September 19, 2015

White Dog and the others are trying to understand why Benson has his own personal dietitian/chef. The White Dog Army is a trifle jealous of Benson's status even though Steve has home cooked for them for ages. It is not that they don't like their mackerel, rice and rotating selection of vegetables. It is not that they don't enjoy the surprise of an occasional change of starch or switch to turkey. It certainly is not that they lack nutritious, delicious fare in appropriate quantities.

To quote WD, "It is just the principal of the thing!"

Benson joins the White Dog Army with the very beginning stages of kidney disease. Caught early and treated proactively, our newest boy is not in any danger. A diet of controlled proteins and low phosphorous foods will maintain his health. In his past life, he was fed a prescription canned food. That is not the way of the White Dog Army.

We asked our friend, Tami, an amazing natural chef with a studied interest in special diets, to help us put together and prepare a diet that met the guidelines for preliminary kidney disease and which was comparable in protein/phosphorous values to the accepted standard.

She came up with two recipes, after much research and consultation, one based on dark meat chicken and one on hamburger. This was not an easy task as the criteria defies intuition (hamburger is a healthier choice than boneless skinless white meat chicken?) but still needs to be integrated holistically into the other needs of the canine body (avoiding diabetes from a too carb heavy mixture, for example). Tami waded through the multiplicity of needs and produced results that were vet-approved.

Tonight would be the real test...was the chicken version Benson approved?

For the next two weeks we will test out both recipes and note reactions and thoughts about possible changes/ variations. During this time, I expect the WDA will devour their "normal" Steve cheffed meals with their "normal" bliss but then turn a covetous eye toward their brother's bowl...

...and when he is finished, Benson will rush to check to see if any crumb has been left by the others.

Benson tells Zsofia that Tami is HIS chef and to stop distracting her!

Not a huge pasta fan but the rest...simply yum!