You care deeply about your precious pupster’s health, but
this next week is going to be too busy. If I am running out and absolutely cannot bake Valentina’s
kibble, I do the following. Keep in
stock a bag of highest possible commercial vegan kibble and make a mixture of
the following ingredients to be mixed into the kibble when you dish it up. Keep
the mixture in a light-free, air-tight container.
Put in food processor or blender in dry container and turn into meal:
½ c almond flour meal
½ c hemp seed
½ c raw pumpkin seed
½ c chia seed
½ cup flaxseed meal
1 c dried cranberries (preferably unsweetened or apple juice sweetened)
½ c dried blueberries (preferably unsweetened or apple juice sweetened)
½ c Vegedog
¼ cup nutritional yeast
¼ c Vegeyeast
½ c oat bran
½ c coconut flour
½ c pea protein or ½ c hemp
protein, or both
¾ tsp kelp powder
Immune dog
Nzymes
Back Pack Plus
Barley Grass Powder
Wheat Grass Powder
Alfalfa Grass Powder
L-Lysine
L-Arginine
Taurine
L-Carnitine
Acetyl – L—Carnitine
L-Methionine
Sodium Ascorbate, or Ester-C (I don’t use Ascorbic Acid – see Canine
Nutrition, William D. Cusick)
R-Lipoic Acid
In a small bowl I mix the following, then add to kibble along with about
¾ c of the above dry mix:
1 heaping TBSP peanut butter, pure, organic (I buy it from Costco.)
1 heaping TBSP almond butter, pure, organic (I buy it from Costco.)
3 NOW-brand Aloe Vera Veg Gels (Cut off the very top with scissors and
squeeze into bowl.)
1 gel Ubiquinol (NOW- brand) (CoQ10) (Cut off the very top with
scissors and squeeze into bowl.)
1-2 NOW Brand 400 mg. Gamma E Complex gels (Cut off the very top with
scissors and squeeze into bowl.)
8 drops Vitamin D3 , NOW brand, liquid (Equal to 800 IU)
2TBSP flaxseed oil (Barlean’s – does not have ascorbic acid)
2 TBSP hemp seed oil (Nutiva)
Note: Valentina rarely finishes the 4 cup kibble mix in one day. I am aware that some vets advise against
free-feeding, however Valentina has been free-fed since I got her (as were all
my dogs in the past.) Sometimes she’ll eat 1 cup in a day, and sometimes 2 or 3
cups, and rarely 4 cups. Other than 1 hour before and after her daily exercise,
her food is always out and available. She does not binge, and usually eats only
twice a day, once in the morning and then in the evening after she sees if she’s
going to get any handouts from our dinner.
In my opinion, I use this practice only as a “temporary fix” to add nutrients to
commercial food, which I consider inferior to my recipe. If she stays on this for a little while, she will
begin to gain weight. (And who knows what is going on in her body because of
the “mystery ingredients” in the commercial food. Just because the ingredients
listed are vegan, does not mean that they were not past expiration date for
full nutrient value (as is legally allowed for other than human consumption regulations). Just like the
animal flesh mixtures, the vegan mixtures can have bacteria that are heated in
preparation of the kibble. When you heat food to a certain temperature, you
destroy the bacteria, but what is not destroyed is the toxins the bacteria release upon death. The toxins remain.) If
you feed commercial vegan to your pupster, you may want to watch the weight and
reduce the quantity a bit from what you normally measure out. Weight gain never happens when she eats my
recipe.
Note: I’m coming up with measurements/ a recipe for a mixture that can supplement my own recipe. ( I'll pull out ingredients from the baked mixture, that would be better in the raw supplement mixture. I
got to thinking about my ingredients, and although I use the moistened flaxseed
meal to substitute for the texture of eggs, if baked, the flaxseed will lose
all of its Omegas – other nutrients like the proteins will survive the heat,
but the precious Omegas and some of the other nutrients, such as enzymes are
destroyed after 108 degrees F. So, there’s
really no reason I can’t leave some of those vulnerable ingredients raw and
added to my recipe later in a non-baked supplement mix. I’ve also decided to
work on a recipe that is made (“baked”) totally in the dehydrator oven under
108 degrees F, so almost nothing is lost due to a higher heating process. Stay
tuned for that.
Regardless, in my opinion commercial dog food (which started only a
hundred years ago) is fast food, . . . fast, processed food. The goal of most
businesses is to increase profits, which usually involves cheapening the
investment . Whether for
animals or for people, most food businesses have become “smarter”, but not
wiser in their attempts to mask degraded nutrients with flavor enhancers. What
happens is in the body’s attempt to obtain more nutrients, it will crave and
eat way beyond the necessary number of calories to maintain weight and health -- simply because the body is hungry for nutrients. I
was surprised about most vets’ concerns about overweight dogs nowadays. Years
ago, that was not such a concern – there weren’t that many overweight dogs to
worry about. Human obesity and poor
health statistics parallel the canine’s story, and I am convinced it is due to
the same problem. A long time ago, Aristotle said, “Make food your medicine, and medicine your food.” That
still bears constant consideration when making food choices for human animals and
for their companion animals.
A number of health gurus tell us that if you can stay on a healthy food path ninety percent
of the time, and only slip into unhealthy choices ten percent of the time, or less,
you will probably stay healthy. I like
to think that’s true for dogs, too, so I aim for 100% healthy. Last August when
we were returning to the US and needed a health certificate to cross, our
wonderful vet in Mexico, Dr. Borrego, asked me if Valentina was still a vegan
and if I still made her food. After I replied, “Yes,” he said, “She’s very
healthy. What’s in your recipe?” I usually carry a copy of my recipe in my
purse, but couldn’t find it, so I promised I would bring him a copy next time when
we returned. My point is, to use an old adage, "the proof is in the pudding." Valentina is proof enough to me that a healthy, balanced homemade vegan diet IS GOOD for dogs.
I love the old Chinese instruction that says, everything in life, except health, has attached to it a zero. Health, which must precede everything, coming first, is given the number"1". With the number 1 preceding all the zeros, you are very fortunate. Having health, you can enjoy all the other aspects in a good life. But, without health, the rest cannot be enjoyed, and is worth little.
I wish you and your canine companions: love, happiness, prosperity, but, first and foremost. . . vibrant health!
