about homemade diets.....

["Susan Garlinghouse" <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

This comes under the "for what its worth" category, but for anyone who is
thinking about homemade diets for dogs and cats, please please please take
the time to find a recipe formulated by a qualified clinical nutritionist to
supply the right nutrients.  Yes, calcium, phosphorus, etc makes a
difference in lil critters as well as the big ones and we get A LOT of very
unhealthy dogs and cats in the CSU vet hospital on the clinical nutrition
service due to poor home diets.  Just yesterday we treated an absolutely
miserable golden retriever with extreme protein allergies whose owner had
been erroneously told that "organic" chicken wouldn't do the same thing as
regular grocery store chicken.  Wrong.  Poor guy is going to be spending
some time with us until all the weeping skin sores and infections heal up
from him chewing at himself.   And earlier this week we had to put down a
beautiful Great Dane puppy who had had terrible, painful bone growth
problems (obviously, ultimately fatal) because of reliance on a "natural"
diet pulled off the internet.  Obviously from someone who hadn't a clue
about clinical nutrition.  I *hate* seeing that.

There are plenty of good homemade recipes formulated by academically
qualified people.  Aside from Diana's source, if anyone needs a recipe, I
can provide those as well.

BTW, all three of my very beloved dogs, including one with heart problems
and another who's hypothyroid, get Eukanuba.  If I thought I could do better
for them, I would in a heartbeat.

JMO.

Susan G
----- Original Message -----
From: Diana Hiiesalu <entais@earthlink.net>
To: <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2001 3:20 PM
Subject: RC: <no subject>


> Re: The animal by products and what should we feed our dogs and
cats.....you
> might want to check into making your own dog and cat food. It is not that
> hard and with a little forward thinking you can prepare some of it once a
> week, so it doesn't take you as long daily to make food. When I was
feeding
> my collies (I have show dogs) I could feed 6 a raw homemade diet in about
10
> minutes in the am and 10 minutes in the pm. At present I don't have a
> kitchen big enough for my taste to make it easy, so they eat kibble. It
> bothers me every day, but I can only do so much. You may contact me
> privately for more info if you want. Or check out Dr. Ian Billingshurst
> "Give Your Dog A Bone" and "Grow Your Pups With Bones", or Juliette de
> Bairacli Levy's "The Complete Herbal Handbook For The Dog And Cat". I love
> her book, fascinating reading for me. Billingshurst book is simplier,
though
> a little repetitive, but he stresses that you don't have to be so worried
> about making a "balanced" diet every day, that it happens over a period of
a
> few weeks, as the way we eat. My dogs were quite happy eating this diet
and
> I raised my one of my champion bitches and her first litter this way. I
> think we get away from nature too much and then wonder why our animals get
> sick. And, I believe there aren't the regulations on what kind of "meat"
is
> used for animals, like for people, so why not use euthanized animals &
> roadkill, etc. My goal is to get my dogs back on this diet, as soon as I
can
> organize an area with a separate fridge and counter. Until then, we all
eat
> McDonalds....sorta.
>
>
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