For you homecookers out there!
Andi Brown of Palm Harbor, author of "The
Whole Pet Diet: Eight Weeks to Great Health for Dogs and Cats," began making food for her cat, Spot, nearly 20 years ago.
"I had taken him to five vets," she says.
She was told Spot had an incurable genetic disease and that euthanasia was the kindest option.
One day, a nutritionist friend asked what Brown was feeding Spot. A look at the canned food label prompted the friend to whip up a chicken stew, and the two sat down with Spot to eat dinner.
"It took about four days of my cat eating that marvelous stew for all of the symptoms to begin to disappear," Brown says.
Her company, HALO Purely for Pets, now sells Spot's Stew along with other products in about 6,000 stores nationwide.
LET'S DO STEW
Here are recommended portions for both Spot's Chicken Stew and Bravo's Bodacious Hearty Burger Stew:
Cats - about 1 cup per day
Dogs - varies depending on age, activity level, health, weight and season. These are guidelines based on weight; the total is per day and should be divided between two meals:
Up to 10 pounds - 1 to 11/2 cups
11 to 20 pounds - 2 to 3 cups
21 to 40 pounds - 4 cups
For each additional 20 pounds, add 2 cups.
SPOT'S CHICKEN STEW
21/2 pounds whole chicken or turkey (bones, organs, skin and all)
1/4 cup chopped fresh garlic
1 cup green peas
1 cup coarsely chopped carrots
1/2 cup coarsely chopped sweet potato
1/2 cup coarsely chopped zucchini
1/2 cup coarsely chopped yellow squash
1/2 cup coarsely chopped green beans
1/2 cup coarsely chopped celery
1 tablespoon kelp powder
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
11 to 16 cups spring water
For dogs only: Add 8 ounces whole barley and 6 ounces rolled oats, and adjust the water content to 16 cups spring water or enough to cover the ingredients. (The grains are not recommended for cats.)
Yield: 20 cups.
Combine all ingredients in a 10-quart stainless-steel stockpot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat as low as possible and simmer for 2 hours; carrots should be very soft.
Remove from heat, let cool, and debone the chicken.
With an electric hand mixer or a food processor, blend the ingredients into a puree. The stew should be slightly thicker for dogs and more soupy for cats.
Using plastic baggies or yogurt containers, divide into meal-sized portions. Refrigerate three days' worth and freeze the rest.
Source: "The Whole Pet Diet: Eight Weeks to Great Health for Dogs and Cats," by Andi Brown (Celestial Arts, $16.95)
BRAVO'S BODACIOUS HEARTY BURGER STEW
1 pound ground beef or turkey
1/2 pound millet
1/2 pound spinach, chopped
1/2 pound carrots, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons kelp powder
4 to 6 cups spring water
Yield: About 9 cups.
Combine all ingredients in a stainless-steel pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the carrots are tender. Remove from heat, and allow to cool.
With an electric hand mixer or a food processor, blend into a puree.
Using plastic baggies or yogurt containers, divide into meal-sized portions. Refrigerate three days' worth and freeze the rest.
Source: "The Whole Pet Diet: Eight Weeks to Great Health for Dogs and Cats," by Andi Brown
LEO'S COOKIES (an original recipe from Pilar Passmore)
1/2 brick regular or low-fat cream cheese
2 cups whole-wheat flour
6 ounces carrot baby food
3 ounces olive oil
Splash of vanilla
Mix the ingredients; mash, knead and flatten. If you don't have a bone-shaped cookie cutter, use the baby food jar to make round cookies.
Place cookies on a baking sheet, and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Turn off the oven, and leave the cookies inside until the oven cools.
Yield: about 21/2 dozen cookies.
A batch generally keeps for about two weeks.
Passmore's warning: "Once they eat these cookies, they won't eat the others."
As posted in the online edition of our local newspaper:
http://www.tbo.com/life/MGBHP936XZE.html