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Every pet deserves a homemade meal. This cookbook was created to help pet parents prepare balanced, nutritious meals using Holistic Vet Blend premixes.
Table of Contents
- Quickstart Guide
-
Supplement Information: Premixes
-
Limited Recipe Guide
-
Regular Recipe Guide
- Supplement Information: Omega-3 Fatty Acids
- Recipes (Link to Recipe Page)
Quickstart Guide
At Holistic Vet Blend®, or HVB for short, we know your pet's diet is the cornerstone of their health. Here, we've created a simple quickstart guide to help you navigate how to choose the best diet for your pet. HVB offers balanced, customizable options we know your furry friends will enjoy. Just follow the steps below to get started!
Step 1: Choose a Blend
Holistic Vet Blend® boasts four nutrient-rich blends: Canine Limited Blend, Canine Regular Blend, and our Feline and Feline Senior Blends. We also have high-quality Omega-3 fish oil.
Step 2: Pick a Cooking Method
The kitchen is all about comfort. Whether you prefer a pressure cooker, slow cooker, or the stovetop, Holistic Vet Blend® recipes are made to fit your cooking habits, whatever your equipment of choice may be., Holistic Vet Blend® recipes are made to fit your cooking habits, whatever your equipment of choice may be.
Step 3: Find a Recipe
Our recipe ingredient categories give you countless recipe options to choose from for your pet.
Step 4: Cook for Your Pet
Our motto is simple: Every pet deserves a homemade meal. Cooking for your pet is one of the easiest ways to play an active role in their health and wellness.
Step 5: Feed and watch them enjoy!
This is the easy part! Now that you have completed all the necessary steps sit back and let your pet enjoy. For recommended amounts, refer to Feeding Guide. You don’t have to feed home cooked exclusively. You can use it to complement the kibble that you are feeding for a “real food upgrade”.
Supplement Information: Premixes
Canine Limited Premix
Our Canine Limited Premix is made from a thoughtfully chosen combination of essential vitamins and minerals, tailored for pets with allergies or food sensitivities.
- Calcium carbonate (calcium source)
- Dicalcium phosphate (calcium, phosphorus source)
- Psyllium Husk powder (soluble fiber source)
- B Vitamin Blend (source of B vitamins & probiotic)
- Choline chloride (B vitamin for metabolism and nervous system health)
- Zinc sulfate (essential mineral)
- Kelp (Iodine source)
- Ginger (antioxidant and improves palatability)
- Vitamin E (antioxidant)
- L- Taurine (amino acid important for cardiac health and metabolism)
- Selenium yeast (antioxidant and essential mineral)
- Copper gluconate (essential mineral for metabolism)
- Vitamin D3 (essential vitamin for bone and immune system health)
- Vitamin A (essential vitamin)
Limited Recipe Guide
Canine Limited Blend is made with 6 recipe components:
Ingredients Blueprint
- Meat: 3 pounds (one or a mix of beef, bison, venison, lamb, chicken, turkey, fish, pork, elk)
- Vegetables: 1 pound chopped carrots & 4-8 ounces of one or a mix of broccoli, kale, or spinach, chopped and cooked
- Carbs: 5 cups (one or a mix of sweet potato, russet potato, quinoa, brown rice, white rice, rolled oats, macaroni, pearl barley)
- Oil: 2 tablespoons coconut oil
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Omega-3: One omega-3 option (choose one):
- 2 teaspoon HVB Icelandic Omega-3 fish oil, or
- 1 teaspoon HVB Green Omega-3, or
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two 3.75 oz tins of sardines (in water)
- Premix: 2 tablespoons/30 grams of Holistic Vet Blend® Limited Premix
This recipe yields approximately 6 pounds of food or 12-14 cups, depending on ingredient choices. One canister of HVB contains enough premix for 8 recipes, so it will ultimately yield 45-50 pounds of food. Keep up to 4 days of food in the refrigerator and freeze the rest.
You can prepare this recipe in a pressure cooker, stove top, or in a slow cooker.
This recipe is easily prepared with ingredients added to a 6 quart pressure cooker with the premix and omega-3 source added after the cooking process. (Holistic Vet Blend Regular Blend has more vegetables and fits better in an 8 quart pressure cooker.) Keep up to 4 days of food in the refrigerator and freeze the rest.
The stove top is my second favorite way to cook this blend. You can cook each of the items separately. The meat is sautéed in 2 tablespoons coconut oil. The fish is baked in the oven. You could cook the rice in a rice cooker or on the stove top, bake or steam the potatoes, and cook the quinoa with broth or water. You can chose kale or spinach and sauté them with the meat or steam broccoli separately. Steam the diced or frozen carrots. Combine all items and add the premix after cooking.
Canine Regular Premix
This blend was designed to have more flexibility in adding vegetables and contains grass-fed beef as a nutrient-rich source of vitamins and minerals. You chose your protein and vegetables from two categories and an option to add eggs, blueberries, apples or cranberries.
- Calcium carbonate (calcium source)
- Grass-fed beef liver (grass-fed organ meat rich in B vitamins & amino acids)
- Dicalcium phosphate (essential mineral)
- Psyllium (soluble fiber source)
- Nutritional yeast (rich source of B vitamins and probiotic)
- Pumpkin meal (source of fiber, potassium & antioxidants)
- Icelandic Kelp (Iodine source and trace minerals)
- Ginger (antioxidant and improves palatability)
- Vitamin E (antioxidant)
- Zinc citrate (essential mineral)
- L- Taurine (amino acid important for cardiac health and metabolism)
- Copper gluconate (essential mineral for metabolism)
Regular Recipe Guide
Canine Regular Blend is made with 8 recipe components:
Ingredients Blueprint
- Meat: 3 pounds (one or a mix of beef, bison, venison, lamb, chicken, turkey, fish, pork, elk)
- Carbs: 5 cups (one or a mix of sweet potato, russet potato, quinoa, brown rice, white rice, rolled oats, macaroni, pearl barley)
- Oil: 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- Vegetables: 3/4 pound Leafy Veg of one or a mix of kale, broccoli, spinach, asparagus & 3/4 pound Mixed Veg of one or a mix of peas, carrots, green beans, zucchini, or squash
- Fruits: 4 ounces of one or a mix of apples, blueberries, cranberries
-
Omega-3: One omega-3 option (choose one):
- 2 teaspoons HVB Icelandic Omega-3 fish oil, or
- 1 teaspoon HVB Green Omega-3, or
-
two 3.75 oz tins of sardines (in water)
- Eggs: 1-2 eggs (optional)
- Premix: 3 tablespoons/30 grams of Holistic Vet Blend® Limited Premix
This recipe yields approximately 6 pounds of food or 12-14 cups, depending on ingredient choices. One canister of HVB contains enough premix for 8 recipes so will ultimately yield 45-50 pounds of food. Keep up to 4 days of food in the refrigerator and freeze the rest.
Holistic Vet Blend® Canine Regular Blend balances a recipe that gives more options for adding different vegetables, and even blueberries, apples or cranberries. It also contains nutrient rich grass-fed beef liver. There is a little more preparation for this recipe but it has flexibility and diversity of ingredients.
Supplement Information: Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Omega-3 fatty acids offer a range of health benefits that can provide vital nutrients for your pet’s diet. Our recipe gives you the flexibility to add Holistic Vet Blend® Icelandic Omega-3 fish oil, sardines, mackerel, wild salmon or the fish oil dose recommended by your veterinarian. Simply prepare the blend and add the recommended amount upon serving.
Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexanoic acid (DHA) Omega-3 fatty acids are important for immune and nervous system function as well as have anti-inflammatory effects. A study done with dogs that had intervertebral disc degeneration showed reduced signs of disc degeneration when fish oil was added to the diet. Fish oil has also been shown to be beneficial in studies of dogs with lymphoma, kidney disease, heart failure and airborne allergies (atopic dermatitis). Omega-3s are found in fish and plant oils. Wild-sourced fish are the best source of EPA and DHA for dogs and cats as they contain fewer toxins and heavy metals compared to farm-raised fish. Although plant oils are rich in the Omega 3 precursor known as alpha-linoleic acid (ALA), dogs are inefficient at converting ALA to the needed EPA and DHA. Humans are much more efficient at this process which is why oils like flax are more beneficial to humans and a poor source of Omega-3 fatty acids for dogs and cats.
How much of an omega-3 source should you add to the recipe?
For canines: add 2 teaspoons of Holistic Vet Blend® Omega-3 Icelandic fish oil to the recipe or two 4.5-ounce tins of sardines packed in water. You may opt out of adding an Omega-3 source to the recipe and supplement per your veterinarian's recommendation upon serving.
You may choose to use your favorite fish or salmon oil. Just make sure it is fresh and kept refrigerated after opening (oils will get rancid when exposed to air for long periods), wild-sourced and tested for heavy metals and toxins.
How to Begin
Regular & Limited Feeding Guide
- 5–10 lbs: 1/2 to 1 cup per day
- 11–25 lbs: 1 to 3 cups per day
- 26–50 lbs: 3 to 5 cups per day
- 51–75 lbs: 5 to 7 cups per day
- 75–100 lbs: 7 to 10 cups per day
- Over 100 lbs: consult your veterinarian
*Keep in mind that caloric needs vary as much as 50% for maintenance and regular energy needs.
This is a quick start recommendation for feeding your dog. Senior dogs and less active dogs will need less food to satisfy their energy requirements. Puppies may need twice the amount.
Yearly physical exams (more frequent for dogs over 6) are important to assess body condition and monitor weight. Seek veterinary care if your pet is losing weight or is not losing weight despite exercise and proper feeding amounts, in case there is an endocrine or metabolic problem.
I'm so glad we are on this journey of health for our families together! It makes my day to see pets thrive on healthy, homemade food.
My very best,
Dr. Dody Tyneway Robi, DVM
Recipes
All recipes are provided in full on the Recipes page.