What to Feed Your Pet

My 14 yr old "puppy" started having siezures. The vet nearly killed her attempting to draw blood for tests, and my little girl was slipping from us quite quickly. I started extensive web-research. Overwhelming evidence suggested I change her diet from the "quality" commercial food that I've been feeding her for years. After a little more than 2 weeks, my girl has come back to me and so far, is siezure-free. I stabilized her on home-made beef, chicken, veggies & rice. Further research has led me to start feeding a RAW diet, which we are gradually changing over to. I have high hopes for her recovery! I was shocked & sickened by much of what I learned on the web regarding most commercially prepared pet foods-dry kibble OR canned. Read labels! Any food that includes "Meat By-Products" or "Animal By-Products" must be avoided. Read the definition of Meat By-Products on Wikipedia. BAD STUFF! Corn is a primary ingredient in most pet foods. It is un-digestible by dogs! Most grains cause allergy problems in dogs, as well. That includes the ever-popular rice that is recommended for most home-prepared pet food. And remember that the claim to be USDA inspected, doesn't necessarily mean that the company passed! There is a ton of information on the web for pet nutrition, but following are a few sites I found to be most useful & enlightening. The fluffy dog site includes information on toxic foods for dogs & why they are toxic--information requested by a previous poster--check out the "Articles" portion of the site.

http://www.fluffydog.net/Articles.php
http://www.seespotlivelonger.com/
http://www.canineseizuresbreakthroughs.com/r2.htm

I,too, cannot believe that such a well-established, well-thought-out magazine as MEN would push a cooked meat recipe for dogs.

Please read Juliette de Baircli Levy's "The Herbal Handbook for Dog and Cat" - absolutely brilliant.

I have proved this over decades, and my animals are disgustingly healthy.

This is a woman who trained as a vet in London, and then, after WWII, travelled, with her champion afghan hounds, to the Middle East, where she learned all she could about looking after animals (she also has written "The Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable) from both gypsies and nomadic Arabs.

She ended up teaching them.

A film has been made about her and her work.

I cannot recommend her work highly enough.

I would suggest that if you want to buy her books, you will find them still in reprint after reprint, from Faber Publishers.

Thankyou so much.

Dominus tecum
Leonie in Warrnambool, Australia

I have been using an organic dog food called Wenaewe for some time now. My dogs really enjoy it. It has some great ingredients which are organically grown in South America.

Free samples are available from petfoodfreebies.

Rick

Dog Biscuit Recipe:1 1/2 C.flour, 1 1/2 C.whole wheat flour, 1 C
rye flour,1 C oats, 1 C cornmeal,1 tsp garlic powder, 1 egg, 1/2 C
canola oil, 1 can beef broth. Mix flours and all dry ingredients in
Lg bowl. Add egg, oil, and beef broth. Mix till the dough can be
rolled you may have to add more flour. Roll to 1/2" then cut with
cookie cutter(desired shapes). Prick with fork halfway through ea.
biscuit & bake on parchment lined cookie sheets for 2 hrs. at
300F. Turn off but leave in oven till they harden. Store for 3 mo.
in plastic bags or freeze.

I would like some homemade receipes for dog treats. Like Milk
Bone type. I am very concerned about the food we all eat. Thank
you.

here's another good site on dog food recipes and the issues with
commercial dog
food dog food secrets ,
http://www.squidoo.com/dogfoodsecretsreview/

John Miller's book has raw, all-natural dog food recipes. It is
at
http://homemadehealthypetfood.com/homemade-dog-food-recipes/

Well, MTerp, potatoes are a member of the nightshade family, so
yes, they are potentially toxic. They just need to be cooked
thoroughly, and don't ever let a dog have a green, raw tater, or
eat at the plant itself. There are several commercial foods that I
can think of that use potatoe in their formulas, so no, they aren't
that toxic, used properly. But, if ANY thing, in any one form is
toxic, then it is listed as being toxic, but specifics are often
left out, leaving many to think that a lot of herbs and foods are
actually toxic for people, dogs, cats, what have you. It pays to
dig as deep as you can when you have questions, and get ALL the
facts and details before making a choice on any matter.

Well, Potatoes can't be deadly - my dog was on a fish and potato
diet specifically. After this recall I switched our two large
(adult poodle and lab) dogs to half packaged dry food (touchy feely
super expensive stuff, organic, whole ingredients, etc) and half a
home-made mix of 40% meat, 30% vegs and 30% starch. I do chicken,
rice and carrots and also hamburger, barley & peas. We feed
kitchen scraps EXTENSIVELY - lots of lettuce, they LOVE lettuce! My
theory is that their diet should have lots of variety. It's a
little scary to think that all their nutrition would come from one
source - where if that one source should be tainted (such as
melamine in the wheat gluten!) it has a huge impact on them. KSmith
is right, the veggies seem to just come right out. They love the
new diet and seem fine so far. However, I'm suffering from MAJOR
guilt issues. #1 - for myself - I am committed to only eating
local, humanely raised and organic meats, and almost no meat for
that matter. And here I am buying .40 per pound chicken at the
walmart super center. Seems contrary. And #2 - I'm feeding food to
my dogs that starving people should be eating. Just seems plain
wrong.

Because it is cheap. It all boils down to the profit margin. He
who has the cheapest products gets the sales, no matter the
quality. If it passes the barest minimums, it is considered safe
and usable. Sad, isn't it?All the more reason to buy local, buy
fresh, and know where your food comes from. Better yet, grown and
raise as much as you possibly can of your own.

I have been feeding a raw, prey model diet to my cats and dogs
for over 6 years. I raise their rabbit and poultry, and buy beef,
goat, and lamb for them on occasion. I feed the rabbit and poultry,
fur, feathers, and all to the dog. The cats are a bit more fickle,
and will only eat it cleaned. I will NEVER go back to any kind of
kibble again. I do give my dog cooked meats, that have been chunked
and frozen for treats/rewards, but it is not a mainstay of his
diet. I would NEVER feed him, or the cats, any kinds of grains, but
the dog does enjoy some veggies/fruits from the garden, such as
carrots, strawberries, and he picks his own blackberries each
summer off our wild vines. Something funny? He poops nearly all of
it straight out. From my observations, he actually digests and used
very little of anything but his raw meat and bones. The cats enjoy
fresh, pureed squash on occasion, and it does seem to assist with
hairball issues.

So why the heck are we buying wheat gluten from China?

I have been searching for alternate foods for my dog children
and the foods listed as harmful to dogs includes tomatoes, garlic,
onions, grapes, rasins, some nuts, avacado, apples, and potatoes.
Could some one please find a Vet that knows all of the foods that
are REALLY bad for dogs. I've read comments from people that apples
are bad, the seeds I know are poison as are any fruit seed. I have
been giving my children apples, fruit cocktail, (no grapes but,I
used to)all vegs, I also heard eggplant is deadly. I think maybe
some dogs are allergic to the foods that are on the deadly list and
because of their reactions people think they are deadly for all
dogs. Mine have also had milk chocolate and coffee and are still
alive. How do they know these foods kill? Do they do testing on
dogs with these foods and let them die just to find out? I heard
thats what they did with the recalled foods, they fed them to like
50 dogs and some of them died and some suffered kidney damage. They
did this to double check to make sure it was their food that was
causing the deaths. I read that in one of the reports on line. How
cruel and heartless can you get, lets do testing on the sweet
animals that we are accused of killing with our food and if they
die then it is our food. I bet none of them have pets, if they do I
pitty the poor babies. When will humans quit testing on animals and
start using humans. Why test a cosmetic on an animals skin, when it
is going to be used on a human? Just use a human, how about death
row inmates? Sound inhumane? Well so is testing on animals, it
needs to stop.

I am also surprized at the listed recipies. I thought it was
pretty common knowledge among animal owners that cats are
exclusively meat eaters and dogs can tolerate some veggies, but
also are basically meat eaters. Would love to see some better
recipies posted.

I thought that mushrooms were not to be given to dogs, why was
it in the recipe for Doggie Dinner? Thank You June Long

Your dog/cat food recipes shouldn't have wheat-based noodles in
them at all. Try rice noodles,the give the same texture and none of
the wheat related problems. In the above article you flag wheat
then have it in a recipe? Talk about mixing signals!!

I thought powdered milk was a big "no-no". I can understand the
tomato being good for my dog -I give them a little to nuetralize
urine acids, vit. C and they like it. I'm with BQueen - the more
"prey-like" their food is - the better.

I was almost shocked to see the pet food recipes you published.
A dog's natural diet is raw meat, with some bones and organs. A
cat's natural diet is the same. To offer "recipes" that have cooked
meat, grains, and veggies as being anywhere near natural is a joke.
Maybe it's healthier than the usual junk that passes as dog or cat
food, because it's fresher, but it isn't something that meets
Mother Earth standards as natural or normal. There are several
websites that offer the "prey" diet, which basically shares how to
feed your pets a healthy, natural diet. Check it out.