Dog Food Q

ABajaninCork

I bought my dog some Penlan Farm (Burns) wet dog food as a change for him which I mix with his Burns kibble.

But the food although great and my boy loves it, is VERY expensive. So I had a look at the ingredients and reckon I could make something comparable which would be much cheaper. I intend to make batches of food and freeze it.

My question is: I noticed that vitamins are added to the food. Should I do the same? If so, I'd assume they'd be added to the food as I feed him. Is there a way I could add them in maybe liquid form? And if that's the case, where would I get it from?

TIA

maggiepip

I wanted to cook my own dog food at one stage also, but ended up giving into tinned food instead, as I was afraid I would end up leaving them deficient in vitamins. I trawled the internet and I couldnt find any simple exact vitamin requirements so Im afraid I wont be of too much help (sorry!)

What I do know, however, is on every tin of dog food the three main vitamins (and the amounts/kg of food seem to vary between brands) listed are Vitamin A the average seems to be about 2000 iu/kg of food, Vitamin D3 - 200 iu/kg of food and Vitamin E - 30 mg/kg of food.

Thing is I dont know how those amounts are balanced with the ingredients within the food. If you are just using the home cooked meal as a topper to complete dry food you probably dont need to be too fussy though. I am interested to see if anyone else knows an exact daily vitamin requirement for dogs.

Would you consider a cheaper good quality tinned food? I feed my 3 dogs Rocco Classic (from zooplus) - its excellent food - it states it contains "by-products" but the by-products in this case mean "innards" (heart, lung etc..) - no bone-meal etc... Also Rinti is a great food. They work out at about a euro per can.

Sorry couldnt be of more help.

ABajaninCork

Thanks for the reply! Unfortunately, my dog has a sensitive tum, and I have to be careful what I give him. He likes everything, but not everything likes him!

I was thinking about the variety angle really. He's on Burns dry food which is great for him, and he gets hearts, liver, fish and chicken mixed with dog nuts, sometimes rice or potato and a bit of carrot as well. I was just trying to vary his food. The reason why I got the Penlan Farm range was because it's by Burns which I know agrees with him.

I'll keep looking and post up anything I find. Might be helpful...

tk123

Tbh i don't think you need to add extra vitamins because they're already in the veg but I add brewers yeast to my veg mix...there was a tub of it in the house and it's in lots of dog foods so I figured why not . I usually do a month of veg at a time and throw in one measuring cup of brewers yeast. I know what you mean about that burns food - I tried it one time and thought the same about making it myself. The same when I was feeding him robbies salmon and potato when he was on crate rest (mushy for kongs) - i was tempted to buy a bag of spuds and a few cans of salmon lol. He lets a chicken leg and veg most days now (sometimes oxtail or sardines) and is thriving.

ABajaninCork

Think I might've found the vitamin answer right under my nose...

I add cod liver oil to the dog's food as well. Guess what it contains? Only Vits A & D which was what was added to the Burns food anyway!

VictorRomeo

I also sqirt some salmon oil in my dog's dinner.... Omega 3 and the effect on her coat and skin is amazing.... so shiny and glossy. She also goes crazy for the stuff too..... Stinks though....

Graces7

We always cook the dog food ourselves; well, morning meal is raw chicken necks so their evening meal ,is slow cooker cooked

Cheaper and they love it.

Cod liver oil is added on alternate days as it is human strength; it helps older dogs with arthritis

warder6161

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Think I might've found the vitamin answer right under my nose...

I add cod liver oil to the dog's food as well. Guess what it contains? Only Vits A & D which was what was added to the Burns food anyway!

would you post up a few details of what you make..do you just freeze it and use it as you need it ?

ABajaninCork

Haven't made it yet!

But looking at the ingredients for the Penlans Farm, it seems straightforward enough. Rice (which I can alternate with potato), carrots, bit of egg/chicken/lamb hearts and off you go....

But am clearing the decks next week and will make some for the boy. I'll post up and let you know how I get on.

ABajaninCork

Well. I did it!!

Yesterday, I boiled the remnants of:

• Last few spuds in the fridge
• A small sweet potato
• Some left over green beans
• Two chicken breasts
• Two carrots

All I did was peel, wash and chop the veg. Chopped up the chicken, and put it all in a pot to boil with a little weak chicken stock. Strained it off, took out the chicken, and minced it finely. Mashed the veg together, added the chicken , mixed together et voila!

Put in a little of the mixture with his Burns kibble, added his cod liver oil and psyllium husk. Result? One satisfied Shih Tzu who wasted no time in gobbling the whole dish up! I've frozen the rest, and intend to make a brown rice/veg and egg mix next week which I'll freeze as well.

Perhaps this might be TMI, but his poops were firm which is good!

Hope this helps someone.