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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 25 of 32. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Dinah on February 26, 2008, at 13:47:47
I've free fed all my life, but I really need to separate my dogs while they eat because one's a puppy, and one is very obese, one is very skinny. I'm pretty sure they're not going to wolf down dry food if I feed them twice a day, and I'm also pretty sure I don't want them to since I had a dog bloat once.
Canned food is ridiculously expensive. If I add up all my dogs' weights, it's around sixty pounds. It's not much but it still looks expensive with the higher quality foods.
I worry about nutritional completeness if I home cook.
Would my vet be annoyed if I call him to ask?
Posted by Kath on February 26, 2008, at 16:38:29
In reply to Does anyone cook for their dog?, posted by Dinah on February 26, 2008, at 13:47:47
Hi Dinah, I know a lady who did cook for her dog, who is in doggie heaven now. (Not due to the cooking I don't think).
I really think you should be able to find something on the internet about it. I'll ask my daughter. Her previous cat had cancer & my daughter was VERY aware of healthy food, etc. I'll explain that buying is expensive for you & see if she has any thoughts. She loves to search for things on the internet, as she has MCS (Multiple Chemical Sensitivities) & her life is mostly spent in 2 rooms of their house. She spends a lot of time on the computer. She has to have it in the hall & run wires through to the monitor in their living/bedroom, as the smell of the computer running bothers her. Pretty-well anything running bothers her, as dust gets into things & the dust burning is a problem.
Anyhow, Dinah, I'll see if she knows anything.
If you want me to, I could ask the lady who used to cook all her dog's food. Her best friend is a vet, so I'm sure she would have had the 'meals' okayed by the vet!!
luv ya, Kath
and YES - good pet food IS expensive! I feed my cog (cat who thinks he's a dog) good food & even to feed one cat it's expensive.
Posted by Toph on February 26, 2008, at 17:06:38
In reply to Does anyone cook for their dog?, posted by Dinah on February 26, 2008, at 13:47:47
I don't cook unless you consider opening up a can of tuna, throwing in some cottage cheese or covering their dog food with gravy cooking. I also add flax seed oil or squeeze a fish oil capsule on to their food. We did bake some healthy dog cookies for the annual Chicago Portuguse Water Dog picnic. I think you'd have to have a lot of time on your hands to cook all the time Dinah. Plus many dogs are sensitve to big changes in their diet so you'd probably have to be pretty consistent with what you prepared. We love Nurto Ultra, their high end formula that can be found at most pet store chains.
Its worth the added expense. Both Gus and Lily have good skin, nice coats, and they are lean and healthy. This formula is supposed to yield smaller stools but I'd like the manufacturers to come see my back yard after the spring thaw.
Posted by Kath on February 26, 2008, at 17:10:32
In reply to Re: Does anyone cook for their dog? » Dinah, posted by Toph on February 26, 2008, at 17:06:38
You sound like a nice pet owner Toph.
My friend cooks a huge amount. I don't know if she measure the individual ingredients or not. But then she separates it into portions & freezes them.
Kath
Posted by Phillipa on February 26, 2008, at 17:39:07
In reply to Re: Does anyone cook for their dog? » Toph, posted by Kath on February 26, 2008, at 17:10:32
Best food for a dog if they are ill and much less expensive is boil a chicken get the meat off and rice while it cooking and our pups love frozen green beans at night so you would save on this and it's healty. Read that now they whoevery they are are using more people foods. Just pull up their chairs and let them dig in to breakfast with you son. And please remember I am slightly who knows now much impaired by the doc right now. No tolerance to percocet for sure. A quarter pill let me wash my hair and lie back in the chair and check the boards. Anything you want done or need done let me know but can't stand up straight or lift. I'll do a search. Love Phillip.
Posted by Phillipa on February 26, 2008, at 17:50:25
In reply to Re: Does anyone cook for their dog?, posted by Phillipa on February 26, 2008, at 17:39:07
Sorry seems they like what their ancestors did. Guess or do a search. Kindda gross. Phillipa
Posted by Dinah on February 26, 2008, at 17:55:28
In reply to Does anyone cook for their dog?, posted by Dinah on February 26, 2008, at 13:47:47
It's another of my overambitious schemes and I'll never be able to keep it up.
He's also right about the claims. :)
Freefreeding Science Diet dry has always worked very well for me. I'm just afraid of bringing my horrendously obese dog to the vets for her shots. I'm gonna get yelled at for sure.
Posted by Phillipa on February 26, 2008, at 18:24:24
In reply to I think Toph is right, posted by Dinah on February 26, 2008, at 17:55:28
Me too I just read an e-mail I sent someone I'm wacked. Get a good dog food there is one for overweight dogs too. Lying down now where I should have been Phillipa
Posted by ClearSkies on February 26, 2008, at 20:24:08
In reply to Does anyone cook for their dog?, posted by Dinah on February 26, 2008, at 13:47:47
My sister has cooked for her dog when he's had stomach troubles - a couple of times a year - and has had to go on a white diet, of cooked rice, parboiled chicken breast, and Wonder Bread. The dog loves it - but it's not considered a long term diet solution, just something to settle his tummy down.
I think the way to go would be to consult with a vet for a good, nutritionally balanced recipe, then cook it up in bulk batches and freeze it in portions. I don't believe it's cost effective compared to commercially available food, but I know of plenty of doggy lovers who do this for their pups.
I had two cats and one became diabetic, so I had to carefully control his diet. I ended up locking his brother in the bathroom to eat; otherwise, the diabetic would wolf down his own food, then push his brother out of the way and finish his off too! It was quite a dance, twice a day - no free feeding in our house! They quickly got used to the routine, though, and went along with it happily.
CS
Posted by Toph on February 26, 2008, at 21:33:52
In reply to Re: Does anyone cook for their dog? » Toph, posted by Kath on February 26, 2008, at 17:10:32
I love my dogs very much Kath. Don't get me wrong, I love my job and my family, I just wish it were as easy.
Posted by Sigismund on February 27, 2008, at 1:10:11
In reply to I think Toph is right, posted by Dinah on February 26, 2008, at 17:55:28
Look, I can't believe that food made in factories is particularly nice for dogs.
It isn't for us, and we can complain.
I've rarely cooked an animal stew but it is a useful way to clear out the fridge of old vegetables and I should do it more often.
I made a kind of osso buco (beef cheek) with no onions but with garlic and thickened with rolled oats.
The dawg really liked it, but you know what beagles are like.
Posted by Toph on February 27, 2008, at 10:28:49
In reply to Dissension, posted by Sigismund on February 27, 2008, at 1:10:11
> Look, I can't believe that food made in factories is particularly nice for dogs.
>
Some are not only nice but good for dogs, believe it or not. Raw freshly killed animals are better, but so is raising your beagle in a pack on 10 acres.
Posted by Sigismund on February 27, 2008, at 14:02:04
In reply to Re: Dissension, posted by Toph on February 27, 2008, at 10:28:49
>but so is raising your beagle in a pack on 10 acres.
Absolutely.
Posted by Toph on February 27, 2008, at 17:15:51
In reply to Re: Dissension » Toph, posted by Sigismund on February 27, 2008, at 14:02:04
As long as we're dreaming, I would need a large lake on my 10 acres for my dogs.
Posted by Sigismund on February 27, 2008, at 18:43:30
In reply to Re: Dissension » Sigismund, posted by Toph on February 27, 2008, at 17:15:51
This is a lake inside an island (always a good idea to have one of your own), from a not very easy to see vantage point.
Not very userfriendly though.
Posted by Sigismund on February 27, 2008, at 18:45:04
In reply to Re: Dissension » Toph, posted by Sigismund on February 27, 2008, at 18:43:30
This is a better one anyway.
Posted by Dinah on February 27, 2008, at 18:52:36
In reply to Re: Dissension » Toph, posted by Sigismund on February 27, 2008, at 18:43:30
lol. My dogs have been bred for centuries to sit on laps, warm hands, kiss noses, and in general make themselves pleasing in every way. They'd get eaten by hawks in an open field.
And yet only one of them is fat. Go figure.
I keep swearing that the two of us will go for walks. I'm not as fat per inch as she is. She's close to twice her ideal weight. But I'm close enough that the two of us could both benefit by very long walks. I guess that's a better use of my time.
Of course we'll have to start slow. The last shortish walk nearly did her in.
Posted by TexasChic on February 27, 2008, at 21:38:31
In reply to Re: Dissension, posted by Sigismund on February 27, 2008, at 18:45:04
Is that a photograph? Its awesome!!! It looks like a drawing or something. Wouldn't that be paradise? It reminds me of the book The Beach.
-T
Posted by Sigismund on February 28, 2008, at 1:19:12
In reply to Re: Dissension » Sigismund, posted by TexasChic on February 27, 2008, at 21:38:31
It's in Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, where there is a lake inside an island. Perhaps it's limestone?
We went there 10 years ago.
The Vietnamese people (especially in the north) were the friendliest I've ever met, perhaps because they had been so cut off.They would say 'What do you like about Vietnam? What do you think of our standard of living?'
I felt that anyone was interested in talking to me, you know, people on ferries, people anywhere.
We took our kids and they coped beautifully. One day breakfast was sweetened condensed milk on bread (not bad bread, french influence) and our son balked, saying it was too much.
We came back on a 4 hour bus ride to Hanoi and he waited until the bus stopped, got out and vomited.
I was so impressed. Good manners in the Japanese style.
Posted by Toph on February 28, 2008, at 9:13:07
In reply to Re: Dissension » TexasChic, posted by Sigismund on February 28, 2008, at 1:19:12
I mean no disrespect to any culture as some might think our consumption of lamb and veal cruel, but I am not certain my dogs would be safe in this paradise.
Posted by Sigismund on February 28, 2008, at 13:00:37
In reply to Re: Dissension » Sigismund, posted by Toph on February 28, 2008, at 9:13:07
How interesting. I've never seen cooked dog before. There *was* (so I read in Lonely Planet) a restaurant on the outskirts of Hanoi that did that.
I did go to a restaurant that had stir-fried weasel on the menu, but I now take that to be some kind of exuberant attemt at capitalism. That was down near Saigon. Pure tourist trap.
Posted by Toph on February 28, 2008, at 13:56:32
In reply to Re: Dissension » Toph, posted by Sigismund on February 28, 2008, at 13:00:37
I'm relieved by your suggestion that this form of cuisine is not universal there. I wouldn't like it if the rest of the world thought that most of us dined on foie gras routinely here.
Posted by Sigismund on February 28, 2008, at 14:55:22
In reply to Re: Dissension » Sigismund, posted by Toph on February 28, 2008, at 13:56:32
If you google 'stir-fried weasel' you get 8,430 results.
One of them was....
http://www.noodlepie.com/blog/files/finding_the_flavours_of_saigon.pdf
Posted by Kath on February 28, 2008, at 18:29:04
In reply to Re: Dissension, posted by Sigismund on February 27, 2008, at 18:45:04
M GAWD Dec -
Where in heck is that? It's so beeaootiful:-) Kath
Posted by Kath on February 28, 2008, at 18:31:50
In reply to Re: Dissension » Sigismund, posted by Toph on February 28, 2008, at 9:13:07
eeeeeeeeeeeeoooooooooooooooooooo !
Kath
PS - I'm a veggie, so Yikes!!
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