# Dr. Harvey's & Honest Kitchen



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I feed home cooked meat and vegetables. To maintain ideal weight - around 4 kilos/9 lbs -they each need approximately 100g/3.5 oz meat mix when raw, and minimal carbohydrate. They get around a tablespoonful each of vegetables a day, which is made up of equal quantities sweet potato, green beans and leafy veg. The amounts you quote sound enormous, even for a very active or growing dog!

I would ask for the calorific values of the food, and look up the values for anything else you are feeding - the USDA website is very helpful: https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/ You can then work out how many calories he needs (probably around 175-200 a day), and feed accordingly. 4oz of chicken alone would be more than that!


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## mary2e (Jan 29, 2018)

Exactly.... you hit my concern squarely on the head. What you are describing is the amount to feed for a 4 pound dog. They're telling me to feed the maximum amount because he's 8 pounds.

I did the calculations and agree he should be eating 3.5 - 4oz of food per day. I also was feeding him about 150-175 calories.

The base mixes run anywhere from 40-50 calories PER SCOOP. Each scoop holds a little less than 3 tablespoons. One of the varieties have grain (& vegh) and the other does not and is a variety of vegetables. I'm mixing them together. So he's getting about 60 calories from the mix PLUS the protein I add, which is more than 100, and yesterday was DOUBLE THAT !!!!

Dr. Harvey's foods are not AAFCO certified, though they are pretty popular and used by many. I'm concerned about him getting the appropriate nutrients. I do know vitamins are in there as well as ground egg shells for calcium.

I can't thank you enough for all the help you've offered as I make my way through trying to find what he'll eat on a regular basis and happily.


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## mary2e (Jan 29, 2018)

Here is the link for each of the foods I'm feeding. 

https://www.drharveys.com/products/dogs/1-canine-health-miracle-dog-food - this has grains

https://www.drharveys.com/products/...-ground-dehydrated-vegetable-pre-mix-for-dogs - this is grain free

I have been giving him a tablespoon of each twice a day (when he'll eat twice). No wonder on some days he only eats once... he's eaten enough for the day.


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## reraven123 (Jul 21, 2017)

In general the directions given by dog food manufacturers say to feed much more than what dogs should get. Never follow directions on the bag of food, feed according to what your dog needs. Go by how fit the dog is. If he is gaining too much weight, cut back. If he is getting thin, increase.

Dogs are all different.


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## Dogs4Life (May 27, 2018)

I would suggest never following the amounts written on the bag/box. There are too many factors that go into losing, gaining, and maintaining weight. Try a dog weight calculator like this: https://petnutritionalliance.org/dog.php

Or this: https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-feeding-tips/dog-food-calculator/ (I have used this one)

As a side note, I tried The Honest Kitchen (turkey with grains) and loved the quality...but I intended it for Jasper, and he got sick of it very fast. Absolutely refused to eat it, and I wasn't giving it to him every meal. Miracle ended up finishing the box and then I just switched to Purina. I also was impressed with the variety of food they sell, so maybe try a different flavor? I do remember it being a lot of food to feed, even with calories in mind.

Good luck! ?


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## mary2e (Jan 29, 2018)

reraven123 said:


> In general the directions given by dog food manufacturers say to feed much more than what dogs should get. Never follow directions on the bag of food, feed according to what your dog needs. Go by how fit the dog is. If he is gaining too much weight, cut back. If he is getting thin, increase.
> 
> Dogs are all different.





Dogs4Life said:


> I would suggest never following the amounts written on the bag/box. There are too many factors that go into losing, gaining, and maintaining weight. Try a dog weight calculator like this: https://petnutritionalliance.org/dog.php
> 
> Or this: https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-feeding-tips/dog-food-calculator/ (I have used this one)
> 
> ...


Thanks to both of you. I cut back to 4 tablespoons of the mix and about 2.5 ounces of protein for the day. I already had them portioned out the meat so I added a bit of scrambled egg to the protein for dinner. 

For the first time since I started (almost 2 weeks) he asked for his bedtime snack


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## mary2e (Jan 29, 2018)

Quick question.

He loves ground beef. I purchase 90/10 beef, weigh it, cook in individual portions.

Do I have to drain off the fat? I know he needs to have some fat in his diet and I've seen some people who drain it off AND rinse it, and some who drain off some. I think the fat in the meat is why he's devouring it 

I also give him a small piece of Stewart's freeze dried chicken liver every day.


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