But Marsha Sheppard isn't one of them.
The Draper retiree has been making food for her dogs Kato and Zeta for nearly a decade.
These days, she feeds the two Doberman pinschers venison scraps that she buys in bulk from a butcher for 65 cents per pound and freezes. She mixes the meat with a fruit and vegetable pulp from her juicer. The dogs eat anything in season: broccoli, carrots, squash. And their favorite treat is a raw chicken neck.
The process of making your own pet food doesn't involve extra cooking, but does require extra shopping and preparation time, said Sheppard. But the investment, she believes, pays off in better health, taste and variety for her pets.
"Dry food is like feeding your kid the same cereal everyday," said Sheppard, who made the feeding switch after one of her dogs became sick with a life-threatening bloat.
"The more I read about what they put in dog food, the more I became disillusioned," she said.
Recall scares: In recent months, more animal owners may share those sentiments after hundreds of cats and dogs in America were sickened - or died - from kidney failure caused by contaminated canned and bagged pet food. The source has been linked to a wheat gluten, imported from China, that was laden with melamine, a chemical used for plastics, fertilizers and flame retardants.
Some animal owners have started purchasing organic pet food in hopes of keeping the family pet safe. Others are turning to cookbooks and the Internet for pet food recipes that they can make in their own kitchens.
Real Food for Dogs: 50 Vet-Approved Recipes to Please the Canine Gastronome, by Arden Moore and Anne Davis was published six years ago, but for several weeks it has been No. 6 on the cookbook best-seller list at Amazon.com.
But animal experts warn that a drastic switch from manufactured food to "raw" food should not be taken lightly. It involves research and working with a veterinarian to balance protein, fats and nutrients in the right proportions.
And it may not be necessary.
"There remains an ample supply of safe cat and dog food available at stores throughout the United States," said a statement posted online by Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine. "We encourage the public to continue to use pet food that is not subject to the recall."
In fact, recalled products represent only about one percent of the total pet food available for purchase, according to the Pet Food Institute, the trade association for pet food manufacturers.
Manufactured dog and cat food provides a proper balance of the vitamins and minerals. Pet owners need to make sure that if they switch their pet's diet they are still providing adequate nutrition.
Organic trend: As more people buy organic foods for themselves, in hopes of avoiding pesticides and synthetic hormones, it only seems natural that they would do the same for their pets.
A survey by the Organic Trade Association shows sales of organic pet food rose 46 percent between 2004 and 2005. The $30 million in sales represents just a fraction of the $15 billion commercial pet food industry, according the association. But consumer demand is expected to continue rising.
Veterinarian Kimberly Henneman, owner of Animal Health Options clinic in Park City, advocates switching to higher quality pet food and supplementing it with home prepared foods. She switched her own pets to that diet 15 years ago.
"It was a big step for me and was so radical from my training," Henneman said. One way to tell if the manufactured dog food is high-quality is to able to pronounce all the items on the list of ingredients.
Through the years, Henneman has created a "Wild Dog Diet" for clients to follow.
The list recommends proteins, such as raw ground beef, chicken, turkey, pork, steak, liver and eggs; vegetables, including green beans, spinach, broccoli and squash and soaked grains like oats, wheat and barley. The diet also calls for plenty of liquids.
Henneman said cats need an all "wet food" diet, which means anything that contains moisture such as raw meat, raw eggs or raw milk. Dogs need a diet that is 70 percent protein-based with 30 percent vegetables and soaked grains.
Many pet owners may be concerned about feeding their animals raw meat, fearing salmonella or E. coli contamination.
But Shannon Hines, a veterinarian at the Orchard Animal Clinic in Bountiful said that is not usually a problem. Because of their short digestive systems, cats and dogs do not get sick from the same bacteria as humans.
"I have been feeding my pets raw food for 12 years," she said. "and they haven't gotten sick."
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* RANA MILLER-WEALES is a recent graduate of the culinary arts program at Salt Lake Community College. She can be contacted at rweales@sltrib.com or 801-257-8622. Send comments about this story to livingeditor@sltrib.com.
Know which foods to avoid
* TO CHECK PET FOOD PRODUCTS that have been recalled by the Food and Drug Administration, visit www.fda.gov. A link to the recall list is on the home page.
* DOG OWNERS who are considering adding more variety to a pet's diet should avoid the following foods or use them sparingly:
* COOKED BONES: Raw bones may be given but the animal should be observed and bones should be large enough they can't be swallowed whole.
* CHOCOLATE: toxic for dogs
* FAT TRIMMINGS: Use sparingly.
* MILK: Some animals are lactose-intolerant. Use sparingly or provide raw milk.
* ONIONS: toxic
* RHUBARB: toxic
* POTATOES: Use sparingly.
* RAW FISH: Could cause a vitamin B deficiency. Use cooked or canned fish.
* BREAD DOUGH: Uncooked dough can expand in the animal's stomach and cause bloat.
Source: www.petnutrition.com and Bountiful veterinarian Shannon Hines.
Lazy day loaf
1 pound ground turkey
2 eggs
1/8 cup skim milk
1 1/2 cups oats
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
4 ounces cheddar cheese, cubed
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together meat, eggs, milk and bread crumbs.
Put half the mixture into a greased loaf pan. Layer spinach and cheese in the middle, and top with the other half of the meat mixture. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until done. Store in the refrigerator.
The recipe can be left raw.
Source: Three Dog Bakery Cookbook by Dan Dye and Mark Beckloff (Andrew McMeel Publishing, $12.95)
Tail-ian meatballs
1 pound ground beef
2 eggs
1/4 cup aged Romano cheese
1 tablespoon sweet basil
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1/4 cup oatmeal
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl until well blended. Roll mixture into balls and fry in a small amount of oil on high heat until the outsides are browned, but not cooked through.
Turn heat down to low and continue cooking for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool before serving. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
The recipe can be left raw.
Source: Adapted from Three Dog Bakery Cookbook by Dan Dye and Mark Beckloff (Andrew McMeel Publishing, $12.95)
Barkin' bread
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
1 egg
2 cups grated squash
2 1/2 cups white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix oil, honey and egg, then add grated squash.
Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon into the other ingredients. Add nuts and stir thoroughly until well mixed. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes, then cool and
serve in slices. Store in an airtight container.
Source: Three Dog Bakery Cookbook by Dan Dye and Mark Beckloff (Andrew McMeel Publishing, $12.95)
Kitty Breakfast
1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk
3 medium eggs
3 tablespoon cottage cheese
2 tablespoons grated vegetables
Mix together the milk powder with a small amount of water; add the eggs and beat well. Pour into a small nonstick frying pan and cook on medium low until done. Flip over and spread the cottage cheese and vegetables over half the top. Fold like an omelet. Cool and cut to bite-sized pieces to serve.
Source: www.cats.about.com/cs/catfood/a/home cooked.htm
Poultry delight for cats
1 cup millet
2 large eggs
2 pounds chicken
1 tablespoon calcium supplement or 1 1/2 teaspoon powdered eggshells
4 tablespoons vegetable oil or butter
1 teaspoon any fresh vegetable
Bring two cups of water to a boil. Add the millet, cover and simmer 20 to 30 minutes during cooking. When the millet is soft, stir in the eggs to let them set a bit from the heat.
Mix in remaining ingredients.
Adapted from Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats by Richard H. Pitcairn and Susan Hubble Pitcairn (Rodale, $18.95)
