[Eleonora II]

Dear elusive moderator

Thanks a lot for your detailed answer which is a great help. And thanks for moving my posting – I didn't realize that there is a special section for feeding. Having said that I also realize that I should be clearer in my writings :-( - although we do have the junk food hot dogs here I feed Buddy those home made by the butcher. They're basically saussages (hot dog size) and I alternate between chicken, beef and veal. Do you reckon I can keep them or should I drop them nonetheless?

As for the calcium: I do get from the butcher leg bones from the calf which he cuts in pieces of approx. 15 – 20 cm. At times I also get lamb bones. In order to reduce the mess in the house I put them for approx. 5 min. in boiling water until the blood coagulates. Of those he gets 2 – 3 per week which he grinds down to nothing in no time. The egg shells sound good to me too – I'll start mixing those in his food. Can I overdo it with calcium?

I was told to feed him 1/4 of carbs and 3/4 of meat, liver or chicken (breasts). I will increase the liver and heart part. Having read through many of the postings in this section I do have my doubts now. Do I understand this correctly that carbs are basically fillers like vegetables and the dogs don't actually need them for their well-being? If so then I can simply cut these out. He is not fond of vegies anyway. But I'll give the sweet pot a try.

I also read that these stews are cooked for hours (with apples, bananas and what have you!?) – other than being an unidentifiable mass doesn't this destroy all the nutritional values ? I normaly fry his meat in sunflower oil, salt it moderately and that's that. The pasta gets tossed in tomato sauce which he loves and mixed with the meat or whatever he gets on that day plus 2 spoons of yoghourt nature.

With respect to tuna fish – he gets those diet ones which are in water rather than in oil. But that doesn't help with the mercury … I can't stand the smell of sardines or mackerel but I guess I will have to rough it.

I was today with your books recommendation list in two book stores but was unlucky. They're not so much into pets here :-( so it has to wait until my next trip home to Switzerland.

Do you have any nice idea(s) for natural treats other than the cheese or the saussage? What could I give him for breakfast instead? He loves yoghourts with fruits but would that be good and sufficient for him in the morning?

Although he is – thanks God! – a healthy little rascal my confidence has been rattled lately with respect to what I'm feeding him.

Thanks a lot for any advice and help :-).