home-made food

Question
Hi.  I own a 2 year old King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, Simon, who weighs about 6kg.  Since shortly after getting him at the age of 4 months I've been feeding him one home made meal per day in the morning, and one little bowl of kibble that he picks at in the evning.  Currently (and always) the home made meal consists of white rice, ground beef, and broccoli steamed without any flavouring and just a touch of olive oil for cooking the beef.  I cook this up in huge quantities and separate it into little 1/2 cup portions and freeze it for daily meals.  Can you give me some suggestions as to how to alter this to be best for Simon's health? Currently there are no health problems and he ADORES his home made meals, but I want to ensure he lives a long life.

Thanks,
Laura

Answer
Hi Laura,

Cavaliers are amazing little dogs, but as you likely know, prone to a number of health issues. The home made recipe you are describing here is WHOLLY inadequate nutritionally and requires a lot of adjustment to  cover basic requirements such as calcium,potassium,  Vitamin D, iodine and many more essentials. I would strongly suggest going to full time commercial diet  for the time being to help bring his nutrient levels up to the desired level, and spend some time learning about canine needs. You would be most welcome to join my yahoogroup and ask questions there, as well as avail yourself of the archived articles and resources: the URL is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ThePossibleCanine-Nutrition

You might also check out my professional website for  more information (www.thepossiblecanine.com).

Very briefly, this diet should include other meats such as turkey and lamb, you can use brown rice, eggs, fish, a little liver and some potassium rich foods such as squash and sweet potato. In addition you need to add kelp, calcium, assorted vitmains and minerals.  Fish oils and extra E may be important supplements for CKCSs too, as are taurine, selenium, and Bvitamins (for the heart). In short, I suggest using a good high quality premium diet for now, studying up on canine needs - and when you have a really topnotch recipe to hand, then go back to half and half.


Sorry to be blunt but this is not an ideal situation.

All the best, Catherine