Pamper your pet

Have you been accustomed to pampering your pet and now cannot afford the high cost of the food? Have you ever given thought to making your own food? Well, I would like to share this story with you, because I had a first hand experience with it and it really is amazing stuff.

A friend of mine lived in Ecuador once and met a woman there who bred Rottwielers. Being a third world country, I think dog food was either too expensive or unavailable. I'm not sure of the reason, but I do remember that she made her own dog food. Her dogs were very beautiful and in perfect health, so I was told by my friend who used to live there, and all they ever ate was the food you will now be given the recipe for.

So my first hand experience with this amazing recipe involved visiting a relative who happened to be house-sitting for a couple who had gone away on vacation. While I was there, I was deeply concerned over an old, fore lorn looking German Shepard who was dragging around the yard as though on deaths door. As she walked her paws literally would drag the ground as though she had no energy to lift them any higher. The dog would not eat and sniffed at her dog food like it was something detestable. My heart was so moved by this poor dog, but apparently the owners had done all they could with the dog and were just waiting for her to die.

I remembered the recipe my friend had told me about when she came back from Ecuador and so I shared it with my relative. She asked, "would you like to make it"? That was all I needed, to have permission to make this recipe in a foreign kitchen, and so the search for the ingredients began. The ingredients are as follows:

• Brown rice
• Beef or Chicken broth
• Red potatoes
• Celery
• Carrots
• Cottage cheese
• Egg

I made a huge potful due to the size of the dog. So please modify the recipe according to the quantity you need. First I dumped 2 Cups of brown rice in a large pot. Add the broth and fill the pot at least halfway with water. Bring to a boil and then turn to medium heat for about 45 minutes, add more water when the rice is cooked to fill the pot about 3/4 . Meanwhile you wash and dice 1 lb. carrots and add to rice and water. Then cut up 3 or 4 large red potatoes into medium chunks, and about 6 celery stalks diced. When you have the veggies all cut up add to the rice, and let it simmer for another 1/2 hour or until the vegetables are nice and soft but not mushy. Add 6 raw eggs and at least a pint of cottage cheese or more. Stir all together until the cheese and egg are mixed in well and serve when cool enough to eat. Refrigerate the remaining ingredients.

So the rest of the story goes like this, we fed the dog the recipe and she literally scarfed it up like she was starving to death. This poor dog was hungry. Later that day we fed her more and after breakfast the following day she was pouncing around the backyard with the other dog like she was a pup. We could not believe our eyes. My relative continued to feed this to the dog until the owner came back and they were surprised to see the dog in such good condition. Unfortunately they resumed feeding her the same old dog food when the "recipe" ran out and so the dog died. I felt so bad for her, knowing she could have lasted a little longer had she been given some T.L.C.

Then much later my cat suffered an attack by another cat and was traumatized and quit eating. She went down to four pounds, I thought she was going to die. I hand fed her spoonfuls of a similar recipe modifying the recipe with tuna water (juice from tuna canned in water), and yogurt. She is still alive after 2 1/2 years ago experiencing such trauma. You can run it through the food processor if you want to mush it up for a small animal or for one that can't eat well.

However if you have any concerns over the recipe, please, do not hesitate to contact your veterinarian.