yrs.
Click to expand...
Do your kids like them? That’s just incredible, 70!
 
domer76 said:
Not really. I’ve used the same food for my dogs for years, so I rarely would need to go there. If I want to know about any particular food, I read the ingredients. That gives me a pretty good idea.
Click to expand...
There's been much controversy over dog food. I used to say the same thing about 'kickbacks' but I'm not convinced that's all there is to it.

My vet told me the reason they support the "big 4" is because the big companies do a lot of testing and there is actually science behind the formulation of the food, unlike some of the trendy, upscale brands made by smaller companies. My oldest dog has bad allergies, at one point he had lost some of the fur around his eyes. While I didn't have the allergy testing done, it seems the allergies are related to both food and environment. I got him on Hill's Prescription z/d and he improved a lot, the fur grew back. And Cytopoint injections help the environmental allergies.
 
Life is Golden said:
There's been much controversy over dog food. I used to say the same thing about 'kickbacks' but I'm not convinced that's all there is to it.

My vet told me the reason they support the "big 4" is because the big companies do a lot of testing and there is actually science behind the formulation of the food, unlike some of the trendy, upscale brands made by smaller companies. My oldest dog has bad allergies, at one point he had lost some of the fur around his eyes. While I didn't have the allergy testing done, it seems the allergies are related to both food and environment. I got him on Hill's Prescription z/d and he improved a lot, the fur grew back. And Cytopoint injections help the environmental allergies.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the Hill’s prescription stuff is a different matter than the shelf Hill’s. Spendy, isn’t it?

My experience with allergies has been usually associated with grains, especially wheat and chicken
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top