Mmmm, meatballsIt’s true some people treat their dogs like children, so I’m not sure why I was so surprised when I saw this feature on Chow about cookbooks for dogs being hot sellers at Amazon. I suppose I thought it was just those very lonely, fringy people who fired up the grill for Spot and didn’t warrant an entire cookbook section.

People like the lonely UES lady who was fostering my dog when I got her from the rescue organization, who was serving up fresh cooked chicken breast to my soon-to-be new family member. Which I can assure you ended as soon as my dog moved to my house. since she didn’t have any special dietary needs, I wasn’t going to cook (or spend) as if she did.

Honestly, I’m not trying to start another dog vs. babies war, but are you kidding me with this?

Of course, if you only have dogs and no kids, I can see how this could be fun. Kind of.? But I draw the line at this recipe for meatballs from Real Food for Dogs: 50 Vet-Approved Recipes to please the Canine Gastronome.

• 1 pound ground beef (or ground sirloin)
• 2/3 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1 carrot, finely chopped or grated
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 2 eggs, whisked
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste (low sodium)

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Combine all ingredients in a medium-size bowl.
• Scoop out by the spoonful and roll into minisize meatballs.
• Place the meatballs on a cookie sheet sprayed with nonfat cooking spray.
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Cool and store in the refrigerator in a container with a lid.

These meatballs for Fido are more effort than I make for my family on a school night. the only time my dog gets any real meatballs is when my kids drop them on the floor. and thank you for that, doggie, it helps with post-dinner clean-up time.

I just cannot imagine who has time to do this for their dogs? who are these people?

Is it you?

Image via Scrap Pile/Flickr

She has been losing weight, she has loss of apetite, she sort of jumps when she walks etc. I can't take her to the vet, but are there any things that I can do at home to make her better? She's still not in a very, very bad condition, she still squeeks and she doesn't look so bad. What can I do?

vitamin C. Go to a vet and purchase vitamin C snacks they sell. Or go buy chewable vitamin C, crush it up and sprinkle some on a small piece of fruit if you give him too much, do not worry, the body will simply excrete the extra. Piggies need 25 mg of vitamin C, when they have scurvy, give them extra.

She needs a good diet, vet visit and overall good care. Please read through these links
guinealynx.info/healthycavy.h…
guinealynx.info/diet.html
guinealynx.info/scurvy.html

She needs to go to the vet because the symptoms you describe could be scurvy but they could be lots of other things as well. in any case, make sure she is getting plenty of vitamin C. There is no excuse for a pig getting scurvy with the availability of guinea pig chow fortified with C, crystalline vitamin C to add to the water and the year round availability of fresh produce

Losing weight isn't really a sign of scurvy. Neither is a funny walk. I think you need to see a vet and see if there's a problem.

Give her Vitamin C.

The good thing about scurvy is that reverses quickly.

Cut up an orange.
Get a seperate water bottle and put in some fortified fruit juice in it.
Get some powdered vitamins to put on her food.