After you posted the last info I looked at recalls on the gov list. Am floored at the number of pet foods of all types which are constantly recalled. The best of the best is there. The issue with any of the pet foods is we do not know where the ingredients come from and how they are tested.

Am ready to just cook my own. Trying to find a recipe seen a few years ago which was baked on a cookie sheet, then cut up. With the price of food, I don't think cooking from scratch would be more expensive.

I'm not big on giving my dog treats just to give him a treat, but I use treats to reward good behaviors. So they need to be small and easy to carry. I've been using Innova Adult large bites dog food as treats.

Here is a link to the govt. list that emagineer mentioned.

Here is a link that might be useful: Recall list

It's important to read the reason for the recall. Often the food really is unusable, but not always. For example, early in 2011 there was a Wellness canned cat food recall because some cans had insufficient thiamine. That's a serious problem if you feed it to kitty day after day. If this was just part of a diet that included sufficient thiamine elsewhere it would have been ok to use. Liver and eggs (no uncooked whites) are rich in thiamine and could have been used as a supplement.

I currently have one cat who will eat commercial canned food, which is convenient. The other only eats homemade food. I'm seriously considering using homemade food exclusively of both. It's quite a production and fills the freezer, but at least I know what's in the food.

We went commercial dog food free a little over a year ago and after seeing the health differences in both my dogs, we won't be going back to kibble. I feed them a home prepared, Prey Model Raw diet (balanced according to 2006 NRC numbers). For treats I make my own chicken jerky in the oven (or dehydrator), it's easy. It just makes sense to me that feeding a diet of fresh healthy foods would be more beneficial to their health, just like humans. I know it's saved us some money on vet bills already.

Feeding raw has been easier for us than feeding home cooked because there is a lot less prep work and you don't have to add a lot of vitamins to balance the diet properly. Anytime you do a homemade diet cooked or raw, you just need to make sure you research it well, and balance it correctly.

Some info on dog nutrition, raw/home cooked diets/ how to add fresh foods to commercial foods to make them more nutritious.

Prey Model Raw diets

http://preymodelraw.com/

http://leerburg.com/feedingarawdiet.htm?set=1

http://rawfeddogs.net/

Vet Dr. Karen Becker, Video on Why Dogs and Cats can eat raw meat.

Some dog nutrition info

Dog Food Forum, a great place to get questions answered, or info on homemade raw diets or commercial dog food

Lew Olson, Pet Nutritionist site, lots of articles on pet nutrition/ pet food/ pet diets and illnesses

Dog Aware Website

Dogs Naturally Magazine articles on nutrition

Home cooked diets

Dog Aware site with info on Home prepared diet guidelines for cooked or raw

Lew Olson Pet nutritionist site on home cooked diets/recipe guidelines

Adding Fresh foods to Kibble

Dog Aware site, How to add healthy fresh foods to kibble

Lew Olson Pet nutritionist website mixing fresh foods with kibble

Thanks for the lists and links.

I noticed Petsmart still has the meat jerky treats that are made in China on display. I'm going to call the store manager tomorrow and ask if he's aware of the health scare with these products.

I would love to feed my dogs nothing but raw but am not sure how to get the supplements in them they would need. I'm going to read some of these links and hopefully find something that is easy and feasible that I can use for them.

Some of my cats will not eat anything but dry and some won't eat raw. Some love raw and would thrive on it. I wish all of them would eat raw.

I'm glad to see the brands I use are not on the lists, EVO and Innova.

I feed raw too. The only supplements my dogs get are fish oil and sometimes acidophilis (spelling?) for yeast problems in the ears. Molly is 5 and Bailey 4 and they've never had anything but raw for their whole lives and they are very very healthy. I took M to a vet once who was anti-raw to get some blood work done and he was going on and on about how bad raw is. After he did her blood work and thorough exam, he called me and admitted she was extremely healthy.

Raw doesn't need to be complicated. My dogs get chicken, beef ribs, pork, fish, deer meat and any other meat that I can get my hands on for a reasonable price. Liver treats after the night-time potty (I freeze chunks of chicken lizard) or sometimes gizzards as a treat (also frozen). My dogs also think fish oil pills are a great treat and love to get their vitamins!

Thanks for all the links and the one I mentioned. I actually got there looking at med recalls which gave me pause. Asked the pharmacist about this and he said most of the recalls never make it on the shelf. This may be true with petfood too, but doesn't make me feel much safer in what we are feeding these friends of ours.

Like Beagles, I only feed fish oil and natural vitamin E and an occasional spoonful of organic unrefined raw coconut oil for supplements. As mentioned it's not that much more involved to feed raw than kibble.

Thanks for the notice about all those recalled pet foods and treats. How scary!

I'm another raw proponent. It can be tough for a squemish person to get their pets started on this diet, but it's so healthful for them. It's very important that it's a balanced raw diet, though: raw chicken, turkey, beef, rabbit, fish, raw bones, organ meat (heart, kidney, liver and gizzards), raw whole eggs in their shells, organic (not feed lot!) tripe. The tripe still seems yucky to me, but it's very healthful for my Ronin. The raw bones and organ meats are important. You can't just feed a dog a diet of raw chicken breast, for example. No grains whatsoever on this diet. My dobie loves and thrives on it. Unfortunately, my 11-pound Tibetan Spaniel up-chucks even the smallest amounts of anything raw, so we give her Caesar and Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream kibble. Treats for both dogs are freeze-dried sweet potatoes, etc. Fish oil capsules are also a once-a-day treat. My now-retired vet was against the raw diet. I'm in the process of finding one that isn't.
Lynn

Lynn and all...the dog food recipe I found had carrots, rice, beans (unknown type) and a few other items baked in the oven. Long lost recipe as I couldn't fathom the bean part and let it hide somewhere. I'll try to find it and see if there is one similar that comes up.

My dog would throw up uncooked food. But the ole tummy upset food of cottage cheese and rice he loves. This must say something about fresh food as he doesn't care most of the time if he eats or not. Even if left out to forage and is a lab. I had a Pyrr the same way. A treat when I leave the house isn't even touched until coming back. Most of this is from prior training as a companion dog, which he isn't due to a ball fetish.

Also Lynn, I used to buy dog food at a farm store near Corrales on the main road to Albq. At the time it was $15 for 40 lbs. and great food. Of course it definitely won't be that price now, but was hands down the better food than any on the market. Doesn't help me now in CO.

Your experience with "real" food is interesting. Would like to know more and also do a search. Buying the right bones for stews used to be and would give these to the dogs. They aren't freely out now and you have to ask the meat department for them. Speciality health stores here do have free meat and treats. There is a rancher up north who is becoming well known for his harmone (or whatever) free beef and buffalo. Not much more expensive than what is the store. He packages up pet options too.