Home Cooking for Your Animals

I’ve been getting e-mails about home cooking for dogs and cats, and here’s where I stand: Go for it! You certainly have more control over what goes into the food than if you bought it already prepared (although it’s not a guarantee of clean food, as we saw with the spinach and peanut butter scares we’ve had recently).

Many American pet owners are now beginning to prepare food for their pets as a result of the massive Menu Foods recall, and the rank of "Home-Prepared Dog & Cat Diets: The Healthful Alternative" has leaped to 1,000 from a before-recall 60,000. (Though I don’t have that book, I do have "Dr. Pitcairn’s New Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats," and I highly recommend it, although it is in no way geared toward veganism.)

For those who would like to try home cooking, go to Vegetarian Dogs for a free starter recipe, but do note that avocados have been demonstrated to be unsafe for dogs, particularly in large quantities or as a steady diet. For fats, olive oil and coconut butter are fabulous. Also note that pasta is a food devoid of real nutrients, though it has plenty of carbs and calories. I always prefer to use quinoa and oatmeal (not the sweet, quick-cook stuff), as they’re high in protein. And quinoa isn’t at all mucous-forming. It’s close to the perfect food.

Harbingers of a New Age has great supplements for home cookers (Vegedog and Vegecat) that make it easier to create a nutritionally complete meal in your kitchen. And Holistic Blend also has vegan supplements and treatments for just about any issue, from hot spots, to hip dysplasia.

My only caveat is with regard to diabetic animals. Though it’s tempting to make many different kinds of meals for your dog or cat, unless you’re going to check the animal’s blood sugar all day each day, I’d recommend a consistent diet. Maybe one or two meals, and do a blood curve with each and adjust insulin (and check blood sugar) accordingly. And base the meals with the same grain (I recommend quinoa), as that will be the variable most affecting blood glucose.

Good luck, all you home cookers!