After The Pet Food Recalls, What Can You Feed Your Pets To Keep Them Healthy?

My pet food was on the list of pet food recalls last year and now I feel I have to question EVERY product I want to buy for my pets!

Do you ever feel as though your entire grocery list for your pets is off limits? A lot of us who had never worried about safe, clean food got a VERY rude awakening the past several months. Even when we were used to reading labels to make sure we were buying healthy food and treats, we soon learned that was no longer an assurance of safety.

So, what can you do about it?

I've received many e-mails and phone calls asking for simple lists and recipes to make for your pet. While this was a pretty normal reaction to the storm of recalls, few pet owners realized the sacrifice and time that would be required to return to making your own pet food.

Obviously, the decision to make your own pet food depends on the type of pet you own. For example, it's much easier to cook up or mix up food for a cat than for a large St. Bernard. If you are determined to go this route, there are some ingredients that you SHOULD NOT include in a diet for your cat or dog. This list comes from the ASPCA and is based on illnesses and deaths in pets, not on hearsay.

Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Pets

- Alcoholic beverages

- Avocado

- Chocolate (all forms)

- Coffee (all forms)

- Fatty foods

- Macadamia nuts

- Moldy or spoiled foods

- Onions, onion powder - all forms

- Raisins and grapes

- Salt

- Yeast dough

- Garlic - all forms

- Products sweetened with xylitol - artificial sweetener

Now, if you're concerned about the pet food recalls and want to try a homemade cat chow and dog chow recipe to keep your pets healthy, here's one to get you started.

This simple, healthful chow mixture is easy to make for your dogs or cats. I like this recipe because it includes meat, vegetables and rice. I prefer recipes that do not include large quantities of wheat or white flour as main ingredients because many pets can become sensitized to those ingredients.

Meat, Vegie and Rice Stew

INGREDIENTS

3 pounds minced chicken meat or ground hamburger

2 1/2 cups frozen vegetable blend (no garlic or onions), minced

4 cups rice 6 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup olive oil

DIRECTIONS

Place chicken, vegetables, and rice into a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Stir in water until the mixture is smooth. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

Everyday Common Sense Precautions

Now that we've dealt with the issue of feeding your pets healthy, safe food, the next most important thing for you to remember is to have a qualified veterinarian examine your pet if anything unusual occurs - whether it's from food or from other products they're exposed to during an average day. Unusual symptoms might include vomiting, lethargy, listlessness, incontinence, loose bowel, or general loss of appetite.

I like to remind pet owners that their companion animals can be affected by products they are using in their homes or cars where the animals live and ride. For example, most people don't realize that air fresheners with synthetic chemicals and fragrances settle to the floor where pets walk in the residue, clean their paws and ingest the toxins.

As a result of the indoor pollution many pets are exposed to, we are seeing an increase in the number of chronic illnesses in our pets just as we see the increase in the general human population.

Learn about toxins that can affect your pet's health, not just about the food they eat. Your pet is counting on you - be their advocate! Look for natural, organic products that are certified by an organization you trust.

Linda Chae is President & Chief Formulator for Chae Organics, Inc. and a pioneer in 'go natural' skin care for consumers. She is committed to clean, safe toxic free products for the whole family, including pets. Her organic pet waterless shampoo [http://www.chaeorganics.biz/component/option,com_virtuemart/page,shop.browse/category_id,26/Itemid,202/] is an easy to use foaming shampoo that requires no water or rinsing. For more information or to order her products, visit www.chaeorganics.biz [http://www.chaeorganics.biz/]

Are You Frustrated With These Pet Food Recalls?

The pet food recall crisis has shed a new light to the safety of commercial dog food that we buy in cans from our supermarket shelves. The commercial pet food industry has existed only for a few decades. What did our dogs eat before the advent of these commercial foods? Their diet consisted of raw meat, bones and organs, table scraps and whatever they could catch and kill themselves. It has only been since the popular use of these commercial dog foods that we have started hearing of our our dogs dying of cancer, kidney failure and all sorts of other diseases.

The contaminated pet food has led to the deaths of dogs and cats in North America and have even sparked fears of these contaminants entering the human food chain.

The US inspectors of FDA have traced the imported gluten which was used to make the pet food as being the cause of the deaths of many dogs and cats through kidney failure.

It is illegal to add melamine to food or animal feed in the US but it seems this chemical is widely used in China in the animal feed to make them appear as having a higher protein content. Melamine is a chemical used in the manufacture of plastics and fertilizers. The Food and Drug Administration speculates that the wheat flour was deliberately spiked with melamine to make it look more protein-rich, thus more valuable than it was.

This pet food recall crisis has made pet owners rethink of what pet food to prepare for their pets with some of them opting to prepare the food themselves.

The only way to guarantee that the food you give your dog has no artificial preservatives and contaminants is to feed them with natural homemade dog food using ingredients that you would normally have in your kitchen. For an extra measure of protection give your dog supplements and vitamins to make sure that they get all the 38 nutrients they require daily.

You can opt to give your dog raw dog food diet and alternate it with homemade dog food recipes.

That is why it is recommended to get well formulated recipes with the right nutrients, plus supplements, and have them in the right proportions.

For more on these recipes plus more updates on the dog food recall we recommend these sites for Online Dog Food Tips and also for

Guides and Updates on Dog Food and Dog Food Recall.

A home cooked meal with the right ingredients is the BEST thing you can do for your pet! After all what were we feeding our pets before the advent of these commercial pet foods?

Maria Mbura is a publisher of a blog and a writer in a variety of issues that are of interest from time to time.