The Basics of a Home Made Dog Food

Are you afraid to make homemade meals for your dog? Are you concerned about lifetime adequacy of commercial pet foods and the safety of commercially available kibble or raw diets? Does your family eat healthy foods rather than highly processed or fast foods? 

If you answer yes to these questions, then let me set the record straight. Naturally the commercial pet food companies will be against you feeding a home made diet.

Your veterinarian has seen health problems associated with poorly made diets or with table scraps, may be reluctant to help. For a veterinarian to recommend a popular commercial diet or sell a diet from the clinic is more practical than taking time to discuss an appropriate homemade diet with you.

Comparing Pet Foods: The Math is Simple, But The Thought Process is Complex: Many Ways Exists to Solve the Problem

Written by Marion (Meg) Smart DVM PhD

 

Interpreting the pet food label and some simple calculations to use when comparing nutrient levels. 

Client Information: Nutritional Support for a Pet with Cancer

This Article was written by Meg Smart for the Keeshound Journal Febuary 16th /2012

For Client Information in consultation with their Veterinarian

Tumours require nutrients to grow, the host requires nutrient to maintain their quality of life, and this immediately creates a conflict within the body. Some basic questions arise from this conflict. Can we through nutrition:

1. Slow the growth or starve a tumour?
2. Make the tumour more sensitive to our therapies?
3. Modulate the immune system to control or eliminate the tumour?
4. Neutralize free radicals without compromising the effectiveness of some treatments?

Introduction to an Developimg Online Nutrition Course

“To repeat what others have said requires education; To challenge it requires brains”  Mary Pettibone Poole

Nutrition affects every living organism from the time of conception (mitosis) to the time of death (apoptosis). To understand the fundamentals of nutrition one has to explore it from the perspective of a single cell;as a cell is the beginning of life and the end of life as we know it. Life is as simple as a single cell or as complex as a multicellular organism where cells are programmed genetically to coordinate the metabolic processes that sustain the wellness and the health of the organism. As organisms become more complex the metabolic process controlled by the cells becomes more specialized, but there still exists, the stem cell which when properly stimulated can rejuvenate the specialized cell line. 

 Nutrients comsumed and digested supply the carbon skeletons, the nitrogen and the energy to maintain the function of the cell and replace it when it is damaged prematurely or dies naturally. So how can something so simple be so complex and difficult to understand with so few direct answers and many diverse opinions? 

Other questions that arise about nutrition are:

·        If nutrition is so important, why do veterinarians and medical doctors know so little about it?

·        Are veterinarians and medical doctors the ones who should be advising us on our nutrition?

Dietary Supplements for Pets an Introduction

Pet Supplements is a rapidly growing and  profitable sector of the pet food industry. However, why market supplements if the food we are buying our pets is “complete and balanced”, “nutritious” plus many other descriptive terms?  Because it is trendy and the concept is marketable and some supplements are beneficial. 

A Dog's Breakfast

This is a CBC Documentary  about the pet food industry http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/dogsbreakfast.html

Micheal W Fox Speaks Out

Martha Stewart

                     IS “MARTHA STEWART LIVING” GOOD FOR ANIMALS?

                                                    By Dr. Michael W. Fox*

In October 2010 my local newspaper dropped my syndicated Animal Doctor column and replaced it with a new column by a writer with no veterinary or animal-behavior science background -- only the media touted title of Martha Stewart’s “Resident Pet Expert.”

 So I made my first visit to Martha Stewart’s website and immediately found and read the lead article on her pet section, “Pet Food Basics.” But the article (dated 1994) was seriously outdated, and my interest in what kinds of pet foods and pet supplies were being promoted by Ms. Stewart was piqued.

The Pet Food Industry

div class="DefaultText" style="tab-stops: 36.0pt 72.0pt 108.0pt 144.0pt 180.0pt 216.0pt 252.0pt 288.0pt 324.0pt 360.0pt 396.0pt 432.0pt;"> The Pet Food Industry is changing  with pet food manufacturers focusing on :

·       New product development that takes advantage of trendy human diets

·       The expansion of premium diets, and healthy treats and snacks

·       Diets that address special pet needs such as joints, teeth, coat etc.

·       Small and giant dog requirements

·       Increasing palatability and maintaining freshness

·       Convenience for the pet owner