[Dailydrool] Cooking for bassets

[Mary Wilson]

Marlene was asking about cooking for bassets with allergies.

We started cooking for the late Billy B Basset when he developed allergies
to seemingly everything. Our vet gave us the recipe -- one third ground
meat, one third grain, one third raw veggies.

Our current formula is:
- Approximately five pounds of ground beef (or sometimes ground chicken)
- Six cups of old-fashioned rolled outs
- 18 cups of water

We simmer this either on the woodstove or the stovetop until it looks
cooked, then add:

- Five pounds grated vegetables.

We grate the raw vegetables in the food processor. We've used carrots,
pumpkin and yams most frequently -- rutabaga at least a couple of times,
cabbage (which the hounds like but oh my goodness you won't unless you have
problems with your sense of smell) and I think apples once. We also used
peaches one time when they were the very cheapest thing in the store -- and
I know they aren't a vegetable.

Originally we added multivitamins (dog ones of course) to the mix. More
recently we haven' been. We feed the two of them breakfast, lunch and
dinner, and each meal includes 1/4 cup of a kibble that I'm confident in --
made in Canada, all natural ingredients, etc.

We fill a big pot in the frig with their food, and freeze what doesn't fit
in the pot. Thawing it out takes AGES -- be warned!

Our two look terrific, and they are not overweight at all. Paddi's going to
be nine in the summer, and Vern's likely 13, so I'm pretty happy about that.

We did sometimes use other grains at first but we settled on rolled oats
because it's easily available, and we can get it in bulk. (We buy a huge
bag -- like 40 pounds -- we get the bulk food folks at our local grocery to
order it for us. Everyone eats it, not just hounds!)

Paddi and Vern very rarely get treats. The only commercial treats they ever
get are cheese hearts (like a milkbone) and that maybe once a day.
Otherwise treats are "veggie bones" -- the inside bit of a Chinese cabbage
or whatever -- and bits of leftover oatmeal from human breakfasts. Vernon Q
Basset says this is very boring and in his old house he got better stuff.
(He's lost about 10 pounds or so in the three years he's lived with us.)

Hope this is helpful.
Mary
& Paddi B Basset
& Vernon Q Basset
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