The good news is that it served to open the eyes of those who read the articles about the poisons found in our pets' every day diets. From food coloring to preservatives used in those diets, combined with ingredients that are not fit for human consumption, we have been feeding our pets a diet that is depriving them of a quality lifetime.

 

For that reason, I began researching and formulating recipes that I have used to make my new all natural, organic dog treats. I use only human quality ingredients that are dog friendly (non toxic to dogs) choosing the freshest meats, fruits and veggies available. The products are prepared and cooked in my own kitchen and packaged. I have included some with special formulas for those pets with arthritic conditions, sensitive stomachs, overweight or other problem issues. Please contact me if you are interested in learning more about how you can acquire some of these nutritious treats.

 

 

Deb’s K-9 Cuisine

The Healthy Alternative

For the

Discriminating Pet

 

Your pet’s health and nutrition are important to us. For that reason, we have made products with an emphasis on using only fresh, organic ingredients. Our All Natural Formulas contain No Preservatives, No Artificial Colors or Flavors, No Sugars or Salts. We incorporate a variety of organic flours, fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses and nuts into tasty, flavorful treats as a healthy alternative your pet will enjoy. We have several formularies including Our Special Formula line: No Wheat or Gluten, Sensitive Stomach, and Weight Control. And in all our formulas, though they are made of human quality products, we use only dog-friendly ingredients.

 

So … Go Ahead…

Spoil Your Dog…They will love you for it !

 

Choose from the following Biscuit Treats:

Peanut Butter, Carrot & Wheat Germ

Banana & Cinnamon

Chopped Spinach & Cheddar Cheese

Pumpkin Pie

Sweet Potato Pie

 Beef & Barley

Savory Bacon, Cheddar & Oatmeal

Peanut Butter & Bacon with Oatmeal

Liver & Bacon

Swiss Cheese and Rye

Braised Beef & Carrot

Chicken & Vegetable

Dried Anchovy

Oatmeal, Date & Cream Cheese

Almond & Coconut

Peanut Butter & Carob Chip

Peas & Carrots

Tomato & Mozzarella Cheese

 

We also offer a variety of muffins in addition to these biscuit treats and will soon be offering a complete line of pet foods.

 

Our Products

 

 

We are constantly reminded,  “ We are what we eat”. We’ve been told that preservatives, food coloring, trans-fats and processed foods can have adverse effects on our bodies. And we have learned that organic, natural foods are endorsed as healthier alternatives.

 

Our pets are special to us. And as our pets, they depend on us to provide them with good, healthy nutrition. Shouldn’t they be provided with healthy products? We think they should. For that reason, we have gone into the kitchen and begun to prepare food that is better than the industrial variety pet food.

 

We’ve chosen only fresh, organic fruits and vegetables (sulfite-free), poultry, fish, meats,  eggs, cheeses and nuts and we use only those ingredients which have proven to be pet-friendly. We only use ingredients that are human quality.

 

Flours-  We’ve not used enriched flours since they are simply flours that have been bleached and drained of nutrition and then had token nutritive additives put back in. Bleached white flour contains a harmful chemical called Alloxan. Alloxan is used to make white flour look clean and pure, but it can actually lead to the destruction of beta cells in the pancreas and increase the risk of diabetes. We have chosen to use whole grain flours which include whole wheat, barley, rice, oat, spelt, quinoa, millet and rye flours.  

We don’t use nitrates which are normally used to cure meats and prevent bacterial growth. The body converts nitrates into carcinogens. We use only natural, organic meats instead…with no nitrates, hormones, pesticides, antibiotics or other toxins.

 

Oils- We use the best oils: virgin olive oil, canola, sunflower, safflower, and flaxseed in addition to cold water fish oils (animal source oils may be better tolerated by pets that have a hypothyroid problem) …all contain no cholesterol and no trans-fats. Essential fatty acids cannot be synthesized by your dog, so they must be added to their diet. They can reduce inflammations associated with skin allergies, arthritis, & intestinal disorders. Omega 3 & 6 are essential for good health. Fats make certain vitamins available for use in the body, cushion vital organs, make up a part of all body cells, and maintain body temperature. Omega 3 & 6 are available in fish oils, flaxseed and borage oil. We use oil that has not been heat processed, keep it in dark bottles and refrigerate it. Heat, light and oxygen cause fats to become trans-fatty acids which are toxins, weakening the immune system, reproductive system, cardiovascular & liver function and inhibit necessary enzymes.

 

Grains- We know certain pets have allergies and some have suffered a lifetime of skin disorders and itching.  Some of those allergies are due to the ingredients in pet food. Through research, we’ve learned that wheat products, particularly the gluten, can be the underlying cause of yeast infections in the pets’ ears, skin allergies, bloating, or digestive upsets. Wheat as well as other grain source glutens tend to cause celiac disease which can be the foundation of digestive system disorders. Once the gut is inflamed by the glutens, it is unable to utilize the minerals in the animal’s diet and can lead to constipation or diarrhea in addition to other problems. We use no additive sugars, salts, preservatives or dyes to help eliminate the causes of many allergic responses. Therefore some of our formulas have no wheat flour or other glutens in them. Instead, we may use quinoa, millet or rice because they have no glutens. The addition of these alternative grain sources more closely resembles that which is found in the natural diet of wild animals. Wild prey animal stomachs contain grasses, bark, insects, roots, nuts, seeds and other plant matter- but not modern grain, unless the animal was grazing previously in a field of domesticated grain. We use the grains broken down into flakes to aid in the digestion of the grains as the shorter digestive tracts of our pets cannot sufficiently break them down to utilize them efficiently.

 

Fruits & Vegetables – Our pets can benefit greatly from the various fruits and veggies available to us. Organically grown/produced and handled without the addition of pesticides or other harmful products. They provide natural vitamins essential to our pets’ health. They include sweet potatoes (white potatoes have been linked to arthritis), carrots, peas, green beans, lima beans, pinto beans, tomato, beets, red clover, parsley, rose hips,  broccoli, squash, celery, chard, spinach, ginger, garlic, cauliflower, zucchini, avocado, mango, papaya, pineapple, apple, berries, bananas, oranges, and several others. In addition, we will use alfalfa and kelp as they, too, contain a bountiful amount of dense nutritives. Did you know that papaya added to the dog’s diet is beneficial because it causes the outer body of worms (internal parasites in our pets), to break down and therefore be digested by the pet’s own digestive system?

 

Nuts & Seeds – We will also be using nuts and seeds as we know prey animals feed on these whenever they are found. We will only incorporate dog-friendly ones such as pecans, pumpkin seeds, almonds, and sunflower seeds.

 

Sugars- Did you know most of the pets in our country suffer from some sort of periodontal disease/ bad teeth & gums including actual bone loss before they are two years of age? Most commercial dog food products use added sugars. Cancer cells thrive on sugars. Sugar is addictive, damages the pancreas and drains vitamins and minerals from the body. Yeast also thrives on sugar. In one study, unhealthy Candida yeast overgrowth was 200 times greater in animals receiving dextrose than in control groups that did not received the sugar. We add no empty calories or sugars to our products in order to help eliminate a chief cause of tooth decay and the other myriad of health problems they cause as well.

 

Meats- Another important fact to consider when choosing the ingredients for our products is that most of the meat sources used in making the commercial foods out there today come from livestock that is vaccinated at birth and throughout its lifetime against disease using vaccines comprised of those very diseases, de-wormed at regular intervals to prevent parasites, and provided with insecticides throughout its lifetime to deter insects such as flies or gnats. Lastly, most of those meat sources have also been provided with hormones to enhance their development to assure their market status in a shorter period of time than nature actually intended. The very hormone used to fatten cattle, is carried into the meat and thus into your dog, gradually having effects over time. This hormone, estrogen, will not only fatten the cattle fed with it, but your animal in time and estrogen has been proven to cause cancer development.

 

In addition, commercially manufactured pet food products add bone meal to the food. Were you aware that the bones of our cattle in this country have been found to contain large amounts of lead?  In a sampling of canned pet food, it was revealed that lead contamination levels ranging from 0.9 to 7.0 parts per million (ppm) in cat food and 1.0 to 5.6 ppm in dog food. Daily intake of only six ounces of such food would exceed the dose of lead considered potentially toxic for children. Most of the contamination comes from the bone meal, otherwise an excellent source of calcium and other minerals, the American cattle contain high levels of lead, owing to our prolonged usage of leaded gasoline over several decades. Bone meal for human consumption and sold in natural food stores cannot come from US cattle due to the lead deposits found in their bone however, animal food manufacturers can and do use bone meal taken from our US cattle.

 

And none of this includes the injection or other provision of antibiotics during the lifespan of the animal should it be injured or ill. Did you know the establishment charged with certifying your pets’ food products actually allows the inclusion of any meat source that is down, diseased, dead or dying?  Did you know a lot of beef as well as other food source animals are fed a diet containing rendered animal tissue from other food source animals?  Strangely enough, the animals normally thought to exist on grass and plants, are actually being fed tissue from their own kind as an additional feed source in order to reduce costs & find a way to use rendered animal parts. In the New York Times in 2004, an article pointed out that our calves are fed blood instead of milk and cattle feed containing composted wastes from chicken coops including feathers, spilled feed and even feces have been fed for years as a common practice in this country. As quoted in the article rendered animal products go 43% to poultry, 23% to pet food, 13% to swine, 10% to cattle and 11% to other uses such as food for farmed fish. In Europe, 25% of the cattle are tested for ‘mad cow disease’, Japan tests 100% and the US only tests 5 or 6 per million head of cattle. And a lot of the grain fields used to feed our livestock are fertilized with human and animal waste. Those very animals consuming those grains, those feed sources, are the very animals used for making our pets’ food commercially.

 

Using a combination of meat, vegetables and grains, human grade sources wherever possible, presents the alternative to an all meat protein diet. The combination of meat with the grains and veggies provides a higher protein level comparable with (most of the time exceeding) the protein levels found in commercial food. We choose to use only those meat sources which are certified as organic in origin combined with the highest quality, organic veggies, fruits, and grains.

 

Essential Fatty Acids - Every living cell in your pet’s body needs essential fatty acids (EFAs) which help support healthy skin, hair, joints, and hearts. They are found in high concentrations in the brain. I have learned that grass-fed or wild meat animals contain more essential fatty acids, especially Omega 3, than grain-fed livestock. I therefore choose to utilize these grass-fed and wild meat animals as the meat sources for my products. I include the organ and muscle tissue as well as the normal cuts of meat in my products as these are essential in our pets’ diet. Free range chickens lay eggs that are higher in Omega 3 fatty acids than caged hens. Some of the sources of these essential fatty acids include fish, fish oils, poultry, vegetable oils, dark green vegetables, eggs, raw nuts, and seeds. I have chosen to utilize those sources in my products using only those from sources that are dog/cat friendly.

 

Herbs- Animals are natural herbalists so I also incorporate a few herbs, again grown organically, such as dandelion greens, cayenne, aloe vera, garlic, milk thistle, nettle, parsley, peppermint, rosemary, slippery elm bark, wheatgrass, barleygrass, spirulina or glue-green algae used in minute amounts as each promotes good health and can safely be used effectively if guidelines are followed as an important aid  for our animals’ systems. Herbs can be very deep, but slow, healers within the body. Remember that herbs heal the underlying cause of a problem but may take longer than just suppressing the symptoms with ordinary medicine.

 

Are you aware of the fact that canines in the wild, that is dogs that are not pets as well as wolves, coyotes, foxes, etc, do not have heartworms? I wonder if it is due to the diet they maintain in the wild environment?

 

Vitamins-  I have also found that though dogs can manufacture their own vitamin C levels, those same levels can be depleted through stress. The disease of years past, scurvy, caused by the low levels of vitamin C found in the human, caused effects on the human body that is very similar to the same conditions found in our pets today in a condition referred to as Hip Dysplasia.  Vitamin C strengthens the immune system and supports collagen; it is an anti-inflammatory, an antioxidant, and an antihistamine.

 

Minerals- And lastly, human and animals alike carry a zinc level in their blood system. It has been learned that low levels of zinc are found in those who have been stressed. In our pets, that signals fleas that the lower levels of zinc in the blood supply means the blood tastes completely different and is more desirable for them to feast upon. Ever wonder why a dog that is ill, growing quickly, very active or stressed out in some way has more of a problem with fleas than say the more relaxed, healthy pet?

                                                                                               

Preparation- Cooking foods is like opening another can of worms. We know that processing foods through high temperatures depletes the food of its natural enzymes and vital nutrients. For this reason, we have chosen to use only cryogenic and dehydration methods of food preparation. Through the cryogenic process, the natural cellular structures found in our fruits and veggies remain intact complete with their nutritive content. By using dehydration, also one of the steps used in cryogenically prepared ingredients, we gently dry some of the ingredients over a few hours allowing us to retain the natural enzymes and vitamin/mineral contents. These processes also allow the finished product to last a longer period of time without having to have added preservatives which cause cancer and other harmful effects to our pets. We do utilize a natural source of vitamin E as a preservative as needed to sustain freshness and quality. Did you realize that some of the pet foods on the market today use a cousin of anti-freeze to preserve your pets’ foods?

 

Our pets were designed to live approximately 23 years and generations ago, before the advent of commercially prepared, grocery store available food for our pets, they lived close to that. But today, the average lifespan is less than 13 years and generally by that time of their lives, they are infirmed with diseases and bad health brought on by the very diets they consume.

 

 This is why I have chosen to use organic, natural meat, vegetable, fruit and other nutritive ingredients in this food. I have researched these very issues and will continue my research in order that I can provide through as natural a source, holistic or homeopathic source as possible, a diet that can and will address these important facts.

 

 Isn’t it about time to stop covering our pets’ symptoms of bad health and begin providing them with products that will enhance their lives and stop the problems from even beginning? Then we must start at the basic level…with the nutrition that our pets all deserve.

 

 

 

 

Coming soon- our line of pet food products made with these same principles in mind. They will not include artificial preservatives, colors/dyes, sugars, salts, flavorings or other harmful products. There will be such offerings as Chicken Pot Pie, Hunter’s Stew, Pot Roast with Veggies, Casseroles and several others. They will also be available in special formulas using alternative homeopathic/holistic ingredients designed to address some of our pets’ bad health issues should you have a pet with arthritis, kidney, cardiac, weight issues, allergies, etc. They will all contain human quality, dog friendly ingredients with a concept that is fresh and convenient.