Recipes

Diet plays the most significant role in ensuring your pet's good health and lifespan. "You are what you eat" applies as much to us as it does to our animals! Eating the same, processed food again and again without diversity can cause nutritional deficiencies and imbalances, often leading to more serious health problems such as obesity, gastrointestinal diseases, chronic diarrhea, allergies, yeast infections, bone and joint weakness, poor dental health and bad breath, to name only a few.

One of the best things you can do to support your pet's well-being is to feed a well-rounded diet that includes a variety of proteins, fresh vegetables, fiber-rich whole grains such as barley, oatmeal, millet, amaranth and brown rice, supplements, and a good multi-vitamin to supply nutrients often missing from not only commercial, but even raw and home-cooked diets.

A fun and healthy alternative to commercial foods is cooking for your pet. I love to whip up large batches and freeze them, defrosting and heating meals as needed. I recommend that your dog or cat have a complete checkup and CBC (Complete Blood Count) before you embark on feeding a homemade diet. Homemade diets MUST be properly proportioned for your cat or dog's needs, and a good supplement is essential. I supplement my girls' meals with Flax Fur Pets? and Vitamins (links to purchase). I try to keep in mind that the time and energy I spend preparing healthy meals is time and money saved on vets' visits.

I recently came to appreciate the benefits of raw diets. While I?ve always cooked for Opal and Dixie and have had concerns about the safety of raw meats, I?ve recently discovered that they do extremely well on diets of Primal. I may continue to alternate between cooked and raw meals, but for now, as we work on a weight loss plan, Primal is our meal of choice.

How my ?switch? came about was through a recommendation by their holistic vet, Dr. Kari DeLeeuw at Coastal Holistic, in Pacifica. Because Opal and Dixie are short-legged, long-backed dogs, in order to maintain the alignment and suppleness of their spines I bring them in for gentle, chiropractic adjustments every month. During one of their visits I was reminded of what I already knew -- they?re a little on the pudgy side. I work hard to maintain a healthy weight for them, but I have to admit it has been a bit of battle from time-to-time. Overweight dogs are at greater risk of health issues and shortened lives, thus my vigilance. Dr. Kari suggested a diet of Primal patties. Sure enough, they?ve been losing weight steadily and slowly (as we lose weight ourselves ? none of those overnight quick-tricks which inevitably lead to an equally quick return of the weight we lost). I supplement their patties with fresh or frozen vegetables including carrots, pumpkin, spinach, kale, collard greens and stringbeans, and find that they need less food with their raw diets. I?ll soon begin experimenting with some of the raw food recipes offered in Dr. Pitcairn?s book, Dr. Pitcairn?s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats. I share one of these recipes below.

Recommended fatty meats: Regular ground hamburger, roaster chicken (whole), lamb (neck, shoulder, leg, chops), pork chops, chuck roast, ground chuck, brains, tongue, sirloin steak, fatty beef hearts.

Recommended lean meats: Beef or chicken liver or heart, kidney, tuna canned in oil, fryer chicken (gizzard, drumsticks, thighs or whole), turkey (whole, ground, or dark meat), carp, salmon, catfish. I feed them fresh fish regularly.

Below are some of Opal (Opie) and Dixie's favorite recipes, each of them completely balanced and adapted from cookbooks written by veterinary nutritionists. Keep an eye on your pet's weight to ensure that he or she is well-fed, but not overfed. As with all food (both ours and theirs), what may be a perfect serving for one animal may be a bit much for another. Now, let's move onto the fun stuff! I hope that you enjoy cooking these up as much as your pets enjoy eating them up!

A guiding rule of thumb for proportions and ingredients, is:
50-60% thoroughly-cooked whole grains, blended well or run through a food processor
25% high quality proteins, i.e., real meats, either raw or lightly cooked as opposed to well-done, cut into small, bite-sized pieces, sliced or chopped fine, or run through a food processor; cottage cheese may be used as an alternate source of protein
25% vegetables and/or fruits, raw or lightly steamed and grated or food processed for digestibility (Opal and Dixie love pumpkin, squash, kale, collards, spinach, broccoli and carrots best!)
An essential fatty acid supplement and multivitamin is recommended in both cases.
Sardines are suggested for vitamin B12.

For a grain-free diet, simply substitute fresh, leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, "orange" foods and fruit for the grains.

Recipes for Dogs

Each recipe provides one or two meals (depending on how often you feed your dog) for a dog weighing approximately 30lbs.

Turkey Tumble
1/3 lb. cooked ground turkey (weighed raw)
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup leafy greens
1 tablespoon fresh parsley
1 tablespoon wheat grass
2 tablespoons canned sardines
1 tablespoon canola or olive oil
1 teaspoon bonemeal
Vitamins and Flax Fur Pets

Beef 'n Taters
1/3 lb. very lean beef (weighed raw)
1 1/2 cups red potatoes, cooked with skin on
1 1/2 cups grated cabbage
1 teaspoon herbes de province seasoning
2 tablespoons canned sardines
1 tablespoon canola or olive oil
1 1/4 teaspoons bonemeal
Vitamins and Flax Fur Pets

Broccoli Beef
1/3 lb. very lean beef (weighed raw)
1 cup brown rice
1 cup broccoli
2 tablespoons canned sardines
1 tablespoon canola or olive oil
1 1/4 teaspoons bonemeal
Vitamins and Flax Fur Pets

Poultry Plate
1/3 lb. cooked turkey or chicken tenders, sliced thin (weighed raw)
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup grated carrots
2 tablespoons canned sardines
1 tablespoon canola or olive oil
1 teaspoon bonemeal
Vitamins tablet and supplements

Recipes for Cats

Turkey Dinner
6 oz. ground turkey (raw weight), cooked
½ egg, large, hard-boiled
1 teaspoon vegetable (canola) oil
1/8 teaspoon salt substitute (potassium chloride)
¾ teaspoon powdered bonemeal
1 multi vitamin/mineral tablet or sprinkle (as directed) of multi-vitamin/mineral powder
sprinkle of Flax Fur Pets®

Chunky Chicken with Clams
½ lb. boneless chicken breast (raw weight), cooked
½ egg, large, hard-boiled
½ oz. chopped or minced clams in juice
4 teaspoons vegetable (canola) oil
1/8 teaspoon salt substitute (potassium chloride)
¾ teaspoon powdered bonemeal
1 multi vitamin/mineral tablet or sprinkle (as directed) of multi-vitamin/mineral powder
sprinkle of Flax Fur Pets®

Be sure to chop the chicken, but do leave small pieces as opposed to grinding.

Tuna Treat
4 oz. tuna, canned, in water, without salt
1 egg, large, hard-boiled
1 tablespoon vegetable (canola) oil
½ teaspoon bonemeal powder
1 multi vitamin/mineral tablet or sprinkle (as directed) of multi-vitamin/mineral powder

Homemade Raw Meal for Dogs, courtesy of Dr. Pitcairn

5 cups raw rolled oats

3 lbs (approximately 6 cups raw turkey, ground or chopped

1 cup vegetables, cooked or raw; if raw, grate and use less

6 T (approximately 1/3 cup) Healthy Powder; I recommend my Flax Fur Pets® supplement, which is based upon Dr. Pitcairn?s recipe but will save you an extra step.  Feed according to the directions on the package

4 t bonemeal; an ingredient already in Flax Fur Pets®, saving you yet another step

10,000 IU vitamin A

400 IU vitamin E

1 tsp tamari soy sauce or ¼  iodized salt (optional)

Directions:  Cook the oats then add the remaining ingredients. Makes about 18+ cups. Optionally, you can lightly cook the meat if you are not comfortable with completely raw. You can also substitute different grains and/or meats.