Customer Reviews

The Ultimate Diet : Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read all the reviews of the other books and found this one to be the easiest and the most "natural" which is the purpose of this exercise! I copied her menu plan, meal components, amounts and carry them when I shop! One idea as a novice in this area that I have found to be the quick & dirty preparation key... get a meat/food grinder! I throw all the veggies and some raw meat (their first course) into the grinder and the dogs gobble it up! From there I go to the other items suggested in the book such as chicken or turkey parts.... and then desert....the raw bone with some meat on it! My two Airedales get excited about meal time for the first time!! All raw, all natural and all great! You should see their teeth after just a few weeks! I'll never go back to ''dog food''.... you won't either!

Having read just about every book on natural/raw/whole foods diets for dogs, I must say that this one is the most restrictive, as it does not allow any grains, dairy products (incl. organic yogurt with active cultures), or raw honey (which many experienced breeders using holistic methods consider a "must" in dog rearing). Instead of modeling her dogs' diet on that of wolves and wild dogs and allowing changes to best tailor the diet to the individual dog, Schultze seems determined to replicate the wild canine diet in every way possible (though she does recommend mega doses of vitamin C, flax seed oil, and a couple of other supplements which wouldn't be found in the wild). She also has the bad habit of passing off some rather controversial opinions as scientific fact without providing any footnotes to back up her claims. Having said all that, the diet she recommends (which basically consists of raw muscle and organ meats, raw meaty bones, crushed veggies, eggs, and supplements -- fruit, nuts, and seeds are optional) is biologically appropriate and easy to follow for those new to raw feeding. She even provides a sample monthly menu, and the holistic yellow pages at the end are a nice touch.

All in all, not a bad book to start with, though you will definitely want to learn more about canine nutrition. If you have a dog with cancer or severe food allergies, Schultze's diet may be just what you've been looking for, but I feel it is unnecessarily restrictive for young, healthy animals. I urge you to read other books on this topic (in particular Levy and Billinghurst), keep an open mind, and be prepared to experiment a little to figure out what works best for your dogs. Remember: There's no one diet that's optimal for every dog.

This is a really great book if you are thinking that whole foods is so good for humans, why don't we feed our dogs a canine version?

The author goes into why and how for doing a whole foods diet for our canine friends. It covers what dogs need in their diet and what foods work best to meet this need. Discussion includes supplements, where to get them, and how to prepare the various portions of the diet so our dogs get the most good from it.

The author also includes sample diet pages for several weights of dog and pages for working out diets for our own dogs.

Very interesting read.

If you have been thinking about feeding your pets a healthier, more natural, species-specific diet, this is the operations manual. It has a complete review of the compelling benefits of a natural diet without being exhaustive or too scientific. It's also the easiest to implement, by consolidating high-level menus into easy-to-read formats. It has some great testimonials in the back as well.

Wolves and lions don't eat cereal. Well, duh! Why would they? They're carnivores after all, built to run on raw meat and bones. Guess what? So are their domesticated cousins, our own beloved canines and felines. Yet we expect them to thrive on dry kibble and cooked by-products, made from stuff declared unfit for human consumption. There is a better alternative. You feed your human family real food. You can do the same for your four-legged family members. In The Ultimate Diet, animal nutritionist Kymythy Schultze tells you how. It's a short, easy read, packed full of vital information that can make a huge difference in your pet's health and quality of life. If you're skeptical, start with the back section of success stories. Then jump to the front for the truth about commercial pet foods and answers to common questions about raw homemade diets: Which ingredients? How much? And what about germs? Our family animals have been fortunate enough to benefit from Kymythy's personal nutritional recommendations for more than two years, and we've been delighted with the results. Now, The Ultimate Diet offers that same knowledge to everyone. Do your carnivores a favor. Get this book and start giving them real food.

I wrote this littel, handy booklet in less then 2 hours, not bad for a foreign! I really love the size; and the yellow pages and the blank menu and food diary pages. But yet, if you'd like to do it right, you MUST to learn more! Here in Europe we don't have any nutrition consultant, and very few pet healthy stores, so I have to learn by myself what is realy healthy for my cats, and belive me when I say that is hard to find good books about healthy nutrition whitout the internet.

I can say: buy this book if you intend to switch youre furry friend on a healthy home made diet, but please learn and read more! If you live in America, consult youre holistic vet or nutritionalist, they will help you learn! Good luck and don't forget to hugge and kiss youre pet when he/she finish the meal, they diserve it!!!:-))

I read this book out of curiosity and looking for a better diet for my pet. The ideas are based on common sense and it is tough, at times, to get through the authors personal belief system on the subject. Her writing does not seem to come from any professional background or research, making it all a bit hard to swallow. It does seem logical that dogs and cats should not eat what the food stores pass as edible food, but maybe humans should not as well. A bit more thought and academic dietary training might have made the book more substantial.