Vet-approved homemade pet food recipes

I’d have to guess that the majority of vets are strongly opposed to the idea of pet owners making homemade pet food.  Maybe the vets don’t worry so much about dogs, but they must definitely worry about cats, because cats have such strict dietary requirements.  There are many good pet food cookbooks written by reputable folks, but if you want to really win the feeding argument with your vet, you may want to use a recipe from a source which is recommended by the American College of Veterinary Nutrition.  In the ACVN’s official statement about the pet food recall, they strongly support the idea of feeding commercial food, but in lieu of that, they suggest that pet owners consult the websites BalanceIt.com, and/or PetDiets.com.

First things first—both websites will charge you money for each recipe you want access to, and it’s not cheap.  PetDiets.com wants $50 per recipe, but all recipes are certified as complete and balanced by a veterinary nutritionist.  If you have a pet with special dietary needs, you can have a custom consultation and diet plan designed for $200.  Again, that’s not cheap, but these people are theoretically the best-trained individuals in the world on the subject of dog and cat nutrition.  Many of you may disagree with that assessment, I know… I’m just saying that on paper, you can’t argue with the statement that veterinary nutritionists know more about dog and cat nutrition than the average person.  It still doesn’t mean they know everything.  PetDiets.com does not advocate raw feeding, and I’d imagine their recipes are quite conservative, if only I could see an example of one.

The second website the ACVN recommends is BalanceIt.com, which is run by two veterinary nutritionists in Davis, CA.  They have a consumer portion of the website, and a subscribers-only section for vets to use.  The site has a neat setup—you select one protein source and one carb source from a list, , and the resulting page will give you a recipe (or more than one).  For example, I selected “ground beef” as my protein source, and then “sweet potatoes”, as my carb, then said I wanted recipes for my cat.  The next page offered me one recipe called “Beef and Sweet Potato for cats”, and the raw ingredients of the recipe were beef, sweet potato, and corn oil.  It also said the recipe would require supplements, but that I’d be given specific instructions on how to add a combination of readily available human supplements to the cat food.  I was also told I could skip the human supplements and just buy the proprietary BalanceIt Feline Supplement.  The catch here is that I can’t see the actual recipe at all, or the list of human supplements I might have to buy—if I want access to all the details, it will cost $20.  The BalanceIt supplement also costs $20, and it doesn’t say how many servings it contains.  By the way, if I go back through the “design a recipe” process for dogs, using beef and sweet potato, I’m giving a choice of four recipes to purchase.  All recipes are $20 for one, $30 for two, and three or more recipes are $12.50 each.  I give the site props for having imaginative ingredient lists… you can choose from protein sources like chicken or beef, but also cottage cheese or tofu.  For carbs, you can pick potatoes or rice, but you can also choose spaghetti or couscous.  BalanceIt promises that if your pet doesn’t like the recipe you’ve chosen, just write to them and they’ll send you a different one.  There’s a link on the site to view all the available recipes, and there are well over 100 different ones for dogs, and at least 50+ for cats.

If I join the BalanceIt.com affiliate program they’ll give me a free recipe (so they say), so I hope to be able to join and to see how simple or how complicated their recipes are.  For those of us who are a bit nervous about feeding homemade for the first time, recipes from either BalanceIt.com or PetDiets.com seem reassuring.  I like that both sites are run by veterinarians, so you’ll have someone to consult with if you have questions or problems.  I do think the prices are a bit much, and I think it would be nice to offer one or two free recipes for people who don’t have $50 to toss around.  I’ve got my eye on a low-carb chicken and sweet potato recipe for cats, so if I decide to invest in it, I’ll let you know.  I just spent close to $100 at Petco, buying two weeks worth of Natural Balance cat food, so I’m not feeling wealthy enough to toss around an extra $20 today.

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Edited on 4/24 to add:  When you go to BalanceIt.com, a free recipe is available by typing the code “Wal-Mart” in the promo code box.  To take advantage of this offer, choose the link on the homepage which says, “Homemade Recipe Creator (free with PROMO code)”, in the section called “Complimentary Tools”.  Do not use the regular shopping link at the top of the page, i.e., the one which says, “I want to create a homemade recipe for my healthy adult pet.” I went through the process myself and it works perfectly.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 04/22 at 03:17 AM

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  1. Thanks for the info.  50 bucks seems like a lot for a recipe but...what can you do?  I tried to get the free recipe but couldn’t figure out where to enter the wal-mart bit.  Nowhere could I find a promo-code box.  I have about 4 days to decide what I am going to do with Yoshi’s food.  Tic toc…

    Posted by Von Krankipantzen  on  04/24  at  08:00 PM

  2. On the BalanceIt.com homepage, look under the section which says “Complimentary Tools”, and then select, “Homemade Recipe Creator (free with PROMO code)”.  It will walk you through the system.  The process was detailed, and asked for weight and age information about my pets, I guess to calculate ingredients and serving size.  I ordered the chicken and sweet potato recipe for a 10 lb. cat—drop me an email if you’d like to see it.  I’ve tried to email you before but I don’t usually hear back from you, so you should probably try to reach me instead.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  04/24  at  10:32 PM
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