Raw Meat Diets for Cats and Dogs? An Assessment of the Research….
Raw meat diets for dogs (and cats) have gained popularity in recent years. But most veterinarians strongly caution their clients against feeding their pets raw meat (due to concerns about bacteria such as e. Coli and Salmonella and parasites that are destroyed when meat is properly cooked) and especially raw bones (injuries ranging from fractured teeth to perforations of the intestines are seen far too often in veterinary clinics). In this book, James O’Heare reviews and summarizes the scientific literature on raw meat diets and the potential problems inherent in feeding raw meats. Unfortunately, there’s no corresponding information on the potential benefits of feeding a raw diet – simply because scientific studies of that side of the equation are very hard to find. In my opinion, anyone feeding or thinking about feeding a raw meat diet to their dogs or cats should read this book to be educate themselves of the potential risks involved and be better able to weigh those risks against the benefits proponents of raw meat diets maintain.
The Ultimate Dog Treat Cookbook contains 50 recipes, all taste-tested (by many happy dogs). The recipes are organized into categories: “Cookies by the Spoonful,” “Cookie-Cutter Treats,” “Special Goodies for Special Occasions,” and “Good Dogs Deserve Tasty Treats!” (tiny training treats). There are also some recipes for special-needs dogs, for meat-free, grain-free, wheat-free, or low-fat treats. A lot of the recipes use “shortcuts” such as store-bought muffin mixes rather than having you make everything from scratch. “Nutritional Notes” scattered throughout the book give a nutritional summary of a variety of ingredients. Information given includes calories, grams of protein, fat, and carbohydrates, and the amount (in milligrams) of various minerals for such things as sunflower seeds, oatmeal, and salmon. As with other “treat” books for dogs, the recipes are not meant to provide a full balanced diet (the author recommends they’re used for no more than 10% of the dog’s daily intake). You can mail in for a free “Canine Chef Accessory Kit,” so keep your receipt. The kit includes goodie bags, a magnetic grocery list, and a bone-shaped cookie cutter.
This book, by Dr. Donald R. Strombeck, contains similar information to other “home-prepared meals for your dog” books that are written by (or with) veterinarians: an overview of canine nutrition, energy requirements, a discussion on the inadequacies of many commercial pet foods, and how a pet owner should go about preparing and feeding home-prepared meals. All that’s good and necessary, but the real strength of this book is the 200+ recipes, including recipes designed to aid in the treatment of several medical conditions including gastrointestinal disease, skin disease, obesity, renal disease, urinary tract stones, heart disease, and more. And oh, yeah, it contains all that information on feeding your cats home-prepared meals, too.
If you’re interested in switching to a home-prepared diet (or looking for additional recipes) but feeding a raw diet doesn’t appeal to you, this is the book to get. It covers the Why, How, and What of feeding home cooking to your dogs. Special emphasis is put on ongoing assessment of your dog’s diet, through observing your dog and also through blood and urine tests. Recipes are categorized by weight of the dog (four recipes for each weight), with each recipe tailored to the specific nutritional needs for a dog of that size. This is both a blessing (you can know that your 80-lb dog is getting the right mix of calories and supplements) and a problem (there’s no advice given on how to adapt recipes for one weight class to another, or how to handle multi-dog households where the dogs vary widely in weight). The information and recipes in this book are clear and concise and very useful.
This book is the best comprehensive introduction to home-prepared diets for dogs I’ve found to date. If you’re confused by the conflicting information out there on preparing your dog’s food yourself (ranging from “Don’t do it!” to “Feed them raw meaty bones like they’d be eating in the wild!”) this will help you sort it all out and decide what’s best for your individual dog. The author covers the pros and cons of several approaches to your dog’s diet, including feeding commercial pet food, supplementing commercial foods, preparing home-cooked foods for your dog, and feeding raw foods.
