[frenchie27]

Okay, so I have followed your great advice of adding some cottage cheese or raw eggs to Charlie's dry kibble. He is 6 months. He absolutely LOVES those extras

.

But I want variety. What else can I add besides those two? Please help...

 

[EJQ]

Re: BESIDES COTTAGE & EGGS, WHAT ELSE CAN I ADD TO

Plain yogurt.

 

[DianaM]

Re: BESIDES COTTAGE & EGGS, WHAT ELSE CAN I ADD TO

Canned fish, canned green beans (no added sodium, may or may not just be a treat that goes right through him), occasional healthy table scraps (but make sure you adjust down his kibble so he doesn't gain unnecessary weight), I'm sure there are more things.

 

[johnrm]

Re: BESIDES COTTAGE & EGGS, WHAT ELSE CAN I ADD TO

I make a wet mix that I mix in zeus' kibble. I usually use a apple, banana, some peas and carrot mix (frozen not canned) maybe some brown rice or oatmeal. For meat I use either chicken, chicken livers, turkey, venison, lean beef, salmon. I put it all in a food processor mix it up and it looks like wet dog food, I just put a little in and I also use plain yogurt, cottage cheese and raw egg mixed when I feed him. I also give liquid salmon oil (2 tsp) once a day with vit. E I have also heard apple cider vinegar is good for dogs but haven't tried it yet.

 

[BowWowMeow]

Re: BESIDES COTTAGE & EGGS, WHAT ELSE CAN I ADD TO

I add lots of fresh foods. Pureed winter squash, pureed sweet potato, grated carrots, kale and other dark greens, in addition to everything that's been mentioned above. If you buy Dr. Pitcairn's books there is a whole list of foods in there and also a recipe for a supplement you can make with cottage cheese that is balanced with vitamins, etc.

 

[Castlemaid]

Re: BESIDES COTTAGE & EGGS, WHAT ELSE CAN I ADD TO

Throw in anykind of raw meat. Add a raw chicken liver. Giblets.

 

[tracyc]

Re: BESIDES COTTAGE & EGGS, WHAT ELSE CAN I ADD TO

As long as you're just adding bits of food to his kibble for interest (rather than relying on these additions for a big part of his nutrition), then almost anything goes. It would be easier to give you a list of stuff NOT to add. That would include: onions, raisins, grapes, chocolate, anything spicy, sugary things, or a whole lot of starch.

But almost any fruit or vegetable is fine--a dog will do better with them if they are frozen, pureed or cooked rather than raw.

Any meat--cooked or raw. But NEVER any cooked bones.

Canned fish or meat are great.

Leftovers from your dinner, as long as they don't include any of the no-nos.

 

[extremegiants]

Re: BESIDES COTTAGE & EGGS, WHAT ELSE CAN I ADD TO

What about tomatoes??

 

[tracyc]

Re: BESIDES COTTAGE & EGGS, WHAT ELSE CAN I ADD TO

Tomatoes wouldn't be the first thing that comes to mind to feed the dog. But a small amount wouldn't hurt, IMO.

A home made diet for dogs (either cooked or raw) is a different category, IMO. For that, I think one would need to be VERY much more concerned about the balance of what's going into the dog to ensure nutritional health. And that diet would be almost entirely made of meat proteins.

But if we're just talking about a spoonful of something to put on top of a dog's kibble to give it some interest (and a bit of nutrition) then small bits of any of these human leftovers would be fine. That's assuming the individual dog will tolerate the item. Some dogs have sensitivities and allergies to various foods. If that's the case, then obviously those items are off the menu.

 

[extremegiants]

Re: BESIDES COTTAGE & EGGS, WHAT ELSE CAN I ADD TO

I was going to give Sasha some bits of tomatoe, and I stopped to think about it. I didn't think it would hurt, so I gave her very small pieces with Canadie for dinner for flavor.
What's wrong with onions? Not that I've given her any, just curious.

I figured I'd ask because of the never-ending topic of food!

 

[tracyc]

Re: BESIDES COTTAGE & EGGS, WHAT ELSE CAN I ADD TO

I copied this from another site:

Quote:Onions are toxic to dogs. The toxicity is dose dependent, so the bigger the animal, the more onion need be consumed to cause a toxicity. Onion toxicity causes a Heinz body anemia. Heinz bodies are small bubble-like projections which protrude from a red blood cell and can be seen when the cells are stained. This "bubble" is a weak spot in the red blood cell and, therefore, the cell has a decreased life-span and ruptures prematurely.
If numerous red cells are affected and rupture, anemia can result. It is a form of hemolytic anemia. Onions are only one of the substances which can cause Heinz body anemia. Other substances such as Acetominophen (Tylenol) and benzocaine-containing topical preparations can also cause Heinz body anemia in the dog.

The toxic effect of the onions are the same whether the product is raw, cooked or dehydrated. The hemolytic episode usually occurs several days after onion ingestion (lowest hematocrit around day 5 post ingestion). Daily feeding of onions could have a cumulative effect due to ongoing formation of Heinz bodies versus a single exposure with a wide gap until the next exposure, allowing the bone marrow time to regenerate the prematurely destroyed red cells.

Grapes, raisins and chocolate are similar--different chemical reaction, but same idea: dogs can't digest them properly and can cause poisoning in a large enough dose.

 

[extremegiants]

Re: BESIDES COTTAGE & EGGS, WHAT ELSE CAN I ADD TO

WOW! I'm glad I asked....
Thanks!