Where's the Real Food? the Case for Home Cooked Pet Food

For the last 40 years, the answer to how to feed our pets has been a bag of crunchy kibble, produced by a commercial pet food manufacturer. A prime example of innovative capitalism, the commercial pet food industry began as a way to use the by-products of grain and meat production. Even though the pet food industry is much more sophisticated now, and a few high-end pet foods use human-grade ingredients rather than by-products, it's still easy to become lost in a paper bag jungle, And many of us have lost sight of the nutritional needs of our pets, choosing the convenience of kibble that can be dumpted into our pet's bowl instead of thinking about the consequences of feeding a virtual "fast food" diet to our pets.
The recent pet food recall served as a wake-up call for many pet owners. Contaminated vegetable proteins imported from China caused the widespread illness of untold pets, more than 100 reported deaths of dogs and cats, and the largest pet food recall in US history. According to the FDA, 192 pet food brands were subsequently pulled from the shelves. Now, pet owners must worry about their lack of control over the pet food cooking process, as well as sub-par contaminated ingredients in their pets next meal.

So now what? Healthy pets need real foods that are cooked and combined into nutritionally balanced meals, which often means making them with our own hands. This is just what American families did for their pets until 1965-the advent of commercial pet food production. My Grandma cooked for her pets: chicken, beef, and fresh chicken giblets. Like her, I cook homemade meals for my pets, but unlike her I am a pet nutrition expert and a licensed veterinarian with a lifetime of experience treating sick cats and dogs who suffer from not only starvation and malnutrition, but also dermatitis and other illnesses that have a nutritional cause as part of the illness. I understand the science of why home-cooked, whole food meals result in healthier pets.