A local vet puts together a cookbook for humans
By Ross Boissoneau | January 22, 2022
The idea of pets as members of the family is not new. But what 95% of pet owners around the world feel (and their monthly subscription to Bark Box shows) is that our love for our fur babies is not something that has limits, especially in terms of time and money that we are spending. willing to spend.
(According to the results of a survey The Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI) and Zoetis released this month, that spending, for 86 percent of 16,000 dog and cat owners and 1,200 veterinarians in eight countries and four continents, of anyway, it’s about “whatever it takes.”)
The pet industry calls this pet-as-family trend pet humanization, and it’s showing up in a big way in the pet food industry, which increasingly mirrors trends in the human food industry: less processed and more all-natural, organic, and non-GMO, grain, and even gluten-free options.
For those of us stuck somewhere between feeding our fur babies “traditional kibble” dry pet food, which came in at an average price of $1.97 per pound, or 100 percent freeze-dried kibble, which averaged $32.55 per pound According to a 2019 survey published by Statistica, there’s another equally loving but more affordable option: Dr. Amy Cousino’s new cookbook, “300 Dog Food Recipes, Three-Ingredient Meals.”
“Throughout my career, I’ve noticed that the dogs that looked the healthiest were the ones that got more than dry kibble,” says Cousino, who is on staff at VCA Cherry Bend Animal Hospital in Leelanau County.
She says she has asked thousands of her clients over the years what they were feeding their dogs, and sure enough, those whose pets were among the healthiest were at least supplementing their diets with fresh food.
Not just table scraps, mind you: One woman told Cousino that she made her dog a bowl of vegetables every night.
That got the vet thinking and finally cooking. Which led to her first book attempt, “How to Cook for Your Pet,” which came out more than a decade ago. “There was a big pet food recall in 2007. So I wrote my first cookbook for cats and dogs,” she says.
However, she was not entirely satisfied. She knew that no matter how healthy her recipes were, most people would eventually go back to the easy route of buying prepared food. So he decided to create healthy pet foods that were also easy to prepare. Hence the three-ingredient recipes in his current book.
He looked for different sources of protein, like beef, chicken, fish, and cheese, carbohydrates like potatoes, rice, and grains, along with various vegetables to help provide additional vitamins and minerals. Cousino also recommends a vitamin and mineral supplement, as well as probiotics if your dog’s digestive system is a little cranky, or joint supplements if needed.
“I wanted to emphasize basic, simple foods,” she says. “They are super easy. Children ages 10 and up can do this with supervision. “
Keeping the recipes uncomplicated was key. “The recipes are simple on purpose. There is nothing better in one [recipe] with 12 ingredients. It’s just three ingredients, cook it, cut it according to the recipe, measure and mix,” says Cousino.
Once the food is cooked and mixed, Cousino says it should be used within three to four days. She says you can also make larger batches and then freeze the rest.
The recipes are fine for any breed and Cousino includes a feeding guide. “You want to give the dog the right amount of calories,” he says, based on his weight and size. The book also includes snacks that you can give your dog.
While it’s true that dogs can survive on a vegetarian diet, Cousino doesn’t recommend it. However, he says there are a number of protein sources that can be used or substituted in recipes, such as cottage cheese or tofu.
Cousino cautions that there are many foods that people enjoy that are unhealthy for dogs. “People feed them strange things: spicy foods, fatty foods, onions and garlic. So the dogs get sick.” There are many other things that are toxic to dogs, some even in small amounts, including grapes, avocados, chocolate, alcohol, chives, and just about any stone fruit, whether it’s peaches, cherries, or apples.
Not that Rover knows. “Dogs will eat just about anything,” says Cousino. So it’s up to their humans to make sure they don’t get any of the bad stuff.
Cousino says that the dog food available in stores today is often better than what was available years ago. It also celebrates the availability of commercially prepared refrigerated pet foods, such as Freshpet or The Farmer’s Dog. “I think it’s a good trend,” he says, though he sees spending leaving most people behind. “I wrote this book for the masses. It’s easy, simple and less expensive or comparable” to commercially available dog food.
As the title of her previous book, “How to Cook for Your Pet” implies (and its cover shows), that book was written for canine and feline companions.
Which begs the question: Since this book is exclusively for dogs, is there another one on the way for cats? Spoiler alert: he’s already working on it.
Until then, “300 dog food recipes, three-ingredient meals” will have to suffice. The book is available on Amazon, and Cousino says he hopes local bookstores will stock it, too.
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Fresh from Cousino’s Cookbook
Rice with meat and peas
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup cooked ground beef
1/3 cup cooked brown rice
1/2 cup cooked green peas
INSTRUCTION
Mix the meat, rice and peas. Attend.
Feeding Guide: Makes one meal for one
20 pound dog (two daily meals are needed).
Turkey time dinner
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 ounces diced cooked turkey
1/2 cup cooked mashed potato
1/3 cup chopped cooked green beans
INSTRUCTIONS
Mix turkey, potatoes and green beans. Attend.
Feeding Guide: Makes one meal for one
10 pound dog (two daily meals are needed).