thanks for the update, i love my dog as much as i love my husband and these pet food recalls are terrifying. my dog eats purina one for sensitive systems and has newman's organic dog treats. our dog also gets organic table scraps ;)

Thanks so much for this post. I've been feeding my 13 year old dog (and still going very strong save for some arthritis in one hing leg) exclusively homecooked meals since he had an inexplicable case of temporary blindness nearly 10 years ago. I spent a very distraught week going to our vet trying to figure out why the dog was banging into trees and glass doors and why his inner lids were sticking to his eyeballs. After visiting a veterinary opthalmologist, they diagnosed my dog with immune-mediated retinal detachment. Just a few days after being prescribed some steroids and eye drops, his sight was back to normal. I had read about cooking for pets but never tried it until this incident. I was convined that a perfectly healthy 4 year old dog who suddenly went blind could only benefit from being taken off of dog food and I have not looked back since. And he has never gone blind again, except for some normal diminished vision that has come with his aging in the last year or so.

It is SO easy to shop and cook for the dog. I usually give him some ground turkey or chicken legs, brown or white rice, olive oil, and some carrots and supplement that with a multivitamin for dogs. My dog absolutely LOVES asparagus so I give him the raw stalks I cut off of mine. Other than onions and chocolate, which are dog no-nos and lettuce, which he just won't eat unless there's dressing on it, I give the dog pretty much anything. This hasn't increased my grocery bill by much but I am sure it has prolonged and enriched the quality of my dog's life.

Being the owner of a small pet that is prone to periodontal disease, I wonder how switching to homemade food will affect my dog's dental hygiene. I know I rely on the crunchy natural food I purchase to help remove plaque. Any ideas on alternatives?

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