Homemade Diet Resources: Books, Web Sites and Email Lists
There are a number of resources to provide support to those who want to feed their dogs a homemade diet. I recommend reading at least one book before (or soon after) starting. If you find you still need help, the web sites below may be useful. Email groups can answer questions, though keep in mind that not all the advice you receive will be reliable, so don't rely on email groups exclusively to learn how best to feed your dog.
See Also:
Also see these articles on homemade diets for dogs:
- Part 1: Introduction to Homemade Diets
- Part 2: Homemade Raw Diets
- Part 3: Homemade Cooked Diets
- Part 4: Sample Homemade Cooked Diets
- Part 5: Sample Homemade Raw Diets
- Part 6: Homemade Diet Products and Updates
Books
Now available on a separate page: Homemade Diet Book Reviews.
Web Sites
Websites with information about feeding a raw diet. Also see the Homemade Diets section.
FAQs:
Pictorials:
- Make Your Own Pet Food 101
- BARF Pictorial
- Raw Feeding See menu on left side of page for additional pages
- Preparing BARF Meals
Overviews with diet information:
References:
CATS: See Cat Food Reviews for information on commercial foods.For those of you interested in more natural ways to feed your cats, here are a few references:
- CatInfo.org Feline nutrition and health (from a vet)
- Alternative Nutrition
- Feline Nutrition Education Society
- Holisticat (includes a forum that requires a paid subscription, free trial available)
- CatNutrition.org
- How to Prepare Fresh Cat Food (technical but very complete)
- The Feline Future Cat Food Company (Instincts TC)
I have also seen Dr. Pitcairn's Fatty Feline Fare recipe recommended, with the following changes: omit the grains and add a very small amount of cooked mashed veggies and/or raw food processed greens. Include the taurine that he says is optional, and give fish oil instead of cod liver oil. Use calcium lactate powder or other forum of pure calcium instead of bone meal to reduce the amount of phosphorus fed.Lastly, I came across Yet Another Cat Food Guide recently, and was impressed with the articles that I read. This site has information on commercial cat foods as well as homemade diets.
Email Groups
These are groups I can recommend, though you should always be careful about relying on advice from email lists. Also see the section on Email Support Lists for help with specific health problems.
Dogs:
- K9Nutrition
- RawPaws (includes both dogs and cats)
- SeniorRawFeeding
- Raw4Bullies
Cats:
- RawPaws (I have seen this one recommended)
- WholeCatHealth
- FelineFutureDiet (some people have said they have not had good luck with the Feline Future diet)
There are other lists that I can't recommend due to their dogmatic and intolerant approaches to homemade diets. Any group that tells you there is only one right way to feed your dog, or that dismisses problems caused by the diet as unimportant, should be avoided.
I regret that I no longer have much time to respond to questions. See my Contact page for more information. My name is Mary Straus and you can email me at either or