Friday, April 04, 2008
Diet & Nutrition
Pets and Their Owners Love the Incredible Edible Egg
Tips for preparing pets' meals using professionally developed recipes with eggs!
PARK RIDGE, Ill., April 11 /PRNewswire/ -- For pet owners who choose to prepare home-cooked meals for their dogs and cats, the following recipes that include eggs are a way to ensure that their pets receive the highest-quality protein naturally available. Whether as part of the human diet or pet diet, protein from eggs helps build muscle strength, among other benefits. One large egg, in fact, has 13 essential nutrients in varying amounts, including the highest quality protein; choline; folate; iron and zinc.
When choosing recipes to follow it's important that pet owners only use those developed by veterinarians or other animal nutrition experts. "Like humans, pets diets need to be well-balanced, so pet owners who want to prepare their pets meals should avoid feeding their pets table scraps," says Sean Delaney, who holds a masters in nutrition and a doctorate in veterinary medicine from the University of California, Davis, and works with Davis Veterinary Medical Consulting, which counsels pet food manufacturers on veterinary nutrition. "Although the majority of pet food brands are safe and nutritious, home-cooked pet food can be a good option
as long as pet owners follow veterinary-approved recipes."
Choose the right pet food recipes
As people begin to pay more attention to what their pets eat, more of them may choose to take control of their pets' diets to ensure safe, wholesome ingredients. "Pet owners who prepare their pet's meals should use
the same care they do when preparing their own family's meals," says William Bell, executive director of the New England Veterinary Medical Association and member of the New England Brown Egg Council. "They should seek out recipes that provide the maximum nutrition and use high-quality ingredients like eggs."
Because pet foods are complex and can be difficult to make, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) does not recommend that pet owners prepare their own food. However, for owners who choose to do so, the AVMA recommends that pet owners confer with their veterinarian and only use recipes designed by animal nutrition professionals.
To meet the needs of pet owners who still wish to make their own pet food, the American Egg Board worked with Davis Veterinary Medical Consulting (DVMC), a group of credentialed veterinary professionals, to create the following easy-to-follow recipes: Egg Doguignon and Egg Catiatore. DVMC also has a tool available that allows pet owners to customize these recipes based on the pet's age, gender, weight, and size, but owners should still consult with their vets to ensure their pets receive the proper nutrition and take their pets for regular check-ups.
EGG DOGUIGNON FOR FIDO
Recipe created by Davis Veterinary Medical Consulting for the American Egg Board
The following homemade recipe was specially created for Fido, a healthy 5-year-old male spayed Labrador Retriever using human supplements. Fido currently weighs 65 lbs., which is a healthy weight for him. Based on his weight, his calculated energy requirement is around 1417 Calories daily.The following recipe provides 1419 Calories daily.
Ingredients
3 and 2/3 carrots, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt
7 and 1/2 large, hard-cooked eggs
4 medium potatoes, with skin on, baked
7/8 teaspoon vegetable oil
4 cups beef broth or bouillon soup, ready-to-serve
Directions
Hard cook the egg in water until fully cooked; peel and discard the shell. Bake the potato in the oven without any added salt. Boil the carrots in water until fully cooked without added salt. Once cooked, measure the egg, potato, and carrots in the amounts above and cut into small pieces. Place the potato, egg, and carrot in a serving bowl and add the above amounts of beef broth*, oil and the necessary supplement. Mix well and
serve. *Please ensure that the beef broth does not contain added onion or garlic because these can be harmful to dogs. Note: The recipe must be followed exactly. Any alteration in amount or substitution of ingredients may cause adverse health consequences. Per Above Recipe: 1419 Calories; 21% protein calories (298 Calories);
33% fat calories (468 Calories); 46% carbohydrate calories (653 Calories); 85.3% moisture. Note: These percentages do not correspond to the percentages listed on commercially made food.
Monitoring: Please monitor Fido's weight and make sure he maintains his current healthy weight. If he begins to gain or lose weight, please contact his veterinarian. Fido should have regular visits with a veterinarian to check that his homemade diet is meeting his needs. The following dietary supplements are recommended with the above recipe:
-- 1 3/8 tablets (1.79 grams) of One A Day(R) Maximum
Multivitamin/multimineral Supplement per day
-- 2 1/8 caplets (3.83 grams) of Posture(R) caplet (600 mg elemental
calcium) per day
-- 5/8 tsp (3.50 grams) of Morton Lite Salt Mixture per day
-- 7/8 tablet (0.22 gram) of Generic zinc gluconate tablet (250 mg tablet
with 30 mg elemental zinc) per day
-- 5/8 capsule (1.21 grams) of Caltrate(R) 600 per day
**See HealthFitLabs.com for pet supplements, food, and treats. Click here!**
EGG CATIATORE FOR FLUFFY
Recipe created by Davis Veterinary Medical Consulting for the American Egg Board.
The following homemade recipe was specially created for Fluffy, a healthy 8-year-old male intact domestic short hair cat using human supplements. Fluffy currently weighs 10 lbs., which is a healthy weight for him. Based on his weight, his calculated energy requirement is around 305 Calories daily. The following recipe provides 307 Calories daily.
Ingredients
2 and 1/3 hard-cooked eggs
1/3 cup canned stewed tomatoes
1/2 cup enriched spaghetti
1/8 teaspoon vegetable or corn oil
Directions
Hard cook the egg in water, then peel and discard the shell. Cook the spaghetti in boiling water without any added salt. Once cooked, measure out the egg, spaghetti, and tomatoes in the amounts above and cut into small pieces. Place the spaghetti, egg, and tomato in a serving bowl and add the oil and the necessary supplement. Mix well to ensure that all essential nutrients are eaten. Note: The recipe must be followed exactly. Any alteration in amount or substitution of ingredients may cause adverse health consequences. Per Above Recipe: 307 Calories; 25% protein calories (77 Calories); 40% fat calories (123 Calories); 35% carbohydrate calories (107 Calories); 75.8% moisture. Note: These percentages do not correspond to the percentages listed on commercially made food.
Monitoring: Please monitor Fluffy's weight and make sure he maintains his current healthy weight. If he begins to gain or lose weight, please contact his veterinarian. Fluffy should have regular visits with a veterinarian to check that his homemade diet is meeting his needs.
The following dietary supplements are recommended with the above recipe:
-- 3/8 tablet (0.49 gram) of One A Day(R) Maximum
Multivitamin/multimineral Supplement per day
-- 5/8 caplet (1.13 grams) of Posture(R) caplet (600 mg elemental calcium)
per day
-- 1/8 tsp (0.70 gram) of Morton Lite Salt Mixture per day
-- 1/8 tsp (0.60 gram) of Morton Salt Substitute per day
-- 1/4 tablet (0.06 gram) of Generic zinc gluconate tablet (250 mg tablet
with 30 mg elemental zinc) per day
-- 1/8 capsule (0.24 gram) of Caltrate(R) 600 per day
For more information, contact the Egg Nutrition Media Hotline at
312-233-1211 or info@eggnutrition.org.
About the American Egg Board (AEB)
AEB is the U.S. egg producer's link to the consumer in communicating the value of the incredible egg and is funded from a national legislative checkoff on all egg production from companies with greater than 75,000
layers, in the continental United States. The board consists of 18 members and 18 alternates from all regions of the country who are appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture. The AEB staff carries out the programs under the board direction. AEB is located in Park Ridge, Ill. Visit http://www.aeb.org for more information.
About the Egg Nutrition Center (ENC)
ENC was established in 1979 for the purpose of providing commercial egg producers and processors, health promotion agencies, and consumers with a resource for scientifically accurate information on egg nutrition and the role of eggs in the health and nutrition of the American diet. The center exists under a cooperative agreement between the American Egg Board (AEB) and United Egg Producers (UEP). ENC is located in Washington, DC. Visit http://www.enc-online.org for more information.
About Davis Veterinary Medical Consulting, PC
Davis Veterinary Medical Consulting, PC (DVMC) advises veterinary medical professionals and the pet food industry on veterinary nutrition. With access to the largest group of independent veterinary nutrition consultants in the world, they offer an unmatched ability to meet the needs of any size company from start-up to international pet food corporation. DVMC's trend and market awareness is industry leading and enhanced by our proprietary software, Balance IT(R). Balance IT(R) is the revolutionary web-based veterinary nutrition software that is widely used by veterinary medical professionals and most clinically active veterinary nutritionists. Their line of Balance IT(R) supplements enable them to explore new concepts in nutritional therapies with custom homemade pet food recipes providing them with invaluable information on "what's next."