Home-cooked diet for my ridgeback--is it balanced?

Question
Hello Catherine,

I have a 2 year-old male ridgeback.  He's a big boy, about 110, but he's lean.  We've had recurring troubles that started with a bout of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis at 11 months, and he was pretty regularly alternating between having soft stools and diarrhea until a few months ago when I gave up on feeding him kibble.  I tried Prairie, Wellness, California Naturals, Evo, etc.  The only thing that didn't cause diarrhea on a regular basis was Hills Prescription Diet, but I don't want to feed him that.  

For the past three months, I have been feeding him homecooked food, which has largely cleared up his diarrhea problem, but I'm basically being driven nuts by all the contradictory information out there.  Can you tell me whether the following is a healthy diet, or what I should do differently, if anything?

I make batches of food twice a week.  Generally, it's something like this:  

3 lbs of ground turkey
1 lb of beef liver OR Chicken hearts and gizzards
Two eggs (no shell)
Five cups rice (either Brown or white or mixed)
One large bunch of kale OR collard greens OR broccoli OR fresh green beans.
Two large carrots
A clove or two of garlic

I cook it all together, and sort of let it stew to break down the cellulose and to make sure the rice has fully cooked and absorbed lots of water.  

I top it with a dietary supplement, Wysong's Call of the Wild.  I also sometimes give plain lowfat yogurt or kefir (usually 2-3 times a week).  

Today I found beef heart at the store and put about a pound and a half of that in the mix as well.  I also gave him a bone for the first time--basically a raw beef bone that I dunked in hot water long enough to remove some of that raw meat still attached.

Since switching to this diet, the dog looks better, has more energy, and has lost a bit of extra weight.  However, this doesn't mean that it's the healthiest possible diet for him, which is what I want.  So, can you give any tips on making modifications?  Also, if you know of feeding groups specifically for ridgebacks, I'd love to know about them

Many thanks!

Bob  

Answer
First of all, hello to another RR enthusiast! My Danny is also 2, weighs about 75 pounds and is super energetic. He's not a big boy but, knock wood, he's doing great! my last RR had some issues including epilepsy, and he died at only 8, we will always miss him. I love this breed!

Now - your questions. I totally applaud your move to home made diet and commtiment to doing it right. A few comments about this diet as it stands:

1) Overly high in protein/low in fiber, I would adjust this somewhat
2) very low in multiple nutrients - calcium, VitaminD, magnesium, iodine, manganese, zinc - I would have to see what's in the supplement, but it's quite haphazard, although a step in the right dircetion, does need some tweaking.
3) Fatty acid ratios are off

I ran it through my software so you can have a look:
                                      


FOODS INCLUDED IN THE ANALYSIS

1.   Turkey, Ground, ckd                                                                                 
   3 of: pounds
      
2.   Beef Liver, ckd                                                                                     
   1 of: pounds
        
3.   Egg, Whole, hard-cooked                                                                             
   2 of: 1 large   (100.0g)
        
4.   Grain, Rice, Brown, ckd                                                                             
   5 of: 1 cup, cooked, hot   (975.0g)
     
5.   Vege, Carrots, fresh, ckd w/o fat or salt                                                           
   2 of: 1 medium   (112.0g)
        
6.   Vege, Beans, Snap, Green, boiled, drained, no salt                                                  
   1 of: 1 cup   (125.0g)
     

NUTRIENT TOTALS

Calories:   5201
Protein:   541 g
Carbohydrate:   306.7 g
Dietary Fiber:   24 g
Total Sugars:   3.057 g
Total Fat:   184.7 g
Saturated Fat:   56.1 g
Monounsaturated Fat:   56.3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat:   45.4 g
Cholesterol:   3707 mg
Trans Fatty Acids:   0 g
Trans-monoenoic FA:   0 g
Total Omega-3 FA:   .189 g
Total Omega-6 FA:   0 g

Calcium:   663 mg
Copper:   15.2 mg
Iron:   61.1 mg
Magnesium:   849.8 mg
Manganese:   .382 mg
Phosphorus:   5778 mg
Potassium:   6673 mg

Sodium:   8470 mg
Zinc:   71.6 mg
Vitamin A (RE):   51357 RE
Vitamin A (IU):   191593 IU
Vitamin A (RAE):   212.8 mcg
Retinol:   168 mcg
Vitamin C:   117.9 mg

Vitamin E (a-toc):   16.5 mg
Vitamin K:   20.3 mcg
Thiamin:   2.798 mg
Riboflavin:   22 mg
Niacin:   149 mg
Alpha-carotene:   0 mcg
Beta-carotene:   3689 mcg
Beta-cryptoxanthin:   10 mcg
Lycopene:   0 mcg
Lutein+zeaxanthin:   1239 mcg
Pantothenic Acid:   1.49 mg
Folate:   1236 mcg

Food Folate:   85.2 mcg
DFE Folate:   85.2 mcg
Vitamin B6:   13.5 mg
Vitamin B12:   509.9 mcg
  

IMPORTANT ANALYSIS INFORMATION

Distribution of calories:
 Protein:     42.8 %
 Fat:         32.9 %
 Carbohydrate:    24.3 %

Ratios:
 Potassium to Sodium:   1 to  1.27
 Calcium to Phosphorus:   1 to  8.72

Now without doing a full consultation here, I would suggest this diet is a step in the right direction but if you feed it longterm, you are likely to see some problems related to low nutrient levels (again depending on the Wysong content, but most formulas do not provide enough nutrient, they are meant to support the diet only).  Check out the Ca:P ratio - that supplement better have a LOT of calcium in it! This recipe is extremely low in that nutrient, just to start with.

I see you joined my nutrition group, although it is not specifically for RRs, there are a lot of us there. <g> We can talk more about this over there if you wish to pos and Intro and get the ball rolling. I would also be happy to help you crunch the numbers so your diet is properly balanced.

Nice to meet you and hope to speak soon, Catherine