The best diets for both dogs and cats are natural ones, coming as close as possible to the diet they would eat in the wild. Cats are naturally carnivorous and have a high protein requirement, while dogs tend to be more scavenging and eat more of a variety of foods, requiring less protein than cats. It is possible, but not easy, to feed a dog a balanced vegetarian diet, though it would not be recommended. It is, however, almost impossible to feed cats a purely vegetarian diet.

Pets today are fed highly processed and artificial foods, composed of unnatural ingredients, such as soy-meal, artificial colourings and flavourings, as well as harmful preservatives such as BHA and ethoxyquin. The meat content is often composed of by-products, which can be anything from cancerous tissues, to diseased organs and can be anything that is considered not fit for human consumption. Even relatively good pet foods, which may not contain harmful additives, with the trend to preservatives such as vitamin E, are still nowhere as good as feeding your pet a natural, preferably organic, balanced diet, similar to what they would eat in the wild.

A good basic diet for dogs should be composed of 50% grains, which should ideally be boiled or steamed. This more closely matches semi-digested grains in the stomachs of the animals that dogs consume in the wild, which is an important part of their diet. The staple grain is usually brown rice, but other organic wholegrains such as oatmeal, barley, millet, corn or amaranth can also be added for variety. Vegetables should make up about 25% of the complete cooked diet and I also recommend boiling or steaming these lightly, then chopping them finely depending on the preference of the individual pet.

The protein content should be also about 25% although some people prefer to feed higher, especially to young, active, working animals, pregnant females, and growing puppies. If the meat is organic and fresh it can be safely fed raw, which is the ideal. A healthy dog should have enough acid in the stomach to safely kill pathogenic bacteria. If the source of the meat is suspect it may be lightly steamed or boiled, and you may do this if you are nervous about feeding your dog raw meat, or if your dog is older or sick and tolerates lightly cooked meat better. I would not recommend feeding raw pork, because of parasites, and anyhow prefer beef, chicken turkey or rabbit as a protein source. Organ meats such as heart, liver or kidney can also be fed once or twice a week.

The basic cat diet should be composed of 60 % protein, which should consist of organic ground beef, raw or cooked organic chicken, eggs once a week if desired as well as some cooked fish or other meats such as turkey, rabbit or organ meats. The same thing applies about feeding organ meats, as it does for dogs, so once or twice a week a small quantity can be fed such as a couple of teaspoons.

Again it is fine to lightly steam or boil the meat and some people use the broth from the meat if it is boiled to flavor the rice and vegetables. Approximately 20% of the cats diet should be composed of vegetables which can be lightly steamed broccoli, carrots, zucchini, caulifower, corn, or any other vegetables that your cat happens to enjoy. Some cats love cucumber for example and others also love fruits such as melon, mango or apple, and if your cat enjoys these healthy treats it is fine to supplement their diet this way.

The grain content of the diet should be about 20% once again, and the staple should also be brown rice, steamed or boiled then it is best to puree it down to a finer consistency for the cats shorter digestive tract, though once again this can depend upon the individuals cats' preference and digestive tract.

Other grains that cats enjoy include amaranth, oatmeal, cous-cous, barley, millet and these should be well cooked and mixed in with the brown rice. You may just have to experiment to find out what your cat likes best, some cats can be incredibly picky and be addicted to their unhealthy junk food diet! Other cats, especially when raised this way love nothing more than their raw food diet and are a joy to look at! Once again a vitamin and mineral supplement is essential and it is important to ensure that cats get enough of the essential amino acid taurine, as a deficiency of this can lead to blindness.