The Ultimate Pet Food Guide: Everything You Need to Know About Feeding Your Dog or Cat

by Liz Palika

The 2007 pet food recalls followed a multitude of pets getting sick and dying from contaminated food; now pet owners must take charge of what they feed their dogs and cats. With The Ultimate Pet Food Guide, veteran dog trainer, behaviorist, and author Liz Palika focuses on nutritional needs and covers every type of feeding, including controversial raw diets, homemade cooked food, and commercial foods. Palika also addresses introducing new foods; what “human foods” pets shouldn’t eat; free-feeding; responsibility for food safety; where ingredients come from; and red flags in ingredients. Included are over fifty veterinarian- and pet-nutritionist-approved recipes and diets tailored to special-needs pets, such as puppies/kittens and pregnant, older, overweight and/or more sedentary animals.

274 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[TomyAllen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of a dry book but not surprised given the content being covered.

The author did a great job breaking down information about basic digestion and nutrition for dogs and cats before getting into diets and supplements. It was probably the driest chapters, especially if you have any background knowledge on these topics, however its crucial building block information for feeding your pet.

And then the Author broke down and reviewed pros and cons of the major 3 types of diets...commercial, home cooked, and raw. I think some of it is a little out of date...no surprise since this was back in 2008 and pet nutrition is still being actively researched. However it was all very valid info.

The recipes for all the chapters were great as well and there were frequent reminders to make dietary changes for your pets slowly which is important.

And there was plenty of information about supplements as well which I really appreciated. There was even new things in there that I had no clue about.

And towards the end there was also a chapter surrounding treats. How much you should give, what ingredients you should keep an eye out for, and of course some custom healthy recipes.

Overall really informative. Could definitely use some updating with the newest info out there (like nutritional-DCM) but overall still very relevant. A little dry but the small tips and recipes helped break it up a bit.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and sensible guide to pet nutrition. I skipped over the dog stuff, mostly, but this is quite good overall. Gives an overview of different ways of feeding without being unrealistic or overly political, which I appreciated.