Where There Is No Dog Food

I’ve been watching my site mate’s dog, Lux, off and on for a while now. Lux, meaning light in Latin, is well behaved and I thoroughly enjoy my status as the Aunt Spoiler. PCV Katy Todd intends to bring Lux stateside when she returns in June, but for the month of April, Katy will be in Italy visiting family and friends. This of course means Lux will be with me and I couldn’t be happier. It’ll be nice to have a little company mid hot season. At the same time, Lux is getting older and Katy and I are doing are best to stop Lux from getting pregnant before she leaves Togo so I’ll be on her like a mother on a teenage daughter.

For roughly a month, Lux will stay chez moi and I asked Katy to educate me on how to prepare her meals. And unfortunately in Togo, it means more than grabbing a bag of Kibbles 'n Bits and filling a bowl. There’s no dog food in Dapaong. It exists in Lomé, but the capital is also 12-13 hours away.

In Togo, most dogs eat pâte like Togolese because it’s inexpensive and it’s everywhere. Few Togolese take into account the nutrients needed to keep a healthy domestic animal, thus many throughout the country are very malnourished.  It’s often painful to see them searching for food in villages and even in cities.

Katy, on the other hand, did her research and found ingredients needed for Lux to be happy and healthy.

And this is how she does it:

Ademé, a common leafy green in Togo that’s often cooked with a sauce.

Katy saves and washes her eggshells for Lux, which are then crushed and added to boiling water.

A little oil added to boiling water and crushed eggshells.

Dried fish for protein that is also crushed.

Ground dried corn that is mixed with water to acquire pâte.

 Boom. Dog food.

And there you have it: dog food in Dapaong. This will be part of my daily routine for almost a month and it’ll be a nice change to cook for two—even if it’s not the same meal.

Until next time… J

PS – Did you know onions, like chocolate, are not good for dogs?