how do you stretch dog kibble

[Crazyland]

There are several other companies like Taste Of the Wild that makes a canned cat food. Also Wellness, Merrick, Before grains, Evo, Halo, Wysong, Sold Gold, Innova, Felidae (same brand as Canidae).

But why switch to canned from dry? The dry help to scrape the teeth while the canned leads to dental decay, and or lots of fights when you try to brush their teeth.

 

[claud]

Quote:
I would think trying to process all that corn might be hard on his kidneys.

It's the higher protein content that's harder on their kidneys.

 

[Melissakins]

Kind of a long read, but this talks about protein in animal foods:

Focusing on Protein

 

[popcornpuppy]

Quote:
That was a good read. Alot of great info in that article.

I used to subscribe to a magazine called The Whole Dog Journal. Every year they rate various brands of dog food and publish the results in the magazine. All of the top rated foods have animal proteins as the first 3 to 5 ingredients and have little or no grains in their products. This has been the guideline that I have followed to choose the brand of dog food that I feed to my guys.
When that huge pet food recall happened in 2007 our family was fortunate that we were not effected. That recall brought the pet food industry into a whole new light and I think people started to look at what was inside their dog/cat food. People also started to make their own dog food or feed raw diets. Knowing what I know about dog nutrition, I am looking for a healthy balance between feeding a high price kibble (that is well worth the price for the ingedients that are in it) and feeding fresh, or homemade goodies.
Tonight I made a stew for the dogs. I used carrots, green beans, peas, brown rice, scrambled eggs, and chicken livers. I mixed this with the kibble and they loved it.
I guess I should re-phrase my original question and ask: "does anyone have any recipies to share regarding dog meals?"

 

[Le Canard de Barbarie]

Quote:
I grind up the cheap chicken legs from Wal*Mart and mix it with kibble.

 

[Beekissed]

I've collected all the organs and unlaid eggs from my butchered chickens, pig organs from the local FFA butcherings and will add the organs and scraps from when I butcher my bottle calf. These will be cut up and cooked into a big pot, will throw in rice, potatoes, carrot pulp, apple pulp and whole apples, garlic, sea salt, chicken scraps and minced egg shells.

This will be winter food for my older dog, as her teeth are getting quite worn and it's getting harder for her to eat regular dry food.

Not really a recipe but you get the general idea.

 

[lemurchaser]

Quote:
My childhood dog (medium sized mutt) died at 9 years old after a life on pedigree...it's all anecdotes and doesn't mean anything. Small dogs often live that old, often older. It doesn't matter what you feed if your dog is doing well on it, but it certainly is not some amazing food.

 

[lemurchaser]

Cats are obligate carnivores, dogs are not (their dentition is wrong for it). They are omnivores that eat mostly meat. Meat is important in their diet, but some fruits and veggies are fine. They are not made to eat large quantities of grain though. Fruits (and any sweet table scraps like milk, cereal, etc) can lead to tooth decay, unless you brush their teeth. I do frozen peas and green beans with my dogs and cats because they are still hungry after eating their high quality kibble. While I know the cats don't need it, it fills their tummies (I also add water to their food to do the same thing without adding calories). For the dogs I do various meats, eggs, veggies, occasionally an apple, they get peanut butter as a treat (unsweetened-most have sugar added). Veggies I use are spinach, green beans, peas, carrots, squash, pumpkin, potato and zucchini. I'll also give them a slice of bread here and there, usually in their Kong toys for entertainment. Really it's easier to learn what dogs can't eat, and then everything else is okay. I avoid gassy foods like broccoli, beans, cabbage etc, for obvious reasons, although my cats steal broccoli and asparagus if given a chance. If you're adding meat often, avoid adding only muscle meat. Organ meat and bones are important to balance the vitamins.

Since you're trying to stretch your dollar, you'd be best off adding higher calorie things like meats, eggs and starches. Adding pumpkin is a great source of fiber, but it doesn't really add calories (so they'll have to eat just as much kibble and need to poop more). It is great for making a dog FEEL full, if you have animals like mine that think they are starving. So while the veggies are fine to add if you have them around, I wouldn't buy them just to stretch kibble.

 

[Marley80_]

dogs dont need veggies..they are carnivores and need meat,bone and organs..eggs are fine..carnivores are not designed by nature to eat and actually turn vegges/fruit into an energy source..I feed raw,not BARF,but prey model raw,,the biggest reason I switched is even the "premium" foods have many recall issues,raw is very easy and doesnt cost any more then premium kibble,especially if you can score free meats from freezer cleanings,deer kills,or even buy cull sheep,goats,cows and process yourself..do some research and see if its for you..

Dogs are DOMESTICATED...Therefore they ate whatever was available when being domesticated. They are omnivores. Cut the crap

 

[Marley80_]

dogs dont need veggies..they are carnivores and need meat,bone and organs..eggs are fine..carnivores are not designed by nature to eat and actually turn vegges/fruit into an energy source..I feed raw,not BARF,but prey model raw,,the biggest reason I switched is even the "premium" foods have many recall issues,raw is very easy and doesnt cost any more then premium kibble,especially if you can score free meats from freezer cleanings,deer kills,or even buy cull sheep,goats,cows and process yourself..do some research and see if its for you..