Pet lovers spent $84 million on organic pet food in 2009, a significant increase when you consider that only $51 million was spent on it in 2007, according to the New York Times. This spike is attributed to concerns about pet food safety in the wake of the massive pet food recalls in 2007.
As consumers learn more about what goes into pet food and the manufacturing process, many have been seeking out alternatives to garden variety kibble. Three options that are growing in popularity are homemade, raw and organic.
Homemade Pet Food
Cooking for your pet is an appealing alternative to store-bought food because you can control the quality of the ingredients you use. However, it’s critical to meet all of your pet’s nutritional needs. “Yes, it is possible to meet a pet’s nutritional requirements with a home-cooked diet, but it must be done in conjunction with a veterinarian,” said Dr. Lauren Bowling, a veterinarian in Bloomington, Indiana.
Pamela Douglas Webster, a pet blogger at SomethingWagging.com, has prepared food for her dogs Agatha and Shadow. Agatha was diagnosed with Cushing’s disease, a condition in which the pituitary gland releases too much of the adrenocorticotripic hormone. While conventional treatments include chemo and prednisone, Webster opted to change Agatha’s diet. “The homeopathic vet recommended recipes from Dr. Pitcairn’s Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats,” she said. Webster felt that her homemade diet gave Agatha a better quality of life for her final years.
“What you need to know before home cooking is that you can’t just throw a slab of meat with a bone in it down on the plate and expect your dog or cat to be okay nutritionally,” said Dr. Bowling. “There are several services, most notably the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, that can help you formulate a diet based on your dog or cat’s condition, age and needs.”
Other recommendations for recipe books if you’re looking to cook for your furry friend include: The Whole Pet Diet, The Natural Pet Food Cookbook and, for treats to spoil your canine, The Organic Dog Biscuit Cookbook.
Raw Food Diet
Another popular option is a raw diet. “Many people feel that the benefits of a raw diet are that it’s closer to what they ate in nature and that is what they are ‘naturally’ supposed to eat,” said Dr. Bowling. “The downside of that is that prior to domestication, dogs and cats lived 10 to 20 percent of the lifespan they do now. It’s not all food, of course, but that does have something to do with it.”
Amanda VerBruggen, who blogs about dogs at A Day In the Life of a Mutt, feeds her dogs a raw diet: “I am a scientist at heart, and biology is one of my passions. When it comes down to it, raw feeding simply makes biological sense to me.”
VerBruggen feeds her dogs the “prey” model. “No veggies go into their meals besides the occasional blend I buy that happens to have some in it already,” she said. “. . . I do everything I can to mimic actual prey by putting parts of whatever I can find together to make a meal. I feed as much ‘whole food’ — not ground — as I can. On average, my dogs eat 80 percent muscle meat, 10 percent consumable bone and 10 percent organ.” She reported that her dogs have healthier coats and cleaner teeth, though she admits that feeding raw isn’t for everyone.
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