Product Description

Lots of people enjoy making or buying treats for their pets, but wouldn't it be wonderful to cook a real meal for the four-legged member of the household? Quirky yet practical, these cookbooks provide recipes that are nutritionally balanced and veterinarian-approved. They even include sections on "tandem" recipes - recipes for humans that, with slight modifications, can also be served to pets.

REAL FOOD FOR CATS is The Cat Lover's Cookbook, completely revised with new recipes, new information, and all-new illustrations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #67803 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Review

“…homemade alternatives to commercial foods for pampered pets and their doting owners.” –Detroit News

“Whimsical illustrations by Anne Davis, tips about hairballs and other animal oddities, plus some tempting double-whammy recipes, make these a palatable gift option for the pet-owner on your list who has everything.” –Detroit News

“[Real Food for Cats] makes culinary art of cat food.” – Ann Patterson, Spartanburg Herald-Journal (SC)

“Delmonte includes several recipes the family can share with their pets.” -- Ann Patterson, Spartanburg Herald-Journal (SC)

“…pampering pets with home-cooked meals is a growing trend.” – Rockland Journal News, Nyack, NY, and Central Journal News, White Plains, NY

“Does kitty come running as soon as you open a can of tuna? Don’t worry – people food isn’t necessarily bad for them.” – Rockland Journal News, Nyack, NY, and Central Journal News, White Plains, NY

“…a plethora of recipes for doting pet owners to whip up for their pets.” – Suzanne Hively, Plain Dealer, Cleveland, OH.

“For the person who is so devoted he is likely to cook for his pet…” – Jan Uebelherr, Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee, WI

“…perfect for the pet lovers on your holiday list.” – Heather McPherson, Sentinel, Orlando, FL

From the Back Cover
Your cat will meow for more

This wonderfully inspired, joyously illustrated cookbook will have your cat rubbing your ankles faster than you can say "can opener." You'll find nutritionally balanced, vet-approved, no-fuss recipes, from Meowish Sushi to Kitty Fondue to Gizzard Goulash. In addition, there are prescription recipes for birthday parties and other special events, tips on cat care, and even tandem recipes - dishes to satisfy both the people and the cats in your household.

About the Author
Patti Delmonte was inspired to create a feline cookbook by the antics of her six adopted cats. She designs ceramics and other commercial products featuring cats, dogs, and kids, and she has illustrated six children's books publishing by Storey Books, including An Apple a Day! And Hearts and Crafts. She lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Anne Davis is an award-winning artist whose illustrations adorn the greeting cards produced by her company, Anne Made Cards. Davis's special relationship with animals inspires her art, and her commissioned animal portraits appear in many private collections.

Customer Reviews

Buyer beware and ABBEY is wrong
UPDATE 5/14/07: Because there is a mystifying dispute between those readers who see onions (harmful to cats) in these recipes and those who don't, here's an easy way to see for yourself and make an informed decision. Use the excellent Amazon feature "Search Inside This Book." Either key in the word "onion" and click "Go" to see how many pages list onions in the recipes (I find 22) or choose the "Surprise me" option and click it repeatedly -- it took only 4-5 clicks for me to find "Kitty Tacos" with 1/2 cup onion listed as the second ingredient.

Original April 2007 review:
WARNING: Onions are toxic to cats, and these recipes are full of onions.

While a few recipes in this book may be safe, it's hard to trust that because many recipes specifically for cats contain onion -- and ABBEY, whose review 32 people found helpful, is dead wrong that this is only the "people recipes at the end of the book." (Sorry, ABBEY, but I did read and comprehend the information.)

Don't be swayed by my saying so -- please judge for yourself. With the pet food recall, we all need to watch out for each other and, more importantly, for our precious cats. Below, I have copied page 23 verbatim, and it is NOT one of the "people recipes" at the end of the book:

"Tuna Cakes
Cats will race even faster to the sound of a whirring can opener if they think you're about to prepare this tasty and nutritious dish.
2 eggs
1 6-ounce can tuna, drained, and flaked
1 small ONION, finely chopped
4 slices bread, cubed into kitty size bits
1/2 teaspoon iodized salt
1 teaspoon brewer's yeast
1 teaspoon bonemeal
2 tablespoons margarine

1. Beat the eggs lightly in a bowl. Add the tuna, ONION, bread cubes, salt, brewer's yeast, and bonemeal. Mix thoroughly until moistened.
2. Form into small patties. Melt the margarine in a skillet and fry the patties until golden brown. When cool, crumble each patty and serve.
Makes 3 to 5 servings."

On page 25, the Fish Chowder specifically for cats calls for 1 glove garlic, minced and 2 tablespoons finely chopped ONION. On page 27, the Boogaloo Shrimp, again, in a recipe supposedly specifically for cats, the first ingredient is 1/2 chopped ONION. Page 32, the recipe for Chicken with Greens, there is a warning about introducing cats gradually to greens because they can be sensitive to it, but no warning about the 1 clove garlic in the recipe or on page 33, the Chicken Salad that calls for 1 tablespoon finely chopped ONION. The "people" recipes ABBEY refers to, called "Tandem Cooking" by the author, do not begin until page 81.

I am extremely disappointed I bought this potentially dangerous book and applaud the reviewer Cordelia Wright who is researching the vet who wrote the preface.

This is not a time to stand on ceremony when pet health is at stake from commercial food -- we need reliable sources of information about safe food, and this book is not it for the reasons previous reviewers have stated. Buyer, please beware.

I have complained to Amazon about continuing to promote and sell this book in the face of the pet food scare (a sick irony that people avoiding tainted commercial food turn to a so-called "vet-approved" recipe book containing recipes that will harm their cats!), and I have written a complaint to the book's publisher. I'm also pursuing getting a journalist involved to warn the public and find out how this book's author can claim these recipes are "vet-approved" when no vet would say giving onions to cats is safe.

Outright Dangerous
Before you even CONSIDER buying this book, take a few seconds to try this instructive little exercise: type "feed onions cats" (without the quotation marks) into your browser's search field, and see what comes up. ONIONS ARE TOXIC TO CATS. Cats are obligate carnivores, and many common plant compounds that humans ingest daily are actually poisonous to them. I wish that there were some way to get this book out of Amazon.com's database.

Many thanks to Cat Rescuer (see below) for being the first to spot this unbelievable incompetence and warn unsuspecting cat owners away from this "cookbook". This review is largely a repetition of what Cat Rescuer has already said; I just added this one on to knock a star of the book's rating. Please feel free to do the same.

Real Food for Cats: 50 Vet-Approved Recipes to Please the Feline Gastronome
Take a close look at the sample recipes: they are full of onion. Something entirely unsafe to feed your cat. This is not possibly a vet-approved book.