One other option to improve the diet of your pet is of course to feed your pet real foods. This is certainly more time consuming and expensive, but definitely worth it if you have the resources. If I had all the time in the world I would do this more often for Penny Su. But reality is that I am lucky to have enough time get a nutritous dinner on the table for Mr. Kat and I so that doesn't happen as much as I would like. But I try. On Sunday mornings she gets scrambled eggs. She LOVES carrots, so If I can't do anything else I will at least throw some shredded carrots on top of her food in her dish when she has her dinner.
Having said that, I need to stress that I wouldn't recommend having your pet survive solely on real foods, because it can be very difficult to ensure that they are getting exactly what they need from their diet. If you want to go this route completely you have got to know what you are doing. I cannot stress this enough! Educate yourself, talk to your vet, read books, just make sure you are not doing more harm than good. It is easy for dogs to develop nutritional deficiencies because of an improper diet. Also, there are many foods that dogs can't tolerate that humans can. Despite your best intentions you could cause a lot of problems. So make sure you have a very, very good understanding of exactly what to do if you plan on going in all the way or just incorporate SOME real meals/foods into their diet and rely on any of the great brands of gluten free/grain free dog foods out there to do the rest.
I like to incorporate real foods into Penny Su's diet my making homemade treats for her. Her favorites are peanut butter banana, carrot, apple, or pumpkin. They all smell so good (Mr. Kat may or may not have sampled some of the homemade dog treats)! She absolutely loves them, and I love the fact that I know exactly what is in them. I get to reward her with something she loves and I know it is healthy for her. I found these recipes from various sources (some which I can't remember now... sorry :/) and changed them around to make them all gf. I'll share a few of my favorite recipes for her with you.
Penny's Favorite Carrot Treats
1 Medium Ripe Banana1 C Shredded Carrots- Chopped
1/4 C Unsweetened Applesauce
1/8 C Water- more as needed
1 1/2 C GF Oat Flour- plus some for kneading
1 C GF Rolled OatsPreheat oven to 350. Spray a pan with cooking spray. In a medium bowl mash bananas with the carrots. Add water and applesauce and stir. Add flour and oats. Stir and knead until dough forms. Roll to 1/2 in thickness and cut out shapes. Bake for approximately 25 minutes. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks or in the freezer for 6 months.
Pumpkin for my Pumpkin
1 egg
1/4 C canned pumpkin
1 T dry milk1/8 t sea salt
1 1/4 C brown rice flour
Preheat oven to 350. In large bowl, whisk together eggs and pumpkin until smooth. Stir in dry milk and sea salt. Add brown rice flour gradually to form a stiff, dry dough. Roll onto a lightly floured surface. Knead more if necessary. Roll dough between 1/4 – 1/2″ thick and use a cookie cutter to cut out doggie bone shapes. Place bones on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully turn biscuits over, then bake additional 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely on rack before feeding to your doggie.
Peanut Butter Banana Dog Treats
1 C GF Oat Flour
2/3 C GF Rolled Oats
3 T Peanut Butter
1 Egg- beaten
Preheat oven to 300. Mash the banana in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Set aside for 5 minutes. Roll into small balls and flatten into coin shapes. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 45 minutes until the treats are golden brown and have a firm bottom. Cool completely and store in the refrigerator.
I hope your furry friends enjoy these treats as much as my Penny Su! :)
Who can resist this face?!? :)
Of course I will give you a treat!
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