Pet Food Recall | Cesar Millan

Written by Dr. Sherry Weaver

Amid all the pet food recalls there is so much controversy about feeding our pets commercial pet foods. Can you recommend a food that I can make at home for my dog? She has been eating [a national brand] since she was born. Now whenever she eats this she vomits within two minutes. I have given her brown rice cooked in chicken broth for the last two or three days, and this stays down. Do you have any suggestions? My dog is a German Rottweiller. She will be six years old in August. She is an indoor dog and is kept current on all of her vaccines as well as Heartguard and Frontline. Any help would be greatly appreciated

Sincerely,

C. Teer

Dear C. Teer,

I usually do not recommend homemade diets for dogs. The pet food companies are not perfect, but they have teams of nutritionists who work hard to build foods that provide optimum nutrition for pets. I have always said that if the high-end commercial food companies made “human food,” I would feed it to my family and myself. If cooking is the only thing you feel safe with, there are several websites that can provide recipes. Once you do find one, follow it completely, including vegetables and vitamin supplementation to assure full nutrition.

If the vomiting has been happening for a while and you choose a commercial diet, dogs with sensitive stomachs often do better on rice-based diets and many of the better brands have sensitive stomach formulations. If the vomiting has only been going on for a short period, you may want to see your vet to rule out any other cause.

Dr. Weaver

About Dr. Sherry Weaver
Dr. Weaver graduated with honors from the University of Georgia's School of Veterinary Medicine. She founded a state-of-the-art animal hospital, teaches pet care to children, and donates time and resources to rescue organizations. For her full biography, click here.

Note: The opinions and views expressed in the Ask the Vet articles are the result of Dr. Sherry Weaver's formal education and over 14 years in clinical experiences. Your veterinarian is the best source of information for your pet’s specific needs.

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Fri, 07/23/2010 - 11:52pm — kevinhkcs

Dog Carriers

In many locations, animals that are considered pets by their owners but are legally classified as livestock, including horses, pigs, camelids, and fowl may be banned from being kept within the city limits or restricted to property of a certain larger size.
Dog Carriers

Sun, 05/09/2010 - 5:56pm — Pepito

Homemade Diet

Hi,
I have a 2 year old dog who has food allergies. We don't believe it's any ingredient in particular, but rather the "process" in which commercial foods are made. Which makes it even harder, impossible even, to get a commercial food he can tolerate. I've tried many "hypoallergenic" foods to no avail. Finally, i started making homemade food, and the problem went away completely. It is very tricky to make a good balanced homemade diet. However, my vet recommended a book from a professor from the University of Guelp in Ontario, Canada, Hilary Watson. She has written a book of homemeade diets that are balanced and complete as long as you also use her supplements. http://www.completeandbalanced.com/ I'm not sure they ship to the USA, but her book is absolutely amazing with diets from puppy, to adult, senior, low calorie, high calorie among others. I highly recommend it.

good luck!

Wed, 04/28/2010 - 6:03pm — Leasa

Dog Diet

I have a 15 year old lab/collie mix and a 10 year old White Lab/ Dane mix. About a year ago I noticed both dogs health was failing. We bought only the best dog food going. My 15 yr. old Pepper would frequently vomit and the 10 year old started having problems with liver enzymes and was getting 'sickly'. We moved from very expensive dog food to even more expensive dog foods...tried them all. Finally I started making their food...all of it. I buy the meat at my butchers, beef and liver (same price as the dog food was costing us). I cook it with brown rice, mixed veggies, eggs, olive oil and a vitamin supplement. I use a 50-50 ratio of rice and meat.

Sandy's enzymes are normal now. Pepper no longer vomits. Their coats shine, they have more energy. They are no longer over weight. Both are special dogs, Pepper is a rescue who when we got her at 4 months had so many emotional problems, she took a lot of work. Sandy has hip dysplasia which we had operated on, she blew a knee which we had operated on and recently had surgery to remove a large fat lump she developed a few years ago that grew so big on her shoulder. WE call Sandy our million dollar dog.

I've done a lot of research on what goes into dog food and well, I wouldn't feed any of it to a dog.

Cheers!
Leasa

Tue, 03/30/2010 - 3:16pm — Lil Iodine

Dog Vomiting after eating

After all the problems with tainted dog food and after my female lab developed problems which eventually killed her from eating what I thought was a top brand, I now will only buy Blue Buffalo dog food. It is ALL natural and doesn't have all the "fillers" that other dog foods have. If you go online and look it up you can enter your zip code and they will tell you all the places it can be purchased near you. They will also send you a free sample to try it. For an extra treat I like to add some cooked grean beans and carrots and my rescued dog thinks he's in heaven. www.bluebuff.com
They also have cat food as well.

Wed, 12/02/2009 - 6:09pm — dixiebrorh

Dog vomiting

To the person that wrote in about their dog vomiting. Have you noticed your neighbor skulking behind bushes and feeding your dog. It took 3 dogs before I wised up. And my dogs suffered for it.

Sat, 02/27/2010 - 12:17pm — fionamarymc

Dog Vomiting after eating

I had a problem with one of my dogs. My cousin is a vet and advised a homemade diet of chicken and rice for a few weeks. It made a great difference and after a few weeks I started to introdue commercial foods again slowely. He is now back on this full time and is doing great.