Our pug, Lola, has been getting rather portly these days. Last week my husband and I had "the chat" about treat reduction, since we both have a bad habit of giving her a nibble of whatever we might be eating, be it toast, cheese, etc.
Obviously we want her to be healthy and that is our reasoning behind our new routine; but while wondering if there were any healthy substitutions this was brought to my attention. I had read many times that chocolate was bad for dogs, but after seeing this Today show episode I learned of some new items to look out for. Along with this list is a grouping of allowed items.
Today's featured cookbook isn't one that you would want to cook out of for yourself. However, I know that there are many of you out there who are interested in making sure that your pets have healthy meals and so I thought it might be fun to turn our attention to a book that can help you out with that goal. If you've been thinking about changing up the foods that you feed your pets, but are uncertain where to start, The Ultimate Pet Food Guideby Liz Palinka will be incredibly helpful in giving you a hand in determining how to best nourish your furry family members.
The book is filled with helpful information about what is good and bad to feed your pets, ways to supplement their diets so they get all the nutrition they need and more than 50 recipes for easy home-cooked food that your pets will love (I realize that cooking for dogs and cats isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I'm sure that there are some of you out there who share at least parts of your dinner with your pets many nights). The other useful thing in this book is that it will give you an insight into how food effects your pet's behavior. There is the possibility that if you have a misbehaving animal, their diet might have something to do with it.
For the folks at The Honest Kitchen, quality control means tasting your own product - even though it's marketed for the four-legged crowd.
The company's employees attend weekly meetings - often with their dogs poised by their sides - where both humans and animals carefully taste both individual dehydrated bits of the organic dog and cat food mixture, as well as the final product, to make sure the pets are getting nothing but the best.
The company got the OK from the FDA to use the term "Human grade pet food" on all of its labels. According to a rep from the company, the food is "probably a little bland by most human standards," but compared to what they imagine ordinary pet food to taste like, "really quite delicious!" (That answers the next obvious question: do the testers taste their competitors' food, too?)
Even the packaging is appealing and atypical for animal food - multicolored boxes with enticing names like "verve," "force," and "embark" that aren't a far reach from the packaged granola available for humans. They also make treats and supplements.
I'll admit, it sounds a bit odd at first, but after the recent horrific incidents of dogs becoming ill from tainted dog food, it's nice that a company takes this much care in producing a quality, safe product for their best buds.
I think I asked this before, but should pet food stories be on Slashfood? I've decided yes, because after all, pets are people too. Besides, a recent AOL poll showed that 36% of Slashfood readers are dogs.
Diamond Pet Foods has agreed to pay $3.1 million to pet owners whose dogs died or got sick from eating tained dog food last year. The fund will be set up to "reimburse pet owners for the loss of their dog, veterinarian bills, and the cost of any unreturned contaminated food."
The company says it did nothing illiegal, but does say that employees at their Gaston, SC plant didn't follow proper testing procedures for the dog food.
Here's the latest battle in the "U.S. said/China said" food wars.
China has impounded shipments of apricots and orange pulp because of "excessive bacteria and mold." According to this article, some believe that this is in retaliation for the various problems the U.S. says it has been having with food and other products imported from China in the past several months. China warns that rules and guidelines about food from the U.S. could be tightened.
It's not only food that the U.S. has complained about. It is also faulty tires, unsafe fake toothpaste, lead paint in toys, and that whole nasty business with pet food.
With all of the recent pet food scares, a lot of dog and cat owners have been gun shy about going back to their favorite (or, should I say, their pet's favorite!) brand. But have you ever thought about actually cooking for your dog?
By sheer coincidence, I was watching a Will & Grace episode last night where they got a dog and Will was actually cooking fancy dog food for the puppy. But a lot of people do it in the real world too, because pets are like a member of the family. There's even a beer for dogs!
You have to make sure you're using ingredients that are safe for dogs and that it actually fits into their diet. Here's a link to several recipes, including one for the Rrrruvery Rrrrisotto recipe mentioned in the article. It's probably good to check with your vet too.
Meaty Chunks with added marrow bone anyone? You pet food could be healthier than
a lot of fast food according to NWQ ATUDY. Tins of cat and dog food are not only good for their health but yours
as well, as they contain less fat, salt and sugar levels than fast food.
Experts compared 30 different human meals with 15 readily available pet foods and declared that Gourmet Gold cat
food, with 2.9 grams of fat per 100 grams, was eight times less fatty than pieces of Kentucky Fried Chicken with 23.2
grams of fat per 100 grams. Fat levels were also lower when compared to a McDonald’s Big Mac and a Pizza Hut
meal.
It is a UK study that concluded that pet food was healthier under the Food Standards Agency’s new
“traffic light” labelling scheme, than most of the food people eat. Except me - as I don't eat
KFC/McDonalds/Pizza Hut meals - being a food snob and all.
As consumers become more discerning in their tastes, particularly with regard to food, they are just as likely
to get a craving for foie gras with dinner as they are to want spaghetti and meatballs. And people
are projecting their tastes onto their pets - because if they want the foie gras, why shouldn't their beloved
dog have some, too? People button some dogs into tiny clothes and carry them around as though they were children. The Wall Street Journal points out that the humanization of pets is what is driving the upswing
in the number of gourmet and premium pet foods that are hitting the market.
New lines of pet foods include gourmet, pre-prepared "stews" and pet condiments, like IAMS
Savory Sauce, which comes in flavors like Roasted Turkey and Pot Roast. These products are marketed as ways to spoil
your pet, though the companies are undoubtedly hoping that they will be used daily, or at all meal times. The people who
tested the food for the company reported that they were "like people food... It's what [they] would give their own
[families]." People don't like the idea of feeding seemingly unappetizing food to their pets, but love it when the
products sound like things they would want to eat. And, of course, the pets love it. Unfortunately, the trend is also
driving up the number of obese pets.
Pet food companies assure consumers that the new foods can be healthy, but vets say that not only are most house
pets not active enough to warrant extra calories, but that they have no significant nutritional benefit over ordinary
dog foods. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, obesity affects 25-45 percent of pets.
In the world of food trends, there are many shooting stars. Some of them last and some fade
quickly, but the most noticeable ones are those that seem to appear out of nowhere are very suddenly everywhere. Yogurt
is not counted amongst the beacons that are this year's food trends, but it is becoming both more
popular and more prevalent day by day. In fact, consumption of yogurt has more than doubled in the past two decades,
and more than 20% of people eat it at least twice a week. According to USA Today, it
looks like consumption could hit a new high with a slew of new yogurt products hitting the market.
The heath benefits are being incorporated into everything from cereals to "fresh yogurt" toothpaste. Fast food restaurants already have some yogurts on their menus,
but McDonalds is planning to add drinkable yogurt, as well.
It's even working its way into pet foods. Yogurt is an
incredibly versatile product with a unique flavor and properties similar to many other dairy products, from cream and
milk to cheese. It can add moisture to baked goods, richness to soups and it makes and outstanding base
for dips. It doesn't look as though there is anything to hold yogurt back from becoming one of the most used and
enjoyed products of, at the very least, the next year.
Have you ever stashed a Coke in the freezer, hoping to chill it quickly, then forgotten all about it, only to have it explode all over your frozen peas?