If you have any questions about the kibble that you are feeding your yorkie, take a look at dogfoodanalysis.com. They have reviewed almost all the available dog foods, including wet foods.

That is a very interesting site.
I was horrified when I discovered that the Royal Canin 28 that I give to Cassie was so low on the list. A few months ago I attempted to import Solid Gold but was unable too.
Anyway - Cassie is looking very good and is very healthy so I am happy with RC.

I was also feeding RC until I read the review. I was so shocked!! And none of the good foods are available in SA, so now, I home cook. I did my research and they get supplements and lots of bones, and the baby is gaining weight, so I trust that I am doing it correctly. I have some RC left that I leave out during the day, but after eating the home cooking, Cash refuses to eat the kibble.

The thing that scares me most about the 'bad' foods are that they cause cancer later on. That is why I stopped feeding RC. My family has lost all of our dogs to cancer (coupled with old age) and I can't stand having to go through that with Cash and June. I was the one who had to take the family dogs to the vet to be put down because they were in too much pain. I would never be able to have Cash put down. Just thinking about it sends me into a panic!

I am so sorry that your dogs got cancer and i know what it feels like when you have to send them on. I had to do the same with Oscar and Cleo - it is so heartbreaking.
Yes its sad and true that South Africa has not got a huge variety of dog food like USA has.
I also feed Cassie raw chicken wings and legs - which she loves!

Would you mind sharing your home cooking recipe with us?

Sure.

Ingredients:
500g minced beef
500g chicken breast (cut into small pieces)
Two cans of mixed vegetables (pour out water - it contains a lot of salt - and rinse)
250g rice
650ml water
400ml stock (I use chicken)
Pumpkin (or any other veggies)
Bananas
Herbs: Mint and Parsley (for fresh breath)

Brown the meat. Add rice, water and stock. Cook until rice is almost done (I add the pumpkin with the rice since it takes a long time to soften), then add the veggies and herbs.

When everything is cooked, I use a handheld Braun smoothie maker to chop everything into mush.

This recipe makes more than a week's food for both my babies. I bought containers that are big enough for two days' portions and I freeze most of the food (except for the next couple of days' food).
Simply defrost overnight and add a little boiling water to each meal. I also add Mirra-cote supplement and Vondi's Herbal supplement to make sure that they get everything they need.

Ps. I just add pumpkin to ease bowel movements. If you use this recipe and find that your dog's poop is too loose, don't add the pumpkin. You can use any veggies and you can also add eggs. I add the banana because Cash is doing agility and needs the extra energy and June needs the energy to grow.

Cash eats all of his food very quickly - he never did that with kibble and I always worried about him not eating enough.

My dogs eat pedigree and thanks for the recipe..do you have to turn into mush as I don't have a food processor...I think with this recipe mine would eat it like that

Mine are on RC too.. Mini Sensible and Dental, but I too worry that it is not a good product.

I have been introduced to a product called Mera Dog, but can only find suppliers in the Cape...it is manufactured in Germany, have any of you heard of it?
I can't find it on the analysis list.

Thanks for the home cooked recipe, we used to feed our previous dogs on home cooked and they lived to 17 and 18yrs. We have all been conned by our vets to use kibble, I have heard this is because they get a kick back from the suppliers.. don't know it that is true.
In this greedy world, anything is possible

Yes, actually vets have like one lecture on nutrition and most vet practices are endorsed and sponsored by Eukanuba, Science Plan and RC. These big companies have big conferences where they pay for the vet's hotel stay, food, etc. Human medical companies aren't allowed to do this anymore as it can create a conflict of interest and abnormal loyalty to a product. There aren't any laws for pet food manufacturers.
AND the vets get a cut of the food they sell, so they want you to buy it.

Therefore, I don't trust a vet's recommendation with regards to nutrition anymore. I prefer to make food that I know exactly what goes in there and that the ingredients are human quality.

One for shocking fact: If animal byproducts is listed in the food's ingredients list, it is quite possible that some of the animal meat comes from roadkill and... from euthanized pet animals!!!!! The chemicals that the animals are injected can't be removed, so some of the chemicals can be transferred to the meat and your pet can get some of these chemicals!

I always swore by Science Plan (raised Cash on it) and RC (the yorkie one when he reached one year and June's breeder also fed them this), but I just can't get myself to feed them that crap anymore. Not now that I know the truth.

Of course, to each his own, but there are better options available (although there are no better manufactured products in SA). For me, the decision was between raw and home cooked. I understand that raw is even better than home cooking and I will switch to that when I have a garden again (don't want them chewing raw, meaty bones all over the floor - they aren't affected by the bacteria, but people are), but right now, home cooking is the best I can do. And they are already doing so much better.

Yep, I agree with everything you have said!


I did home feed when we had the food scare a year or so ago, and have been meaning to go back to it. My hubby has itchy feet, and we do quite a lot of travelling with the C's, so I have let that get in my way... lazy mommy!

I am actually on the lookout for some chicken feet, to give as treats, gee they are scarce these days! I know they can be found, but some of those stores are dodgy. I have heard from someone who feeds raw that this is a good way to start.

I know a supplier that cheaply supplies raw food - I can send you the pricelist if you want. They may have a supplier in your area.

That would be great Marilize, thanks.

Thanks Marelize. Your recipe sounds a lot like mine. The only thing I do different is I don't cook the meat just the vegetables and my babies just loves it and I add a very small amount of garlic which seems to take care of any fleas. I leave Eukanuba kibble out during the day as well just to make sure that if anything should happen they will not become to picky and not eat when I am not able to prepare their own food. We don't always get RC - would prefer it, but living in a small town it is sometimes not available.

I have just bought my dogs Maxhealth pet diet http://www.maxhealth.co.za/ and will let you know how it goes,hopefully bye-bye to all the allergies etc.Apparently pedigree has a ingredient that causes cancer and has been banned in human food

The MaxHealth doesn't look too bad - Fish is a good source of fatty acids and lean protein. I'd still stick to raw feeding though because the first ingredient they list is a cereal and they don't specify which. If it is corn, it could cause problems since dogs can't digest corn. Plus, the cereal makes up the bulk of the food (it is listed first) and this isn't in line with dogs' natural diets.

Apart from the ingredients, I also don't like kibble because it is cooked at such high temperatures that it destroys the nutrients in the food. To get the food into kibble form, they have to dehydrate and cook the food at very high temperatures. This causes a huge loss in nutrition.

Let us know how this diet goes - maybe I'm being judgmental.