HOMEMADE DIETS FOR PETS

The following information is excerpted from the book, Food Pets Die For: Shocking Facts About Pet Food, by Ann N. Martin (NewSage Press 2003). All material is copyrighted and cannot be reproduced without direct permission from the publisher, www.newsagepress.com.

Many people have told me that they are terrified that if they feed their pet anything other than what comes out of a can or bag they may be harming their beloved animals. They believe that their pet will keel over and die. If your animal companion has a serious health problem, first consult a holistic or naturopathic veterinarian. Then try feeding your pet a homemade diet.

I have attempted to provide a diet for my pets that incorporates all the protein, carbohydrates, fiber, and fats that they require. Much controversy revolves around the cooking and not cooking of the protein matter. Because I have researched all aspects of the meat industry, including conditions at some slaughterhouses, I always cook the meat for my guys. In cooking the meat, some of the healthy enzymes are destroyed, but so are the harmful bacteria and parasites.

Many pet owners have asked me about a raw meat and bone diet versus a cooked diet for cats and dogs. In my second book, Protect Your Pet: More Shocking Facts, I share the findings from my extensive research. I conclude that this is not a safe diet to feed companion animals, and there is no sound scientific information to confirm this assertion. Not only are dogs and cats as prone to the many bacteria in meat—Salmonella, Campylobactor, E. coli, and Listeria—as are humans, but some of these agents can be transmitted to the humans preparing the raw meat diet.

There are also tremendous problems with animal companions ingesting bones. I have read many sad stories by pet owners about the deaths of their animal companions after eating bones and succumbing to the bacteria in raw meat. One letter described a terrier, who, after vomiting, collapsed on his side in a pool of thick, bloody diarrhea. Radiographs revealed bone fragments in the stomach and intestines. The owner had been feeding raw chicken backs, necks, and wings. In another case, a golden retriever died from several small vertebral bodies, which had lodged in the lower end of the small intestines and perforated the intestinal wall. In another letter a woman lamented over the death of one of her shelties due to a ruptured esophagus after she fed him a raw meat and bone diet.

If you are feeding a raw diet and your pet displays symptoms such as severe vomiting, diarrhea, swollen abdomen, problems with swallowing, or any other unusual symptoms, seek veterinary attention immediately.

Things to Watch for with a Homemade Diet

In preparing a homemade diet for pets, you must be aware of a few dietary facts as they relate to companion animals. Although both dogs and cats will readily eat meat, cats are carnivores. Dogs
can subsist on a vegetarian diet, but cats require a meat source of protein. Cats require much more protein than dogs, and kittens require more protein than a full-grown cat.

For dogs, vegetable protein does not contain all the amino acids that are required; therefore, a correct formulation of grains and other ingredients must be made if you plan on feeding your dog a vegetarian diet.

Indigestible proteins, such as those used in some commercial pet foods (hair, feathers, fecal matter), obviously cannot sustain an animal. Meat, fish, eggs (a complete source of protein), and dairy products provide many, if not all, the amino acids that your pet requires. Carbohydrates and fiber come primarily from grains and vegetables and provide energy and stamina and also provide calories to maintain weight. Grains should be cooked, and vegetables can be steamed or fed raw, and should be finely chopped or sliced, or run through a food processor. In this form, animals can more easily eat grains and vegetables.

Sunflower, corn, and safflower oil provide your pet with added energy, a lush coat, clear skin, and good muscle tone. Flaxseed and sesame oil, although more expensive, are excellent if your pet has an immune deficiency. Both these oils should be refrigerated to prevent them from becoming rancid.

In the diet I prepare for my cats, I usually use safflower oil. In commercial pet food, legal sources of fiber can include hair, peanut hulls, beet pulp, and even ground-up paper. Pets eating a homemade diet obtain their fiber primarily from vegetables and fruit. One of my cats is rather old and prone to constipation, so I often add a teaspoon of natural bran to his food. My pets eat three meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However, many pet owners feed their pets two meals per day, usually in the morning and in the evening.

Some nutritionists advise that pets should not eat protein, carbohydrates (grains), and vegetables at the same meal. Their reasoning is that when proteins and carbohydrates are ingested together, the protein is digested first, leaving the carbohydrates to digest later. According to Pat Lazarus, an animal nutritionist, this results in a build up of toxins due to the fermentation of the carbohydrates.

The ideal diet for your pets would include feeding meat or dairy products that can be combined with vegetables at one meal. Grains mixed with fruits and vegetables can be served at the next meal. In her book, Keep Your Pet Healthy the Natural Way, Lazarus recommends, “The only harmonious foods to be used with meats or even dairy proteins are vegetables (raw and grated or cut up).”2

However, my own personal experience over the last twelve years of cooking for my animal companions is that I have always fed protein, carbohydrates, and fruits or vegetables together. This has never caused any problem with any of my animals. My cats absolutely refuse to eat strictly grains mixed with fruit or vegetables at a meal. Ultimately, there are a lot of unknowns regarding a “complete and balanced” diet for dogs and cats, although there are many who claim they have the answers. Martin Goldstein, DVM, writes, “Our pets, like us, are all individuals, all with different requirements. So what works for one may not work for another.”3

The diet for my dog is based on my own years of experience cooking for my animals as well as extensive information gathering. The following suggestions are not based on scientific evidence, but rather accumulated knowledge and sound advice from veterinarians and nutritionists who are knowledgeable about nutritional meals for cats and dogs.

A Natural Diet for the Dog

The diet for my dog includes:

protein, either cooked meat (beef, chicken, turkey, lamb), fish or eggs. Some dogs, including mine, are allergic to eggs. If you serve pork be sure that it is also well-cooked.
grains or carbohydrates, either brown rice (well-cooked), oatmeal, pasta, mashed potatoes, shredded wheat or other whole grain cereals, whole grain breads, plain or toasted. There is an array of grains to choose from, just be sure that they are well-cooked for proper digestion.
vegetables or fruits, including carrots, zucchini, peas, yellow and green beans, yams or sweet potatoes, mushrooms, apples, pears, watermelon—just about any fruit. Remember to chop or thinly slice the fruit and vegetables or run them through a food processor. Small amounts of cabbage, broccoli, and brussels sprouts can be used, but these vegetables tend to cause gas. My pets get their vegetables and fruit raw but I know of many people who lightly steam the vegetables. You can even use frozen vegetables, which retain a higher level of vitamins and minerals than do canned vegetables.

Vegetable oil. Depending on the size of the dog, one teaspoon to one tablespoon per day of vegetable oil. Again, flaxseed, sesame, sunflower, safflower, or olive oil (cold compressed).

For breakfast, my dog gets a bowl of oatmeal with a small amount of meat or fruit mixed in. Lunch and dinner are composed of meat, grains, and fruit or vegetables. With either lunch or dinner I add yogurt or cottage cheese for calcium. Plain, nonfat yogurt contains 450 mg. of calcium per cup. Yogurt is easily digested by pets and will replace the good bacteria in their systems if they are on antibiotics. Cottage cheese contains 155 mg. per cup. One cup of low-fat milk provides 300 mg. Calcium can also be obtained from other natural sources: 3 ounces of canned salmon with the bone contains 180 mg. of calcium and 3 l/2 ounces of sardines with bones, 400 mg. Two tablespoons of whole sesame seeds contain 175 mg. of calcium. Many vegetables contain calcium although in lower levels than the foods mentioned above.

How much calcium do our pets need per day? Martin Zucker quotes Nancy Scanlan, DVM, in his books, Natural Remedies for Dogs and Natural Remedies for Cats: “The recommended dosage for toy dogs is 100 mg. daily; small dogs, 200 mg.; medium dogs, 300 mg.; larger dogs, 500 mg. Large puppies can use 10 percent more.”4 She recommends the following for cats: “50 to 100 mg. daily. Increase the amount by 25 percent for kittens.”5 Dairy products provide calcium that is readily absorbed by both dogs and cats.

Riveriene Farm, a holistic nutrition website, describes various forms of calcium supplements in their Nutrition Index and notes that some of the calcium supplements can cause problems when added to a pet’s diet. According to Riveriene Farm, bonemeal used in many dog food recipes, “contains absorbable calcium but may be contaminated with lead.” You can purchase bonemeal that is certified free of heavy metal contamination, lead, mercury, and arsenic. If you are going to add a supplement, certified bonemeal is the best choice. The Nutrition Index describes calcium chloride as irritating to the intestinal tract, and calcium phosphate interferes with the absorption of other nutrients when included with other supplements. Neither calcium chloride nor calcium phosphate is a wise choice as a source of calcium for your pet. The conclusion reached in the Nutrition Index is that “the best sources of calcium are natural, organic food sources.”6

In his book, How to Have a Healthier Dog, Wendell Belfield, DVM, advises, “It’s too much, not too little that bothers me most in regard to calcium. Dog owners have this great urge to over-supplement calcium. A balanced vitamin and mineral supplement should contain all the extra calcium a growing dog or pregnant or lactating bitch needs.”7 Individual animals have individual needs. If you are going to supplement the diet of your dog or cat do so only under the guidance of your veterinarian.

My dog Sarge and my three cats enjoy a treat of bean sprouts, parsley, or alfalfa. These are sources of many minerals, vitamin C, and fiber. Your local health food store can usually provide a variety of seeds that you can grow in plastic or glass jars at home. It is a very easy process and you have an abundance of sprouts in no time. Mung beans are the most popular and lentils have an excellent mild flavor. Most sprouts will keep for seven to ten days in your refrigerator.

A Natural Diet for Cats Feeding cats a natural diet can be a little more complex, especially if they have eaten commercial pet foods for most of their lives. Be assured it can be done, and they will enjoy their new diet just as much as the dog does. Cats require more protein than dogs; therefore, their diet should be composed of two-thirds meat, and one-third grains and vegetables or fruit. Chicken and turkey seem to be the favorites with my cats, although every so often I open a can of salmon and they go wild. Fish of any kind is low in vitamin E, and vitamin E is required in high amounts by cats. Perhaps once a week you can give your cat some fish, which provides polyunsaturated fats that your cat cannot obtain from meat. Be careful in feeding tuna to your feline. In her book The Natural Cat, Anitra Frazier describes the “tuna junkie” as an expression used by veterinarians to describe a cat hooked on tuna. According to Frazier, “The vegetable oil which it is packed in robs the cat's body

of vitamin E which can result in a condition called steatitis.”8 Symptoms of steatitis include extreme nervousness and severe pain when touched. Lack of vitamin E causes nerve endings to become sensitive, and can also induce anemia and heart disease. However, excess levels of vitamin E can be toxic. A veterinarian with an understanding of nutrition should be consulted.

All meals for my cats are composed of protein, carbohydrates, and fiber plus a teaspoon of vegetable oil per day. This is all processed in the blender, but I hold back a few chunks of meat and add it to their food. This gives them something to chew on.

I usually add natural bran as a source of fiber. If your cat suffers from constipation, one half to one teaspoon of bran can be added to the diet. Constipation is a frequent problem in older cats. To help this, make sure water is always available for your animal companions.

Again, as with dogs, you can purchase a vitamin and mineral supplement for your cat if you feel they are not getting all the nutrients they require.

Despite what many veterinarians tell us about the problems encountered when we give our pets milk, I have given both my dog and cats milk (2 percent) for many years and none have developed diarrhea. I have taken into account their individual tastes and needs. Although my Siamese cats drink very little milk, my tabby drinks approximately one-half cup per day. As a pup, the veterinarian suggested that our German shepherd be given at least one cup of milk per day as a source of calcium for the puppy’s developing bones. Sarge was given this amount for just over a year and now drinks about a half a cup per day.

Most veterinarians do not recommend that you give your pets milk although Richard Pitcairn in his book, Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats, discusses giving your feline milk: “Some people recommend that raw milk and raw cheeses for the bulk of a cat’s diet. Others say that cats, especially Siamese cats, do not properly digest lactose (milk sugar), and that drinking milk causes gas and diarrhea. Based on the feedback I solicit from clients, I have found that milk usually does not cause problems.”9 Dr. Pitcairn suggests using raw milk, yogurt, or goat’s milk if your cat has problems digesting cow’s milk. I would leave it to the discretion of pet owners or their veterinarian to decide if milk can be added to the animal’s diet.

There is no doubt that a homemade diet, although time consuming, can add years to the life of your pets and save you a great deal of money in veterinary bills. Shawn Messonnier, author of numerous books on pet health, including The Natural Health Bible for Dogs & Cats, writes, “When it comes to feeding pets, dog and cat owners have two choices: prepare a fresh diet at home, or feed a processed food. When you can, feeding a homemade diet allows your pet to eat the freshest ingredients in their most tasty form.”10

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ANN N. MARTIN is internationally recognized as an authority on the commercial pet food controversy. Since 1990, Martin has continued to investigate and to question exactly what goes into commercial pet food and to discover more unsavory practices of the pet food industry. The original edition of Food Pets Die For: Shocking Facts About Pet Food, first published in 1997, was among the first books to expose the hazards of commercial pet food. Ms. Martin's investigative reporting of the pet food industry was selected for special recognition as "one of the most censored news stories of 1997" by Sonoma State University's Project Censored, which focuses on important news events that are largely ignored by mainstream media. Since then, she has been on numerous television and radio shows, internationally, discussing the problems with commercial pet foods and the great health advantages of cooking for your animal companions. In her second book, Protect Your Pet: More Shocking Facts, Ann Martin continues her investigation of commercial pet food as well as other controversial, pet-related issues, including over-vaccination, the raw meat diet, Rimadyl, bloat, and more. She lives in Ontario, Canada with her animal companions - three cats and a dog - where she continues to question, research, and write about pet-related issues.