[DISCUSSION] After years of thinking about it, we're finally taking the plunge and switching to homemade dog food. The results have been better than I thought was possible.Dog Talks

She's a 10 year old pit mix, she's always had gastrointestinal issues, along with some skin allergies, and anxiety. She now has arthritis as well, and after attempting a diet using kibble + canned food for weight loss now that she's less active, we noticed she wasn't feeling well. (Lack of energy, GI issues)

We are doing this all with the advice of her vet.

We made a big batch of her food, and she's loving it, acting like herself again and her GI issues have resolved for the most part, her energy is increased. It's such a relief after seeing her struggling so much. Plus, we're already saving money by making it ourselves.

This batch, which lasts her approx 2 weeks, her food is:

• 5lbs lean ground turkey
• 10 egg whites
• 1/2lb chicken livers
• 1.5 cup cooked rice (we will be switching to brown rice next batch)
• I cup chopped carrots
• 1 cup chopped broccoli
• 1 cup chopped sweet potato
• 1 cup chopped spinach
• 1 cup chopped green beans
• 1 cup peas
• 3 tablespoons duck fat
• egg shell powder
• powdered senior multivitamin
• powdered probiotic suppliment
• tumeric suppliment powder for arthritis pain

We are going to switch up the protein occasionally to give her a variety. Next batch will be lean ground chicken. We vacuum seal and freeze 1-day worth of food at a time, and take one bag out of the freezer each night for the next day. She now looks forward to meal time and we feel confident that she's getting the exact nutrients that she needs.

Beforehand, we were spending over $150 monthly feeding her (bag of specialty senior kibble per month $100, case of same brand canned per month $70). Now we are spending, at most, 50-$75 (depending on protein and produce prices that month) per month to feed her something that seems to agree with her even more (and tastes great!). That leaves more money for new dog toys and fun!

We formulated the recipe in the vet's office with her help and bought the supplements from their office. Please do not attempt to create a recipe or buy supplements without the help of your vet.

Submitted November 06, 2020 at 09:55PM by aescuo https://ift.tt/3p3kgBy