I got this letter about home cooking from Rose in Middlebury Vermont and thought it was a good point that needs to be discussed. She wrote:
I want you to know I’m a dedicated podcast listener of Dog Talk. I haven’t missed a show (though I might be listening a couple weeks behind the date aired). I buy both your Bible Books and give them as gifts to friends. I’m one of your biggest fans. I found out about you through my best friend Laura Ellis who you interviewed on show #14. Laura is the dog portrait painter you met at Westminster. She talked about breeding Old Fashion Farm Collies on your show.
I switched my 12 year old Laura-bred collie to Platinum Plus along with home cooked meals. What a difference it made in my old sweet girl with osteoarthritis along with a daily buffered aspirin. I’m a convert now and preach your healthy dog and cat feeding regimen to everyone I meet – most people think I’m a nut case!
I have a question for you: if I feed my dog and cat homemade meals along with Platinum Plus for their species, will they be getting all the vitamins and minerals they need? Or do I need to feed each an occasional can of high quality dog/cat food to reach this goal. I’m particularly interested in your answer concerning cats.
Thanks so much for helping to educate us pet owners!
The reason I’m grateful for her letter (besides the kind kudos) is that it raises a crucial issue in these days when many people have become disenchanted with commercial dog and cat foods and are turning to home preparation. There are two big questions: WHAT are you feeding? (“home-cooked,†whether for animal or person can be anything at all ) and WHAT are you supplementing with to create a balanced meal??
Dogs are omnivores, able to eat everything – and able to survive on anything. But if you want a dog to thrive she needs about 60% quality (minimally processed) protein and then a nice balance of vegetable and simple carbohydrates. If the diet respects that balance of ingredients, a dog can probably do fine with just supplementation with some Omega-3 fish oils. However, the benefits of a high quality joint supplement like Platinum Performance cannot be extolled enough – there are anti-oxidant properties along with immune system boosters (Dr. Alice Villalobos, the Official Oncologist of DOG TALK®, gives Platinum to every one of her cancer patients to improve their health). I give every dog who enters my life Platinum twice a day with meals and I believe it has helped prevent and relieve arthritis.
For cats, they are obligate carnivores: they must eat meat and only meat. If they are not getting mice as their regular diet (the perfect food for a cat) then rabbit, turkey or chicken come closest to the correct meat source. So what you’re cooking for them is a very short list but their diet has to be supplemented with taurine, at the very least. THE CAT BIBLE explains why. Platinum Performance Feline has taurine and much more, so the answer to the question is that if you are home-feeding the right foods, then Platinum will round it out and you can feed canned or raw as you wish, but not because you must.
