Natural Recipes for Dogs and Cats

Dr. Michael Fox's Homemade 'Natural' Dietary Supplement for Dogs

• 4 cups uncooked whole grain rice (or barley, rolled oats, or pasta noodles)

• 3 cloves of garlic

• Pinch of salt

• 1 T. vegetable oil (flax seed oil* or safflower oil) 1 T. wheat germ 1 T. cider vinegar 1 t. brewer's yeast

• 1 t. bone meal or calcium carbonate

• 1 t. dried kelp

• 1 lb. lean hamburger, ground lamb, mutton, one whole chicken or half of a small turkey.

Combine all above ingredients. Add water to cover ingredients, simmer, stir, and add more water as needed until cooked. De-bone chicken parts and do not feed cooked bones since they can splinter and cause internal injury. The recipe should be thick to be molded into patties (add bran or soy protein meal to help thicken). Mix well into the stew while it is still very hot, a cup full of raw, grated carrots, sweet potato or yam.. Serve 1 cup full of this recipe for a 30 lb. dog with the rest of his/her rations, and freeze the rest into patties and store in the freezer. Serve thawed, or frozen to gnaw on outdoors in hot weather.

For variation, you can use cottage cheese, plus well-cooked lentils, chick peas (garbanzo beans), lima beans or other pulses or a dozen eggs as meat alternatives.. All ingredients, ideally, should be organically certified. (Note: some dogs are allergic or hypersensitive to some foods, especially soy, beef, eggs, wheat and dairy products).

T = Tablespoon
t = teaspoon

* Add flax seed oil after the cooked food has cooled down to room temperature.

--THE ABOVE RECIPE CAN ALSO BE FED AS A COMPLETE MEAL RATHER THAN AS A SUPPLEMENT.---MIX INCREASING AMOUNTS OF YOUR DOG’S NEW FOOD WITH DECREASING AMOUNTS OF THE OLD FOOD OVER A 7-DAY PERIOD TO ENABLE ADAPTIATION AND AVOID POSSIBLE DIGESTIVE UPSET.--- IT IS ADVISABLE TO VARY THE BASIC INGREDIENTS TO PROVIDE VARIETY AND TO AVOID POSSIBLE NUTRITIONAL IMBALANCES, AND TO MONITOR THE ANIMAL'S BODY CONDITION SO AS TO AVOID EITHER OVER-FEEDING OR UNDER-FEEDING, BASED ON THE AVERAGE DOG CONSUMING ONE CUPFULL OF THE FOOD TWICE DAILY PER 30 POUNDS BODY WEIGHT.

--NOTE: DIFFERENT ANIMALS HAVE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT NUTRITIONAL NEEDS ACCORDING TO AGE, TEMPERAMENT, AMOUNT OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND HEALTH STATUS).

Home-prepared foods for our animal companions, ideally with organic ingredients that were locally produced, are important because you then know what your animal is being fed if a food-related health problem such as an allergy to a particular ingredient or digestive upset were to arise. With most processed commercial pet foods containing all kinds of human food-industry by-products and ingredients considered unfit/unsafe for human consumption, many of questionable nutritional value after repeated processing, you just don’t know. Aside from coloring agents that may cause problems other than saliva-staining of animals’ faces, and paws, most commercial pet foods contain artificial preservatives like BHA that is linked with cancer of the bladder and stomach; BHT that may cause cancer of the bladder and thyroid gland; and Ethoxyquin, one of Monsanto’s many allegedly harmful products that renderers (meat and poultry processors) add to the fat/tallow that is put into pet foods to prevent rancidity. Ethoxyquin is a recognized hazardous chemical, a highly toxic pesticide.

For more information on holistic dog care, see my book The Healing Touch for Dogs. New Market Press, NY, and for health related food industry concerns that affect us all, see my book Eating With Conscience: The Bioethics of Food, New Sage Press, Troutdale, OR

Dr. Michael Fox's Homemade 'Natural' Dietary Supplement for Cats

• 2 cups whole grain rice

• 1/2 cup of peas, chick peas or lentils

• Pinch of salt

• 1 T. vegetable oil (flax seed oil* or safflower oil)

• 1 T. wheat germ

• 1 T. cider vinegar

• 1 T. chopped canned clams in juice

• 1 t. brewer's yeast*

• 1 t. dried kelp*

• 1 t. bone meal or calcium carbonate

• 1 whole chicken cut in pieces, or 1 lb. hamburger (not too lean), or ground lamb, or turkey

Combine all above ingredients. Add water to cover all ingredients, simmer and stir, and add more water as needed until cooked and thickened. Stew should be thickened enough to be molded into medium-sized or muffin-size patties (add bran to thicken if needed). Also add an egg or cup of cottage cheese. Immediately after cooking and cooling, debone and discard bones (cats should not be given cooked bones to eat since they can splinter and cause internal damage). This stew can be served as: 1/2 cup full for a cat with the rest of his/her rations. Freeze the rest of the stew as patties, or in muffin trays, and thaw out as needed. Serve one patty to a cat about three times per week with regular rations.

For variation, substitute 1 pound raw or lightly cooked boneless fish. (NOTE: some cats are allergic to fish, corn, and also to beef and dairy products).

* = these items are available in health food stores. Ideally all ingredients should be organically certified. NOTE: Add flax seed oil after the cooked food has cooled to room temperature.

T = Tablespoon

t = teaspoon

--THE ABOVE RECIPE CAN ALSO BE FED AS A COMPLETE MEAL RATHER THAN AS A SUPPLEMENT.--MIX INCREASING AMOUNTS OF YOUR CAT’S NEW FOOD WITH DECREASING AMOUNTS OF THE OLD FOOD OVER A 7-DAY PERIOD TO AVOID POSSIBLE DIGESTIVE UPSET.--- IT IS ADVISABLE TO VARY THE BASIC INGREDIENTS TO PROVIDE VARIETY AND TO AVOID POSSIBLE NUTRITIONAL IMBALANCES, AND TO MONITOR THE ANIMAL'S BODY CONDITION SO AS TO AVOID EITHER OVER-FEEDING OR UNDER-FEEDING, BASED ON THE AVERAGE CAT CONSUMING ONE THIRD OF A CUPFULL THREE OR FOUR TIMES A DAY.

--NOTE: DIFFERENT ANIMALS HAVE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT NUTRITIONAL NEEDS ACCORDING TO AGE, TEMPERAMENT, AMOUNT OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND HEALTH STATUS).

Home-prepared foods for our animal companions, ideally with organic ingredients that were locally produced, are important because you then know what your animal is being fed if a food-related health problem such as an allergy to a particular ingredient or digestive upset were to arise. With most processed commercial pet foods containing all kinds of human food-industry by-products and ingredients considered unfit/unsafe for human consumption, many of questionable nutritional value after repeated processing, you just don’t know. Aside from coloring agents that may cause problems other than saliva-staining of animals’ faces, and paws, most commercial pet foods contain artificial preservatives like BHA that is linked with cancer of the bladder and stomach; BHT that may cause cancer of the bladder and thyroid gland; and Ethoxyquin, one of Monsanto’s many allegedly harmful products that renderers (meat and poultry processors) add to the fat/tallow that is put into pet foods to prevent rancidity. Ethoxyquin is a recognized hazardous chemical, a highly toxic pesticide.

For more information on holistic cat care, see my book The Healing Touch for Cats published by New Market Press, NY., and for food industry concerns that affect us all, see my book, Eating With Conscience: The Bioethics of Food. New Sage Press, Troutdale, OR