Update Blog: How Cooking For My Dog Accidentally Saved His Life Part 2

I thought it was worth a follow up blog to show how changing my dog's food from commercialized food to cooking for him has literally transformed my husky into a new dog.

It has been approximately 2.5 months since I made the decision one day to cook for my dog, who I thought we were going to have to put down in May. 

In my first blog I explained about all his issues, from having a zinc deficiency, to surgeries, to allergies, to finding out he had hypothyroidism. 

We put him on all types of dog foods: Purina ProPlan, Honest Kitchen, PureVita, Veterinary Brands for skin conditions. The list goes on. We tried kibble, dehydrated food, canned food. In my first blog I explain how this commercialized food is made. it's worth a read if you're interested. 

For medications he was on zinc meds, Apoquel, Gaberpentin, antibiotics every other month, not to mention all the meds after his surgeries. We took him in for allergy shots. We used creams and foams for his sores. Nothing worked.

For bathing I gave him a bath every other day with me. We used Oatmeal shampoo, chlorhexidine, and antibiotic shampoos.

There was NOTHING we didn't try. And if it wasn't for pet insurance, his bills would have cost me out of pocket about 50K. 

I also have a golden retriever who is relatively healthy except for he gets itchy. He too took once a month allergy shots at the tune of $300/shot for years. 

All this stopped the moment I started cooking organic food for my dogs.

Below I have pics of my husky. The first set of 4 were what he looked like before I changed his food. Most of the sores were so bad, you couldn't even touch him. And he would cry all the time. He barely got up. He barely ate. He lost 14lbs. It truly was upsetting for all of us.

The second set of 4 were his progression pics after I started cooking for him. 

Top Left 3 weeks after changing his food

Top right 4 weeks after changing his food

Bottom Left 6 weeks after changing his food 

Bottom Right is today..8 weeks later

So as everyone can see, it was the processed dog food al along. Now full disclosure, about a month after I changed his food, we did find out he was hypothyroid. And do I think his condition was food related? Absolutely. I have hypothyroidism too and wrote a blog how changing my diet helped me. But that's another story. But his thyroid medicine wasn't what started his change. He was on the good food before the meds. But I do know the meds are helping him in other ways.

How has he improved since the food change?

1. He has vocals he never had. He's a typical husky now. He has about 10 vocals that range from "Feed Me Now! to "Why aren't we going for a walk yet?"

2. He plays with toys all day. He NEVER did this before.

3. He goes for 2 walks a day. Before, he barely could do one

4. His energy level is through the roof. Before, he'd sleep all day

5. He's jumping on the furniture. This is something he hasn't been able to do in 5 years

6. When he wants a treat, he wants it now! There will be no waiting or discussions if he has his way (which is all the time). 

7. He is now off Apoquel and all medications except for thyroid meds. And my Golden no longer takes those $300 monthly allergy shots. 

8. I only have to give him one bath a month with regular aloe and oatmeal shampoo. No more medicated stuff. Hallelujah! Between this and the meds, this is saving me hundreds of dollars a month. 

I will attach my recipe one more time for those who are interested. The most asked question I get is how much food? It's a great question and here is what the vet and I came up with.

My two dogs are 70 and 100lbs. They both get 2 cups of food per meal (and healthy treats throughout the day). They have not lost of gained weight. So the vet is happy with the amounts. We also cook for ourselves almost every night so they are always getting extra stuff like carrots, broccoli or stuff they can have that we eat. Nothing goes to waste in our house. And if your dogs are spoiled like ours, it doesn't go to waste in your house either. I also notice that they don't beg anymore after they eat. S this tells me they are happy with the amounts. But make sure you discuss amounts with your vet because like people, every dog is different. 

Here's my recipe (All Organic Stuff). You can get a lot of this stuff at costco so when it goes on sale, we stock up. 

1 can Garbanzo Beans

1 can Green Beans

1 can pumpkin

1 cup white rice cooked in beef or veggie broth, with shredded carrots and zucchini

1 tablespoon Turmeric

4 fish oil capsules cut open and drizzled on the food

2 pounds of meat (my Golden is allergic to chicken or anything with a wing. So we only do beef or pork). Costco has diced pork that is very inexpensive. Safeway also has deals on pork so we're always on the lookout. We buy the 80/20% ratio hamburger when it goes on sale. They need the fats.

My only cheat: Rawbble dehydrated organ meat (I tried cooking liver and hearts and gagged). We do 3 cups per prepared container. It comes in chicken, beef, pork or turkey. Very important proteins for dogs. 

Other options: you can add sweet potatoes, spinach, cranberries, blueberries, apples

I just get whatever organic fruit and veggie is on sale. Each container of food I prepare costs about $12 and it makes 3 days worth of food. You can also freeze this. So sometimes I make multiple containers and pull one out the day before I plan to use it. We figure this costs us about $120/month total for both dogs. Before, my supposed "good" kibble cost more than that. 

I hope this information helps your furry friends. It sure as hell helped ours. And I know for a fact, I will never give my pets commercialized dog food again. 

Best to you and your families. :-)