With the economy suffering I was wondering what tips everyone has for holistic pet health?!
It is more expansive to feed real foods BUT the pay off is that our pets live happier and far healthier lives which = FAR less vet bills! Makes a huge difference in their health!
For us - I was thinking the other night that I'm spending $6 a night on Merrick canned food, that really adds up! So I looked at the ingredients on the can and decided to once a week make a big batch of doggy stew! Same ingredients as the canned but for a fraction of the cost! They get all raw in the morning and now will get wonderful homemade stew for dinner! Will save us a bundle and won't compromise their health!
What great great money saving health tips do you guys have?
Great tip indeed! It is so easy to do - making big batches and freeze. It takes less work to do a big batch than preparing meals everyday. I would make two different batches, so you still have the variety each day and your preparation will last 2 weeks instead of one.
Another way to save money is on treats - if you do them yourself. Get a dehydrator and make your own healthy dried sweet potato and other veggie treats. You can even use the dehydrator to make your own jerky - I haven't tried it yet, but I am thinking about it. It is a small investment to buy a dehydrator, I think I bought mine for $40+, but when you look at the price of good healthy grain-free treats, it is well worth it.
Another money saving way to add high quality protein to their meal is adding eggs or replacing some meals with eggs (organic, cage-free of course), they are cheaper than meat and eggs are the perfect protein.
Instead of throwing out the egg shells, save them, dry and grind into a powder and add to food that does not have bones or calcium in it, perfect natural calcium supplement!
That is an adorable picture!!! I would love to hug that puppy right now! As for money, we are short right now, but I am spending a huge amount on dog food. They get really expensive dog food, plus, between the two of them, 1/2 lb a day on organic meat. That isn't cheap. However, every morning that I get up and see Nube's shining eyes it is worth it. Or usually. Right now she is standing in the door to my home office looking at me. I mixed her canned food with grilled chicken with cumin (my dogs, being half South American like it when I flavor their meat with cumin as a treat) that was left over from her dinner last night. She loved the meat last night, but hates leftovers, even when they are reheated in the microwave. She is glaring and me like I am trying to poison her, and is pacing to make sure I know that she is hungry but is displeased with her food, and would I please cook her something fresh. This is not our best moment! (Laugh!!!) She will be 17 on Halloween day (I know, she is a very magical girl) and I am incredibly lucky to have her-- picky and all.
HAPPY almost birthday Nube! 17 is wonderful! And cumin is a great spice to give - in fact one of the ways I'm saving money is to go through my arsenal of supplements, I have drawers and cabinets full of them and USE what I have. NO more buying endless new ones.
Just last night I found a big bottle of - cumin!! HA! What a coincidence! I started giving it to them last night. A wonderful supplement to give.
I also give them organic olive oil from Trader Joes. Much cheaper and I think as healthy - as the fancy schmancy oils!
I agree. Since I do the meat cooked, I cook it in olive oil either from Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. They are about equivalent in price. Whole Foods may indeed be whole paycheck for some items but for other things (oils, shampoos, etc) it is reasonable. My dogs adore the smell of cumin. It is used a lot in South American cooking and they have been used to it since they were pups. It makes the food more appetizing.
The good news is that Chiqui is back on his beloved whole wheat bread. His dad thinks he was sensitive to the raw potato we were giving him as a treat-- something Ambar adored and did well on. I think he may have had a parasite. In any case his tummy has been great and he is eating well again. He is so happy to get whole wheat bread that it is incredible. He would always get a bit for breakfast, and his mornings were terribly empty without it.
In her last year - she wanted whole wheat bread 24/7 - so she got it!
At some point you just gotta give them all the goodies they want.
Apollo's favorite thing on EARTH is pizza. Oh BOY. He rarely gets any so for his 2 year anniversary this year since his operation and biopsy - he got one!
I love the thought of Apollo getting pizza! He sure deserves it, sweet boy after all he has been through! I have a lovely memory of tiny 12 lb. Ambar when he was young. We were sitting on the floor eating pizza. He took one slice off and ate it. We let him ,even though it was Chicago style-- more substance, more cheese, etc. When he came back the pizza was gone. He looked from us to the empty carton in astonishment-- so puzzled that humans could be such gluttons that we could finish the whole thing off without leaving a slice so he could have seconds. It was one of those sweet memories that we treasure now that he is gone. Let Apollo enjoy and think of Ambar.
Dory
P.S. Poor Ambar did not get sick from the pizza, but he never got it again because we decided it wasn't healthy. Neither Nube nor Chiqui has tasted pizza because the cheese gives their dad a bad tummy. I should wait until he is out of town and give them a taste, thinking of Apollo.
Being the host of this HOLISTIC pet forum - I certainly don't advocate feeding pizza to dogs! HA! LOLOL
BUT a small piece of plain cheese only pizza didn't hurt the Big Guy!
Apollo had been run over by a car and left by his "owners" to die at a local dog shelter. His injury to his hip and leg were grave. We had the surgery done and brought him here to try to find him a home.
Because the Terror was aggressive towards him - at night we had him sleep in the the main part of the house.
WELL - he would get into the kitchen and UP to the top of the refrigerator - more than once he ate entire bags of bread. Bagels. We'd wake up to find plastic! :-O
We both think that his first home gave him bread as food. He gets NUTTY over bread, kinda scary. His eyes get beady and he is focused. MORE so than with meat.
As I said in another post - I have been feeding my dogs real, raw foods for breakfast and then at night many times Merrick canned. I figured out that has been costing us about $45 a week.
So last night, I looked at the ingredients on the can, and made a huge batch of homemade stew.
It will save us at least half of that weekly cost! Not bad. That's almost $100 a month!
Another idea for cutting back on money is to feed more eggs. They are a great source of protein and much less expensive than meat. PLEASE find eggs that are from cage-free hens. We want to try to prevent animal cruelty when we feed our own pets! :-D
Ha, great timing I have. I have been feeding my pups almost all organic. The only organic they dont get is if I cant find a certain organic vege. I picked a great time to get them healthy. Bring on the tips.
I feed organic when I can - Cost Co has a HUGE bag of organic carrots for so little money - I buy that.
I read something recently on what is important to get organically and which veggies aren't. For some reason broccoli was in the not important category.
I think that as long as I really wash it off - I'm not going to worry about it. I eat out a lot and that food is not organic. I'm not going to be nuts about it with my dogs. Get it when I can - if I can't that's OK!
Im finding the more I lean towards health the less Im willing to buy and shop at stores like Costco. I feel like Im being herded when I am shopping. The stuff they sell, that I see in everyones carts its so sad.
Sashas got the allergies and I have been trying something different with her diet, so I try for the organic for her and of course Jazzy gets it as well....better for the planet as well as for us.
Im reading the ingredients on chocolate products.......crap the stuff they put in there and I have been eating it forever. lol. I had to give up my favorite.
I saw probably the same list that came out not too long ago about which veges and fruits were ok to eat if no other choice.
Its great tasting chocolate no doubt. But I now even have an issue with Cote d'Or It contains flavorings. Flavorings can mean anything these days including chemicals. If they aren't willing to state on the ingredient list what flavorings it contains, I'm not eating it. IF I eat junk, I want to know what junk Im at least consuming.
Now if Im out at a restaurant, Im assuming its junk even if its the healtihiest choice, I dont worry about it or I would not be at the restaruant. But what I bring into the home is a different story- where I do most of my eating.
Hmmm, you are right it contains flavorings and does not mention which ones, but at least no corn syrup!
I just called to find out about the flavorings and I was told that they only use natural flavorings, never artificial ones. Got it confirmed from 2 different sources, one in Canada and one in the US. I also sent an e-mail to the Belgium address - waiting for reply.
Merrick is a wonderful holistic canned food. I've had a dog with air borne allergies and boy, I know how hard that is to treat. I found that weekly baths - or even bi-weekly - along with antihistamines really helped.
As far as making stew - it's a great way to feed your doggy! A big batch will last one dog a long time! You can freeze it too!
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It contains flavorings. Flavorings can mean anything these days including chemicals. If they aren't willing to state on the ingredient list what flavorings it contains, I'm not eating it. IF I eat junk, I want to know what junk Im at least consuming.
