What do your pets eat?  Do you shop for pet food based on price? How nutritious is it?  Do you really know?  Well, one of my dogs got sick a few months ago, she lost nearly 15 lbs.  I took her to the vet, and after a series of tests, he determined that she has a genetic liver disorder called Copper Storage Disease.  The dog lacks the enzyme to properly digest and process metals – specifically copper.  So the copper builds up and poisons her liver.

The vet had me buy special pet food without metals at $80 for a 20lb bag.  Now… if you are anything like me, two disturbing facts have already jumped out at you from in the previous sentence;  1) what the hell are metals doing in dog food in the first place; and 2) $80 for a 20lb bag – is he nuts?!?!?

After about three weeks of the expensive – non-organic – metal free dog food, I started doing some research.  It turns out that even the most expensive organic dog foods have added metals… zinc, cooper, magnesium, etc. as vitamin supplements.   It is nearly impossible to find healthy pet food without added minerals.

However, paying $80 per bag for something that is essentially freeze-dried dog cereal is not okay with me either.  I spoke with the vet, did more research and began cooking specially for the dogs.  I buy organic, local, ground meats (beef, pork, turkey, chicken), and steam them in a rice cooker with vegetables and rice.  The dogs LOVE it!  It is far healthier than anything they were eating from a bag, and — this is my favorite part – it is a fraction of the cost of dog food.  I am also adding liver-healing and immune-boosting herbs to the steamer (dandelion leaves, kelp, nettles).  

Within four days, I saw marked improvement in here weight, coat and overall health.   So, now they eat hardboiled eggs and multigrain bread for breakfast, cheese for lunch and the steamed rice mixture for dinner (which is a healthier diet than most humans have).