It is neither difficult, costly or time consuming to feed your dog healthy. My dogs actually eat a lot of the same foods I do! When I make my weekly bone broth I make a large pot in my slow cooker. It is enough to last my two dogs and I almost two weeks. What I don’t use immediately I pour into glass mason jars and freeze.
You can make fresh, delicious, homemade kefir for half the cost of buying it in the store. When I make my own there is always plenty to go around. Once you have your starter kefir, you can re-culture it 2-7 times. You can drink it plain, add flavoring or use it in a handful of recipes such as this one!
This smoothie contains probiotics, prebiotics, healing bone broth, anti-inflammatory turmeric, and soothing pumpkin which promotes healthy bowels in dogs. You can mix this into your dog’s daily meal or serve it alone as a beverage.
This recipe is designed for a 50-60 pound dog as a full meal. You can cut it in half or in fourths for smaller dogs.
Ingredients:
1 cup pureed pumpkin canned or homemade (100 calories)
1 1/2 cups bone broth (52-100 calories)
1/4-1/2 cup kefir milk (25 calories for whole milk)
1/2 tablespoon coconut oil (60 calories)
1 whole free range egg (80 calories)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric (powdered)
Instructions: Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth! Delicious!
Probiotics are the beneficial bacterial strains that naturally populate dog and cat GI tracts. Animals with gastrointestinal sensitivities, irregularities, intermittent vomiting, diarrhea, animals fighting cancer, auto immune disease, organ degeneration and detoxification challenges all benefit from probiotic supplementation.
Pumpkin Pumpkin is a readily available food that has useful properties when used as medicine. It’s a great source of digestible fiber, which has lots of benefits. It releases certain chemicals that act to improve the movement of food through the intestine. This aids in the digestion process.
In Chinese medicine, pumpkin has properties that help prevent diseases of the digestive tract.
Bone Broth Feeding your pet vitamin and mineral rich chicken and vegetable broth is one of the simplest and least expensive ways to improve their digestion and overall health. Vegetable broth is naturally full of proteins, vitamins and minerals, and it brings acidity and alkalinity back into balance. Use human grade ingredients, and, if your budget allows, it’s best to choose organic ingredients.
Kefir Milk contains anti-cancer, anti-tumor and anti fungal properties. It is rich in vitamins A ,B and D. It boosts your pets immune system and can help with a variety of health issues such as itching, scratching and licking due to allergies, excessive shedding , poor skin and coat, indigestion, irritable bowel syndrome, vomiting, loose stool or constipation, weight issues and bad breath.
Coconut Oil is an excellent source of nutrition. Coconut oil is an incredible source of medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs), which have been shown to have many health benefits. It elevates the metabolism, provides energy and vitality, protects from illness and speeds healing. It contains antimicrobial, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal properties. It can improve your dogs skin and coat, improve digestion and reduces allergic reactions.
Eggs provide beneficial fatty acids and high energy, high quality protein. It is best to use free range, organic eggs. They must be fresh to reduce any chances of contamination by harmful bacteria. Before serving raw egg, you can test it for freshness. Be sure the yolk is whole and the white is somewhat congealed, not runny like water. Smell it for freshness and poke the yolk gently with your pinkie, it should be firm. The yolk should be bright yellow to dark orange, the darker and closer to orange in color, the more nutritious.
Turmeric is a natural, anti inflammatory, that helps heal the gut, support the microbiome, and promote good brain function as well as having anti-cancer properties.
Recipe courtesy of Cultures For Health
Dr. Becker’s Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats
Raw and Natural Nutrition For Dogs-Lew Olsen
Elle Harris CPT
