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Brief History of Cats and Dogs
Both dogs and cats are members of the class Carnivora, which means they are basically carnivorous animals, and evolved to get their nutrition primarily from meat, bones, and organs of the animals they could catch or scavenge. Dogs have been more opportunistic carnivores and can survive as omnivores. |
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Can You Have a Vegetarian Dog?
Just because by definition they are omnivores (can digest and utilize both plant and animal food sources) does not mean that plant material alone makes a good source of nutrition for the dog. This can be understood by studying aspects of a dogs physiology, anatomy, and natural ingrained behavior.
Compared to human beings, our pets digestive tracts are short and simple. The digestive systems of cats or dogs is also vastly different from the complex and convoluted system of digestion employed by herbivores in order to digest and breakdown difficult to digest plant materials.
Similar to us, dogs and cats need to consume preformed amino acids from their food. Their digestive tract contains specific enzymes such as protease for digesting protein, and lipase for digesting fat in the right proportions for a meat based diet, the diet they evolved to eat.
Compared to human beings, our pets digestive tracts are short and simple. The digestive systems of cats or dogs is also vastly different from the complex and convoluted system of digestion employed by herbivores in order to digest and breakdown difficult to digest plant materials.
Similar to us, dogs and cats need to consume preformed amino acids from their food. Their digestive tract contains specific enzymes such as protease for digesting protein, and lipase for digesting fat in the right proportions for a meat based diet, the diet they evolved to eat.
Our Pets are Starving for Nutrition !
In today's world pets eat on a regular basis and are thus not starving for food, but they are starving for nutrition!
If pets are eating on a regular basis, then why would they be starving for nutrition?
A body will be starving for nutrition when the food eaten either provides insufficient nutrition, is a source of poor quality nutrition or the body cannot efficiently assimilate or utilize the nutrition from the food.
Signs that your pet is starving for nutrition include a pet that eats stools, eats garbage, is always begging for food, has an endless stomach, is always hungry and is generally always looking for something to eat. Why do pets eat stools, as an example? The ugly (and sometimes smelly truth :> ) is that their stool provides an additional source of nutrition and as yucky as it seems to us, pets that eat stools, vomit, etc are really just doing their best to get sufficient nutrition. Most pet owners are pleasantly surprised that these problems begin to go away once the pet is eating wholesome foods and able to digest them properly to get enough nutrition.
Of course there are many other signs that your pet is starving for nutrition including numerous health problems. A thyroid problem can indicate, as a simple example, that your pet is starving for iodine as iodine is the mineral that helps to regulate the thyroid.
Pet food manufacturers know how to make a great diet but the problem is that it would be too expensive to produce, especially if eggs and beef and fish were in it. And to be competitive with other pet food producers, the price of the food dictates what the foundation (primary ingredients) of the diet will be.
Vitamin and minerals are added to pet food diets, whether commercial or home made, because they are not getting the ideal diet they would get in the wild, and foods are not necessarily pure, or contain the optimal vitamin and minerals required.Carbohydrates can be utilized by dogs and cats as readily burnable fuel for all kinds of metabolic activities. Cheap and easily produced sources of carbohydrates are items such as rice, corn, wheat, barley and soy, and often over-used as fillers in commercial pet foods. The animal will utilize inexpensive carbohydrate sources for energy if available to the animal before the animal will utilize protein. Canine and feline diets should NOT use grain as the foundation or primary ingredient. Dogs and cats really do best on diets with minimal carbohydrates and a preponderance of fats and high quality protein.
There are twenty-two different alpha amino acids that mammals need for various metabolic and energy activities. Dogs and cats are able to synthesize twelve of these internally and, therefore, are required to ingest the other ten in their diets. Because these ten amino acids are necessarily acquired only through food acquisition, they are termed essential amino acids.
Vitamin C is a requirement for life sustaining processes for us Mammalia, and dogs and cats make plenty of their own within their body’s chemical factory in their liver. Dogs and cats don’t have to worry about gathering, capturing, and eating other preformed Vitamin C. They don’t care where their next grapefruit will come from because they make all the Vitamin C they need inside their own personal chemical factory.
Fats are also essential components of the diet, and would be obtained naturally from the fat of the animals they ate. Linoleic and (for cats) arachidonic fatty acids are necessary. (Linolenic is synthesized from linoleic by dogs and cats). These can be present in commercial food, or added to a home made diet, and many skin and allergy problems are caused or aggravated by the wrong type or amount of fat in a diet.
Having stated that proteins can readily be used as a source of energy for dogs and cats, that carbohydrates are of much less importance than in human diet and metabolism, we should place a major responsibility on the protein content of our ideal diet. We know also that ten amino acids are required from dietary sources, it therefore follows that we pick a protein source that has a full spectrum of amino acids. Ideally this is meat.
Advantages of Home Cooked Pet Food:
What Vegetables Can Be Fed To Dogs and CatsYou can feed as many vegetables as you want at one time. I like to use at two or three in combination.
If pets are eating on a regular basis, then why would they be starving for nutrition?
A body will be starving for nutrition when the food eaten either provides insufficient nutrition, is a source of poor quality nutrition or the body cannot efficiently assimilate or utilize the nutrition from the food.
Signs that your pet is starving for nutrition include a pet that eats stools, eats garbage, is always begging for food, has an endless stomach, is always hungry and is generally always looking for something to eat. Why do pets eat stools, as an example? The ugly (and sometimes smelly truth :> ) is that their stool provides an additional source of nutrition and as yucky as it seems to us, pets that eat stools, vomit, etc are really just doing their best to get sufficient nutrition. Most pet owners are pleasantly surprised that these problems begin to go away once the pet is eating wholesome foods and able to digest them properly to get enough nutrition.
Of course there are many other signs that your pet is starving for nutrition including numerous health problems. A thyroid problem can indicate, as a simple example, that your pet is starving for iodine as iodine is the mineral that helps to regulate the thyroid.
Pet food manufacturers know how to make a great diet but the problem is that it would be too expensive to produce, especially if eggs and beef and fish were in it. And to be competitive with other pet food producers, the price of the food dictates what the foundation (primary ingredients) of the diet will be.
Vitamin and minerals are added to pet food diets, whether commercial or home made, because they are not getting the ideal diet they would get in the wild, and foods are not necessarily pure, or contain the optimal vitamin and minerals required.Carbohydrates can be utilized by dogs and cats as readily burnable fuel for all kinds of metabolic activities. Cheap and easily produced sources of carbohydrates are items such as rice, corn, wheat, barley and soy, and often over-used as fillers in commercial pet foods. The animal will utilize inexpensive carbohydrate sources for energy if available to the animal before the animal will utilize protein. Canine and feline diets should NOT use grain as the foundation or primary ingredient. Dogs and cats really do best on diets with minimal carbohydrates and a preponderance of fats and high quality protein.
There are twenty-two different alpha amino acids that mammals need for various metabolic and energy activities. Dogs and cats are able to synthesize twelve of these internally and, therefore, are required to ingest the other ten in their diets. Because these ten amino acids are necessarily acquired only through food acquisition, they are termed essential amino acids.
Vitamin C is a requirement for life sustaining processes for us Mammalia, and dogs and cats make plenty of their own within their body’s chemical factory in their liver. Dogs and cats don’t have to worry about gathering, capturing, and eating other preformed Vitamin C. They don’t care where their next grapefruit will come from because they make all the Vitamin C they need inside their own personal chemical factory.
Fats are also essential components of the diet, and would be obtained naturally from the fat of the animals they ate. Linoleic and (for cats) arachidonic fatty acids are necessary. (Linolenic is synthesized from linoleic by dogs and cats). These can be present in commercial food, or added to a home made diet, and many skin and allergy problems are caused or aggravated by the wrong type or amount of fat in a diet.
Having stated that proteins can readily be used as a source of energy for dogs and cats, that carbohydrates are of much less importance than in human diet and metabolism, we should place a major responsibility on the protein content of our ideal diet. We know also that ten amino acids are required from dietary sources, it therefore follows that we pick a protein source that has a full spectrum of amino acids. Ideally this is meat.
Advantages of Home Cooked Pet Food:
- Much easier to digest and assimilate
- More natural ingredients
- Can add supplements based on the individual needs
- More vibrant and better energy
- Healthier coat and skin, and overall healthCan customize ingedient base on specific medical requirements
- Better weight control
What Vegetables Can Be Fed To Dogs and CatsYou can feed as many vegetables as you want at one time. I like to use at two or three in combination.
- asparagus
- broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- cabbage
- carrots
- cauliflower
- celery
- corn
- dandelion leaves
- kale
- kohlrabi
- okra
- parsnips
- peas (& pods)
- pumpkin
- rutabagas
- sprouts
- squash
- sweet potatoes
- turnips
- zucchini
Dog Nutrition FAQs for Pet Lovers
For dogs, they usually "gobble" or "inhale" the meat and so when you do feed ground meats, they often don't even chew it. They just lick it up and swallow.
Realizing that dogs usually lick the ground meat and then swallow, the chances of having ground meat stuck in the teeth is low. Since some vegetables are important to dogs, I feed dogs ground meat more often but feeding dogs meat chunks is also good.
This also means that most of the time digestive enzymes can help dogs better break down the component of their meals to ensure that they can most of the nutrition from the food. The other advantage with using enzymes which are usually combined with periodic probiotics is that it maintains the gut health of your doggie friends, leading to a healthier dog that is able to absorb more essential minerals and nutrients.
Realizing that dogs usually lick the ground meat and then swallow, the chances of having ground meat stuck in the teeth is low. Since some vegetables are important to dogs, I feed dogs ground meat more often but feeding dogs meat chunks is also good.
This also means that most of the time digestive enzymes can help dogs better break down the component of their meals to ensure that they can most of the nutrition from the food. The other advantage with using enzymes which are usually combined with periodic probiotics is that it maintains the gut health of your doggie friends, leading to a healthier dog that is able to absorb more essential minerals and nutrients.
Cat Nutrition FAQs for Pet Lovers
I personally prefer to feed meat chunks to cats because vegetables are not as important to cats as they are to dogs. Some cats won't eat their meat if vegetables are mixed in. Other cats love their vegetables. So if the cat doesn't like vegetables at all, then meat chunks should only be fed. If the cat enjoys or tolerates vegetables, then ground meat is an option for cats.
Cats also have some specific needs such as the amino acid taurine, which is added to commercial pet foods, and is essential for the body including retinal function and a lack of taurine can cause blindness in cats.
A lot of people who have cats worry about not providing their cats with enough Taurine. As a marketing tactic, most commercial pet foods now say on their packaging Taurine added to help increase sales from concerned cat owners. In reality is, all you need to do to make sure your cat is getting sufficient taurine is to feed them meats in particular animal organs like heart meat or any type of muscle meat that has high Taurine content.
Most cat owner are misinformed by either their vets or te marketing campaign of pet food manufacturers that implies homemade diets do not contain sufficient taurine. Ironically the only reason why commercial pet foods says on their labels "Taurine Added" is because most commercial pet foods are not a good source of taurine and thus it must be added. When you feed a wholesome meat diet then the taurine is naturally present in the form of wholesome nutrition.
Cats also have some specific needs such as the amino acid taurine, which is added to commercial pet foods, and is essential for the body including retinal function and a lack of taurine can cause blindness in cats.
A lot of people who have cats worry about not providing their cats with enough Taurine. As a marketing tactic, most commercial pet foods now say on their packaging Taurine added to help increase sales from concerned cat owners. In reality is, all you need to do to make sure your cat is getting sufficient taurine is to feed them meats in particular animal organs like heart meat or any type of muscle meat that has high Taurine content.
Most cat owner are misinformed by either their vets or te marketing campaign of pet food manufacturers that implies homemade diets do not contain sufficient taurine. Ironically the only reason why commercial pet foods says on their labels "Taurine Added" is because most commercial pet foods are not a good source of taurine and thus it must be added. When you feed a wholesome meat diet then the taurine is naturally present in the form of wholesome nutrition.
Home Cooked Pet Food - Basic Recipe
A basic recipe for beginners is 1/3rd grains, 1/3rd veggies and 1/3rd meat. Some larger dogs love their vegetables whole or raw and this is fine, while some smaller breeds may enjoy them made into more of a puree in a food processor. It is also fine to finely grate raw vegetables such as carrots or zucchini. The staple grain is usually brown rice, but other organic whole-grains such as oatmeal, barley, millet, corn or amaranth can also be added for variety. Virtually all vegetables are acceptable, although favorites include carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, yellow squash, zucchini and Brussels sprouts.
For a meat source use beef, chicken, turkey or rabbit, buffalo or venison as a protein source. Organ meats such as heart, liver or kidney can also be fed once or twice a week. Liver is very nutritious and large quantities are not required, or recommended because of the high levels of vitamin A but a small amount once or twice a week is a good addition to the diet.
So how much should you feed your pet? As a general rule, a normal active dog needs about 2 % of its body weight per day. A highly active dog may need about 3 % of its body weight per day. No two dogs are alike in their metabolic rates, age, or activity levels, and it depends on the type and breed of dog as well. Puppies can use up to 10 % of their growing body weight.
For a meat source use beef, chicken, turkey or rabbit, buffalo or venison as a protein source. Organ meats such as heart, liver or kidney can also be fed once or twice a week. Liver is very nutritious and large quantities are not required, or recommended because of the high levels of vitamin A but a small amount once or twice a week is a good addition to the diet.
So how much should you feed your pet? As a general rule, a normal active dog needs about 2 % of its body weight per day. A highly active dog may need about 3 % of its body weight per day. No two dogs are alike in their metabolic rates, age, or activity levels, and it depends on the type and breed of dog as well. Puppies can use up to 10 % of their growing body weight.
Foods to Avoid for Cat & Dogs
Vegetables our pets should avoid, including some of the members of the nightshade family, include:
- beets
- collard
- eggplants
- green peppers
- parsley
- potatoes
- onions (toxic to dogs and cats)
- chives (toxic to dogs and cats)
- garlic (toxic to dogs and cats)
- tomatoes
- spinach
- Swiss chard
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