Dr. Becker's Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats: Simple Homemade Food

I was very excited about the possibility to make my own real food for my soon- to- be- puppy.The meat, well, I thought and still think we could acquire that with relative ease.The price of the meat grinder was high, but figured it would all even out in the end.We were even willing to get another chest freezer for the pet's food.Then I read about the additional supplements (quite a few) and the schedule of the feeding and rotations of meals. Then I started pricing all the supplements and calculating how much money it would cost to stock up...and I realized that I would be biting off more than I could chew.The expense I was getting ready for, but had no idea that it was going to be SO expensive (and I was willing for investing $1700 plus the meat and eggs and veggies and time to prepare and grind and debone). Even with a friend willing to help out with the making of it, I found the cost and the keeping track of this and that to feed the puppy as he grew would be an inordinate amount for me...and I manage alot of things! The details of the supplements overwhelmed me. I wish it was organized easier for my brain to process. Get ready for a lot of calculations which are necessary to provide a balanced meal so there are no health issues down the road. I had to flip flop from one page to another and do a lot of math to figure out what exact measurements I needed. I am sure it is worth it all if you can swing it all.So I guess what I am saying is, if it were just me and my hubby, I would totally go for it.Maybe in a year or two I will revisit the possibility, but the dog food I will be purchasing will be adequate. I will be feeding grain free...so this book helped to reinforce that idea in my head.

I consider that the home-cooked diet plus vitamins and minerals recommended in this book contributed a lot to the comfort of my female cat that died last December at the age of 19 years and 1 month. She had, for years, inexplicably been vomiting her food--usually soon after eating it. None of the vets I consulted at that time could do anything for it. But after a week or so on Dr. Becker's diet (which I admit takes a bit of finicky shopping to find the right supplements in the right amounts and doing calculations to get the right proportions in the powder you make, plus a certain amount of time to prepare the actual foods), she stopped all that vomiting.By the way, soon after I was told about her kidney trouble, which eventually proved fatal, I found information online that led me to add a drop of Ubiquinol (easier to assimilate than CoQ10) in her food, and she lived an amazingly long time after the vet (a great one whom we found after the others I mentioned earlier) had expected her to be on her last legs--a couple of years or more.I understand that a new edition of this book came out a while ago, so I can't speak for that one, but hope that the vitamin/mineral mix you prepare is explained in a slightly more helpful, easy-to-follow way. Even if it isn't, you just make it once, and for the amounts a cat consumes in a day, the mixture will last you a long, long time! A big dog? Then you would have to do the work more often.By the way, Dr. Becker now puts out a container of Ubiquinol for pet use that just dispenses a drop at a time and protects what is in the container from oxydizing. You can find it through Dr. Mercola's newsletter. I wasted many capsules of Ubiquinol for humans before this form of it came out, as once I had pierced them to squeeze out a drop or two (whose flavor my cat hated, too, by the way), I had to discard them. I wonder if the new edition of the book also mentions this important supplement.

Pay now or pay later when it comes to your pet's health and wellbeing. I want my cats to live long, healthy, comfortable lives. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Dr. Becker is awesome! I am grateful that she is spreading awareness about species appropriate food. I am very happy with this book, it is all I needed to get my cats off dry and onto her raw recipes. She has videos and articles online about switching dry food addicts. I was successful at switching 3 dry addicts to Dr. Becker's raw recipes.

Dr. Becker is my favourite online holistic vet, she explains all the details that normal vets don't have the time and/or patience to tell you. This book is very detailed and explains all you pet needs. Although is in American measurements you still can puts things together and find out the best for your pet.Highly recommended.

Good book but is hard to get all ingidients

I studied dog diet for several years to learn how to property feed my Yorkie home cooked meals. By properly I mean ratios etc. Along with few others, this book, in my opinion is one of the best sources of valuable information for preparing food for your four legged pal. Easy to read, understand & follow. Super Glad I got this book of Dr. Beckers. Thank you so much.

Disappointed with the content and quantity of papers for the price. This book should not be more than $15 in my opinion

It was way over priced for a thin paper back book with little new information, And it coyuld have been even thinnner