Homemade Dog Food Recipes

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smilez_n_hugs

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2008
Messages
4,290
Location
Collingwood ON
While researching the type of bladder stones (calcium oxalate) my dog has I came across a website who swore by a homemade diet for her dogs and the miracles it performed. I obviously don't buy all the claims she makes but it did get me thinking that since oxalate is found in many foods that I can control my dog's intake. But in doing that I don't want to miss any important nutrients. So here's what I've found so far, please correct my information as needed. Also I would love it if anyone wants to share a recipe or a site they really like :)

So the diet should consist of:
- 30-50% protein
- 5% organ meat (liver)
- 5-10% fat
- 20-35% carbs
Supplements:
- calcium citrate (30-40mg per ounce of food)
- magnesium (3mg/lb of body weight daily)
- vitamin E (1-2 IUs per lb daily)
- iodine (not sure if it's needed if I plan on feeding fish and yogurt)
- lysimachia-3 (helps dissolve/prevent more stones)

This is the site if anyone is interested:
http://dogaware.com/articles/wdjcalciumoxalates.html#start
 
I don't really have any knowledge about homemade dog diets, but I think in theory if the homework is done correct there is no reason why they wouldn't be way healthier than a store bought diet, since there would be no preservatives, additives, and you can steer away from the problem ingredients. It seems like you are very prepared to do the work.
On a different note, have you looked into a prescription diet? If not, it may be something to look into if you wanted a simpler option to help combat stones. It is a bit expensive and must be prescribed by a veterinarian, but I believe it is the C/D Hill's brand dog food that I have heard my veterinarian rave about for urinary stones. Just another option in case you were curious. I would love to hear more about what you end up doing, and if you do the homemade diet how it works for you guys.
 
I don't really have any knowledge about homemade dog diets, but I think in theory if the homework is done correct there is no reason why they wouldn't be way healthier than a store bought diet, since there would be no preservatives, additives, and you can steer away from the problem ingredients. It seems like you are very prepared to do the work.
On a different note, have you looked into a prescription diet? If not, it may be something to look into if you wanted a simpler option to help combat stones. It is a bit expensive and must be prescribed by a veterinarian, but I believe it is the C/D Hill's brand dog food that I have heard my veterinarian rave about for urinary stones. Just another option in case you were curious. I would love to hear more about what you end up doing, and if you do the homemade diet how it works for you guys.

I am all for a well made dog food and I do believe there are many out there just not one that is ideal for my dog's issue. I have done a ton of research into the prescription diets (money is not an issue) but most of their recipes are outdated. Some still have restricted protein because they used to think that contributed to the stones and others don't have the ideal calcium to phosphorus ratio. Not to mention my poor dog also has terrible plaque build up so wet food isn't the best solution. The Hill's C/D actually has quite a few soy ingredients which are very high in oxalate and corn which has a moderate amount. I'm also not thrilled with the idea that is it supposed to help prevent both types of stones when they have different causes. The Royal Canin S/O that my vet originally recommended has corn as one of its main ingredients and it has a fairly high salt content to increase water consumption. It is also high in fat. If I don't feel that I can cover all of my dog's nutritional needs I might do half prescription diet and half homemade. I will definitely keep updating, I think I am going to try my first batch this weekend.
 
My vet sent me this awesome site (https://secure.balanceit.com/index.php) it will create free recipes if you use their supplements or you can buy the recipe and it will instruct you on what human supplements to use. The only downside is that because Harley has a medical condition all of my recipes have to be vet approved before they will give them to me.

She also gave me this link (https://www.petdiets.com/) but I haven't had a chance to play around with it yet as it requires you to enter your vet's info and I just haven't gotten around to it yet lol.
 
Well it took awhile for my vet to get back to the one website (Balance IT) I chose to use but I finally have a few vet approved recipes. I just have to wait for the supplement to come and we will be on our way!
 
Are you making homemade and just adding their supplement? Can I ask what's your homemade ingredients. My bichonpoo is prone to bladder stones as well, I may look into making homemade for him. He's not on any vet formula now, he was before and when he recovered we got the go ahead to go back to a regular food. As it turns out now though, we are battling yeast so again, got to look into diet.
 
Are you making homemade and just adding their supplement? Can I ask what's your homemade ingredients. My bichonpoo is prone to bladder stones as well, I may look into making homemade for him. He's not on any vet formula now, he was before and when he recovered we got the go ahead to go back to a regular food. As it turns out now though, we are battling yeast so again, got to look into diet.

Yes I am preparing the food and just adding the supplement. That website either charges you $50 for their recipes and then the recipes provide you with the proper doses of human supplements to add or you can get the recipes for free and it includes the amount of their supplement (came to around $65 with shipping and handling and will last approx. 170 days) needed in order to have a nutrient complete meal. I figured since Harley is so small it was more cost effective to buy the supplement than to buy the human equivalents.

The recipes they provided for Harley are very simple as white rice is one of the very few safe carb sources for his condition. The ones I have generated so far are just meat or eggs, rice and canola oil along with the supplement. But I have also played around with their autobalancer to get an idea of how much vegetables (I had to do separate research into the oxalate content of these) I can add and how that affects the nutrient profile. The autobalancer and nutrient profile tool are free to use on the site so you can see what nutrients are missing from the diet if you chose not to use their supplement.

I find it all very interesting and as soon as the supplement arrives and I can start testing to see what Harley likes I am going to play with the autobalancer even more.
 
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