I have been promising to post an allergy diet that you can make at home.

One comment about allergies to food. I have been seeing cases of digestive upset for over 15 years as a Alternative Vet. specialist and I have found that only 10% of dogs are allergic to food. More often, “less than ideal” diets that promotte GI upset are a much more common cause, including many of the dog foods advertized for food or GI problems. More on this later.

Here is the diet with instructions:

This is a balanced and complete diet that dog can eat life long. It is important to make the recipe according to measurements, each and every time. Research has shown that most homemade diets are not balanced diets, one reason is lack of measuring the ingredients. Dog are often fed the same or similar diets all their lives. They eat a controlled diet and most dogs don’t forage for extra nutrients. Plus most treats for dogs are high in sugars. Which means the balance of minerals, protein, fat and carbohydrates must be correct in the diet you make for your dog.

So measure, measure, measure!

Hypoallergenic Diet for Canines
based on Small Animal Clinical Nutrition by Lon Lewis et., Hills
diet prepared by Dr Cynthia Smith DVM, MS, DACT

Ingredients:
4 oz cooked lamb
1 cup cooked brown or white  rice (½ cup dry rice in 1 cup water)
1 tbsp Vegetable oil ( olive, sunflower, etc)
1200  mg calcium
1  Dog daily vitamin (based on weight of dog)
300 mg of fish oil (how many tsp depends on brand of fish oil).

Cooking instructions:
In a sauce pan, add enough water to have ½” water covering the bottom of the pan.  Add the meat and heat to a simmer and cook until there is no pink color when meat is cut apart. Takes longer time to cook compared to a fast fry or grill. Add enough water, while cooking, to keep moist consistency.
Once meat is finished, mix in the cooked rice and calcium powder or tablets (will dissolve).
After mixture has cooled to room temperature add the fish oil and vitamins and any prescribed herbs.
600 calories in finished recipe. This will feed a 20 lb dog for one day.

How many calories in each cup of food. Measure how many cups in the finished recipe. Next divide 600 cal/         cups of food  =          Calories per cup of food.
Always measure the finished recipe because the volume will be different each time you make it, depending on how much water is in the meat and added during cooking.

How to figure out how calories to feed your dog. (This is a quick formula that gives a working estimate.) Multiply the weight of your dog X factor from chart. The factor can be adjusted up or down based on activity level of dog and special calorie needs. See your veterinary nutritionist for situations of dogs who do physical work, undergo rapid weight loss, pregnancy, puppies, surgery or burns.

Factor #       Size of dog                  Fish oil in mgs

*(Notice that as the dog get bigger the factor get smaller)

40 -35           10-15 lbs                   300 -350 mg

35 – 30           20-45 lbs                  500 – 700 mg

 30 – 25          50-85 lbs                  800 – 1000 mg

   20                   90 + lbs                   1000 – 2000 mg

For example a 20 lbs dog  needs, the dogs wt 20  x 30 (factor for the dogs size)  =  600 calories/day. Here is a fill in the blanks formula dogs wt           x dogs factor             =                calories/day.

How many cups of homemade food do I feed my dog?

Fill in the blanks: Dog  needs                   calories of food/day. The food you made has ____calories in each cup.

Divide calories per day             /               calories in each cup of food =          cups of food each day.
Divide into two to three servings.

Homemade pet food will keep in frig. for 3-4 days.  Freeze larger batches of food into 3- 4 day  portions.
Add warm water right before serving to increase volume, smell and flavor.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Analysis: 600 calories in total recipe
Water                  65 %
Protein                12 %
Fat                         8 %
Carbohydrates    15  %

Larger Batches:

1200 calorie batch:
8 oz of meat, 2 cups rice, 2 tbsp oil, 2400 mg calcium, and 2 x the vitamins         and fish oil         .
2400 calorie batch:
16 oz of meat, 4 cups rice, 4 tbsp oil, 4800 mg calcium, and 4 x the vitamins         and fish oil         .

Tips:  Dog vitamins I recommend – Vetriscience, Pet Naturals of Vermont, Pet Tabs. Beware of counterfit vitamins, check out any internet source.

Buy the fish oil from a veterinarian. The prescription brands are so much more concentrated in omega 3 that you save money in the long run. Also the contaminants from fish (mercury and chemicals) are removed through cold distillation.

Buy Calcium carbonate powder for dog food from ,Iherb.com. use coupon code MIT990 for $10 off first order. This is a good online  company that sell reliable, tested natural products. Check out the “links ” on their site for excellent info.