Homemade Pet Food is the best diet for both dogs and cats – the natural ones, coming as close as possible to the diet they would eat in the wild. Cats are naturally carnivorous and have a high protein requirement, while dogs tend to be more scavenging and eat more of a variety of foods, requiring less protein than cats. It is possible, but not easy, to feed a dog a balanced vegetarian diet, though I do not really recommend it. It is, however, almost impossible to feed cats a purely vegetarian diet. If one looks at the teeth of cats and dogs, and counts the number of grinding teeth, and the number of tearing and shearing teeth a ratio can be worked out of the protein, carbohydrate and fat content that the diet should consist of, for both species.
Pets today are fed highly processed and artificial foods, composed of unnatural ingredients, such as soymeal, artificial colorings and flavorings, as well as harmful preservatives such as BHA and ethoxyquin. They should really be fed homemade pet food.
The meat content is often composed of by-products, which can be anything from cancerous tissues, to diseased organs and can be anything that is considered not fit for human consumption. If we would not eat these things why should we expect our pets to do so? Even relatively good pet foods, which may not contain harmful additives, with the trend to preservatives such as vitamin E, are still nowhere as good as feeding your pet a natural, preferably organic, balanced diet, similar to what they would eat in the wild. Think of it this way – a fast food hamburger meal may be completely nutritionally balanced, but do you think you would be healthy if you ate it every day of your life?
DOG DIET
A good basic homemade pet food dog diet should be composed of 50% grains, which should ideally be boiled or steamed. This more closely matches semi-digested grains in the stomachs of the animals that dogs consume in the wild, which is an important part of their diet. The staple grain is usually brown rice, but other organic whole grains such as oatmeal, barley, millet, corn or amaranth can also be added for variety. Vegetables should make up about 25% of the complete cooked diet and I also recommend boiling or steaming these lightly, then chopping them finely depending on the preference of the individual pet. Some larger dogs love their vegetables whole or raw and this is fine, while some smaller breeds may enjoy them made into more of a puree in a food processor. It is also fine to finely grate raw vegetables such as carrots or zucchini. Virtually all vegetables are acceptable, although favorites include carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, yellow squash, zucchini and Brussels sprouts.
The protein content should be also about 25% although some people prefer to feed higher, especially to young, active, working animals, pregnant females, and growing puppies. If the meat is organic and fresh it can be safely fed raw, which is the ideal.
A healthy dog should have enough acid in the stomach to safely kill pathogenic bacteria. If the source of the meat is suspect it may be lightly steamed or boiled, and you may do this if you are nervous about feeding your dog raw meat, or if your dog is older or sick and tolerates lightly cooked meat better. I would not recommend feeding raw pork, because of parasites, and anyhow prefer beef, chicken turkey or rabbit as a protein source. Organ meats such as heart, liver or kidney can also be fed once or twice a week. Liver is very nutritious and large quantities are not required, or recommended because of the high levels of vitamin A but a small amount once or twice a week is a good addition to the diet. A large raw organic beef leg bone fed once a week is an excellent dietary addition and keeps your dogs teeth free of plaque and gum disease.
An occasional egg is also acceptable, and these can be fed raw or cooked, although some people prefer to remove the egg white when feeding them raw because this contains an enzyme which can denature biotin, an important B vitamin in the body. Personally I feed my dogs an occasional raw egg, just as they might scavenge in the wild, and have seen no problems from this, and they love it. Fish is also acceptable and this is also something that dogs, and other wild carnivores would eat in the wild if they had the opportunity to do so. The best way to measure the diet is to make mix 2 measures (such as a cup) of grains with one measure of vegetables and one measure of meat. It is also essential to add vitamins and minerals to the diet. A useful mixture, which was formulated by Dr. Pitcairn is given below:
2 cups of nutritional yeast with 1 to 1 1/2 cups of bonemeal and 1/2 cup of kelp powder. Mix together and add to the homemade pet food diet daily. See chart below for quantities.
In addition mix separately 1 1/2 cups of olive oil, or safflower oil with 50 to 100 iu of vitamin E. I also like to add 1/4 cup of flaxseed oil, which is good for the coat.
·up to 15 lb dog – 2 tsp of powder and 1 tsp oil mix daily
·15 to 30 lb dog – 4 tsp of powder and 2 tsp oil mix daily
·30 to 50 lb dog – 2 tbs of powder and 1 tbs oil mix daily
·over 80 lb dog – 1/4 cup powder and 2 tbs oil mix daily (tsp = teaspoon, tbs =tablespoon)
HOMEMADE CAT DIET
The basic homemade cat diet should be composed of 60 % protein, which should consist of organic ground beef, raw or cooked organic chicken, eggs once a week if desired as well as some cooked fish or other meats such as turkey, rabbit or organ meats. The same thing applies about feeding organ meats, as it does for dogs, so once or twice a week a small quantity can be fed such as a couple of teaspoons. Again it is fine to lightly steam or boil the meat and some people use the broth from the meat if it is boiled to flavor the rice and vegetables.
Approximately 20% of the cats diet should be composed of vegetables which can be lightly steamed broccoli, carrots, zucchini, caulifower, corn, or any other vegetables that your cat happens to enjoy. Some cats love cucumber for example and others also love fruits such as melon, mango or apple, and if your cat enjoys these healthy treats it is fine to supplement their diet this way.
The grain content of the homemade cat diet should be about 20% once again, and the staple should also be brown rice, steamed or boiled then it is best to puree it down to a finer consistency for the cats shorter digestive tract, though once again this can depend upon the individuals cats’ preference and digestive tract. Other grains that cats enjoy include amaranth, oatmeal, cous-cous, barley, millet and these should be well cooked and mixed in with the brown rice. You may just have to experiment to find out what your cat likes best, some cats can be incredibly picky and be addicted to their unhealthy junk food diet! Other cats, especially when raised this way love nothing more than their raw food diet and are a joy to look at!
Once again a vitamin and mineral supplement is essential and it is important to ensure that cats get enough of the essential amino acid taurine, as a deficiency of this can lead to blindness. The vitamin and mineral mix can once again be prepared in advance and are taken from an excellent book from Anitra Frazier called, The New Natural Cat, The Complete Guide for Finicky Owners.
* Mix 1 to 1 1/2 cups of nutritional yeast, 1/4 cup of kelp powder, 2 cups of wheat bran and 2 cups of bone meal. Feed one teaspoon daily to an average size cat. In addition feed 200 iu of vitamin E once a week and 10,000 iu of vitamin A twice a week. Give up to 250 mg vitamin C daily, which should be gradually introduced to bowel tolerance, since too much added too rapidly to the diet can lead to a mild diarrhea, which soon resolves when the vitamin C is decreased.
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reprinted with permission,
by Dr. Dr Anna Maria Gardner MA Vet MB MRCVS
Remember the classic Clint Eastwood film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly? I was thinking about it the other day as a way to explain Priobiotics.