For the sake of Rossi gal's health, I have recently switched her to a full home-cook diet. Actually, the home-cook plan has been on the back of my mind for quite a while after reading about the benefits of home made meals. Rossi gal has a sensitive skin condition,which I truly believe, will see significant improvements with a nutritious home-cook diet. In this way, I can also control the quality and type of ingredients to be used in making her meals. (*There was an incident whereby I found tons of wriggly worms in one of her brand new pack of kibbles from a reputable company. Initially, I thought of the possibility of expiry, but the pack's expiry date was dated in year 2011. Gosh!)
The switch was gradual. It began with some occasional boiled veggie treats, followed by some canned tuna in spring water. When she ate the canned tuna, she started a bout of diarrhea that lasted more than 2 weeks. During this time, I gave her only boiled pumpkin, hard boiled eggs and oatmeal. I nearly brought her to the vet and had already fixed the appointment. Then just before her appointment, she got well. (Hubby and I do think it could also be a Detox process, as she had started taking LingZhi pills daily at that time and also,her activeness and appetite were both unaffected.)
As there were still leftover kibbles and Raw Dehydrated food from her Dry food diet, I decide to let her finish up before I go full-flegde into Home-Cook. At the same time, I continued to do my research online and from books on home-cook diet. Since last year, I had been reading up quite abit on home-cook meals as much research is required to make the meals as wholesome as possible. I let Rossi gal finish up her kibbles first, then I transit her to full homecook by mixing it with the Raw Dehydrated.
Till date, she has been having homecook meals for a little over a month. A few marked improvements I see include, lesser hotspots, faster healing of existing hotspots,lesser scratching, higher than before energy level and most of all, she seems much happier than before, always smiling before and after meals. She enjoys her food so much more!
As compared to a dry food diet, home-cook meals require more time and effort on my part. But seeing her so happy with her new diet and for the sake of her health, its worth my effort cooking for her.
Weeks back, she was having a limp in her right leg, which somehow resolved itself after a week or so.Vet diagnosis for the limp was a sprain, but there was another underlying condition in her right leg known as "Luxating Patella", a genetic condition. This condition requires careful attention, as it could develop into Athritis and require surgery if not well cared for.
With Rossi gal's existing condition, I believe that a home-cook diet would be the best for her now. I set out to find out the types of natural foods that contained the required properties which can help improve her condition and incorporate them into her diet. This is something that a commercial diet can never do.
I really want Rossi gal to live a long, happy and healthy life with me and I firmly believe only a nutritious diet can help achieve this.
