Lemon Perfection.

This is LizLemon. He is a standard size Chocolate Lemon Rat Terrier. The chocolate indicates that his points are pink/brown with hazel eyes, not black points with dark brown eyes. He is 18" tall at the shoulders.
Before our homemade diet program: He was around 29-31 pounds. Not overweight but definitely a big boy. He has always had more "energy" than my other two rats. He barked a lot. He had hot spots he would constantly lick. He smelled like a "dog".
He is at a perfect 25 pounds! The vet nutritionist and our primary vet both said his weight is just perfect now. His hot spots have completely faded. He doesn't smell at all anymore. And for him, he is calmer. He still barks but not as much. He was always softer than most rats but now is like thick, plush velvet.
Here is Mr Lemon Perfection:
 

Organ Meats. Yes, I had the same reaction.

A couple of weeks ago I found chicken livers and cooked them up for the dogs. The whole experience was so unpleasant I asked the vet nutritionist if there was something we could do to substitute. Unfortunately, she stated organ meats are "essential"!

The hunt was on. Maybe a different organ meat would be easier to prepare? Perhaps it would not make the house smell like a morgue. Maybe other organs meats would be less dreadfully slimy. I asked several butchers and friends who recommended Armondo's in Providence.

I found Chicken hearts and beef liver. They also had kidneys and rabbit. I'll save that for the next trip. They were so helpful. They cut the liver into small slivers and ground the chicken hearts.

 

I bought 5 pounds of the liver. It's quite a large amount. I'm not sure what I was thinking. I bought 3 pounds of the hearts.

I froze half of the uncooked meats. I didn't think I had cookware large enough for the oversized portions I purchased. The hearts were very easy to cook. I drained the fat and measured 4.5 oz bags to freeze.

The liver was a little more work to prepare. I looked up instructions that suggested soaking for 30 minutes then boiling for 40 minutes. Even though the butcher sliced thin for me I still had to chop it smaller. The small food processor worked great. I weighed, labelled and bagged for the freezer.

       

The overall organ meat experience today was a little better. A great tip I got from the meat manager at BJs who recommended Armondos, was to wear disposable gloves. I believe that helped. I reduced the original amount from 3oz twice a week to 1oz. I did 1/2 oz hearts and 1/2 oz liver for each rat. I mixed it in with their other meal protein, ground turkey mixed with ground beef. They seem to love it. I made a lovely Italian dinner from Venda Ravioli for Roc and me. It was also delicious. Except... it smelled like liver. I just can't get that smell out of my head. At least, with the size of the batch I made today, I won't have to make it again for a month or two.

"Healthy Powder" Just what the Dr ordered

Time to make more "Healthy Powder". The vet nutritionist recommended this potion to supplement our homemade diet to provide food-source vitamins and minerals:

2 cups Nutritional Yeast
(good source B vitamins)
1 cup Lecithin Granules
(for essential fatty acids, choline and insositol)
1/4 cup Kelp Powder
(for iodine and trace minerals)
1/4 cup Bonemeal or Seaweed Calcium
(for calcium to balance high phosphorus in yeast)



For three dogs this will last about 10 days. They get a Tablespoon with their evening meal. I bought all the ingredients plus other recommended supplements at our local health food store. Some can be bought in bulk so you can buy exactly what you need. The local heath food store, called "The Good Seed" in Seekonk, MA. Prices were cheaper than amazon. Shop local. Help keep our local businesses in business. The owner went around the shop with me to help me get exactly what I needed.

And then someone gets sick

And then someone gets sick. Poor LizLemon. In a panic, I immediately think I’ve done something wrong. Was the liver too rich, did I undercook the turkey, did he eat something in the yard and I didn't watch him, did he eat too much of the bone? Did I cook the bone too much? Should I have watched him better when he was eating it? Did part of it come off? Is something obstructing his system? Does he need an X-ray? If I just fed them kibbles would I be so worried? We have a regular wellness veterinary appointment today. Should I cancel? Can he receive the vaccinations if he’s sick? Will they blame the natural homemade food diet?

I couldn't keep up with his vomiting. Finally, I got him in the corral to keep him off the rug and furniture. Now the vomit at least is clearer and not so smelly and brown. Thought maybe everyone wanted breakfast. Thought he was done. He showed no interest in eating. He asked go out and now he had very loose stools but I was thankful he let me know he had to go out and something was coming out of his system so maybe no obstruction.

Then, I find out when we all went to bed last night, he took a detour to the cat side of the house and eat cat food. Well, that explains it all. He’s eaten cat food before but not since on the homemade diet. He system couldn't handle all that processed crap. The cats are still on kibbles until I can figure how to feed two different grazers a homemade diet as well. 

He ate breakfast and all seems back to normal. Phew. I didn't do anything wrong after all. 

Dinner: fit for anyone in our family

Dinner: Organic frozen broccoli from BJs. I buy a bulk bag and chop up a few days worth at a time. I can use the broccoli for the dogs dinner and for ours! Can't do that with processed commercial dog food. Or more like it, you wouldn't want to. The rest of dinner: beef removed and chopped up from the treat bones from the butcher mixed with ground turkey and cottage cheese, oatmeal, cod liver oil and "healthy powder". I add a 1/2 cup of chamomile tea to Picasso's and LizLemon's dinner to help calm them down a bit.
 

All bones about it.

Like it was meant to be, there was a package of beef bones for .99 pound sitting in the meat case. I boiled them for about 15 minutes to cook the meat. Trimmed off any loose bone pieces and reserved the meat for dinner. The rats loved todays treat. They each got their own and I limited the time they got to chew to be sure I was able to carefully monitor them.
      

How it all started.

I cook for my family. Almost all from scratch with high quality ingredients. I cook for good health, the creativity of cooking, for my son's allergies and because we like to eat. While I am usually preparing dinner, my son pulls a big bin of commercial processed dry dog food out of the cabinet, measures it out and drops the bowls down for our three rat terriers.
It was one of those 5 degree days and we realized we were running out of food. I dreaded the thought of schlepping to a big box store and buying the bag. We had enough for dinner but not for breakfast too. Then I thought, I have a chicken breast and peas in the freezer. Maybe some rice in the pantry. This will do. I made a soup for my son's lunches with some of the components and the broth. Win win.
There was no going back. How could I give my gorgeous rats processed pellets of whatever couldn't be sold for human consumption? I stopped into the vet on my way to buy food for advice. Fast forward a couple of months, we've met with a veterinarian nutritionist and my guys are now on a costumed designed nutritional program. They all detoxed off the processed junk. They love their food, the look and smell great and they are now at perfect weights.
Their program is a basic maintenance diet for healthy adult dogs: Daily: 6-8 oz of various meats. 1/2 cup vegetables, cod liver oil, bonemeal powder, olive oil, chopped garlic, vitamin E and a 'healthy powder" made from nutritional yeast, lecithin granules, kelp powder and bonemeal. 2-3 times a week they also get organ meats and eggs. Treats range from apples to cucumbers to beef bones.