Hi @birdmckenna,

This is a topic that should be visited by all dog owners, not just amputees in my opinion. A few years before my GSP Bentley was diagnosed with osteosarcoma and the subsequent amputation and now chemo, I had been researching healthier diets for my 2 dogs. Both are fairly large, Bentley is 50 lbs and Kobe, our GSP/Lab mix is about 60 lbs.

I tried raw food with my dogs, but they were not too keen on it and I wasn't certain it was right for them at this stage of their lives. Bentley is 9 1/2 yo and Kobe is 12 yo now.

After much research I determined that any kind of kibble was not really good for my dogs.  I bought high end kibble, but discovered that even kibble makers with the best ingredients process and heat the kibble repeatedly destroying any nutrients that may have been in it and then add synthetic vitamins. It was just filler for my dogs and maybe worse.

I eliminated kibble from their diets and began making my own based on books and research.  I made huge batches and froze it.  I did that for about 6 months and realized it was so much work doing this for 2 big dogs (in addition  I was cooking the meat and freezing it) that I was not able to keep up with it.  

I have simplified the process with Honest Kitchen dehydrated base food and for variety I've added Grandma Lucy's Freeze dried base food, both of which are simple to hydrate for their meal.  I then add cooked meat, chicken, beef, pork, and sometimes a bit of liver for variety. i cook the meat in advance and freeze it.  Since Bentley is currently undergoing chemo, I also add some greek yogurt in their morning meal for the probiotics, they seem to like it.  

The meat is pretty simple to cook and freeze, I only do it every 2 weeks or so and add it to the rehydrated base.  The good thing about the base is that they have the nutrients and vitamins that I was having to add to the vegetable base I was making myself.

Dehydrated and freeze dried foods seem expensive, but when I weighed the cost of kibble and canned meats to the cost of dehydrated and fresh meat, it was about the same.  Personally I try to use free range meats, which are more expensive, but I feel I am voting with my dollars and letting producers know what I want, so I buy with that in mind.

Besides the health benefits, my dogs eat heartily!  They love the real meat and never just sniff the food and walk away like they used to do with kibble and canned.  I feel so much better about feeding them real food.  I also supplement with fish oil, glucosamine/chondroitin, and Brewers Yeast with garlic for fleas....I never have fleas and I am in sunny San Diego, CA.  My vet told me that Brewers yeast for fleas won't work, and it may not for everyone, but I've been doing it for 4 years and my dog is highly allergic to fleas so I know when he has them and we haven't had fleas in all those years!  But that's for another thread...

I hope this helps with your decision, it is so difficult to wade through all of the information and arrive at what is just right for your dog and YOU.  

Good luck,

Suzie, Bentley's lucky adopted Mom