I’ve decided that perhaps I should include the weekly Miami Herald articles I write in Dolittler’s burgeoning cache. After all, my contract says I own them and you all have such discriminating taste that I’m sure you’d appreciate them.

Do be aware, however, that these are written for a top-25 newspaper, which means that lots of different people read them. Consequently, they need to be made more accessible to the average pet owner—and that’s not you. I’m aware that most of you are very special pet people—neurotic, even. Which is a compliment, really. 

These are written in Q&A format. That might jar a bit at first, but don’t worry—it’s still essentially a short, 400-word essay. I’ll post a couple every week until I catch up to where I am now—then it’ll be once a week. And don’t fret, I’ll still have a new post for you every day in addition to these soft[er]balls. Have fun!

Here’s the first in the series…

After the recall: What should I feed my pet now?

Welcome to Dolittler, the Miami Herald’s home-based pet column for all your veterinary concerns. I’m a born-and-raised Miami vet with something of an obsession for writing about my pet patients and their problems. My commentary will hopefully find you coming back, week after week, for balanced advice on how to keep your non-human loved ones happy and healthy.

Coincidentally, this column makes its debut at a time when so many of us are at a crossroads in how we handle our pets’ basic care. I’m referring to the recent pet food recall that has left owners (vets included) staring into their pet’s food bowl with heightened anxiety and understandable perplexity. I’ll do my best to address your concerns on that front in this first installment.

The last few weeks have been hard on us all. It’s no stretch to say that confusion, anger and fear have marked this period—even among vets. After all, the very brands we had carefully researched and recommended with confidence are still being taken off store shelves. Some of our patients are still recovering from toxic food exposure. We still don’t know how many pets have been affected. And we’re still not sure the dust has settled, now that even prescription pet foods are on “the list.”

On the Veterinary Information Network, my favorite online destination for thoughtful, vet-to-vet chatter, the community consensus is for vets to steer pet owners away from affected brands and away from cooking pet foods for themselves—unless they are especially dedicated to the potential immensity of the culinary task ahead.

Turning your home kitchen into a de-facto, pet-food cannery is not quite as simple as it sounds. Consider my own recent efforts, which involve following detailed recipes (sourced from several books and websites) and comparing them to the nutrient labels on cans and frozen packages of “highest quality” pet stuff. Eggshells crushed with frozen fish in the Cuisinart (among other unsavory combinations) is not exactly what I’d expect most pet owners go in for.

But without this kind of meticulous planning and careful execution, you’d be better off researching pet food companies, not recipes. Fun as cooking for Fluffy and Fido may seem, getting it right can be prohibitively stressful—especially for pets with special dietary needs, where consistency is crucial and one extra ingredient can lead to a living room full of, well…you know.

Yet, as we all know, less-than-formed stools aren’t the worst outcomes. I’ve seen chicken breast-fed teacups with calcium-depleted broken bones and salmonella poisoning from home-“uncooked” foods (and we’ve already seen what stray toxins can do to unsuspecting kidneys). It’s not pretty when pet diets aren’t done just right.

Yet I’d never deter a determined owner from flying solo. There are great recipes out there if you do your homework. And I have no doubt that cooking your pet’s food, including some raw diets, can be best for a great many pets. But there are always exceptions…and there are no guarantees. After all, nutrition is a slippery science, in humans as for pets. There’s just so much we don’t yet know.

As a general rule, then, stick to foods or recipes formulated by veterinary nutritionists. Research brands for the quality of their ingredients and for their dedication to in-house production. Consider companies with a stable history and consistent distribution. Knowing you can always get your food either direct from the source or through a well-established retailer is a must. Human-grade ingredients are great, but also no guarantee of quality. Organic is my choice, but the expense can be prohibitive (your checking account needs to survive the recall, too).

And always (always!) run the recipe by your vet if you plan to cook. A consultation with a veterinary nutritionist might even be in order for special-needs pets. Contact a teaching hospital, such as the Veterinary School at the University of Florida, for referral to an appropriate professional.

Finally, understand that although an alarming number of brands have been affected by the recall, this appears to have been an isolated event involving only one food source. So feeding your cat or dog big-brand foods from big-box retailers isn’t irresponsible—it’s life. After all, most of us can’t afford the best foods for ourselves, either.

Whatever food you choose to feed, make sure you always keep tabs on your pet’s eating, drinking, bathroom habits, coat quality and energy level—and see your vet at least once a year for a physical and bloodwork. These are your basic tools for healthy pet—ignore them at your pets’ peril.

What am I feeding, you ask? I’m still cooking. But my Cuisinart’s on overdrive, my kitchen’s a perpetual mess, my energy level’s waning…and my friendly neighborhood pet food retailer is starting to look pretty good right about now.