Many pet owners thought that by spending a lot of money buying premium dog food brands, they were ensured that their pets were consuming the best.
How wrong could they have been? The recent pet food scare has left many owners feeling quite unsure about the way forward in giving one's pets the best available.
That's where homemade foods spring to mind, where you are in control of what your pet is fed. The Angela Day helpline has been inundated with callers looking for old-fashioned solutions, recipes for pet food.
We have discovered that the homemade option needs a lot more than a few tasty titbits. Feeding pets requires a thorough understanding of the specific nutritional needs of the animal. This covers the nutritive value of different foodstuffs, dietary interactions and methods of preparation and storage.
So feeding Rover a balanced diet, according to the experts, is not as straightforward as it seems and needs considerable time, effort and expertise.
Just like their owners, dogs need a balanced diet which contains just the right amount of protein, fat and carbohydrate, as well as 13 different vitamins and minerals to ensure they stay in peak condition.
Not only must these nutrients be present, they must also be in the correct amounts and proportions to provide a nutritionally complete and balanced diet.
The idea of a balanced homecooked doggy dinner seems to have been poo-poohed by the experts. A diet of meat alone, we are told, is not suitable for dogs.
But what of years gone by, when there were no ready-made pet foods?
Most dogs probably had leftovers or specially home-cooked food, mindful that the ancestors of our dogs would have consumed the whole body of their prey. That would have provided the essential nutrients which are missing from a purely muscle meat diet.
Today veterinarian experts maintain that pets have added longevity due to the quality of commercial pet food. I stumbled upon an interesting little booklet tucked away among the hundreds of glossy cookbooks that grace the Angela Day reference shelves.
Many years ago, the affable second-hand book expert Nick Zehnder came into our offices clutching an unusual gem, Cooking for Discrimination Dogs, by the Bryan County Human Society.
I perused it with bemusement and stashed it away, not believing a cookery column would ever have the need for it. Then came the pet food crisis.
The booklet was devised as a way of raising money for the society. It startswith a chapter on how to be a responsible pet owner.
It is divided into recipes for dogs, including a recipe for "upset tummy doggy diet" a geriatric doggy dish and a puppy formula, and then it's on to Finicky Felines and ends with a section of treats for birds and other pets.
We put a couple of the recipes to the test and, if the aroma in the Angela Day Test Kitchen was anything to go by as the biscuits baked, we felt very tempted to give them the taste test.
Please note these are doggy treats and do not contain all the correct minerals and vitamins to be a balanced dog food.
500ml rice flour
300ml chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 extra large egg
60ml fresh parsley, chopped
250ml wholewheat flour
Mix all ingredients together. Knead until well blended, using more wholewheat flour if needed. Roll out into 1,5cm thickness. Cut out with cutters as desired or into squares. Bake at 150°C for 60-90 minutes.
375ml wholewheat flour
375ml cake flour
250ml rye flour
250ml oats
250ml mealie meal
5ml salt
5ml garlic powder
1 extra large egg
125ml oil
375ml beef stock - best if you make your own
Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.Add the egg, oil and stock. Mix well. The dough should not be too soft but just firm enough to roll. Add additional flour or stock as needed. Roll out to a 1cm thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut out circular shapes using cookie cutters. Place slightly apart on a baking tray sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Use a toothpick to poke small indentations in biscuits. Bake at 150°C for 2 hours. Turn off oven and allow to cool in the oven. Store in an airtight container for up to three months.
250ml whole wheat flour
3ml bicarbonate of soda
5ml ground ginger
5ml ground cinnamon
3ml cloves
125ml brown sugar
3 x 250ml wheat bran
2 extra large eggs, well beaten
125ml molasses or honey
125ml milk
125ml melted butter or margarine
Combine all dry ingredients. Add eggs, molasses, milk and margarine. Mix well. Drop teaspoonfuls onto baking tray sprayed with non stick cooking spray. Bake at 180?C for 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown.
625ml wholewheat flour
125ml full cream milk powder
3ml salt
3ml garlic powder
90ml margarine or butter
1 extra-large egg, beaten
5ml brown sugar
125ml cold water
Preheat oven to 180?C. Combine all the dry ingredients. Rub in the margarine until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Mix in the egg and add enough water for the mixture to form a ball. Pat out the dough to 1cm thickness and cut out biscuits or shape into a pretzel. Bake on a baking tray sprayed with a non-stick cooking spray for 30 minutes.