Home cooked remedies

Many people are not in the habit of preparing food for their pets. However, many people are familiar with the idea that if their dog is having diarrhea that often a few meals of hamburger and rice seem to make things better.

Logically, this might not be the best meal for a dog with diarrhea. Rice is actually moderately hard for dogs to digest, and it is more difficult to digest when their intestines are in stress, such as when they are experiencing diarrhea. High quality hamburger can be just fine for the dog with diarrhea, or chicken. Pumpkin is much more helpful in treating cases of diarrhea. A quick recipe for dogs with diarrhea, as long as they are not vomiting, would be to use 1/4 cup of pumpkin for every one cup of diced chicken, or lightly cooked hamburger. Keep in mind when preparing hamburger, that if you boil it, you boil away all the nutrients. Same thing if you rinse it. People do these things to reduce the amount of fat on the meat. Instead, lightly cook the hamburger in a skillet. When the pink is gone, shut off the heat. Strain out the excess fat. Believe it or not, a small amount of fat in the diet is excellent for nerve function; on the other hand, excessive amounts of grease will strain your dog’s gallbladder.

Bone broth is a great recipe for dehydrated patients or cats in kidney failure. Bone broth is easy to make-it is as simple as saving the bones from your chicken, turkey, or other meat. Put the bones in a pot, add one or 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, and enough water to cover the bones. Cook on low heat for several hours. In some cases you need to add more water. Remove the bones and keep the broth in the refrigerator for three or four days. You can freeze any excess. Add small amounts to canned or real food, feed as a side dish, or you can even use this as a starter for dogs and cats recovering from pancreatitis.

A third quick and easy recipe is a liver detoxification diet that would be used for dogs with liver illness, or who are taking phenobarbital to control seizures.

Lightly cut up equal amounts of white potato and sweet potato and cook. You can  bake it, boil it, or fry it.  For every 3 cups of potatoes add 1 cup of white fish. The whitefish can be tilapia, flounder, or any other whitefish. Add the fish to the potatoes at the very end of cooking. There you have a very simple meal that helps the liver detoxify and functional little bit better.

The purpose of these recipes is to demonstrate that 1. cooking at home can be quite simple and helpful  and 2. give you an example of the contents of the new edition of Dinner PAWsible.

Dr. Cathy Alinovi DVM

As a practicing veterinarian, Dr. Cathy treated 80% of what walked in the door — not with expensive prescriptions — but with adequate nutrition. Now retired from private practice, her commitment to pets hasn’t waned and she looks forward to impacting many more pet parents through her books, research, speaking and consulting work.  Learn more at drcathyvet.com