Have You Changed Your Pet's Food Lately?

Are you in the habit of buying commercial pet food? Did you know that the majority of pet foods on the market are processed with second-grade ingredients, fillers, artificial flavorings, toxins, and additives? What is the alternative? Many of us have been told not to feed our pets scraps from the table. However, Dr. Pitcairn, author of Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health For Dogs & Cats, has over twenty -five years of experience in feeding pets simple homemade meals. Dr. Pitcairn and other holistic veterinarians are speaking out on the benefits of making homemade meals for pets. To provide well-balanced meals for pets, you need to feed them wholesome foods and supplements.

When you go to the grocery store, buy a variety of fresh foods. Choose good quality lean and fatty meats, such as organically-grown beef and lamb, and organ meats, which are usually inexpensive and, if not at your local grocery store, you can go to a butcher's shop. Among poultry, turkeys and free-range chickens are the healthiest. Fish is high in omega-3 and omega-6, especially albacore tuna, herring, trout, and sardines. Salmon, halibut, and mackerel, rich in omega-3, are also good choices. Tofu is a good source of protein and a good alternative to raw meat. Free-range eggs and dairy (cottage cheese, milk, and yogurt) play a part in the recipes. Many different kinds of vegetables are good for pets, except rhubarb, Swiss chard, and spinach, which have too much oxalic acid, and mushrooms and onions are toxic to pets. Grains are inexpensive and usual staples in our pantries, for example, barley, brown rice, cornmeal, couscous, and oatmeal. Legumes are an inexpensive protein source. If you plan to buy them dry, split peas and lentils cook the fastest. Black, great northern, kidney, navy, pinto, and soy beans must be soaked at least three hours or overnight. You can use low-salt canned beans for convenience.

Supplements and vitamins are an important part of the diet. You may be able to save money on supplements at health food stores, because they carry some of the supplements in bulk (nutritional or brewer's yeast, lecithin granules, kelp powder, and bone meal). Recommended vitamins are A and D, C and E.

Once you have ingredients that you can use for a variety of recipes you will be able to make several meals at once. Legumes can be made in large quantities. They can be refrigerated or frozen in portions. Also, keep a list of foods to avoid hanging in your kitchen. When I read the list of foods that you should not feed pets in the Natural Pet Food Cookbook, I started a list of bad foods and liquids for my pets. My current list is alcoholic beverages, artificial sweeteners, avocado, candy, chocolate, coffee, fatty foods, macadamia nuts, moldy and spoiled foods, mushrooms, onions, onion powder, raisins, rhubarb, salt, seeds, spinach, Swiss chard, and yeast dough. Garlic is on some bad food lists, but Dr. Pitcairn recommends it for digestion.

To make well-balanced meals, it's important to have a reliable resource. Dr. Pitcairn's book, Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health For Dogs & Cats. has been a valuable resource to me. The detailed information for each of the food groups, supplements, and vitamins makes it easy to make the recipes. These are the most well-balanced recipes that I have found in books and online. If you have a pet with a weight problem or an illness, you can find recipes for that, as well as a homemade formula that adds important nutrients (fresh protein, vegetable oil, supplements, and vitamins) to the dry pet food meal. Dr. Pitcairn came up with a healthy powder that you can add to each recipe to make it well-balanced (2 cups of nutritional or brewer's yeast (nutritional is cheaper), 1 cup of lecithin granules, 4 tablespoons of KAL bone meal (check his chart for other bone meal ratios), and 1,000 IU of ground vitamin C).

Now we can put a basic well-balanced meal together which consists of 50% grains, 25% protein (2 types), and 25% vegetables. Fats are based on the amount of protein in the diet. Here's a simple recipe:

2 cups oatmeal (quick or old-fashioned)

? cup ground turkey (raw or cooked)

? cup hearts (raw or cooked)

1 cup green beans

1 cup cottage cheese

1 tsp vegetable oil

2 tblsp nutritional yeast

1 multivitamin

Make oatmeal per directions. Brown ground turkey and hearts if desired. Cook green beans. Mix all cooked ingredients with the rest of the ingredients. Refrigerate extra meat and organs for the next meal. You can make several meals or more at once and refrigerate or freeze them in portions for later.

Since pets need variety, once you know how to make well-balanced meals, you can get more ideas from recipes online and other cookbooks. You can also buy a variety of organic, raw, and freeze-dried foods which can enhance your pet's meals and cut down on preparation time. To make sure the meals are well-balanced, you may want to consult with a pet nutritionist or a holistic veterinarian.

In conclusion, if you give your pet wholesome foods and supplements, you will know that your pet is getting the proper nutrients. When you refer to a recommended resource, like Dr. Pitcairn's book, you will see that it is not difficult to make well-balanced homemade meals or to supplement the dry pet food. Dr. Pitcairn and other holistic veterinarians have many clients whose pet's health improved once they started eating well-balanced meals.

Works Cited:

Pitcairn, Richard H., DVM, PHD, and Susan Hubble Pitcairn, Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health For Dogs & Cats, USA: Rodale Press Inc., 2005. Print.

Rees, Wendy Nan., and Kevin Schlanger. The Natural Pet Food Cookbook: Healthful Recipes for Dogs and Cats. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Pub., 2008. Print.

Aimee Bisson is a pet owner of two dogs and is interested in pet nutrition. She is currently enrolled in the Master's Degree Entrepreneurship Program at Western Carolina University. Webmasters and other article publishers are hereby granted article reproduction permission as long as this article is in its entirety, author's information, and any links remain intact. Copyright 2010 by Aimee Bisson.