by Sunshine Simmons

Created on: September 16, 2008

With the second major recall on tainted pet food in the last six months, we're left with the question: Are we risking our companions' lives by feeding them commercial pet food? Not only do most pet foods contain the same hormones, pesticides, antibiotics, and other toxins that we're trying to put in our bodies, pet food can contain a deadly strain of salmonella. Not to mention, the unrendered protein used in commercial dog food has been quoted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be heads, feet, viscera, and most of these animals passed away from infection and disease. Salmonella isn't the only culprit either. Pet foods have been recalled due to mad cow and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) outbreaks.

Studies are also being shown that meat consuming animals suffer from the same allergies, cancers, kidney, heart, and bone problems that meat consuming humans do. People fell it may be unnatural to feed a dog meat because they are traditionally carnivores, but the types of meat we're feeding them are not what they would eat in the wild. Also, dogs are omnivores, which means they eat both meat and plant matter. Many people are switching to vegetarian dog foods, and more importantly, people are making it themselves in fear of a salmonella outbreak taking the life of their four-legged friend.

Here's a recipe for Sunshine's Vegetarian Meatless Doggie Loaf:

Preheat oven to 350F (180C)

Ingredients:
3 Cups Textured Vegetable Protein(meatless substitute that can be purchased at your local health food store)-mix with 2 2/3 Cup Boiling Water
2 cups cornflower-found in the Mexican food section of your grocery store
2 cups cooked and pureed legumes(most people use a bean mixture of pinto, kidney, and lentil)
2 Cups rolled oats
4 Cups cooked rice
1/3 Cup nutritional yeast*NOT BREWER'S OR BREAD YEAST*
1 Cup Wheat germ
Cup Canola Oil
1 Cups Water
2 Cups of pureed vegetables-it's best to use a hearty mixture of vegetables, and you can change the mixture often to maintain a varied diet. Frozen vegetables are okay, but not canned, unless they were canned fresh from the garden.
3 tsp garlic
3 tsp calcium citrate
tsp salt substitute-needed for potassium, it can be bought at the grocery store
Cup Ketchup(unless your friend has diabetes)
6 tsp herbal nutritional supplement *James Peden makes wonderful supplements for vegetarian dogs
Recommended dose of Supplemental L-carnitine and taurine can be purchased at your local health food store, and are integral to your dog's diet, but are commonly not found in commercial food(ask your vet for best amount for your doggie)

How to:

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Put into 2 loaf pans
3. Bake for 1 hour
4. Cool
5. Store in fridge

To serve, slice and cut into bite sized chunks. This loaf can be frozen and used for later.

*Always check with your vet before switching your pet food to make sure that your dog doesn't need a special supplement added for his/her health.

*Make sure your doggie friend has a multi-vitamin made especially for your breed and size of doggie every day. Talk to your vet about the best type of vitamin for your quadruped.

The transition from a meat diet to a vegetarian diet has to be done slowly, and introduced a little at a time. Start by mixing some cubes of Sunshine's Vegetarian Meatless Doggie Loaf into your dog's regular food for a few days. Next, put in more cubes and less food as you add in the vitamin supplement. Keep doing this every few days until the commercial dog food is no longer needed. Make sure to keep your vet up-to-date on your pet's progress, and take your pet in for regular urine tests, as some believe a vegetarian diet can make a dog's urine more alkaline.

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