Are you in the habit of buying commercial pet food? Did you know that the majority of pet foods on the market are processed with second-grade ingredients, fillers, artificial flavorings, toxins, and additives? What is the alternative? Many of us have been told not to feed our pets scraps from the table. However, Dr. Pitcairn, author of Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health For Dogs & Cats, has over twenty -five years of experience in feeding pets simple homemade meals. Dr. Pitcairn and other holistic veterinarians are speaking out on the benefits of making homemade meals for pets. To provide well-balanced meals for pets, you need to feed them wholesome foods and supplements.

When you go to the grocery store, buy a variety of fresh foods. Choose good quality lean and fatty meats, such as organically-grown beef and lamb, and organ meats, which are usually inexpensive and, if not at your local grocery store, you can go to a butcher's shop. Among poultry, turkeys and free-range chickens are the healthiest. Fish is high in omega-3 and omega-6, especially albacore tuna, herring, trout, and sardines. Salmon, halibut, and mackerel, rich in omega-3, are also good choices. Tofu is a good source of protein and a good alternative to raw meat. Free-range eggs and dairy (cottage cheese, milk, and yogurt) play a part in the recipes. Many different kinds of vegetables are good for pets, except rhubarb, Swiss chard, and spinach, which have too much oxalic acid, and mushrooms and onions are toxic to pets. Grains are inexpensive and usual staples in our pantries, for example, barley, brown rice, cornmeal, couscous, and oatmeal. Legumes are an inexpensive protein source. If you plan to buy them dry, split peas and lentils cook the fastest. Black, great northern, kidney, navy, pinto, and soy beans must be soaked at least three hours or overnight. You can use low-salt canned beans for convenience.

Supplements and vitamins are an important part of the diet. You may be able to save money on supplements at health food stores, because they carry some of the supplements in bulk (nutritional or brewer's yeast, lecithin granules, kelp powder, and bone meal). Recommended vitamins are A and D, C and E.

Once you have ingredients that you can use for a variety of recipes you will be able to make several meals at once. Legumes can be made in large quantities. They can be refrigerated or frozen in portions. Also, keep a list of foods to avoid hanging in your kitchen. When I read the list of foods that you should not feed pets in the Natural Pet Food Cookbook, I started a list of bad foods and liquids for my pets. My current list is alcoholic beverages, artificial sweeteners, avocado, candy, chocolate, coffee, fatty foods, macadamia nuts, moldy and spoiled foods, mushrooms, onions, onion powder, raisins, rhubarb, salt, seeds, spinach, Swiss chard, and yeast dough. Garlic is on some bad food lists, but Dr. Pitcairn recommends it for digestion.

To make well-balanced meals, it's important to have a reliable resource. Dr. Pitcairn's book, Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health For Dogs & Cats. has been a valuable resource to me. The detailed information for each of the food groups, supplements, and vitamins makes it easy to make the recipes. These are the most well-balanced recipes that I have found in books and online. If you have a pet with a weight problem or an illness, you can find recipes for that, as well as a homemade formula that adds important nutrients (fresh protein, vegetable oil, supplements, and vitamins) to the dry pet food meal. Dr. Pitcairn came up with a healthy powder that you can add to each recipe to make it well-balanced (2 cups of nutritional or brewer's yeast (nutritional is cheaper), 1 cup of lecithin granules, 4 tablespoons of KAL bone meal (check his chart for other bone meal ratios), and 1,000 IU of ground vitamin C).

Now we can put a basic well-balanced meal together which consists of 50% grains, 25% protein (2 types), and 25% vegetables. Fats are based on the amount of protein in the diet. Here's a simple recipe:

2 cups oatmeal (quick or old-fashioned)