Home Cooked Pet Foods on the Rise

There has been a sharp increase in the sales of cookbooks for pets. All of a sudden preparing lamb stew for the family pet suddenly sounds like a good idea at least for some people. The pet food scare with Menu Foods has increased the sales this week of "The Good Food Cookbook for Dogs" which sold 194 copies compared with the 42 the previous week. "Real Food for Dogs" sold 66 copies, up from 23 and has sold out on Amazon as well as other pet cookbooks. Other books such as "Home Prepared Dog and Cat Diet" sold 34 up from 8.

"People got scared with what was going on about buying dog food so they're looking for alternatives" said Ken Fund, president of Quarry Books, publisher of "The Good Food Cookbook for Dogs."

Menu Foods recalled Iams, Nestle Purina PetCare and Hills Pet Nutrition. The Food and Drug Administration has reported that melamine, a chemical used in plastic utensils and fertilizer was found in the wheat gluten used for pet food.

Del Monte Foods has become the fourth pet food manufacture to recall products from US retailers. After the company also received tainted wheat gluten.

A lot of the recipes in pet food cookbooks somewhat differ from human recipes. In the "Better Food for Dogs", there is a Barbecued Hamburgers recipe. Cut burgers and buns into bite size pieces. Combine burgers, buns, tomato, lettuce, oil, potassium chloride and supplements into a serving bowl and mix thoroughly.

Books such as "Dr. Pitcairn's New Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats" is not a cookbook but includes recipes has also double in sales from last week. In addition, sales tripled, from 33 to 92, for an ominously titled exposé of the pet-food industry, "Food Pets Die For," first published in 1997. There is also a website www.petdiets.com that offers guidance to a well balanced diet for cats and dogs.

According to Dr. Louise Murray, director of medicine at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in New York, urges caution when home cooking for cats. "Cats are strict carnivores and it is impossible to balance a cat's diet without the help of a nutritionist because they are susceptible to nutritional deficiencies. Where dogs, are omnivores like humans she said.

Arden Moore, author of "Real Food for Dogs, Offers such recipes as Canine Casserole (brown rice, ground chuck, carrots, broccoli and garlic) and Marvelous Mutt Meatballs (ground beef, Cheddar cheese, shredded carrots, bread crumbs, egg, garlic powder and tomato paste) and says they good for pets as well as their owners.