Homemade Diets: What Clinicians Need To Know

Preparing pet food at home has become increasingly popular. This feeding approach has both advantages and disadvantages, and for some pets with co-morbidities or strong palatability preferences may be the only option. Although there is no dearth of recipes on the Internet and in books, the vast majority of these are inadequate. The recipes are either vague in instruction, contain errors or omissions in formulation, incorporate potentially problematic ingredients, or feature outdated strategies for addressing specific disease conditions. Also, as certain fad diets have become popular (such as raw diets) additional concerns must be addressed. A properly formulated, individualized recipe utilized in the context of a veterinary-supervised, customized nutritional management plan is the most beneficial use of a home-prepared diet. Veterinarians should effectively counsel owners who want or need to use homeprepared diets, so that informed decisions can be made regarding an appropriate diet for individual animals. [...]