Changing How My Pets Eat

My household consists of me, my husband, our three dogs, two cats and fish.  Our oldest dog Snoopy has severe allergies, his allergies were so bad that for three plus years he was half bald.  He would get an ear infection every three weeks, his skin was raw and itchy.  He was taking so many pills, he refused to take them; it was sad, expensive and frustrating.  After a very long bout of ear and skin infections our vet suggested we change medicine, something more expensive, with a 50% chance that it would work.  We could not handle the expense, close to $210 in allergy medicine a month with no guarantee, not happening.

I took to the internet to figure out what the underline problem was, it had to be something environmental or food.  After ruling out controllable environmental, yes he has seasonal allergies...spring and fall are his worst time of year, I researched dog food.  I found that some dogs are allergic to wheat, corn, and soy.  Most of the information I came across,  people either bought a higher quality dog food or they cooked for their dogs.  I opted to look for higher quality dog food, I did not want to cook for the dogs, with work and life I was too busy.  I searched labels trying to find something that would work for Snoopy and the other two; the youngest one Annabelle was showing signs of the same allergies.  I started at the highest price and worked my way down.  There were some brands that claim on the front that they did not have corn, but when you look at the ingredients there was corn meal, it was infuriating.  

Then one day I noticed that Iams came out with their Naturals line, the first bag I checked still had corn meal and wheat, then I noticed the blue bag.  Iams Prime Naturals, the front of the bag showed a chicken, crossed out corn, wheat and soy.  I was excited, I flipped over the bag and read the ingredients, chicken was number one, good sign, read on and they had carrots, peas, and spinach.  I was delighted, I purchased a bag and brought it home.  They loved it, our middle dog Leo would only eat the new food and leave the old.  We donated all the unopened bags of the old dog food to the local shelter and bought more of the new food.  The first thing we noticed is Snoopy would get an ear infection only once a month, then every few months, now he has not had an infection for over a year. The second thing we noticed he actually has hair, its thin but it covers his chest, his skin is not raw and red from all the itching, big smiles.  

Then it happened, the local pet store stopped carrying the chicken, all they had was the fish.  Not a huge problem but two out of the three would rather eat the chicken (we accidentally bought the fish before and it was not well received, yes spoiled pets).  I searched the internet for dog food delivery, and could not find their preferred food at a good price point.  I decided to search for a different brand, again I came across the same ingredient problems as before.  Then it hit me, why not cook for my dogs?  Other people have done it with great success. Bonus, I do not have to worry about dog food recalls and by rough calculations, I might actually save money as well.  

My goal is to have fun creating nutritious meals and treats for my pets, I am sure my dogs will love the experiment and will feel like royalty.  Follow along and tell me about your experiences.

Blu