Can I make cheap, non-refrigerated homemade food for my pets?

I would recommend consulting a veterinary nutritionist or using a website like https://secure.balanceit.com/index.php which provides recipes for balanced diets for pets, as it can be difficult to provide balanced nutrition from homemade diets. This website provides recipes based on your pet's needs.

It's very difficult to make a complete food at home for dogs. In special cases it is done because a dog has certain needs but inevitably it works out more expensive because you can't buy in bulk. I honestly think it would be a lot of hassle for you, and not economical. You will be able to get quality dog food for less.

Wild cats are NOT domestic cats, and domesticated cats have very different nutritional needs. Wild cats also do not live as long and may have health issues related to poor nutrition. And while cats ARE obligate carnivores, they cannot get all their nutritional needs from only feeding one type of food (IE only chicken breast) as it doesn't provide a complete amino acid or nutritional profile for your cat. This is why many home-formulated diets require several ingredients and nutritional supplements to balance. It is important to feed your cat a balanced diet in order to prevent nutritional deficiencies, such as taurine deficiencies, which can lead to blindness, organ dysfunction or even death if not addressed. Commercial cat foods are best (and cheaper than formulating your own diet which may require several different ingredients and supplements to provide the right nutrient balance) as they provide your cat with the correctly formulated nutrients to prevent illness or deficiency. If you do want to feed a homemade diet, I highly recommend working with a veterinarian in person in order to formulate a diet for Meo's specific nutritional needs. Otherwise, feeding a commercial cat food will be the easiest, and least expensive option while still providing the right nutritional balance to keep him healthy.

If you want to cook for your dogs, the diet MUST be balanced correctly. The best way to do this is to have a recipe formulated through BalanceIt.com and purchase their supplements to use in order to balance the diet out with all the vitamins/minerals needed for your specific pet. I suggest you refer to their website. ( https://secure.balanceit.com/recipegenerator_ver4/index.php?rotator=EZ )

Homemade foods are tough because they are almost always deficient in vitamins and minerals without a supplement. It is not impossible, however. I like the website balance it.com. You can set up an account, look for recipes, and they can even analyze the nutrients in your current recipe. The key is a meat+ grain+ fruits and veggies for nutrients. Good luck!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding your pets. Home cooking pet food can be very satisfying as most pets love it. However, it is extremely difficult to make the meals nutritionally balanced. For this reason, I recommend using a recipe provided by a veterinary nutritionist. I have several clients using this and have been so pleased with the results. I recommend www.balanceit.com. The nutritional requirements for a kitten will be different from an adult dog. Kittens need more protein and fat for growth and development. They also require an amino acid known as taurine in their diet. I hope this information helps!

The only difference really is ease of preparation and use. The homemade is going to be essentially healthier because it's fresh, not frozen. Freezing can destroy some of the vitamins/nutrients. If you want to make a homemade diet I suggest you use the BalanceIT website. https://secure.balanceit.com/ They will tell you how to prepare the diet based on what ingredients you are wanting to use and then will also tell you how to balance the diet using their supplements. This website was created by a veterinary nutritionist and would be the only way I would consider feeding a homemade diet. Hope this helps.