# Supplement additions to a raw/cooked home diet



## Miss T (May 4, 2013)

I'm looking for suggestions for supplements to a raw or cooked home meal. 

Miss T won't touch kibble and rarely will touch any canned food (I've tried all the organic ones and high end cans but she takes one bite and then won't come back again)

At the moment I am only supplementing with bene bac (she's on antibiotics from being spayed) and chlorophyll and vitamin e and a multi vitamin (the multi is actually all non-synthetic natural human one - Megafood whole foods brand - I give her about 1/10th of a tablet) 

I'm considering getting Balance IT - has anyone had experience with this?

She won't eat the purina probiotic so I've resorted to mixing it up and syringing it into her mouth.

I know with a home cooked meal you are supposed to supplement - I'm curious to hear what supplements you guys have tried/like.


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

the ONLY way to do homecooked RIGHT is to go through a dog nutritionist!!
There are so many minerals and trace minerals and vitamins and we as thier doggie parents need to make sure they are eating right!


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## Miss T (May 4, 2013)

I'm not going to a nutritionist.

Just tried Instinct Raw - the beef flavor and the chicken flavor. She won't touch it. So I guess preformulated raw is not my answer!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Miss T said:


> I'm not going to a nutritionist.
> 
> Just tried Instinct Raw - the beef flavor and the chicken flavor. She won't touch it. So I guess preformulated raw is not my answer!


You may need to let her get REALLY hungry, and then just stick to a food you know is good for her. Eventually she will cave, and unless there's something wrong with her physically, it won't hurt her to go a couple or three days without food.

It's tough love, but the best thing for her in the long run.


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## Miss T (May 4, 2013)

She's got 2 more days of antibiotics (which might have something to do with the not wanting to eat certain things) so I'm going to wait a few more days and then try being stricter about food. At the moment I just want her to eat anything. But its not a good long term solution. Is it bad if they don't eat for 2 days? Can they get hyperglycemic?


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

TilliesMom said:


> the ONLY way to do homecooked RIGHT is to go through a dog nutritionist!!
> There are so many minerals and trace minerals and vitamins and we as thier doggie parents need to make sure they are eating right!


ditto, you've got it backwards. YOu pick the diet first and the suppliments second, because they depend on the main diet.


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## Miss T (May 4, 2013)

I HAVE chosen the diet - raw/homecooked - actually she chose it because she won't eat any of the commercial preparations. See my original post.

So my question is does anyone on this forum have any recommendations to supplement that? Please DO NOT tell me go to a nutritionist, because I'm not going to.

I've ordered The Honest Kitchen Preference supplement which is designed to add to the homecooked or raw meal so I'll have to see if she finds that palatable.

As I mentioned I'm supplementing EFA, probiotics, chlorophyll. I plan to stop supplementing the multi if she eats The Honest Kitchen.


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

Miss T said:


> I HAVE chosen the diet - raw/homecooked - actually she chose it because she won't eat any of the commercial preparations. See my original post.
> 
> So my question is does anyone on this forum have any recommendations to supplement that? Please DO NOT tell me go to a nutritionist, because I'm not going to.
> 
> ...


 I'm sure there is lots of ways to research on your own. Have you goggled to see if their is more information for you to read?Your baby seams like a picky eater hope she feel more like eating after the antibiotics . Her stomach may just be upset. Maybe yogurt . I really don't care to feed raw because of bacteria but that's just me.


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

Everyone has to do what they feel is best for thier dogs, but I am very curious as to why you are so against consulting a dog nutritionist? Not the one recommended here even, but ANY dog nutritionist?? just curious why you are adamantly against it?
we pay big bucks for these companion animals and we all want the best for them and to keep them healthy.


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

My thoughts are if their is nothing really wrong with you dog like allergies and such. Why pay to have someone hand you a recipe when you can find good information for free. A good holistic feed store could get a person started in the right direction.IMO


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## RitaandRiley (Feb 27, 2012)

Miss T, Some products for you to check out in addition to the HK Preference. These are dog food premixes:
Dr. Harvey's Veg to Bowl 
Grandma Lucy's Grain Free Freeze Dried Dog Food Pre Mix 
U-Stew
Sojo's Grain Free Dog Food Mix 
See Spot Live Longer Homemade Dinner Mixes
Another product is Wysong's Call of the Wild which is vitamin/minerals only.
Nature's Logic makes an all food supplement which is free of synthetic vitamins and minerals


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## atsilvers27 (Jul 5, 2011)

From what I understand, compared to humans it is not a big deal for a dog to go without eating for 2-3 days (of course as long as it is not frequent). Many people freak out when trying to break a dog of say a bad eating habit (I.e. human food like pizza and Chinese, and yes I have tried to counsel an owner who fed her dog like that) and when the dog refuses the dog food they just fall back on the previous diet. In your case, you have a really picky eater. I would say pick out what you think would be the healthiest and most palatable (I don't have any supplement suggestions but I think you have been given some suggestions) and stick with it. The way to do it would be to put down the bowl at feeding time, allow for say 20 minutes,then pick up and ddon't offer again until next feeding time. Your dog will get it that she only has acertain window to eat. Unless she has a preexisting medical or nutritional problem, do not be alarmed if she does not eat for a few days. I did this with my dog because she only wanted treats and not her food. After two days of refusing the food she began eating regularly. Good luck.


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## Caroline (Oct 9, 2012)

Miss T said:


> I'm not going to a nutritionist.
> 
> Just tried Instinct Raw - the beef flavor and the chicken flavor. She won't touch it. So I guess preformulated raw is not my answer!


I tried a couple preformulated raw diets, Bravo and Oma's recipe. One of my dogs didn't do well on either brand. She tolerated it OK when she ate it, and liked it, but she will eat pretty much anything anyways. However, every night she was up in the middle of the night with dry heaves. Switched her back to home cooked and the dry heaves stopped. Go figure. :hungry:


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## HalleBerry (Feb 22, 2012)

Halle right now is eating K9Natural (freeze dried) mixed with BlueRidgeBeef frozen raw (meat & bone). She gets 1/4cup of the K9Natura & .10 pounds raw at each meal. I have frozen raw coming this week from a place called Hare Today because I wanted to try some different meats, so I'll see what all she thinks of it. She absolutely adores the combo.


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

Caroline said:


> I tried a couple preformulated raw diets, Bravo and Oma's recipe. One of my dogs didn't do well on either brand. She tolerated it OK when she ate it, and liked it, but she will eat pretty much anything anyways. However, every night she was up in the middle of the night with dry heaves. Switched her back to home cooked and the dry heaves stopped. Go figure. :hungry:


 hear is your post!:bump:


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## BanditosMom (Aug 24, 2012)

I cook for my mini poodle (12 yo) and my hav baby (1 yo) from Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats. He recommends a raw diet, but there are cooked recipies in the book and a recipe for healthy powder of supplements that includes kelp powder, vitamin C, calcium, nutritional yeast, etc. My dogs love the food and you can mix up the added veggies and meats, which keeps it interesting for the pups. Good luck!


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