Cooking For Pets: Good Idea?

Dr. Debbye Turner: It's Too Easy To Short Them On Needed Nutrients

(CBS)  As the pet food recall grows, so does the number of people cooking for their dogs and cats.

But is that wise?

The Early Show's resident veterinarian, Dr. Debbye Turner, suggested Tuesday that it might not be.

"I cannot recommend that you cook for your pet," she told co-anchor Hannah Storm. "They have very specific nutritional needs. If you're going to cook for your pet, you need to formulate a diet that has all the right nutrients, plus supplements, and all in the right proportions."

Turner says people "absolutely shouldn't" stop feeding Fido or Fluffy commercial pet food: There are still plenty of commercial pet foods on the shelves that are believed to be safe. Of course, check the recall list on the Menu Foods Web site to make sure you're not feeding one of the affected brands.

Since it's believed wheat gluten is somehow involved, you can help assure the food you're feeding is safe by looking at the ingredients listed on the package or can and making sure wheat gluten isn't one of them.

Also, cautioned Turner, cats and dogs have different nutritional requirements. Dogs need 38 nutrients daily. Cat need 40. Dogs are omnivores, like people. So they need protein, carbohydrates, fats and fiber, plus vitamins and minerals. Cats are obligate carnivores. They need a high protein diet that contains animal fat and taurine.

What's more, pets can't eat everything people can. Most spices are upsetting to pets' systems and will cause gastric irritation and diarrhea. So, you definitely shouldn't season food for pets the way we season it for ourselves. Plus, there are some foods that we know are toxic to cats and dogs. They include onions, garlic, raisins, grapes, chocolate and macadamia nuts.

Also, Turner was wary of Internet info. "You do not want to trust Internet recipes," she said. Anyone can come up with a recipe and post it on the Web. And while these recipes may be tasty to your pet and OK to give them as a treat, many just aren't nutritionally complete and shouldn't be used for long-term feeding. You will simply do more harm than good to your pet. If you still feel you have to cook for your pet, it's best to take the recipe to your veterinarian and let her review it and make adjustments, just to be safe.

That said, Turner did offer an example of a recipe for dogs, from a Web site run by a board-certified veterinary nutritionist who formulates custom-made recipes for pet owners. They're designed to be nutritionally balanced specifically for your pets.

There are hundreds of recipes, but the one shown by Turner includes white rice, vegetable oil and chicken. Seems pretty simple, right? Well, in order for it to be nutritionally balanced, you must add supplements to the dish: a multivitamin, calcium, choline, salt and zinc. That's the advantage of commercial diets: all the work has been done for you. The vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids are already there. If you cook for your pet, YOU have to add them. It's a lot of work!

The recipe for dogs that Turner showed:

Rice (white, long-grain, regular, cooked) 3-7/8cup
Oil (vegetable, corn) 4-1/4 tsp
Chicken (breast, cooked) 5-1/8 oz

PLUS: must add these human supplements:
1-1/8 tablets of One a Day Maximum Multivitamin/mineral supplement
3-7/8 of Posture caplet (600 mg elemental calcium)
1-3/8 tablets of generic choline tablet (600 mg tablet w/250 mg choline)
1 tsp of Morton Lite Salt Mixture
1/8 tsp of Morton Salt Substitute
3/4 tablet of generic zinc gluconate tablet (250 mg tablet w/30 mg elemental zinc)

Bake the chicken in the oven and cook the white rice without adding salt. Cut the chicken into small pieces. Place the white rice in a bowl and add the oil and the supplements. Mix well. Place cut chicken on the rice and serve.

Why is it, Turner was asked, that cats are far more affected in this recall than dogs?

It's important to point out that we still don't know exactly what has caused illness and death in pets, Turner responded, but we know that far more cats have gotten sick and died than dogs. It could be because they are smaller and can't tolerate the "load" of the toxin in the food. Or their metabolism is faster than dogs, so it could be that hastens the affect of the poison. We're just not sure yet.

Turner also demonstrated the preparation of a recipe for cats, which she said is a good example of what a cat would eat. It's from the same Web site as the one for dogs, and includes sweet potato, salmon, and vegetable oil. But again, the food alone doesn't contain all the necessary nutrition for the cat. So you would need to add these supplements to make it nutritionally complete: a multivitamin, calcium, taurine, choline, salt, zinc, and caltrate.

The cat recipe:

Sweet potato (cooked, baked in skin, without salt) 5/8 cup
Fish, salmon (Atlantic, wild, cooked) 2.9 ounces
Oil (vegetable or corn) 3/4 tsp

PLUS: must add these human supplements:
1/4 tablet of One A Day Maximum Multivitamin/multimineral Supplement per day
3/8 caplet of Posture caplet (600 mg elemental calcium) per day
1/4 tablet of Generic taurine tablet (1 gram tablet with 500 mg taurine) per day
3/8 tablet of Generic choline tablet (600 mg tablet with 250 mg choline) per day
1/8 tsp of Morton Lite Salt Mixture per day
1/8 tablet of Generic zinc gluconate tablet (250 mg tablet with 30 mg elemental zinc) per day
1/4 capsule of Caltrate 600 per day

Bake the salmon and sweet potato in the oven without any added salt. Once cooked, measure out the salmon and sweet potato in the amounts above and cut into small pieces. Place the sweet potato in a serving bowl and add the oil and the necessary supplement. Mix well. Place the cut salmon onto the sweet potato and serve.

For more on pets and nutrition, Turner recommends these sites:
PetDiets.com and the site of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

[kfelber1]

I found "Wheat middlings" In my dog food. Could someone tell me what that Is? Please. thank you kfelber. [e-mail]

[eaton24]

I have had 2 out of 5 vets tell me I should home-cook for my dog. These vets were some of the few vets that gave up incentives and did not sell Science Diet in their clinics.

For some people, that are too busy to home-cook, there are many other great alternatives on the market, than commercial pet foods. You can feed your dog a trusted organic brand, such as Natura Pets, Flint River Ranch or the Honest Kitchen (www.thehonestkitchen.com). These all use human grade ingredients, and there are lots more that do. Contrary to what the pet food industry makes you believe, you can alternate your pet's food with home cooked meals, when you have time for it. A home cooked meal with the right ingredients is the BEST thing you can do for your pet! Feeding them commercial pet food is like eating McDonalds everyday. (Anyone seen Supersize Me?)I beg of CBS to rectify this and publish an article that finally tells the truth about the dog food industry!!!

[eaton24]

WOW! I am SO surprised and disappointed that CBS decided to invite a veterinarian for this discussion, obviously they have not done their homework. Very few veterinarians are canine nutritionists, and the nutrition classes that are taught at the vet schools are given by dog food industry representatives. Veterinarians also receive extra income through incentive programs by selling commercial dog food in their offices, so unless this veterinarian does not sell Science Diet in her vet clinic, I doubt her objectivity.

The recipe that is posted, is very contrived. There are many supplements on the market, that allow you to cook with normal ingredients from the supermarket, and add the extra nutrients to it. Commercial dog food is truly the WORST thing you can feed your dog. Unfortunately, the large corporations that use dog food as a means to sell their production waste, have a good grip on the media. If people truly knew what they are feeding their pets, they would home-cook or find alternatives.

[tumblehome]

Given the severity of the petfood recall, I think CBS can do better than present out a bought and paid-for industry spokesperson as an authority on homemade dog and cats diets.

There are plenty of qualified and reputable internet resources that can help Josephine Average feed her cat and dog better than commercial products could ever hope to do. None of these homecooked menus are as dauntingas Dr. Turner proports.


What really lays her institutionalized caveats to rest though is diet of consumable raw meaty bones, and organs. When one feeds a variety of protein sources (commonly available sources like beef, pork, lamb, chicken, turkey, rabbit, fish) the nutrients are, as the commercial says, "in there."

Even if one prefers to feed prefabricated blends and mixes to avoid whole bones and/or the effort of grocery store shopping, there are many respected, high quality suppliers on the internet.

Whether one feeds cooked, pre-fab raw blends or "whole prey", home-prepared diets are widespread enough today that no one--not even Joesphine Average--need fear lack of advice, instruction or support. I am disappointed that CBS has chosen to present as definitive an opinion that is so strongly biased by corporate status quo.
Chris Ostrowski

[morris61]

Clearly a lot of people are very upset over the poisoned pet food they may or maynot have bought.Please,please consult your vet if you have any questions.If they actually would take the time to read the article Dr.Turner mentioned that.Checking the pet food recall list would probably be a good idea as well.

[daisy4343]

There is nothing about the anatomy or physiology of a dog that would suggest it is an omnivore. Dogs (wolves) are carnivores. They are also opportunists, and so able to digest a LIMITED amount of carbohydrates. As opposed to cats which are obligate carnivores. So, cats do best on just meats (and bones and organs). Dogs, as carnivores, can also do just fine on the same diet but have limited tolerance for a little more. However, carbs should NEVER predominate the diet the way these "professionals" recommend. And by cooking the food, which is not necessary for a cat or dog, so many nutrients are destroyed.

[rkwiggin]

I was absolutely AMAZED that Dr. Turner was so against preparing meals for your pets and APPALLED at the diet recommended! What are you trying to do? Encourage people to kill their pets the way we are killing ourselves with overprocessed, carb rich foods? I recommend you think about the advice being given by vets who support commercial dog foods. What kind of kick-backs do vets give for "prescribing" these foods? Think about what a dog is (hunter and scavenger)and you have the recipe for keeping them healthy. If dogs were hunting, what is the first area they will go after upon catching their prey? The soft underbelly, which contains foods consumed by the herbivore. Then it will go after organs and muscle meats, typical of hunters in nature. Dr. Turner is correct that dogs are omnivores (that's why they graze on grass, go after the stomachs of prey, etc), but dogs absolutely need raw meaty bones which are essential to their digestion (the chewing causes the digestive enzymes to become active). It has only been since the invention of commercial dog foods that our pets have been riddled with cancer, kidney failure and all sorts of other diseases. I had a dog (Jake, he was actually much more than that)diagnosed with bone cancer (Osteosarcoma) and given 3 months to live. I found Dr. McDowell and the raw food diet, and Jake lived for more than 3 YEARS (!) on a raw food diet, herbal supplements and conventional vet care. Commercial dog food is not only not necesary, it's KILLING our pets.

[katet10-2009]

Wow, is this veterinarian on the payroll of a commercial dog food company? I am very dissapointed that you chose this veterinarian with such limited knowledge of pet nutrition to do this story. Would you consult an MD for a story on human nutrition? Dogs and cats eat meat in the wild. Surely, we humans are not so arrogant that we think we know more than mother nature?? I too will take my chances and feed my pets what they were intended to eat.

I ask you to do a story about the poisons that are put into commercial food INTENTIONALLY. That is newsworthy! The public is begging for it!

I should also note, that I would rather take my chances with bacteria and such that nature designed a dog's system to deal with than the rat poisons, pesticides, plastic chemicals, aflatoxin, heavy metals and other unnatural contaminants found all too frequently in pet foods.

And that doesn't even take into consideration the chronic malnutrient states that result from feeding the exact same food day in and day out. No matter what dog food companies want people to believe, no single food is truly "nutritionally complete" for a dog's whole lifetime. All commercial foods have inherent gaps in nutrition. And they only have to keep a dog alive for a few weeks to call it "nutritionally complete for all stages of life". They are not required to feed that food to their test subjects for years on end to prove it. And the animal doesn't even have to stay healthy. Just not die during the 26 weeks of the feeding protocol. 6 months is only a small portion of a dog's entire lifetime......

"There are still plenty of commercial pet foods on the shelves that are believed to be safe."

I find this an interesting choice of words. "Believed to be safe...." Very interesting, indeed, since we have no assurance that any commercial food is truly safe.

I used to feed commercial foods. I used to believe vets knew about nutrition. Then I found out vets receive about 40 hours of training in vet school on nutrition, and that training is done by the pet food industry. Hm....

I switched to a raw diet 4 years ago and haven't looked back. My dogs are healthier than they've ever been. With a little research, a raw diet is actually very easy to do. Vets and the pet food industry want us to believe it's this overwhelming challenge, but it's nothing of the sort. It's actually very easy once you understand the basic rules of how nature designed the dog.

Of course, there's also the issue of how few decades the commercial pet food industry has even existed. What did dogs eat before the advent of commercial foods? Raw meat, bones and organs, table scraps and whatever they could catch and kill themselves around the farms or community in which they lived.

Sorry, not buying that a home prepared diet is SO dangerous. The glowing health of my dogs that has continued to improve the longer they are on a raw diet is all the testimony I need to feeding the way nature intended. ;-)

[pandamonium6]

Unitl the 1940's our pets were all fed whatever was around. The AVERAGE lifespan of a large breed dog was 15 to 17 and it was not uncommon for a small breed dog to live to 21. Now we feed our dogs food that is "better" and the average life span for a large breed dog is 12 to 13 and small breed dogs might live to be 16.

Twenty years ago, it was almost unheard of for our furry friends to die of cancer and yet that seems to be common place today. What is "better"...Crappy dog food made mostly out of corn with a little bit of broth or meat meal sprinkled on top and a lot of chemical additives to make up for the lack of natural vitimins or a homemade meal of fresh meat and vegis? You decide...

[pookie991]

I cooked for my dogs and and cats for 2.5 years. I have been feeding a diet of raw meat, meaty bones, and organs for 6 years. I breed and show basenjis and I have 3 generations of raw fed champions.The improvement in the health of my animals has improved tremendously since I have been feeding them raw. I would never feed those, that I love so much, that commercially prepared garbage in a bag or can. I think it is appalling that the majority of vets have no true knowledge of what dogs and cats really require nutrtionally to thrive. They are taught in vet schools by dog food company representatives , who, of course, have their own agenda. It is time for pet lovers to do their own homework and research to find out the truth. The benefits far outweigh the risk when a raw diet is properly fed. Dogs are opportunistic carnivores. They will eat whatever they can ,to survive. However what they thrive on is meat, bone and organs from prey animals. Dogs do not REQUIRE grains and vegetables ,as we have been led to believe. Herbivores don't even REQUIRE grains. They are fed grains by man to make them fat, it does not make them healthy.

[swanpup]

Why should your pet eat food from a bag? If you ate fast food from a bag everyday how would you feel? Dogs and cats are carnivores and should eat meat. They should eat raw meat--that's what they were designed to eat. My dogs eat a raw diet. Do the research and feed your pets what makes them feel good. Raw fed dogs have naturally clean teeth, healthy digestive systems and they feel good.
If you are in control of what your pet is eating, you don't have to rely on big business to be responsible for your pets' health.

[daisy4343]

I would never feed home-COOKED food to my cat! There is no need to COOK anything! Cooking and grinding the food destroys so many nutrients. That's why these home-COOKED recipes have to add to much stuff back to what should be a natural diet. Cooking just makes it some unnecessarily complicated!

For instance, COOKED bone splinter so they can't be offered, but a source of calcium is needed. Fortunately, UNcooked bone is safe provided there is not too much offered at a time. 10% is a good rule, but much more can cause constipation.

I feed raw because it is so much healthier for my furfriend, AND so much more convenient, AND so much less expensive (kitty no longer needs an annual dental cleaning!). By feeding whole animal and giving her a variety of proteins over time (chicken, fish, beef, pork, etc.) I ensure that all the nutrients are there. It really is that simple!

Pathogens aren't a problem either. Not if you stick to the whole prey diet and don't slow down the digestive process with a lot of unnecessary filler. Cats were designed to handle a whole prey diet safely and that hasn't changed. Unfortunately, we're led to believe they are little people. Their anatomy and physiology simply don't bear that out!

By the way, my vet is fine with a properly researched raw diet. It has really made a difference.

[coloradocook]

Hmm...personally, I believe that the entire dog food industry is one of the biggest scams taking countless dollars out of people's wallets. I have always fed my dog whatever I am eating, and there are very few foods that she will not accept. She is healthy,muscular, slim, happy, and has a gorgeous shiny coat.What a bunch of baloney! How do you think the species survived 100 or 200 years ago? I feel sorry for the pets and owners who have suffered because of negligence on the part of the pet food industry!

[hypnotoad72]

Oh, come on. Everybody knows it's more fun to eat one's pet's food with their pet as a display of love with their widdle animal fwiend... :D

Much like those dingalings who fed their infant a vegan diet and the infant promptly (and astutely?) died, I fear pets will start snuffing it due to the vain, conceited idiocy of adults who think their cooked-up dishes are better. Who knows, maybe people food will be contaminated and covered up next? After all, that saves money... (not, but some will always hope.)

[sfairholme]

I have been feeding diets formulated by Monica Segal for many years. She has 2 wonderful books, K9Kitchen and Optimal Nutrition that provide explanations and balanced diets. Her diets are approved by a veterinary nutritionist who also wrote the foreword for one of the books. www.monicasegal.com

[sclaires]

I have what is known as a Carolina Dog. The breed has been around for over 10,000 years and were with the Native Americans. They ate what ever the Native Americans cooked and thrived. And, this was human food. My family also had a dog which we got in 1949 shortly after we arrived on Okinawa. He was a puppy then and grew up eating rice and fish which is what the Okinawans who helped mother ate. He never had dog food until we left Okinawa to come back State side. And he thrived also. I think that a lot of the vets are trying to scare people into not cooking for their dogs since what they learned about pet nutrition in school was from the pet food industry. My dog eats some human food now and is thriving and very healthy. In fact, I think she eats better then I do.

[katia327]

I find it interesting, that some vets are discouraging homemade diets for pets. While there are, I am sure, essential ingredients dogs/cats need in their diets, I would most certainly rather make my own instead of relying on companies and the FDA, who are not inspecting the food properly, and are allowing our pets to get sick and die.

The FDA is directly responsible for the lack of an inspection in the Kansas plant, which is where the food came from. They inspected the New Jersey plant, but never stepped foot in the other. And the focus seems to be directed ONLY at Menu Foods, and not the FDA. They are BOTH responsible.

Please remember, people. Not all that long ago, people food is ALL the pets got. And they did JUST fine...living long and healthy lives. No additives, all natural, healthy. Compared to the garbage they are putting in the food today, I would much rather be in complete control, of what my pets are eating.

To those who have lost their pets, and those whose pets are still sick, my heart goes out to all of you.

[kristine41]

I am glad to see this article on here. I have been doing research for the past year on switching my cats from a diet of Natural Balance dry and wet food to a homemade diet. I haven't started with this new diet yet because I know that it is hard to formulate the diet, and I want to be certain that I am doing it the right way. I do not want to harm my pets when I am actually trying to help them.

With this pet food scare and with more and more people talking about feeding their pets a homecooked diet, I am concerned that pet owner's will just jump in to making homemade food without doing the research. I would hate to see a pet owner suffer because their pet is sick due to not getting the proper nutrients especially knowing that the owners themselves were trying to do good by their pet.

This is the first story that I have seen out there since the recall that warns pet owners that feeding a homemade diet is not easy. It is not a matter of just throwing cooked chicken in to a bowl and serving it. Thank you for bringing this issue to light.