[Bunny B]

If you can afford the price of Hilary’s and the time to make it is reasonable then it’s a great way to feed.

The recipes I was using were, Prep and cook time equal 2 hrs. Assemble, package and clean up equal 1 hr. Total, 3 hrs.

Tomatoes, great if your dog can handle. Tomatoes promote acid in the gi tract which is not good for dogs with acid reflux, been there done that.

I cooked for a 60lb dog who has a high metabolism and had to eat 1500kcal a day. This equalled lots of kitchen time and lots of money spent. If I had to I would switch back if there were Specific reason why like needs low sodium levels etc but there are other foods out there that are JUST as healthy as Hilary’s, like Natures Variety frozen raw. Real raw meat, with no preservatives, no additives except other fruits and veggies, no colours, it is just like you made it yourself and threw it in a fancy bag to sell.

Saying all that I am actually thinking of starting one of her recipes again, but leaving the meat raw. And choosing one that does not contain tomato sauce or any grains.

• This reply was modified 10 years ago by Bunny B.
• This reply was modified 10 years ago by Bunny B.

[Bunny B]

Yes it prove to be super expensive. My dog is 55lbs.

Try Natures Variety raw frozen. For a 40lb dog you should be around $5 – $6 a day, and it’s real food, raw, but you don’t need to worry about nasties and cross contamination from dog tongue to human because all of NV frozen raw food is HPP (high pressure processed) which is like sinking it to the deepest part of the ocean which kills all bacteria, without altering the quality of the ingredients. Only downside of that is you may need to add a probiotic back in kuz it kills good bacteria too, so far I haven’t had to. It’s real food like home preparing, but done for you, and bacteria removed. Of course you need to treat it like any food that rots because it’s real food, and you need to wash your hands and dog dish after but that is just common sense :-). I am willing to bet you will see a huge improvement all around after like 1 month on it.

[Bunny B]

Carl L – I also have used Hilary’s Complete and Balanced

I have a high energy 2 year old dog and she burns lots of calories. I found I had to feed WAY more than the recommended amount than what Hilary says in her book. The supplements were $79 CDN for the big bottle and lasted me about 1 1/2 mo. It was costing me $16 a day and 3 hrs a night in the kitchen. I chose to do this anyhow because I have heard the benefits of real food for a dog and had seen the results on other peoples dogs. I did this for 5 months when I couldn’t stand the time and money anymore! I still strongly believe in real food, and that the real food has to be complete and balanced. Then I happened across NRG dehydrated food. This was the next best thing to home cooked. It cost me about $10 a day. And only 1 min in the kitchen!! She did fabulously on this for 7 months. Then she developed what I a, convinced of an allergy to grain so I put her on Natures Variety raw frozen. Which I just love, all the benefits of real food all ready made for me!

But now I am spending about $14 a day with Natures Variety and was thinking I should go back to Hilary’s…although I am a raw believer now on certain meats, but she says lots of her recipes (specific ones) can be fed raw. I happened across your post tonight out of coincidence!

I have to say Hilary’s seems to be great but I do NOT recommend her recipes that contain tomatoes or tomato sauce if your dog has a sensitive stomach or is susceptible to acid reflux. And if you are trying to find Safflower oil you may have to go to a health food store, it should be next to the olive oil. Alternately if you can’t find that I called and she actually picked up the phone which I thought was weird but she said you can use sunflower oil. And I find it hard finding cod liver oil, again I found this in a health food store. And the easiest way to pulse veggies is in a magic bullet btw.

• This reply was modified 10 years ago by Bunny B.
• This reply was modified 10 years ago by Bunny B.

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