Customer Reviews

Real Food for Cats: 50 Vet-Approved Recipes to Please the Feline Gastronome

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

UPDATE 5/14/07: Because there is a mystifying dispute between those readers who see onions (harmful to cats) in these recipes and those who don't, here's an easy way to see for yourself and make an informed decision. Use the excellent Amazon feature "Search Inside This Book." Either key in the word "onion" and click "Go" to see how many pages list onions in the recipes (I find 22) or choose the "Surprise me" option and click it repeatedly -- it took only 4-5 clicks for me to find "Kitty Tacos" with 1/2 cup onion listed as the second ingredient.

Original April 2007 review:
WARNING: Onions are toxic to cats, and these recipes are full of onions.

While a few recipes in this book may be safe, it's hard to trust that because many recipes specifically for cats contain onion -- and ABBEY, whose review 32 people found helpful, is dead wrong that this is only the "people recipes at the end of the book." (Sorry, ABBEY, but I did read and comprehend the information.)

Don't be swayed by my saying so -- please judge for yourself. With the pet food recall, we all need to watch out for each other and, more importantly, for our precious cats. Below, I have copied page 23 verbatim, and it is NOT one of the "people recipes" at the end of the book:

"Tuna Cakes
Cats will race even faster to the sound of a whirring can opener if they think you're about to prepare this tasty and nutritious dish.
2 eggs
1 6-ounce can tuna, drained, and flaked
1 small ONION, finely chopped
4 slices bread, cubed into kitty size bits
1/2 teaspoon iodized salt
1 teaspoon brewer's yeast
1 teaspoon bonemeal
2 tablespoons margarine

1. Beat the eggs lightly in a bowl. Add the tuna, ONION, bread cubes, salt, brewer's yeast, and bonemeal. Mix thoroughly until moistened.
2. Form into small patties. Melt the margarine in a skillet and fry the patties until golden brown. When cool, crumble each patty and serve.
Makes 3 to 5 servings."

On page 25, the Fish Chowder specifically for cats calls for 1 glove garlic, minced and 2 tablespoons finely chopped ONION. On page 27, the Boogaloo Shrimp, again, in a recipe supposedly specifically for cats, the first ingredient is 1/2 chopped ONION. Page 32, the recipe for Chicken with Greens, there is a warning about introducing cats gradually to greens because they can be sensitive to it, but no warning about the 1 clove garlic in the recipe or on page 33, the Chicken Salad that calls for 1 tablespoon finely chopped ONION. The "people" recipes ABBEY refers to, called "Tandem Cooking" by the author, do not begin until page 81.

I am extremely disappointed I bought this potentially dangerous book and applaud the reviewer Cordelia Wright who is researching the vet who wrote the preface.

This is not a time to stand on ceremony when pet health is at stake from commercial food -- we need reliable sources of information about safe food, and this book is not it for the reasons previous reviewers have stated. Buyer, please beware.

I have complained to Amazon about continuing to promote and sell this book in the face of the pet food scare (a sick irony that people avoiding tainted commercial food turn to a so-called "vet-approved" recipe book containing recipes that will harm their cats!), and I have written a complaint to the book's publisher. I'm also pursuing getting a journalist involved to warn the public and find out how this book's author can claim these recipes are "vet-approved" when no vet would say giving onions to cats is safe.

Before you even CONSIDER buying this book, take a few seconds to try this instructive little exercise: type "feed onions cats" (without the quotation marks) into your browser's search field, and see what comes up. ONIONS ARE TOXIC TO CATS. Cats are obligate carnivores, and many common plant compounds that humans ingest daily are actually poisonous to them. I wish that there were some way to get this book out of Amazon.com's database.

Many thanks to Cat Rescuer (see below) for being the first to spot this unbelievable incompetence and warn unsuspecting cat owners away from this "cookbook". This review is largely a repetition of what Cat Rescuer has already said; I just added this one on to knock a star off of the book's rating. Please feel free to do the same.

Take a close look at the sample recipes: they are full of onion. Something entirely unsafe to feed your cat. This is not possibly a vet-approved book.

UPDATE: I wrote to the publisher and was informed that there are two editions of the book. The second edition has eliminated the onions from the recipes intended for cats. The bookstore which had supplied the book via Amazon promptly sent me a copy of the second edition. The recipes as they now stand are apparently fine, though I would recommend checking with your vet before you bake.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: I am so disappointed. Continuing to sell/publish this book is irresponsible. As two recent reviews have noted, the recipes are full of ONIONS and, occasionally, GARLIC, both toxic to cats (onions can cause Heinz's Anemia). One other review wrote that the onions were confined to the "people food" section of the book, but this is not true. There are onions everywhere. I agree that this book cannot possibly be vet approved, and I intend to do some research into the guy, a vet, who wrote the preface. His Latin is fake, and so, to my great disappointment, is the potential security and well being proffered by these recipes. I am going to return the book. Even if one leaves the garlic out, can one really trust that the author's nutrional advice is sound ? With great disappointment, I recommend that you stay far away from this book, even though the illustrations are charming.

Onions can cause Heinz's Anemia in cats. I would not take my cat to any vet that approved feeding onions to a cat. This book has dangerous recipes. Spend your money on better book.

(update:5/14/07)A few years ago in 2004 I wrote a review here of this dangerous book and was the first to point out that many of the recipes call for onions, which are extremely HARMFUL to cats! It seems that Amazon has now "disappeared" my review despite the fact that several others have also witnessed this gross negligence on the part of the author and the so-called "vet" that approved these recipes. My original review is referred to in another review here and there was absolutely nothing I wrote in my review that wasn't true and correct. That in and of itself is exactly why nobody should buy this book. With the pet food recall going on, people who buy this book with the notion of home cooking to avoid harming their pets are going be heartbroken still when their cats develop hemolytic anemia from feeding them ONIONS AND GARLIC, neither of which should be give to cats AT ALL. The vet that "approved" these recipes should lose his license to practice. It is clear from some of the reviews here that there are ignorant and comprehension-challenged people that are completely clueless about the dangers of onions and garlic to cats and will happily dish out some of these onion-containing homemade toxic concoctions to their cats then wonder what happened when they get sick and possibly die. That is specifically why this book should not be sold on Amazon or anywhere for that matter. Taking accurate and truthful warning reviews off this site IS censorship and is ethically indefensible. However, removing a book that has the potential to kill a beloved pet is not. As I stated in my previous- now missing- review, I wanted to give this book ZERO stars but the worst they have as an option to give is one.

I didn't buy the book and I won't. I searched inside and saw all kinds of flour and bread being used in these recipes. Good grief, why are we feeding cats things they haven't evolved to eat? No wonder so many cats are ending up as fat and diabetic as their owners.

This book should be recalled and destroyed.
Feeding onions to cats??

How on earth did this book ever get past the editing stage?
Unbelievable!

There are no serving sizes per recipe of by weight of cat. Calories are missing. How can I feed my cats a healthy diet without this vital information?

I was all set to purchase this book in a grocery store after reviewing the contents and wanting to provide a healthy alternative for my cats. I had NO idea that onions are not safe for cats, even though I've had one for almost my entire life. If nothing else, you saved two cats! Thanks! And Amazon, get this off your shelves! Here's a great tip for everyone: NEVER buy anything until you read the reviews on Amazon first! This isn't the first time a review has saved me from making a bad buying decision!