Supplements

[love'laska]

Hi all!

For those of you that feed homemade- what supplements do you give your doxie with their food?

I'll be starting to wean Alaska onto a homemade diet today. It'll be a fish blend (recipe from JustFoodForDogs.com)- with cod, tilapia, russet potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, broccoli, olive oil, and safflower oil. JFFD also sells a supplement packet, but I'd rather put my own supplements in. I'm just looking for suggestions!

Thanks.

 

[DeafDogs]

It would be better if you mix up the proteins, so she gets a variety. Variety is very important to them. I refuse to feed the same thing day after day. Think of it this way: if all you ever ate was chicken, brown rice and broccoli, with a miltivitamin, you would still technically be getting everything you need. But you would be unable to tolerate anything new and your doctor would shoot you. It's not healthy for us, and its not healthy for our pets.

Also, be careful with supplements, you can create imbalances. For example: If you're giving a fish oil, or feeding mainly fish, you need to supplement vit e because the omegas use it up.

Pay attention to which vitamins and minerals are water soluable and which are fat soluable. Fat soluable means the excess is stored and the dog could have toxicity issues. Water soluable means any excess is secreted in urine. Also I would want my dogs getting taurine, its not considered necessary, but there's some beginning to think it is. (Cats go cannot live without it) Cooked meat doesn't have any in it, fyi.

Home cooking is great, but do your research carefully! There was an article I read recently that said that 99% of all home cooked recipe's are missing something to be a properly balanced meal, and that even a variety of different doesn't work as they are all missing the same thing.

 

[nola]

I feed a variety of different ingredients each time I make it (which is usually every 5-10 days), and she gets a multivitamin and joint supplement daily, with a fish oil supplement every other day. She also gets daily eggshell for calcium in her food.