Sometime between parting with $80 for dubious pantry staples, discovering the scent of baking cat food to be something less than potpourri and nursing a blister earned trying to carve pounds of kibble into kitten-sized morsels, it sunk in: I'm a buyer, not a maker, of pet food.
And that's not even counting the kitty's disparaging review of my labors on his behalf.
Yet after a number of dogs and cats died last year from contaminated commercial pet food, more animal owners are consulting cookbooks, scouring the Internet for tips, investing in odd ingredients and devoting hours of free time, all to serve their furry companions homemade casseroles, soups and stews.
Wendy Nan Rees, a Los Angeles pet enthusiast with a radio show called Wendy's Animal Talk, started cooking for her dogs more than 20 years ago when she realized salt and preservatives didn't agree with her sensitive Shar-Pei. She invented a doggie cookie that she still swears tastes just like a graham cracker. Late last year, she published The Natural Pet Food Cookbook.
Rees devotes one day a month to cooking and baking for her three dogs, and freezes the various dishes. She supplements her homemade efforts with store-bought dry food - "half kibble, half mommy food," she says.
The American Veterinary Medical Association says it's safe to feed your pets commercial pet food, but Rees talks about canned pet food as if it were atrocity in a tin, as if she'd sooner feed her animals household cleanser.
"You could never sell me on a canned food," she says. "Dogs and cats offer absolute, unconditional, unbiased love. They're part of the family. You take care of your pets the way you take care of yourself."
TV chef Rachael Ray, famous for making 30-minute meals, also wants people to devote some culinary minutes to their animals. In her magazine, Every Day With Rachael Ray, a standing feature called "Pet Friendly" includes recipes designed for dogs and people to share.
It isn't clear if Ray, a well-known dog lover, cooks for her red-nosed pit bull, Isaboo. "She's a very busy lady," says Casey Flaherty, a publicist for the magazine. But the idea, Flaherty adds, is to make dishes that the whole family - two- and four-legged members - can enjoy together.
Recent recipes have included Mini Muttballs and Ditalini, Real Dogs Eat Quiche and Arroz Con Pollo Para Fido. The April issue showcased a Carrots-and-Peas Orzo that, judging from the photo, looked at least as appetizing as a microwaved frozen dinner.
