What's for Dinner? The Recipe for Doggie Wellness

The benefits of home cooking are key to those pets with digestive, immune, and skin problems. Eliminating additives, preservatives, chemicals, natural flavorings, reducing potential allergens, and selecting the ingredients you like to shop for can be the FIRST step toward a healthier body. Often reducing the need to use chemical drugs to abate a body reaction.

There are plenty of sites on the internet where you can find recipes, some are good and others not so good, often leaving out the importance of an oil and a good multi-vitamin-mineral supplement.

With families, work or just everyday life it could be hard to make yourself a home cooked meal. Crock pots have always been a reliable way to make a healthy meal as quickly as possible. Prep it, set it and forget it! Well, you can do the same for your pup!

The basis of your pet’s health begins with the food they eat, and ingredients truly matter. Controlling the ingredients of your pet’s food not only assures the quality of their diet, but their health as well.

While the importance of which ingredients go into your pet’s food is of the highest priority, it’s also vital to keep certain things out of their bowls. And it’s not just mysterious ingredients you’re protecting them from, it’s harmful chemicals, bacteria and other dangerous contaminants. Home cooking guarantees that you know what is in your pet’s food, but also what is not.

The food our pets eat can be the very best medicine, or a major health impediment. Changing an animal’s diet can bring about a significantly positive change in their health, and their overall quality of life. Homemade pet food can actually function as true food therapy, and allows pet parents the opportunity to activate this healing lifestyle for their pets, right from their own home. A Checkpup at home wellness test will provide diet and supplement guidance and recommendations based on your pup's metabolic performance.

If you don’t have time to cook and are uncomfortable with raw, but would like the benefits that they offer there are several companies now providing home delivery on dry ice of whole food prepared diets, ready to serve.

Below is a sample list of food ingredients from which you can select when creating a home-cooked recipe. Variety is key. Don’t get stuck in one menu plan. That is where nutrient deficiencies will arise.  If your dog is not allergen sensitive to the food items, then you have more latitude. But if not, select from ones that do work and go from there. Have two or three recipes that you rotate between. Changing the protein and vegetable ingredients. Follow some of the above suggestions for seasonal and breed feeding as well.  For cats, being carnivores, they are all about the meat! They need meat and bones to gnaw on. A weekend project in the kitchen will go a long way to achieve a happier healthier pup.

Carbohydrate Restricted Food Samples for Dogs

Meats: Beef, chicken, turkey, fish, venison, rabbit, duck, lamb, pork, buffalo, goat, goose. Buy lean meats to reduce the volume of grease. They need good fats for an energy source. This will provide a low-fat mix. This should be at least half of the protein total.

Organ Meats: Liver, kidney, heart. These can be substituted for ¼ of the protein portion.

Other Protein Sources: Lentils, navy or kidney beans, Mung beans, eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt. These can be used in a quantity up to ¼ of the total protein base.

B. 30 to 40% of the diet should be veggies: Steam lightly keeping the liquid, add fruits after steaming.

Veggies / Fruit: Broccoli, zucchini, green beans, carrots, celery, cucumber, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, beets, tomatoes, Swiss chard, kale, spinach, okra, mustard greens, eggplant. Apples, blueberries, banana, pears or other fruit.

 C. 10% can be a starch or grain: Choose one of either sweet potato, white potato, pumpkin, squash, peas, couscous, quinoa, tapioca, oats, barley and rotate.

1. Oils: walnut or corn oil ½ tsp per 30 pounds of dog weight per meal
2. Multi-vitamin/mineral: (like Platinum Performance Canine Wellness) added to fill in any gaps

PREPARATION STEPS: You can make a big batch on the weekend and freeze for up to a month.

1. Lightly cook the meat or feed raw, your preference.
2. Steam the selected veggies
3. Add the fruit
4. Cook the starch
5. If your dog will not pick out some of the good ingredients, then you can simply stir it all together. Otherwise run all ingredients through a blender so that it appears like canned dog food.
6. Add in the oils and multi-vitamin/mineral at feeding time. Give a volume similar to what you would feed using canned or raw diet.