By Kellene Bishop
Making your own pet food has a lot of great benefits for the person who seeks to be self-reliant, but, it also comes with serious nutritional consequences if you’re unaware. So today I’m writing a critical follow-up to yesterday’s article on making your own pet food. While the food that I suggest you use to make your own pet food does contain great nutrients for your pet, canning the food depletes some of these critical nutrients. Even if you’re storing the food in the refrigerator or freezer you still run the risk of omitting key nutrients that your pets need. In fact, veterinarians discourage pet owners from making their own dog or cat food because the biggest mistake that people make when making their own pet food is the omission of calcium and other key nutrients.
With this in mind, you’ll note that I mentioned in the article yesterday that I feed a pinch of the food-grade diatomaceous earth to the girls once each day. I have plenty because of all of it’s varied uses, but there are a couple of other options though that won’t cost you a dime—it will simply be making wise use of what you’ve already got on hand.
Finely crushed egg shells are a great source of calcium for your pets and a calcium deficiency is noted as the #1 reason why hips and joints of our pets become compromised in their later years. Many gardening pros use crushed egg shells to fertilize their gardens and prized flowers, but rather than burying it, I say use it for your furry family members instead.
In order to use the egg shells for your pets, you will need to transform them into a powder like consistency. To do this, wash the egg shells to remove any unwanted particles. (Leave the membrane in tact if you can as it contains nutritional benefits.) Crush them with your hand or a meat cleaver to the best of your ability and then lay them on top of a large cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Allow them to completely dry for a day, then bake them for 10 minutes at 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Then you can put them in a coffee grinder or a good quality food processor. I was taught to grind to the consistency of baking powder. You can preserve the egg shell powder at room temperature. 1 teaspoon of egg shell powder has between 1,800 and 2,00mg of elemental calcium depending on how finely ground it is. (see U.S. Egg Board) A study published in Poultry Science (2000) referenced below, found that “ESP seems to have a beneficial composition with about 39% of elemental Ca, relevant amounts of Sr, and low levels of Al, Pb, Cd and Hg.”
Now, let’s move on to the other product that you can use to give quality nutrition to your cats and dogs—bone meal.
Ironically, bone meal is another ingredient that gardeners use in their soil to make more beautiful botanicals, though many often just bury the whole bones. But you can easily make your own bone meal out of chicken bones, rabbit bones, turkey bones, venison bones, bison bones, fish bones, Pork bones, and even beef bones.
I always make a hearty broth with my bones first by using my pressure cooker to beat the bejeebies out of the and extract every little bit of flavor I can. In many instances, the smaller bones are just liquefied during the pressure cooking process. (I then can or freeze this broth.) Then I lay the bones on a cookie sheet just like I do with the egg shells and let them dry for a day and then bake them in the oven for an hour at 375 degrees Fahrenheit or until they are dry and brittle. (Beef bones and pork bones take longer to dry out.) I then pulverize them in my food processor into a fine meal consistency. You can also store this at room temperature in a sealed container such as a Mason jar.
The same study which I referenced for egg shells states that 1 rounded teaspoon i.e. 3,000 mg contains calcium 1000 
mg, phosphorus 500 mg, magnesium 25 mg. That’s a lot of quality minerals there AND in a format that the animals can digest. Most people only think of calcium as being necessary for bone strength, but it’s also very important for good digestive strength AND for a quality immune system.
To make sure your furry family member gets sufficient vitamins and nutrients you can either put the ESP or the Bone Meal in their food when you serve it, or you can include it in the food that you prepare ahead of time. You’ll want to check on the guidelines specifically for your size pet to know how much calcium, phosphorus and magnesium that they need daily. (Do internet search for “daily nutrient needs for dog/cat/etc.)
If you’re not inclined to make your own egg shell powder, you can purchase egg shell powder (ESP) at your local feed store, but be sure that you’re NOT buying the kind that is intended for fertilizing your garden as it will contain nasty chemicals that you most certainly will not want to feed your pets. The same can be said about purchasing bone meal. Make sure that you’re getting food-grade bone meal and egg shells if you’re purchasing them!
Paying attention to these needs now will ensure that even if you’re faced with a crisis in which you can’t feed your pet this kind of nutrition, you’ve at least made their bodies and immune systems as strong as possible thus enabling them to endure stressful situations better.
Join us on Facebook - Follow us on Twitter - In-Home-Educational Programs - Subscribe to Preparedness Pro
For any questions or comments on this article, please leave a comment on the blog site so that everyone can benefit! © 2013 Of COURSE this post is Copyright Protected by Preparedness Pro/Kellene Bishop. All Rights Reserved. NO portion of this article may be reposted, printed, copied, disbursed, etc. without first receiving written permission by the author. (Then again, laws are only as good as the people who keep them.) Preparedness Pro/Kellene Bishop will pursue all violations of these rights just as vigorously as she does any of her other freedoms, liberties, and protections.
I have been doing this for quite some time now. I make up a batch of dog feed but we feed 1/2 homemade feed and 1/2 high quality kibble. Make sure you have enough fat in your feed to help with their skin and coats. I do the egg shells and I put a dozen eggs on and boil them and then process them through the food processor and put those in the food. My dogs really love this change and it much less expensive for us and the dogs look and act healthier!
Great two articles on caring for our furry children. I fully intend to try canning my own dog food. The idea of putting together a dry dog food mix of grains and veggies is also feasible and could save a gazillion dollars. In a fancy upscale pet supply store near my home, a bucket of dry food (oats, veggies, fruits, etc) is over $50. With your suggestions I know I can save a lot of money by preparing my own mix and then vacuum seal in jars.
There is a book on the market that bears reading. Sorry, but I can only remember a portion of the title- Dr. Pitcairn’s Guide to Natural….. Dr. P also advocates making your own food and vitamin powders.
One last tidbit, brewer’s yeast can be given to the critters and is reported to help with repelling fleas. Seems the yeast creates a substance that is exuded through the skin and is not tasty to the fleas.
I think that Dr. P. warns against using the brewers yeast due to possible bloating. They aren’t supposed to have yeast. Consuming the DE though will repel the fleas, ticks, and eliminate the worms inside.
Kellene,
Thank you for your invaluable feedback. I think I will try the DE route as that product has multiple uses. Always looking for ways to save money and not have unnecessary products around. When I made my dog food for my first very large Great Pyrenees (topped out at 150 lbs of love), I used rolled oats (Per Dr. P). Oats have beneficial skin features so I have been told. It was simple to measure out the oats pour on boiling water and let the oats soak up the water prior to mixing in the other ingredients including ground raw turkey, veggies, etc. Like some of your other readers I have encountered resistance from vets to making and using raw food but I did it anyway. Your little darlings are lucky to have you as a Mom.
My vet has cautioned me not to feed my dog cooked bones because dogs cannot digest them; but she didn’t state in what form (i.e. powdered or whole). I learned this the hard way after spending over $300 at the emergency vet because my dog wouldn’t stop vomiting or defecating loose stool after eating a chicken bone. Bone meal is listed as the fifth ingredient in the mass produced dog food I feed my dog, but I don’t know if it would be equivalent to the rounded teaspoon you reference in your post. Does the drying, baking and pulverizing make bones digestible for dogs?
Yes, the powdered form makes it digestible and safe for their innards.
Hi Kellene
Love your site and read it all the time. I have never posted a comment before but thought I would this time.
I have a Yorkie that was diagnosed with Chronic Pancreatitis and Diabetes in 2008. I was using the commercial dog foods prescribed for her and she was sick every few months with pancreatitis and we could never get her insulin adjusted so she frequently had urinary tract infections as well. Big vet bills!
I found a new vet and she suggested I make a homemade diet for her. She referred me to a Board Certified Nutritionist from the University of Tennessee. The nutritionist developed a diet for her based on her needs for her medical condition. She has not been sick since. I know a nutritionist is expensive but she worked with me for several months and never charged any extra for her work. Her diet consists of mixed veggies,( corn, green peas, green beans,carrots) I did ask about the corn. Dogs do not digest the hull of the corn but do get the nutrients from the inside of the kernel. Humans do not digest corn either. She also gets brown rice and turkey or chicken breast 99% fat free and of course supplements. Supplements are destroyed by heat so the ones that are not destroyed by heat, I cook in with the rice, (salt, oil,salt substitute) I put her vitamins and calcium in after the food cools down. If you can the food,
mix the calcium and vitamins into divided doses for each batch of food and add into the food when you feed it. I use GNC mega teen vitamins and NOW calcium carbonate 100% pure powder and I crush the vitamins to a fine powder.
I know this is a long post, but thought it might help those who have a dog with special medical problems.
Thanks for all your hard work, I look forward to reading your articles. You make it easier for all of us.
The only thing I would advise is you try to find a colloidal form of her vitamins so that she can absorb them. Calcium by itself doesn’t get used in the dogs digestive tract properly for the same reasons why it doesn’t in humans. There’s a double benefit to using food-grade DE as a nutrient is that it keeps the fleas and tics off of the pets and also helps with the digestion. Sounds like your another great Pet Parent! Thanks for sharing! Sharing is never too long.
I have asked every vet I ever met about diatomaceous earth including horse vets. They have all told me the same thing: DE does not get rid of worms.
Well, I may not have gone to vet school, but I sure did my research specifically on diatomaceous earth; between that and taking care of a dog that had this problem at home, I’m confident that it does indeed take care of worms. The…er…evidence, though nasty, was obvious.
If it is outside the standard vet training and somewhat alternative methods of pet care, a vet will almost always say no. The same happens when talking to a personal physician about treatments such as homeopathic remedies. One gets the funniest looks. The only doctor that has half way agreed to my forays into alternative medicine was trained in Canada. Don’t know if that has anything to do with it but after going through multiple rounds of shots for a skin condition that did not clear up I tried an alternative treatment. And it worked and I told him. Long and short- we research try and evaluate it in our own situation. We are ultimately responsible for our own care not someone or some government.
Thank you for this wonderful article! For a long time I’ve been feeding my dogs a hamburger/rice/vegetable mix along with their dry store bought kibble. They like real people food so much better!
I have been looking for a way to make a good dry long lasting food for them.
Was there an email post yesterday on making your own dog food? I didn’t receive it but was able to click on the link in this post.
Your dogs are so cute! Before you showed their pictures I imagined you with big dobermans!
LOL…shhhh….they think they ARE big Dobermans
I’ve been thinking about making pet food for awhile but I’ve been afraid to pull the trigger. Learning I could actually make it in advance and can it will get me closer to starting. I feed medium quality feed store dry and supplement my border collie (who is always too thin) with a can a day, and the cats get half and half dry/wet. I’ve lost 3 cats to bladder crystals, the result of too much salt in cat food, I’m told. Feed has literally doubled in cost in the past year, but I’m still reluctant to go fresh because we go through 200# of dog food and 50# of cat food a month. That’s a lot of food to have to replace from the fridge and my labor. I could see having a dry mix and adding the meat or canned food day to day. It has to be easy for my husband and my housesitter. I’d love to have a recipe for the dry food.
I would also like a recipe for a dry and a wet dog food. I have three dogs and spend a lot of money on food and vet bills. I think homemade food would be so much better.
Great Info. THANK YOU. Wish you had Dry Treats for Cats recipe. Could really use them.
But after reading all and comments, one thing I found was the garlic. I understand that too much can cause problems. Thank you for that knowledge. But one thing you said, that you don’t have any Garlic in your house at all. I would Die. I love, Love garlic. For me, no home is complete without it.
But I do want to say Thank you again for your Great post and info.
LOL
Uh, nope, I didn’t say that I didn’t have any garlic in my house at all. Just no garlic in the kiddo’s food. Garlic is a must for anyone who considers themselves a good cook.
This blog is amazing!!! I do have one question on this topic though. For the dried up egg shells, can you used the shells of the eggs that have been coated with mineral oil? or would that not be good for the dog?
Thank you so much for this blog and all the information in it!!
Yes, you can do that, but if you’re going to use them for that, I’d coat the eggs with jojoba oil instead which would actually be GOOD for the dog since mineral oil is a petroleum product.