Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat

We switched Holly and now Clyde to Honest Kitchen Embark...it's grain free , low carb, and high protein, so it should be a good cancer diet.  Potatoes are high on the ingredient list, though, so that does concern me a little bit even though it says it is low carb.  We add 95% meat canned food (we've been using Wellness) or Wysong Archetype to up the protein some.   I think Charon did something similar with Gayle...Embark with additional meat.  Clyde has finished his radiation treatments, so I'm considering moving to a more true raw - frozen Primal or something like that at some point...we didn't want to go that route while he was having radiation or while Holly was doing chemo, but I think I probably would have wanted to move her over if she had finished her chemo.  I don't know what the thinking is while using it if they are on MP chemo.

He really enjoys the Honest Kitchen and the canned food.  She LOVED the Honest Kitchen...she also really like the canned food, but she was over the moon when we did the Archetype...she thought she was in heaven.

I think they've cleared up the TotW fiasco, for the record.

I do a price-search every time I go to the dog-food store.  Luckily we just had a local place open up next to the house that has my 3 favorites.  We alternate (just buy one bag at a time) between Hi Tek Naturals, Canidae Grain Free Pure, and a Texas-brand called Before Grain.  We occasionally try others when prices drop (Fromm, Orijen, and Wellness), and I give them a lot of raw meaty bones/whole chicken parts/fish when it's affordable.

If you're having trouble getting your pup to eat kibble at all, and aren't sure you want to try a raw or dehydrated diet, Additional (company) sells raw goats milk in a small cartoon that you can buy to mix in with dog food.  I use it frequently because it keeps my packs' stomachs in good order and they go nuts for it.

Hi  I did quite a bit of research and ended up giving Lily the Orijen adult dog food. We mix it with canned Instinct chicken. Both are grain free and low carb. She likes it-so far,so good. There's a lot of great ideas from everyone-I'm always looking for better options! Happy eating!!

If you feed Honest Kitchen exclusively, it doesn't last long. But I don't know anyone who does that. It generally gets mixed with a high-quality kibble or with meats. Tracy, Maggie Moo's mom, helped me figure out how to feed Dakota and Evelyn. She was a real help. I buy gigantic quantities of meats (there are buying co-ops for raw feeders) and mix it raw with the HK. I also use a kibble that I like a lot and that Dakota will eat. (Again, Evelyn would eat a roofing shingle and ask for another.)

I keep both my dogs on a strict calorie count diet. Evelyn will turn into a bowling ball if she eats more and Dakota has to stay lean since he's a front amp. Evelyn, for instance, tops out at 800 calories per day, max. If I feed the Thrive formula, I feed her 1/3 cup of that with 1/2 cup of the kibble (Nature's Logic) or 1/2 cup of raw ground beef twice a day. (I buy the 70/30 beef, not the lean stuff.) That gives her about 750 calories. Dakota maxes out at 1100 calories per day.

I have my little doodling of how much of what to feed scrawled on the HK box. Depending on what they get, the proportion goes up or down. But my point is that Evelyn gets a total of 2/3 cup and Dakota a total of 1 cup of HK Thrive per day. That lasts both my dogs right at a month, maybe a few days short.

Dakota would tell you that chicken gizzards and livers are full of yummy goodness and that left to their own devices dogs will eat meadow mice and rabbits and bypass the sweet potatoes and green beans. Unfortunately, we vegetarians must concede that one. I do buy the little tubs of chicken guts and feed that, too. Nasty? Sure. But it beats the roundworms and tapeworms that eating rabbits and mice get you. (Been there, done that.)

Stores around here have taken to packaging chicken feet in large amounts and selling them as "chicken paws." What the hell is that for? I have no idea who wants to cook or eat chicken feet. I have bought them for my dogs but only once. Both scarfed them down like it was doggie crack and promptly puked them back up. The only thing uglier than a chicken paw is a barfed up chicken paw. (Or the raccoon paw that Dakota ate and barfed up once. That was really ugly.  )

Shari