Every Sunday I do groceries primarily for Bruce and for the rest of my pack. And it's become a weekly routine. I love it. I've become more aware of the prices of goods and I've experienced the best groceries in town. For a while I went to Cash and Carry, Landmark and Rustan's Fresh, which are all in Makati. But now I stick to Puregold in Better Living or the new Metro Grocery in ATC cause of good selections and cheaper meat prices. I don't like SM Hypermarkets cause they almost have everything I need out of stock except for a steady supply of Coconut Oil.
Before Bruce was diagnosed with Acute Renal Failure, the dogs' meals were made of high-grade dog food mixed with human food leftovers. But ever since that frightening episode, I researched and decided to go Natural all the way...for all dogs!
When Bruce was in the hospital a month ago, I would research non-stop and vowed to try anything that would help him battle renal failure. I would rush home from the office at 4 pm and drive to the vet to give his dinner at 5 pm. His first natural dinner was white rice, boiled chicken breast, egg whites and cottage cheese. Absolutely NO salt. The helping was small more for a 15 Kilo dog while Bruce weighs 45 Kilos. At that time I just wanted to test if he would respond to this kind of food and I don't want to surprise his stomach too much.
He loved it!! Every single day for those two weeks he would look forward to my visit. I'd like to think with those visits with home cooked meals helped in his speedy recovery. Probably it reminded him of home more than anything else. His packed meals would either be chicken or ground pork mixed with rice. I started to experiment with additional ingredients and give him 2 cups a day. He relished it. The veterinarians were impressed on how he ravaged his meals every single day, which is always a good sign of recovery. They would also applaud me to be the only dog owner that they know who would do hourly visits daily with home cooked meals.
I became more encouraged. I started to print out diets from sites and consulted this with my vet of course. Since he lost a lot of weight, our initial recovery food would include lots of carbohydrates, fats with right amount of minerals and right amount of protein. Low Sodium, Low Protein/phosphorous is key.
I took cue from the medical pet sites and bloggers. And as much as we would want to be precise, we relied heavily on right cups and proportion for a 45 Kilo dog. Ground meat that would just fit in one's palm is enough for one meal. We limited organ meats and cheese intake for the entire week. We only add cheese and butter for flavor. We concentrated on giving right vegetables, white rice, pasta, egg whites and potatoes.
WEEKLY GROCERY LIST:
1/2 Kilo of Ground Pork - regular / with fat
1/2 Kilo of Ground Beef - regular / with fat
1/2 Kilo of Chicken Thigh Fillet
1/4 Pork or Beef Liver
1/4 Pork Menudo cuts (Extra treat!)
Cottage cheese, regular cup
1 bar of Unsalted Butter (This will last for 2 weeks) - Magnolia brand is cheaper
500 g Oatmeal pack (This will last for 2 weeks)
Salad Macaroni 1 Kilo ( This will last 1 1/2 weeks) - Sunshine brand is cheaper
Rice (Majority of the week)
Baby Potatoes 5 Packs
Sayote 4 pcs, medium
Kangkong
Pechay
Sweet Potatoes
Carrots (Lots)
Apple (Snacks)
Coconut Oil
Yogurt
Grocery Cost: It would cost you around 1,200 PHP per week. This could be shared by Bruce and Harvey (Bullmastiff, JRT).
Bruce gets 2 full meals a day - that's 3 1/2 cups. 1 snack size serving for lunch, Occasional slices of cheese and biscuits for mid-afternoon treats and a small sized apple at night.
Sample meals:
1) Ground Pork + White + Rice + Egg Whites + Veggies
2) Mashed Potatoes + Unsalted Butter +Beef cubes + Egg Whites
3) Oatmeal + Ground pork + Squash + 4 Tablespoons of yogurt
4) Macaroni + Shredded Chicken + Carrots + Cottage Cheese/Regular
** Add crushed egg shells in every meal.
**mix and match as you'd like, experiment on vegetables
Snacks:
1) Apple
2) Small Banana
3) Cheese and Bread
4) Celery Sticks
5) Biscuits (Bruce loves Broas and Marie)
Ratio - 40% Carbs, 30% Veggies 30% Meat: 3 Cups for Bruce/meal. Full meal is twice a day 8 PM and 8 AM.
Cooking method: The meats are all cooked in one day to save effort and gas. We store it in the freezer to be heated for every meal preparation. Rice, potatoes, oats and pasta are boiled per day. We either boil or sauté using extra virgin coconut oil (Never use COD LIVER OIL) or unsalted butter.
We add KIDNEY TONE, a diuretic medicine prescribed by the vet with Antioxidants such as Vitamin E, A and Omega 3, which you can get from Healthy Options. We add those pills in every meal. The Vet said he could go back to his regular dog-food diet after 3 months, but from the looks of it...I think we'll stick to this. The dogs are happy.
Thank you God that I have help at home who does the cooking and mixing and matching of meals. That's why Bruce and Harvey are always excited. They'll never know what they're going to eat for the day. They love it so much that they've become our alarm clocks at 8 am and 8 pm.
Again, this is just my own concoction. You always want to consult your vet for any changes in your dog's diet. But so far, this diet for Bruce worked wonders!
Before Bruce was diagnosed with Acute Renal Failure, the dogs' meals were made of high-grade dog food mixed with human food leftovers. But ever since that frightening episode, I researched and decided to go Natural all the way...for all dogs!
When Bruce was in the hospital a month ago, I would research non-stop and vowed to try anything that would help him battle renal failure. I would rush home from the office at 4 pm and drive to the vet to give his dinner at 5 pm. His first natural dinner was white rice, boiled chicken breast, egg whites and cottage cheese. Absolutely NO salt. The helping was small more for a 15 Kilo dog while Bruce weighs 45 Kilos. At that time I just wanted to test if he would respond to this kind of food and I don't want to surprise his stomach too much.
 |
| First meal I bought for Bruce when he was still at the vet. White Rice, Cottage cheese, chicken and egg whites |
He loved it!! Every single day for those two weeks he would look forward to my visit. I'd like to think with those visits with home cooked meals helped in his speedy recovery. Probably it reminded him of home more than anything else. His packed meals would either be chicken or ground pork mixed with rice. I started to experiment with additional ingredients and give him 2 cups a day. He relished it. The veterinarians were impressed on how he ravaged his meals every single day, which is always a good sign of recovery. They would also applaud me to be the only dog owner that they know who would do hourly visits daily with home cooked meals.
 |
| He gets excited for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner |
 |
| He does this really good obedient sit-and-stay kind of trick and looks at you with so much concentration. |
 |
| 1 full meal gets consumed in a minute. Before it was less than that, but we try to tell him to slow down. He now harbors a stronger appetite for anything! |
I became more encouraged. I started to print out diets from sites and consulted this with my vet of course. Since he lost a lot of weight, our initial recovery food would include lots of carbohydrates, fats with right amount of minerals and right amount of protein. Low Sodium, Low Protein/phosphorous is key.
I took cue from the medical pet sites and bloggers. And as much as we would want to be precise, we relied heavily on right cups and proportion for a 45 Kilo dog. Ground meat that would just fit in one's palm is enough for one meal. We limited organ meats and cheese intake for the entire week. We only add cheese and butter for flavor. We concentrated on giving right vegetables, white rice, pasta, egg whites and potatoes.
WEEKLY GROCERY LIST:
1/2 Kilo of Ground Pork - regular / with fat
1/2 Kilo of Ground Beef - regular / with fat
1/2 Kilo of Chicken Thigh Fillet
1/4 Pork or Beef Liver
1/4 Pork Menudo cuts (Extra treat!)
Cottage cheese, regular cup
1 bar of Unsalted Butter (This will last for 2 weeks) - Magnolia brand is cheaper
500 g Oatmeal pack (This will last for 2 weeks)
Salad Macaroni 1 Kilo ( This will last 1 1/2 weeks) - Sunshine brand is cheaper
Rice (Majority of the week)
Baby Potatoes 5 Packs
Sayote 4 pcs, medium
Kangkong
Pechay
Sweet Potatoes
Carrots (Lots)
Apple (Snacks)
Coconut Oil
Yogurt
Grocery Cost: It would cost you around 1,200 PHP per week. This could be shared by Bruce and Harvey (Bullmastiff, JRT).
Bruce gets 2 full meals a day - that's 3 1/2 cups. 1 snack size serving for lunch, Occasional slices of cheese and biscuits for mid-afternoon treats and a small sized apple at night.
Sample meals:
1) Ground Pork + White + Rice + Egg Whites + Veggies
2) Mashed Potatoes + Unsalted Butter +Beef cubes + Egg Whites
3) Oatmeal + Ground pork + Squash + 4 Tablespoons of yogurt
4) Macaroni + Shredded Chicken + Carrots + Cottage Cheese/Regular
** Add crushed egg shells in every meal.
**mix and match as you'd like, experiment on vegetables
Snacks:
1) Apple
2) Small Banana
3) Cheese and Bread
4) Celery Sticks
5) Biscuits (Bruce loves Broas and Marie)
Ratio - 40% Carbs, 30% Veggies 30% Meat: 3 Cups for Bruce/meal. Full meal is twice a day 8 PM and 8 AM.
Cooking method: The meats are all cooked in one day to save effort and gas. We store it in the freezer to be heated for every meal preparation. Rice, potatoes, oats and pasta are boiled per day. We either boil or sauté using extra virgin coconut oil (Never use COD LIVER OIL) or unsalted butter.
We add KIDNEY TONE, a diuretic medicine prescribed by the vet with Antioxidants such as Vitamin E, A and Omega 3, which you can get from Healthy Options. We add those pills in every meal. The Vet said he could go back to his regular dog-food diet after 3 months, but from the looks of it...I think we'll stick to this. The dogs are happy.
Thank you God that I have help at home who does the cooking and mixing and matching of meals. That's why Bruce and Harvey are always excited. They'll never know what they're going to eat for the day. They love it so much that they've become our alarm clocks at 8 am and 8 pm.
Again, this is just my own concoction. You always want to consult your vet for any changes in your dog's diet. But so far, this diet for Bruce worked wonders!
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