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RAW FOOD SUGGESTIONS
from:
Kristy at the Muddy Paw
muddypaw@juno.com 
(my own personal info on foods I feed my crew) 

Meats: any and all, whole or ground. 
(I use: ground turkey / chicken; whole chicken; whole turkey) *I can't use beef due to my epileptic dog's "trigger" problem with beef and fish. 

Veggies : any and all (except the ones listed at the end from the nightshade family) 
(I mostly use: carrots [vits], green beans [for weight loss], beets [liver support], alfalfa sprouts [for joint care], potatoes [always cooked], yams [always cooked], peas, cauliflower, broccoli, squashes,  and sometimes pink beans) 

Food Prep: 

Meats:  can be raw, partially cooked, or cooked through (Do NOT cook if there is a bone intact) 

Veggies:  raw is better; the more cooked they are, the less nutritional value. 

If you have a juicer, juice the veggies (separate juice / pulp) then combine the pulp and juice back together to make "veggie mush". If you don't have a juicer, grate the veggies when possible.  (ie: carrots, beets, etc) It's very hard to grate beans! 

For the soft veggies (yams, potatoes, beans, peas) use a potato masher to mush them up. Limit yourself to one or two main veggies at a time.  (alfalfa sprouts and beets are used in such small quantities that they don't count as a whole veggie.) 

The majority of the food should be meat based. (70 / 30 or 60 / 40) 

If you want to add grains, rolled oats, lentils, brown rice, and pasta are fine in limited quantities.  Limit them to 1/4 to 1/3 of the mix.  All must be cooked.  Rolled oats are good for burning fat calories.  When using grains, try to only use them three times a week or so. 

Combine the veggies in a large bowl, mash / mix until "un-pickable".  Add any supplements (such as vits , Body Guard, Flea Terminator, etc) and any eggs  that you are going to add.  Mix thoroughly.  Add meat to the mix and stir lightly to mix.  (Option:  you can feed them separately, veggies then meat)(I always mix them so they eat it all) 

Cereal grains represent 30 to 60% of the DM of many companion animal diets. Once incorporated into a diet, the starch component of these grains can provide an excellent source of ME. However, crystallinity and form of starch are variable and can cause incomplete digestion within the gastrointestinal tract. Diets fed in this experiment included one of six high-starch flours as the main source of carbohydrate. The flours originated from barley, corn, potato, rice, sorghum, and wheat. The diets were extruded and kibbled. Starch fraction concentrations of flours consisted of nearly 100% rapidly digestible starch (RDS) and slowly digestible starch (SDS) combined. Starch fraction concentrations of diets paralleled concentrations in flours. Flours varied widely in concentrations of CP, fat, starch, and total dietary fiber. Ileal OM and CP digestibilities were lowest for the potato flour treatment (74 and 64%, respectively). Ileal and total tract starch digestibilities were different (P99%). Total tract digestibility of DM and OM was lowest for sorghum (80 and 84%, respectively) compared to all 
other diets. Crude protein digestibility was highest for corn (87%). Wet fecal weights tendered (P50%) of barley may not be advantageous for dog owners who house their animals indoors for most of the day.

~~The nightshade plants contain an alkaloid steroid called solanine. The foliage & unripe fruit contain dangerous levels of this steroid. The ripe fruit are the least toxic part of this family of plants but may be deadly 
under some circumstances. Solanine is also found in potato sprouts and the green spots on some potatoes. Sweet potatoes and yams are totally safe. 

A toxic dose of solanine will manifest itself by creating severe digestive upset, trembling, weakness, difficulty in breathing and/or paralysis. Before using potato tubers as food remove all eyes/sprouts by digging them out of the tuber. Never use any form of nightshade foliage/fruit/tubers as forage for livestock. 

Potatoes gain their green color and solanine concentration from being allowed to be exposed to the sun while drying after harvesting. 

Solanine inhibits the formation of the collagen that makes up cartilage. It is highly recommended that anyone/thing who suffers with any form of joint ailment stop ingesting all nightshade plants. To avoid any type of 'growing pains' as the vet called Pano and joint dysfunction, especially if predisposed, avoid all consumption of nightshade plant material. 

     For future reference, here is a list of nightshade plants: 
In the veggie/fruit- world: it's white potatoes-unless ALL green parts are removed(Solanum tuberosum), peppers - all types (this does not include regular pepper as in the salt & pepper spice), eggplants, and tomatoes:
In the herb-world - tobacco (all types), Solanum aviculare (aka Kangaroo Apple), Deadly Nightshade(aka Atropa Belladonna and Mandrake), Woody Nightshade-Solanum dulcamara/violaceum (aka Tibbatu, terong pipit, & Bittersweet), Solanum mammosum (aka Apple of Sodom), Solanum nigrum (aka Black Nightshade or Poisonberry), Solanum oleraceae (aka Jagueribo), solanum pseudo-capsicum (aka Jerusalem Cherry), and solanum arrabenta, as well as horse nettle and buffalo bur. 

I contacted the chemist in Utah involved with the production of Ace Hi Lamb, Rice & Potato dog food after discussing a Pano problem with a former Wellpetter and he was not aware of the solanine situation. He stated that they procure their potato products from various locations -primarily from fast food chains as unfit for human consumption. These included all potato waste, as he put it, such as eyes, skins, etc. They are/were legally allowed to state that the dog food contained potato but neglected to state on the package that it was unfit for human consumption or exactly what parts of the potato were involved. 

Rev. Debra L. Moore, D.N. 
Doctor of Naturology 
http://www.doglogic.com/RevHerbDoc@worldnet.att.net