Raw/Home cooked crash course!

My boyfriend and I are so appalled by this pet food recall crap, we want to switch Kai to a raw or home cooked diet. I haven't done a lot of homework on it yet, but he has to stop eating the Natural Balance VB now. Can anyone give me a "starter meal" that I can feed to him until I can get the hang of it? I was thinking about getting some chicken and mixing it up with some rice? I don't know how much to give him though. He weighs about 20 pounds.

Also, book and website recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

The bible on home cooking:

http://www.amazon.com/Pitcairns-Complete-Guide-Natural-Health/dp/157954973X

Thanks Herschel for that link. I don't know enough about it, but if Kai is still feeling lousy, throwing up etc, you might do what my vet had me do with Lyric and that was 2 parts white rice to one part chicken and a TBS or 2 of fat free cottage cheese. It's just easy on their organs for a week or two. You wouldn't want to feed that forever, not enough stuff for them. But for a while to settle them down and give the liver a little break. No seasoning, no fat. (boneless, skinless chicken and baked or boiled) I used the sticky white rice and Lyric almost gagged to death on it, packed into his mouth, stuck to the roof of his mouth, just had a terrible time... so I switched to Minute rice.

I'm going to check out that link too. Thanks Herschel! I'm seriously thinking about becoming a deer hunter or get some chickens or something. I have no idea how I could kill them, but I just might have to get tough. That's how desperate I'm feeling lately. I have 5 acres and I could surely raise some animals for my dogs and me.

doberluv you have the ideal situation with your land. Chickens, some rabbits, goats, the transient deer that come by.

Thanks Hershel for the link.

And Doberluv, that sounds like a good start until I can get a couple books read. Thank you.

I find this article helpful. It's also long and possibly confusing but might be worth the read

http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm

You're welcome Melissa. Did you say already on the other thread that you had Kai's blood checked recently? Liver enzymes etc? I can't remember what I read. LOL. (old, addled mind) I've got liver enzymes on the brain. Lyric is on meds which help repair some of the liver and I'm also looking into some naturopathic stuff. I asked the vet about milk thistle and she said, "YES!" However, looking into that more, it said something about not using it regularly as a preventative measure, that it can be harmful. But as a repairative measure, yes. (I think that's what I read....Gawd! I forget things easily lately) He's on so many different pills right now, actually finished the antibiotics and two other ones, so a little less now.

It would be healthier to raise your own food. But, although I love the wilderness and nature, I'm not sure I could bring myself to kill anything. LOL. I vaccum around spiders or take them outside and put them on a plant. And....it would be hard to raise animals without the big dogs killing something. I'd have to be very careful how they were kept. Oh well...food for thought. (pardon the play on words) LOL.

Hey, the dogs kill the animal, you are feeding the true "prey model" diet! Can't ask for better than that!

I would get his stomach settled before you make any drastic changes (raw meat and bones as opposed to kibble). The bland diet Doberluv mentioned is good when dogs have upset stomachs. Are his bowels functioning normally?

You might want to consider putting him on some probiotics and digestive enzymes if you haven't already. Might help him a bit.

Thank you, Saje.
Dober, we got his blood checked last week. Thankfully, it was normal.
RD, his bowels are functioning normally at the moment. He had stomach upset over the weekend, but had an appetite this morning. I had him on probiotics, but the vet had me stop his supplements while we were trying to diagnose him. I think I'm going to start up again though.
Thanks everyone for your help! I so much appreciate it!

I suggest a consult with Mordy, who will be able to help get you started.

I thought about that BP!

My vet cautioned against switching to raw before I know what the hell I'm doing. So we're feeding TWO for now. But I still want to switch... and contacting Mordy is a great idea!

No problem! she's been a great help to me and my crew! When I get home I'll PM you some books that I have- there is a ton of info out there for raw!

Thanks so much! That would be wonderful! There is definitely a lot of info... enough to completely boggle my mind! lol!

Absolutely. I have so many books and even though I've not read through them, the first few that I have read have been VERY convincing on a raw or home prepared diet.

Hey, Nicole, could you PM me the title of those books too?

I just want to caution the OP against adding digestive enzymes without talking it over with the vet first since it can exacerbate certain issues. Hannah started on digestive enzymes after she bloated, and it sent her stomach into a frenzy - it was doing double time - the enzymes actually hyperactivated her normal digestive system and caused her some problems.

I don't think it's that common, but it can happen. The vet told us to take her off of it because it was making her worse.

I don't know about probiotics....never had any problems with them, but it's always good to talk it over with your vet first if your little guy is having issues and you want to change his regimen.

If any dog is going to have a problem with anything, it would be my dog....hence my advice - we've been there, done that.

Thanks, I will ask my vet about it.

No problem...and if your vet okays it, I'll even be happy to send you Hannah's almost brand new one pound bottle of Prozyme, since she can't take it anymore.

The thing about Pitcairn is he pushes grains heavily. I can't remember the link I read on this.