| Author |
Barnyard Buddies:  Homemade cat and dog food recipes  |
|
|
magnoliakathy
True Blue Farmgirl
453 Posts
Kathryn
Magnolia
Texas
USA
453 Posts |
 Posted - Feb 08 2012 : 09:07:38 AM
|
What are your favorites and how long have you been cooking for your furkids?
I want to make food for my cats (Miss Kitty and Ms. Mary) and my farm-dog-in-training (LeaLou)
When you free your mind your heart can fly. Farmgirl # 714, |
|
|
chicken necker
True Blue Farmgirl
509 Posts
Sherry
Eastern Shore
Maryland
USA
509 Posts |
Posted - Feb 08 2012 : 3:54:32 PM
|
I don't have any answers for you, I'm sorry, I want to know the same thing! Especially dog treats since I saw a hideous article on them again coming from China poisoned.
FarmGirl Sister #123
|
 |
|
|
RosesAreRed
True Blue Farmgirl
62 Posts
Laurie
Lehigh Acres
Fl
USA
62 Posts |
Posted - Feb 09 2012 : 7:33:42 PM
|
I feed raw, but before that I cooked the dogs canned food. I used ground beef, or ground turkey,fried.. added cooked brown rice and mixed veggies. They loved it.
|
|
|
|
StrawHouseRanch
True Blue Farmgirl
1044 Posts
Paula
Holt
Missouri
USA
1044 Posts |
Posted - Feb 10 2012 : 05:51:16 AM
|
We did home prepared meals for the dogs for about a year. I found that they all lost a lot of weight. I could not keep the weight on them with the home prepared diet based on the large volume of food I was preparing. I have four large dogs, so it takes a lot and I wasn't going to stoop to using cereal fillers. I also found that based on availability and price of meat in our area, they ended up eating ground beef a lot, which I don't think is all that healthy. To buy it in the quantities I needed, I either paid a LOT of money, or ended up buying lower quality meat. I think we went through over 10 pounds of meat per week...it added up. My niece also had challenges keeping weight on her dog with home prepared meals. I had a whole menu laid out. Each day was different vegetables, lots of sweet potatoes, some days were boiled eggs, lots of rice, organic yogurt, topped off with a major helping of meat. It was all healthy, except for the ground beef part.
I think variety is important in every animal's diet. So I was feeling really unsettled about all of the ground meat they were getting and started researching commercially prepared food again. I found a company called Fromm that produces food with a variety of meat ingredients. So now we cycle through between, duck, chicken, pork, or salmon, and they never show any gastro distress whenever we change, because it is such high quality food.
Paula
Farmgirl Sister #3090
Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery, and Today is a Gift.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/StrawHouseDesigns |
|
|
|
StrawHouseRanch
True Blue Farmgirl
1044 Posts
Paula
Holt
Missouri
USA
1044 Posts |
Posted - Feb 10 2012 : 06:08:07 AM
|
Oh, I forgot to mention that I still make my own dog biscuits. We just roll the dough out flat and cut it with a pizza cutter...no fancy shapes.
2 Cups warm/hot water
1 Cup peanut butter (We use Simply Jif, because it is low in salt)
1 Tblsp molasses
1/3 Cup vegetable oil
4 - 5 Cups whole wheat flour
1 Cup Oatmeal
Pour the warm/hot water over the peanut butter, molasses, and oil and mix until you have a nice slurry. Add flour and roughly mix in. Add the oatmeal and then start working it all together with your hands. It should be too stiff to stir. It should not be sticky...add more flour if it is. Divide in half and roll out onto parchment paper. This should be enough to fit onto a good sized cookie sheet. Once it is rolled out to about 1/4 - 3/8 inch thick, cut with pizza cutter into squares/rectangles/etc. Then slide the parchment paper onto the cookie sheet. Repeat with other half of dough.
Place cookie sheets into oven and THEN turn it on to 325 degrees. Once the oven is heated to 325 degrees, set the timer to 25 minutes. When the timer goes off, turn off the oven and leave the cookies in there until everything is completely cooled. The idea is to get all of the moisture out of the biscuits, so the slower heating times will make them nice and crispy.
You may need to adjust temperature and timing to get the best results depending on your oven and how thick you make the cookies. They do smell absolutely delicious while they are cooking by the way...be prepare to get a hankering for some peanut butter cookies.
I substitute canned pumpkin for peanut butter too, but have to play around with the wet ingredient ratios to get the right crunchiness.
Paula
Farmgirl Sister #3090
Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery, and Today is a Gift.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/StrawHouseDesigns |
|
|
|
mudpony farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
57 Posts
Jo
USA
57 Posts |
Posted - Feb 14 2012 : 3:36:23 PM
|
| The book Pet Food Nation by Joan Weiskopf has excellent recipes for both cats and dogs, as well as nutritional requirements and what foods to avoid. It's a great reference, I feed my two dogs on a rotating schedule of canned salmon, chicken, eggs, oatmeal and fresh fruits and veggies, as well as a multivitamin. The fresh food is so much better for them, and it's about the same cost as a high quality kibble. :) |
|
|
|
Calicogirl
True Blue Farmgirl
5216 Posts
Sharon
Bruce Crossing
Michigan
USA
5216 Posts |
Posted - Feb 17 2012 : 4:49:51 PM
|
My dog eats dry food (Taste of the Wild - I cannot say enough about Taste of the Wild food, it has made our girl healthier and spunkier and at 13 that's pretty good :))I supplement once a week with homemade moist food. I save less desirable chicken and poultry parts and freeze until I have enough to make a batch of dog food. I let it thaw and place it in the crockpot with all natural, low sodium chicken broth, rice, green beans, sweet potatoes (she loves those) and I sometimes add some cranberries because she likes those too. After everything is cooked, I let it cool and then run through the meat grinder and freeze in small containers. I just take it out of the freezer and let it thaw before using. She absolutely LOVES it! Oh, and I have been making moist food for about 7 years now.
I make treats for her too :)
~Sharon
By His Grace, For His Glory
http://merryheartjournal.blogspot.com/ |
Edited by - Calicogirl on Feb 17 2012 4:51:41 PM |
|
|
|
Bella
True Blue Farmgirl
274 Posts
Karen
USA
274 Posts |
Posted - Mar 04 2012 : 4:50:05 PM
|
Here's a recipe from my dog's holistic vet. It's supposed to be helpful for dogs with arthritis.
Step 1: Make the broth
Into a large pot place: 12 cups of water; 2 cups of oxtails; 2 cups of pork soft rib bones; 1 cup diced celery; 1 tsp. ginger powder; 4 tbsp. fresh basil; 6 cloves of garlic
Bring this to a boil and cook on low heat for 2 hours. Remove the bones and discard, leaving the gel and soft cartilage in the stew.
DO NOT FEED COOKED BONES!
Step 2: Add the following: 1/2 cup brown rice; 2 cups shredded raw carrots; 1 cup diced beets; 4 cups chopped greens (chard, beet greens, spinach, broccoli, etc); 3 cups of sweet potatoes diced.
Enough water to cover: 1 cup of calf liver or heart muscle; 5 tablespoons of flax oil
Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and cook until the rice is done. Store in the refrigerator.
This sounded so complicated to me that I never made it. I'm too busy and perhaps a little lazy. If you've got the time, I'm sure it would be a healthy food for your dog. Instead of doing this, I occasionally bake some chicken or low fat hamburger (all organic) and feed along with Organix dry kibble. When I'm not giving my dog the meat, I give her Organix canned food along with her kibble. I find the Organix brand to have good ingredients. It contains no soy, wheat or corn and it's fairly affordable at PetSmart and is sometimes on sale. Sometimes I order the canned from VitaCost and their price is pretty good. Also, the vet told me that dogs need to eat liver a couple times a week. I've gone the route of buying fresh calf liver, but don't like dealing with it. Instead, I buy the Paul Newman's organic canned liver and give her a few spoonfuls each week. It keeps well covered in the refrigerator. Organix doesn't make a canned liver product that I know of.
"Just living is not enough, said the butterfly. One must have freedom, sunshine and a little flower." -Hans Christian Anderson |
|
|
|
Fiddlehead Farm
True Blue Farmgirl
4562 Posts
Diane
Waupaca
WI
USA
4562 Posts |
Posted - Mar 05 2012 : 04:39:11 AM
|
Here is my basic recipe for doggie cookies that are wheat and corn free. I used to make and sell them in my local Co-Op.
Peanut Butter Bones
Apple Cinnamon Bones
Pumpkin Bones
Breath Mint Bones
Basic recipe:
1 1/2 cups Oat Flour
1 1/2 cups Brown Rice Flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 egg
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup water
For Peanut Butter Bones add 1/2 cup peanut butter and 2 Tablespoons honey
For Apple Cinnamon Bones add 1 cup finely chopped apple and 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon and 2 Tablespoons Molasses
For Pumpkin Bones add 1 cup canned pumpkin and 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon and 1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg
For Breath Mint Bones add 1/4 cup fresh mint chopped and 1/3 cup dried parsley and a couple drops of green food color (opt)
Mix all wet ingredients together then add oatmeal and flours until stiff dough is formed.
Add additional flour if dough is too sticky.
Roll out on floured surface to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness and cut out desired shapes.
Bake at 325 degree oven on upper racks until dry. Usually 30-40 minutes, depending on thickness of cookies.
http://studiodiphotosite.shutterfly.com/
farmgirl sister #922
I am trying to be the person my dogs think I am.
I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult.
- E. B. White |
|
|
|
YakLady
True Blue Farmgirl
652 Posts
Natalie
Montana
USA
652 Posts |
Posted - Mar 12 2012 : 09:42:35 AM
|
Cats are obligate carnivores, so raw really is what's best for them.
Dogs are opportunistic carnivores, but they do have amylase production in their GI tract, so limited grains are okay for dogs. Shouldn't make up the majority of their over-all diet, though :)
~Natalie~ Just a farmgirl in Western Montana. http://mtnme.blogspot.com
Starting a family and raising Tibetan Yaks, Nigerian Dwarf Goats, Laying hens, Muscovy ducks, and a few dogs. |
|
|
|
rough start farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
3331 Posts
marianne
The Beautiful Pacific NW
Washington State
USA
3331 Posts |
Posted - Mar 12 2012 : 10:55:17 PM
|
Thanks so much for sharing the recipes.
marianne |
|
|
| |
Barnyard Buddies: Homemade cat and dog food recipes |
|
Homemade cat and dog food recipes
