Happy, Healthy Dogs

Lucie and Vinnie love it when Mommy cooks for them.  They know they are always going to get something healthy, nutritious and tasty.  Not that they are the most critical food  connoisseurs out there, but they do know and appreciate good food.  They get a wide variety of meats mixed with dog-friendly fruits and vegetables, as well as their starches.  Everything I have read and studied about making my own dog food says to give them the same quality of foods you would cook for yourself.  So they always get good, lean meats and fresh dog-friendly fruits and vegetables, that are the same quality I would cook for and use myself.  Dogs need a lot of high proteins and low fats, particularly if you are trying to keep their weight down.  Again, just like humans.  Lucie and Vinnie’s vet is very happy with how healthy they are and how shiny their coats are.   And they both definitely have that sparkle in their eyes.  These are all good signs of a healthy dog.

Cooking dog food is easy.  I don’t dare venture into the world of cooking cat food though.  A friend of mine had asked me about making my own cat food not so very long ago.  I did look into, and did some research, but it is very cost prohibitive and cats need a lot of additional nutrients added to their foods.  Often times these additional items are very hard to find, and are expensive when you do find them.  Another good friend of mine, who loves her cats the way we love all our animals, said she tried making cat food once, and it was super expensive; she had to run all around looking for all the additional vitamins and nutrients; and then it was a major pain in the neck to make.  And after all that, she said her cats hated it and would not even touch it.  They just sniffed at it and turned their noses up and walked away.  She ended up throwing it all away.  So all in all, it was a big waste of time, money, and effort.  Stick with buying good, healthy cat foods rather than making it.  You and your cats will be happier and healthier for doing so.

 

Fritzie is supervising to make sure everything is all right.  This week, Lucie and Vinnie are dining on chicken, sweet potatoes, and celery mixed with peanut butter, parsley and a dash or two of cinnamon.  The cinnamon is full of nutrients and the parsley helps to fight their bad breath.  Believe me when I say that often their breath needs all the help it can get too.  Peanut butter is very high in protein.  Celery is very good and high in fiber.  So bottom line, this is a very healthy meal for the “kids”.

Once the chicken and vegetables were cooked, I added the parsley and cinnamon and stirred them into the chicken and vegetable mixture.  Then I incorporated the peanut butter.  I do not have any specific recipe for this.  I used about 2-3 lbs of meat, 1 sweet large potato, cut into a small dice, along with 3-4 stalks of celery that had been cleaned and also diced into a small dice.  I used about 2 tsp of cinnamon and about 1 TBSP of dried parsley.   When it was all cooked, I added about 1-1 1/2 cups of peanut butter.  We add about 1 cup of the wet food each to their dry food on their evening meal only.  This will last about 1 week.

They both got their chance to clean the peanut butter jar as best as they could.  I think this picture sums it up pretty well.  I think they liked it.