Furry Tails: Healthy Dog, Healthy Human
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A healthy pet equals a healthier pet owner.
We've all heard about the studies that prove the health benefits of owning a pet. University of Pittsburgh dietician and nutritionist Caroline Passerrello says owning a companion animal can help with everything from stress to weight management to even lowering blood pressure.
Passerrello is an instructor at Pitt and a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She is also a proud pet owner. Her dog CC is a therapy dog on Pitt's campus.
"Keeping your dog healthy, showing them love through health by making their own treats and exercising with them can help to lower our blood pressure and help manage our weight," said Passerrello.
Not only is she an expert on human nutrition, she also knows how to keep your dog on a healthy diet.
She says vegetables like green beans and carrots can make great treats for our pups.
And, while we all know raisins and grapes can be toxic to dogs, some human foods we think are safe for our furry friends can sometimes pose a huge risk.
"A lot of people put treats and pills in peanut butter, you don't want it to have Xylitol in it," Passerrello said. "It's a sugar alcohol. For humans, it just gives us a little of a GI upset, but it can be fatal to dogs. So check your ingredient list, no Xylitol."
That's part of the reason why Passerrello makes her own treats for CC, and urges other pet owners to do the same for their dogs.
"It's like a human food," Passerrello says. "When you make your own snacks, rather than taking a pre-packaged bar, you know what goes into it. It doesn't mean you can't have the packaged, for convenience, but when you're able to make it and know exactly what you put into it, you know what's not there."
For CC, Passerrello makes carrot and pumpkin bites, nut butter biscuits and puff pies, which are like gravy-soaked biscuits.
The treats are simple to make, Passerrello says.
The carrot and pumpkin bites are "canned pumpkin, shaved carrots, rolled up with a little whole wheat to keep it together," then you bake it.
The nut butter biscuits are good for your pup's eye health.
Passerrello says: "We used a sun butter and a peanut butter and it has whole wheat for fiber. The biscuits just have Vitamin A, so it helps the dog's eyes just like it helps our eyes."
In case you were wondering if you're dog will take to them; well, they certainly all have CC's seal of approval!
For more information on Caroline Passerrello, visit her Facebook page here.
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