Homemade Diets for Pets

Homemade diets for pets have long been popular among a small group of pet owners. However, since the pet food recall involving melamine contaminated food in 2007, many more pet owners have started making their pet’s food themselves.

Advantages of using a homemade pet food diet

Many proponents of homemade pet food diets point to the fact that ingredients used to prepare these diets are fresh and no preservatives need to be added. Other pet owners prefer homemade diets because they feel the diets are more natural than the commercially available diets and are likely to provide the pet with more readily available nutrients. Another benefit is being able to choose the ingredients which go into the food for the pet. This can be especially important in cases where the pet suffers from allergies or other medical issues which make controlling the make-up of the diet quite important.

Many owners feel that homemade diets keep their pets healthier and many also feel that cooking for their pets allows them the opportunity to bond more deeply with the pet.

Disadvantages of using a homemade pet food diet

Homemade pet foods diets are labor intensive and can significantly add to the time which an owner must spend in caring for their pet. For pets, a well-balanced diet is essential for maintaining long-term health. If the homemade diet is lacking in essential nutrients, the pet may suffer as a result and the damage may be serious, even irreparable. Evaluating whether a homemade diet is balanced is difficult even for a boarded nutritionist and most pet owners are far from being experts in the subject of pet nutrition.

The vast majority of homemade diets prepared by pet owners are nutritionally inadequate for the pet.

Formulating a well-balanced homemade pet food diet – finding a solution

Recently, in response to an increased demand from pet owners, several companies have developed homemade pet food recipes which can be customized to meet your pet’s dietary needs. Companies such as Pet Diets and Balance It provide pet owners with the opportunity to develop and purchase customized recipes for their pets which are based on the owner’s feeding preferences.

These diets, available to pet owners, are generally formulated only for healthy adult pets. For puppies or kittens, geriatric or debilitated pets or pets which have medical issues, consultation with a veterinarian is generally not only recommended but mandatory.