My girl turns 13 this month, so I thought I'd shares some things for anyone that cares Starting about a year and a half ago, her left rear leg started getting stiff and she avoided using it; soon thereafter her right leg followed suit. It became very difficult for her to get around, and for that matter, even stand up. We took her to the vet, he did an x-ray, blood work, whatever, and basically said it is what it is... she's old. Arthritis is pretty common, it'll only get worse, so enjoy her while you still can. He gave us some $89/month meds, and sent us on our way. That was it. The medication didn't really help much, tbh I don't think it did anything at all. Never refilled it. There was one thing though, when he weighed her, I was shocked. She came in at 86 pounds. I never really paid attention to her weight when she'd go in to our old vet, but I do for a fact remember one visit back in her prime she weighed 59 pounds, because for whatever reason I had at the time, I asked the vet. So I always figured she weighs about 60 pounds. She didn't really look fat. 86 pounds floored me. Now she has always had really good dog food... IandLoveandYou.. "Poultry Palooza" lol. Well instead of her usual 3 cups per day, I went to two, but I went to 3 feedings instead of 2. Kinda trick her maybe. I cut out the Milk-Bones too. I'll get to that in a minute. So starting late last summer, at the advice of a friend that really knows their stuff about things like this, I started experimenting making my own food for her. It's pretty easy really, but the reason I did it was to get this stuff called eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), its an omega-3 fatty acid that is apparently found in tuna and salmon and a lot of vets say it works on arthritis. So since last summer, she's been getting more and more of my "secret recipe" dog food and less of her other food. I am not exaggerating when I say the change in her has been remarkable. For one, she's back to where you can just barely see her rib cage. That's the ideal weight. Not boney, but just enough to barely see the outline. I picked her up this morning and weighed us on the digital scale, and guess what, she's back at 60 pounds. Last Fall it was so bad I had actually started looking at those little doggie wheelchairs on AMZN. They're like a little sulky that raises their rear legs off the ground a bit and they use their front legs to get around. Apparently dogs catch on pretty fast and they don't mind them at all. But as time marched on, it never really got to the point where I said--- ok, order the wheelchair. Like all things, the change was imperceptible day to day, but looking back, the way she was then and the way she is now... huge difference. She's still slow to get up when she's been resting, and she lays around more when she's outside than she used to, but other than that, once she gets up, her back legs are fine. I mean she's not like she was at 5, but she has no problem at least trying to do the things she always did when she was young. She will still go after any squirrel that dares to come down a tree and trespass in her little world out there. But the homemade food... pretty easy really. Kind of fun actually. I just cook a giant pot of brown rice, and I throw in a can of Alaskan pink salmon and a bag of frozen peas and one of carrots. The whole thing costs about $7, the salmon is the WMT house brand, its like $4/can... the rest of the stuff is cheap. I cook the rice, not to the point like we'd eat it, I stop when its soft but still mushy, and then I throw everything in and mix it all up in a giant Tupperware bowl, and put it in the fridge. You get about 4 days worth out of it. I don't really care, but we were easily spending well over $130/month on quality dog food, but pfff, had I known this, I would have been making her food for her all along. For one thing it is cheaper, but more importantly, it's healthier I think. At least compared to that crap that most people buy that costs like $20 for a 20 pound bag. I know its healthier than that crap. Oh yeah, the Milk-Bones. I'm experimenting now with baked doggy treats. She seems to really love sweet potatoes of all things, so we'll see how these turn out. Eggs, brown rice flour, sweet potatoes (cooked and mashed up), some other stuff, and then you bake them. We'll see. You guys should try it. Like I said, it's kinda fun. I did lie though... I love her too much... there's still a box of Milk-Bones in the pantry. In the same spot there's always been one for whats now been 13 years. Happy birthday to the best dog in the entire world. xxoo
I cook for my dog too, different reason. We got him from the shelter when he was three and he had a couple bad teeth. About 3 years later we discovered his gums and teeth were in bad shape so all but 4 teeth came out. That's when the meal prep began. Hamburger, chicken, vegs. He loves it and it's a labor of love for me. At 10 he's still in good shape and we go for a walk twice a day. The difference in him when all those teeth came out was remarkable. Recovered very quickly and you could tell he felt better too. I am glad you discovered a way to help your buddy and wish him a Happy Birthday.
"Her".... but thanks skipper. I'm going for 4 more Aprils. And take a wild guess on the day she was born lol. Think Elon. I kid you not. "funding approved" By far and away, the worlds sweetest and smartest dog.