Nutrition

Many pet owners have questions on how they can make their own food or have more natural options for cleaners, parasite prevention etc. We have found many helpful recipes/remedies in the book “The Forever Dog Life”, by Karen Becker and Rodney Habib. If there are concerns with your pet’s health, please don’t hesitate to call us at 989-871-1157.

The following recipes and information are from “The Forever Dog Life” book written by Dr. Karen Becker and Rodney Habib. Home - Forever Dog Life Book.

The Basics of Nutrition: Do's and Don'ts

• Pets don’t need refined carbohydrates
• Aim for the bulk of calories to come from protein and fat (allowing for 10% wiggle room for treats and toppers)
• Many bags of dry pet food contain up to 50% of carbohydrates (bad because carbs convert to starch, then sugar and sugar feeds inflammation)
• Pets do need healthy sources of fiber to maintain a thriving microbiome (gut health)
• Iodine is a necessary part of nutrition for pets. See more information on the Importance of Iodine in Dogs 

How Do You Start Bettering Your Pet’s Nutrition?

Start swapping up, replacing poor-quality, “feed-grade” big-box store-bought treats with nutritious homemade options. No more than 10% of the diet should be treats.

• How to Change Your Animal’s Main Meals
  • To avoid GI upset, you should gradually introduce new diets to your pets rather than all at once. To plan for this, consider: How much fresh food do you ultimately want to add to your pet’s bowl– daily or a few times a week? You don’t have to have an answer immediately. Once you start adding fresh food to your pet’s diet, you may find it so easy you can step it up and add it more often
  • To make the transition seamless, follow these steps:
    • Step 1: Make one of the complete and balanced meal recipes provided. If your animal has a sensitive stomach, choose a homemade recipe that has a similar protein to what their current food is (if they are currently eating a beef diet, choose a homemade beef recipe.)
    • Step 2: Replace 10% of current food with 10% new, homemade food. Mix very well. Monitor feces. Some cats and finicky dogs may need to start with a smaller amount, maybe a 5% swap.
    • Step 3: Continue to replace 10% old food with 10% new food until you are feeding as much new, homemade food as you wish to feed.

Food and Water Bowls

Dog bowls are one of the dirtiest places in your entire house. The clear, slippery film on the bottom of the dish is called biofilm which is brewing with bacteria that can be transferred from your dog to you. No matter which bowl you choose, make sure you’re washing it after every meal.

• What type of bowl is best?
  • Plastic: No! Plastic bowls grow the largest number of pathogens of any type of bowl. They can leach endocrine- and melanin-disrupting chemicals that cause contact dermatitis, leaving your pet’s muzzle red and irritated
  • Ceramic: Be careful! Ceramic bowls harbor colonies of the most harmful bacteria, including salmonella, E. Coli, and MRSA. They also can contain lead, so make sure it's marked for food-safe and lead-free if opting for this type of bowl. Clean daily and replace if you see fine lines or superficial cracks.
  • Stainless steel: Yes, though cheaper brands have been involved in recalls due to heavy metal contamination. Be sure to buy high- quality bowls (18 gauge metal) from a trusted source.
  • Kitchen-safe glass: Yes. Durable, kitchen-friendly glass bowls, such as Pyrex.
  • What about lick mats and food holders? Yes, but clean and replace regularly. They are safe for a short time they are in use and can retain food odors and stains.

Information on Commercial Dog Food

• Rotate pet food, rotate brands and proteins often.
• Aim to buy minimally processed (the least heat-adulterated) foods
  
  
• What does processed dog food mean?
  • The more processed a pet food is, the more unwanted chemical by-products or high-heat processing will be present
  • Minimally processed = Fresh or frozen pet food with no or only one thermal (heat) or pressure (high-pressure pasteurization) processing step. (ex. Corn, carrots, balanced homemade)
  • Processed = The previous category’s (minimally processed) definition modified by an additional thermal (heat) process. This includes gently cooked dog food and freeze-dried or dehydrated diets made with ingredients that were previously processed (not raw). (ex. Canned corned, carrot juice, commercially cooked food)
  • Ultra-processed = Fractioned, recombined foods with added ingredients, meaning dry, canned, or manufactured using several thermal or pressure processing steps for the final product. (ex. Corn hips, carrot cake, dry kibble)
  • Look for dehydrated, freeze-dried, gently cooked, or raw (generally found in the freezer section or online)
  • The fewer the bad carbs, the better.
     
    
    How to determine the amount in the pet food
    1. Look for the Guarantee Analysis on your dry food label.
    2. Follow this formula:
       • Protein + Fat + Fiber + Moisture + Ash (if not listed, us 6%) = X
       • 100 - X = PERCENT CARBS
       • Aim to find a dog food with LESS than 20% carbs (ideally 10%)

Food Myths, Misconceptions, and Concerns

• Which Foods Are Considered Choking Hazards?
  Almost all foods can be choking risk to pets, depending on how they are served. Food items that are smaller than your dog’s trachea pose a choking risk if accidentally inhaled. Use common sense, and if you worry something is too big for your pet, chop it up or skip it. 
  
  • Only feed the edible parts of fruits and veggies.
  • Don’t feed any tough stems or leaves of plants, pits, cores, or rinds.
  • Choose treat sizes and molds that are twice the diameter of your dog’s paw.
  • Be careful with dogs that try to swallow everything whole.
  • Chop all foods into bite-sized pieces.

• Which Foods Are Toxic to Pets?
  • Chocolate: contains theobromine, a chemical that acts as a diuretic, heart stimulant, dilates blood vessels, and a smooth muscle relaxant. Along with the caffeine in chocolate, dogs can’t metabolize theobromine well.
  • Grapes (and raisins, sultanans, currants): these contain a substance called tartaric acid, which may cause vomiting, thirst, diarrhea, and kidney damage
  • Macadamia nuts: Scientists don’t know what toxin- if any- is poisonous to dogs, but their high fat content can lead to nausea.
  • Onions: Contain thiosulfate, which can cause Heinz body anemia, a condition in which the red blood cells break down faster than the body can replace them. This leads to weakness and lethargy.
• Which Foods are NOT Toxic for Your Pet:
  • Avocados: the flesh is ok to eat, not the stems and leaves. The pits and skins are also choking hazards
  • Peaches, cherries, apricots, and other pitted fruits: perfectly safe, just remove the pits and stems.
  • Rosemary: does not cause seizures. But if your pet is epileptic, avoid feeding large quantities of rosemary essential oil or extract (which is more concentrated and can increase seizure risk in epileptic mammals)
  • English walnuts, almonds, pecans, and other nuts (except macadamia nuts): no toxin identified. They can be a choking hazard, so chop them into small pieces. The outer casings of several nuts contain juglone, a compound that can cause a variety of symptoms, so always remove the hulls and shells.
  • Pork: lower in fat and is an excellent source of protein and amino acids. Good if pet is allergic to chicken or beef. If serving raw, the CDC recommends you should freeze pork for twenty days at 5 degrees F to kill any trichinella. Cooking ato 145 degrees F also inactivates any potential parasites.
  • Salmon: Consuming raw salmon sourced from the Pacific Northwest can (rarely) cause a parasitic condition in dogs called “salmon poisoning”. Freezing or gently cooking removes this small risk.
  • Garlic: only contains 1/15th the amount of thiosulfate in onions and has been declared safe for pets. It also contains allicin, a medicinal compound that can help the cardiovascular system.
  • Mushrooms: all mushrooms that promote health in humans also do so for pets. Cooking mushrooms makes them easier to digest and enhances their health benefits.

Remedies for GI Distress

If transitioning to healthier eating habits causes GI distress, first slow down. You can also try these natural, science-backed remedies.

• Slippery Elm Powder: Made from the inner bark of the slippery elm tree. It’s effective at relieving inflammatory bowel disease in humans. Slippery elm contains mucilage, a substance that turns into jelly when it’s mixed with water and then coats and soothes whatever it touches. Recommended dosage is ½ teaspoon for every 10 pounds of body weight, mixed with bland food, twice daily. 
• Marshmallow Root Powder: Made from the roots of a perennial flowering herb, this powder decreases inflammation, improves stool consistency, and prevents stomach ulcers. Try ¼ teaspoon for every 15 pounds of body weight, mixed with bland food, twice daily. 
• Pumpkin: Try a dollop of canned or steamed 100% pure pumpkin puree ( 1 teaspoon per ten pounds of body weight). Pumpkin is rich in prebiotic fiber, which will help GI upset and loose stool. 
• Activated Charcoal: Feed one capsule for every 25 pounds of weight. 

Transition Tips for Finicky Eaters

Some pets take to new foods right away, while others take more time. The following strategies can help finicky eaters discover a new way of eating.

• Be Consistent: Begin by choosing a similar protein and food/treat consistency: If you currently feed beef-flavored canned food and beef treats, make poached beef recipes (stews) to start. 
• Aromas Help: Heat homemade food, at least initially, to release an enticing aroma that can lure pets to their bowls. Once they’re eating their new diet, you can decide to moderate recipe cooking time. 
• Sneak in New Treats: Break current treats into pea-sized pieces and begin rotating in a new treat morsel every third or fourth bite.  Increase new treats until you use up the old ones, and don’t repurchase your former treats unless they’re as high-quality as what you can make at home.
• Don’t Let Them Graze: If you currently replenish the food bowl throughout the day, pick up the bowl when they’re finished. 
• Create an Eating Window: By creating an “eating window” of 6 to 8 hours for dogs and 8-12 hours for cats, you will maximize your animal’s cellular housecleaning and detoxification cycles during non feeding times.  Aim to stop feeding 2 hours before bed, which allows the body time to switch from digestion mode to cell repair mode. You can feed your pet one, two, or three times a day; just do whatever is best for the family. If your perfectly healthy dog doesn’t appear to be hungry, let them skip a meal. Feed your animals when they show a desire to eat, and be sure to give them the same amount of calories they require a day.
• Count Calories: Identify the number of calories your pet needs. See Calorie Count Chart section, measure out those calories, in terms of the volume of food you are feeding, or food you want to feed, and stick to that amount. Overfeeding (keeping them full all the time) doesn’t motivate your pet to try new foods.
• Switch One Thing: Changing the time that you feed, the amount that you feed, and what you feed all at once is too stressful. Modify one variable at a time, so you can track your pet’s response. 
• Keep Trying: Try previously snubbed food over and over, throughout your pet’s life. Just as our palates change and we learn to love or crave food we didn’t like as kids, animals are open to eating a varied diet, depending on what they need and when. 

Protein Recipies

Treats and Toppers

Pet treats have long been associated with empty calories, carb-heavy fillers, and a lot of additives that do more harm to your pet than good. 

Treats can serve a purpose:

• reward your pet for a job well done or reinforce a good behavior while training.

Tips with treats:

• Try to steer clear of giving them treats because your pet is lonely or bored, because you think they are cute, or because they are hanging out in the kitchen.
• Keep treats small to avoid a blood sugar spike (the size of a pea or blueberry is ideal) .
• When starting a new treat note how your dog responds: do they love it? If so, stick with that and can add it as a topper too. Then branch out out into similar but new flavors they might enjoy.

Jerkies and Dehydrated Snacks:

• Can be vegetables or meat (jerky is flavorful, concentrated nutrition)
• Use as a training treat, a reward, or a way to pack in a quick nutrient boost
• All can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a month or in the freezer for up to three months (thaw before feeding)

Organ Meats: 

• Organ meats are a powerful source of protein, full of vitamins, minerals and fatty acids.
• Use the “paw principle”  to determine how much organ meat your dog can snack on per day. The size of one of their paws (width, length, and depth) is an appropriate amount of organ meat treats/toppers or add-ins.
• Feed a variety of organ meats to diversify your pet’s intake of a broad spectrum of mineral including:
  
  
  • Liver: Nature’s richest source of copper, plus iron and vitamins A, D, E, and K. Note: if you feed commercial pet food that contains both liver and a copper supplement, you should minimize feeding additional liver and choose other organs as toppers an treat.
  • Heart: A great source of taurine, but feed raw, lightly cooked, or dehydrated because taurine losses increase with heat. Hearts are also full of iron, selenium, zinc, and B vitamins, and are one of the best nutritional sources of CoQ10.
  • Kidneys: Rich in protein, folate, omega 3-fatty acids, and diamine oxidase (DOA), the enzyme that breaks down histamine (excellent for allergic animals). Beef kidneys and hearts also contain more alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) than any other food.
  • Fresh tripe (stomach): Rich in probiotics, prebiotics, and minerals, including manganese, iron, potassium, zinc, copper, and selenium. Tripe sold in the meat section of grocery stores or that’s been canned or dried has few nutritional benefits. Seek it out fresh (aka “green”) from specialty raw food retailers or local farmers.
  • Brain: Richer in DHA than fish! Steer clear of raw cow and venison brains, which can cause prion disease and lead to neurological conditions.