Scottsdale Veterinary Clinic

Some of our clients prefer to make food for their pets.  This is time consuming but if you have the time can be rewarding.  This is also an alternative for pets that are finiky.  These are basic guidelines and may need modification depeding on your pet’s medical conditions and dietary needs.

Basic recipe for home made diets, using the following grains, meats, and vegetables:
-Grains: Brown rice, barley, or corn meal
-Meats: Beef, rabbit, chicken, turkey, beef hearts/liver, or chicken gizzards
-Vegetables: Broccoli, squash, carrots, string beans (A mix of fresh vegetables is recommended)

For an Adult dog the mix of the food should be as follows:
25% meat/protein source
50% grain source
25% vegetable source.
For example give 1/4 cup of meat, with 1/4 cup of mixed vegetables, with 1/2 cup of grains.

Younger dogs require a higher protein level then a grown animal.
30% meat/protein source
60% grain source
10% vegetable source.

All the food sources may be cooked and kept in the refrigerator and fed daily. A new batch of food should be made at least 2 times per week.

Vitamin Supplementation:
- Recommend Standard Process Canine Whole Body Support (This can be purchased here at Scottsdale Veterinary Clinic), or a good quality commercial vitamins and mineral supplement.
- Add extra vitamin C the form of sodium ascorbate to the diet. Puppies should get 250 mg of vitamin C daily, as should small dogs, 500 mg daily for medium size dogs, and 750 ml daily for large dogs.
- Fatty Acid oil supplement is also required- Eicosaderm is a supplement that can be obtained at Scottsdale Veterinary Clinic that has a good combination of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids. An alternative, is using cold pressed olive oil- 1 teaspoon for small dogs, 1 and 1/2 tablespoons for large dogs. Cod liver oil or fish oil can be used in addition to olive oil as it provides a good source of vitamin A and antioxidants which help in arthritis conditions- use 1 teaspoon for medium size dogs.
- Kelp powder or other sea weeds as a seasoning to one meal daily- use about 1/4 teaspoon.

Another options for your pets diet is to have the diet formulated on line, based on your pet’s needs and tastes. The following websites offer diet formulation for a fee:

WWW.PETDIETS.COM
WWW.BALANCEIT.COM

Dr. Rowena D’Monte

The Scottsdale Veterinary Clinic

7311 E Thomas Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85251

www.TSVCpets.com

480-945-8484, open every day from 7 am- 9pm

2. Spray fruit juice on top of the pellets- Apple, Orange, Grapefruit, Papaya Juices can all be misted on top of pellets to help flavor the pellets a flavor that they may enjoy. You may also mix pellets with apple sauce.

3. Make it hot- many birds like tabasco sauce on pellets.

4. Mix pellets- with pasta sauce, oatmeal, banana baby food, cream of wheat.

5. Feed them pellets on a mirror, the reflection of “another bird” in the mirror may stimulate them to try the pellets. It’s all about the competition.

6. Mix the pellets with their current seed. (This is the least effective method as they usually just eat around them, but this does allow them to get used to the pellets and start viewing it as food)

7. Place a few drops of peanut oil in a bag with the pellets and shake them, the peanut oil is very good at hiding the flavor of the pellets and will lightly coat the outside of the pellets. This method is very effective for birds that like peanut butter and peanuts. (only use a few drops).

8. Place pellets on a plate while you are eating dinner and pretend to eat them (Yes we want the human to pretend to eat the pellets). This method is very effective for birds that are comfortable eating at the dinner table with a human family.

9. Place another bird next to them that is already eating pellets (monkey see…monkey do).

10. Cook the pellets in some type of bread- corn muffin, wheat muffin, etc., and then feed them the bread.

- Be persistent as I have had one client that had to spend 2.5 years before her budgie would finally start eating pellets.

-The average bird takes a few months for them to get used to the pellets and start eating them on a regular basis.

-Do not just force them to eat pellets or go hungry, as they may refuse the pellets until they develop other complicating medical problems. Make sure that they are eating some type of food on a regular basis during the transition.

-Our general rule of thumb for psittacine species (parrots) is 40% pellets, 30% vegetables, 20% fruit, and 10 % seeds and nuts. These ratios do change dramatically based on the species of parrot and their medical concerns.

Dr. Bill Langhofer, The Scottsdale Veterinary Clinic, TSVCpets.com