Hilary's Blend

[LabMunsterBracco]

and i just can't afford $50/week for however long he has. this diet (Hilary's blend) is actually approved by my vet and i would buy it at the vet's.

how much will it cost?

[Tanya]

it's hard to say without trying it (how long will a bottle even last? how much will it cost for the rest?)

I have ordered one bag of Hill's prescription renal and the hilary's blend + book. the only way to confirm cost is try things. the stupid renal bags are not very large either. so frustrating, it's a rip off. i know they make "smaller quantities" but it's ridiculous given the ingredients.

[Sue-Ram]

Are you still waiting for test results or do you what stage/level Rocky is?

[Tanya]

oh i'll post an update in my thread in the senior section..

[TXLabLover]

Do you have access to a holistic vet? Wonder what options/suggestions they might have...

[Tanya]

Do you have access to a holistic vet? Wonder what options/suggestions they might have...

there is one. it's on my radar. thinking of waiting until his second set of bloodwork then making an apt with holistic vet.

[Tanya]

Update: I tried making one recipie this weekend and was NOT impressed! I am going to have to try ditching the blender part and will have to work with my "modifed" recipe (which is just multiplying each ingredient by 1.4 to get the 1000gram recipe into a 1400gram one which is what they recommend for his weight.

SO. MUCH. FOOD. I understand kibble is dehydraded/comprsesed but wowza home cooked is a lot of food (I guess in part due to the particularities of remaining low phospherous).

Here is hoping attempt #2 goes better. at this rate the $110 bag of food is seeming like a much better deal :P But if I can get the recipe doable then i can go back and forth between the two.

[smartrock]

I hadn't thought about the volume of food being so much higher since there's a much higher percentage of water/moisture in home cooked, but that makes sense. Obviously, I haven't gotten into home cooking for my pooches. I hope you find a workable solution.

[Berna]

That sounds like a lot of food for a senior / not so active dog. Cookie doesn't eat even close to these quantities. But he is 28 kg and I don't cook the meat. I don't know how much Rocky weighs.

[Tanya]

I have the math somewhere haha
He was eating 3 cups of his "old food" which is about 315 grams (per the bag). Food was 4120 kcal/kg (or 4.120 kcals per gram). So 315 * 4.12 = 1298 calories (right?)

The hilary's blend recipe (this one) says an 80 pound dog should eat like 1473 grams of food. which yes, is a bit much for a senior dog and more than he ate. I could aim for 1300 calories to start. I had asked friends but they all said "follow the recipe and give what they say for his weight). Because yeah, my first instinct was to do 1300 as well!

Not that going from 1400 to 1300 is going to make a huge different in quantity

Oh and he is by no means overweight. he's very slender. if anything his weight is slowly going down and I am monitoring that. he's like 79pounds now.