Prepared food can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 weeks. Longer storage in the refrigerator can lead to spoilage and in the freezer unaccounted vitamin degradation that occurs naturally with time and decreased palatability. Do not reheat any food that already contains added supplements that contain vitamins (unless the recipe uses a one-time heatable supplement like Canine Plus or Canine K Plus that have been added after heating and before refrigerating/freezing) as heating vitamins can degrade them. It can be convenient to separately store separate single meal portions if a large batch is prepared ahead of time.

A slow transition to the new diet can improve acceptance and tolerance especially for any added supplement(s). This is especially true in animal companions that have been fed a diet without supplementation for a while. Supplements rich in essential vitamins and certain essential amino acids can have an inherently strong natural odor that is not masked when in powdered form. In the occasional case where supplement palatability is a concern, gradually working to the full dose of supplement over 5-10 days may be helpful. One pot cooking may also increase palatability/acceptance, to see those or more options, click the “Show one pot cooking ingredients ONLY” checkbox when selecting ingredients. In very rare cases, one may need to mix the needed supplement(s) with something other than the ingredients listed above to increase acceptance. Some of these can be selected as “Treats & Enticers” when creating a recipe as can other palatants. Any such addition should be limited to tolerated and non-toxic foods (e.g., no chocolate, grapes, raisins, macadamia nuts, kabocha squash, onions, garlic, etc.) that do not add up to being more than 10% of daily calories if not called for and accounted for specifically in the recipe above. The addition of called for supplement(s) is not optional as this/they provide(s) needed essential nutrients and prevent(s) nutrient deficiencies from developing, see Fortifying section above.

Homemade pet food should be enjoyed and looked forward to by animal companions. With trillions of possible recipes that can be created when using the Autobalancer®, trying different foods and proportions should be expected and embraced. The goal is to find a recipe(s) that your animal companion enjoys, does well on based on simple but important things like coat and stool quality, and that you are able to sustainably prepare for them. Importantly, they should be able to maintain an ideal body condition as that has been proven to improve both the quality and quantity of life. Accordingly, please monitor your animal companions's weight and make sure they achieve/maintain a healthy weight. If they unintentionally begin to gain or lose weight, adjust the amount fed keeping all ingredients in the same proportions (one can make a new recipe online to help get the right amounts, see Yield/Servings section above) after being sure that they are not sick. Your animal companion should have access to water at all times and regular visits with a veterinarian to check that their homemade diet is meeting their needs. As noted above recipes should be rebuilt every few months in case there have been any changes to condition strategies or requirements or ingredient nutrient data.

Dogs and cats with health conditions should be regularly and closely monitored per the specific guidance of their veterinarian or board-certified veterinary nutritionist®.

One bag of Balance IT® Canine (2.5 g/tsp) will last for about 148 preparation(s) of this recipe. If using a 20 gram pouch of Balance IT® Canine (2.5 g/tsp) (or Canine Plus) instead, one pouch will last for about 4.9 preparation(s) of this recipe. To order or reorder, go to www.balance.it and click Products OR purchase from your veterinarian. Some supplements require a specific vet. approval or “vet code” per FDA CPG Sec. 690.150 guidelines. Requesting vet. approval can be done simply during checkout or when attempting to view certain recipes. Vet codes are made available to clients directly by their veterinarian or board-certified veterinary nutritionist® only and are not provided by Balance It^® to its customers. If you’d like to set up a convenient, automatic reorder, please select that option during checkout. You can cancel your standing automatic reorder at any time before the early morning it is scheduled to next ship.

The Autobalancer® provides access to thousands of human foods including ones that may seem strange or even undesirable for an animal companion. Balance It® intentionally makes as many human foods available as possible, while completely avoiding foods well-known to be toxic to dogs and cats even at potentially low amounts. Giving the user this level of access can be very informative and helpful, but this freedom can also allow a user to create recipes with very large amounts of some foods that may not be practical (see higher vegetables and fruit diets caution below), enjoyed, readily available, and/or cost effective. In addition, some human foods that one might not typically or even ideally consider giving an animal companion are, as a consequence, made available/selectable. This “open" approach allows one to best see the impact on total calories fed and overall diet nutrient profile. If any food's addition will lead to an overall essential nutrient deficiency or excess, the resulting recipe will not be possible or pass as a protection. It is always important to remember the old saying, "the dose makes the poison." For example, vitamin D is essential for bone health and optimal immune system function, but at too high a dietary concentration, it becomes a potentially fatal poison. Thus, additional protections, like with fish that can be naturally very high in vitamin D, are in place. Similarly some portions of plants or foods that can be toxic, while other parts of the same plant that are well tolerated, can still be selected. For example, the tomato fruit which is commonly used in commercially prepared and homemade pet foods as a good source of fiber and antioxidants like lycopene is available, while tomato leaves and stalks are and should be avoided given the presence of natural toxins found in the green parts of all/most nightshade plants including potatoes.

Nutrition is an evolving science and dogs and cats can have very specific needs; therefore, if you have a concern about feeding a food to your specific animal companion, Balance It® always recommends speaking with your veterinarian and/or board-certified veterinary nutritionist® first. You can also reach out to us here at Balance It^® (see the Contact Us link in the footer of our website) about the safety of any specific food available for selection for further clarification prior to use/feeding.

Changing ingredients or their amount can be harmful and create nutrient deficiencies and/or toxicities. The recipe must be followed exactly. If a different ingredient and/or amount is desired, create a new recipe at www.balance.it and/or use the adjust link or button on recipe results page to enter specific amounts to try and create a new recipe. Some changes, substitutions, or adjustments may not be possible given the inherent nutrient profile of selected foods, but trillions of options are available and possible. If you are struggling to fully understand why changes are not passing/working or need more advanced help, please consider a consultation with a board-certified veterinary nutritionist® as listed at www.vetnutritionist.com or www.vetspecialists.com. These specialists have extensive nutritional knowledge and are an excellent referral and/or client education option for challenging cases.

Higher dietary protein and fat concentrations may not be tolerated by all healthy adult dogs and cats. Higher concentrations are generally considered to start at over 35% protein/fat calories. The Autobalancer® that powers the Recipe Builder allows for the creation of recipes with the widest range of caloric distributions possible as dogs and cats can do well on and prefer a spectrum of proportions. If you are unsure what is optimal for your animal companion and/or if they will tolerate higher concentrations of protein or fat, please speak with your veterinarian or board-certified veterinary nutritionist® before feeding such a recipe/diet.

Higher vegetable and fruit diets can cause GI upset/diarrhea and be too voluminous.
Selecting only vegetables and/or fruit as carbohydrate sources in higher carbohydrate diets can result in large amounts of vegetables or fruit being called for drastically increasing dietary fiber intake & moisture and/or reducing energy density. This can result in a large amount of fiber in the feces that retains moisture and loosens feces and/or a volume of food being fed that cannot be readily eaten. To avoid this, reduce the amount of carbohydrate in the overall recipe and/or select a carbohydrate source from the "blue" Carbs button group of grain and tuber dense carbohydrate sources.

Vegan or vegetarian (and possibly grain free diets) must be carefully monitored to prevent heart disease that can be fatal. If feeding a vegetarian diet (available for dogs only) or a diet very rich in legumes (aka beans) and possibly other non-grain dense carbohydrates, regular blood taurine & methionine concentrations should be measured by one's veterinarian to ensure adequate sulfur amino acid supplementation (e.g., methionine dose) or bioavailability from the foods fed and to prevent the development of a potentially life-threatening disease called dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). This is a still evolving and actively being researched issue and intake of other nutrients or compounds may play a role. For concerns, please speak with your veterinarian and/or board-certified veterinary nutritionist® before feeding such a recipe.

High liver diets can cause vitamin A toxicity. All or mostly liver diets should only be fed, given their very high vitamin A concentration, to cats under the direct supervision and ongoing approval of one's veterinarian.

Recipe recommendations can change over time. Nutrition is an evolving science and nutrient data for many foods change and/or improve over time. Fortunately, the Autobalancer® that powers the Recipe Builder was specifically developed to be a dynamic tool and resource that can easily adapt to new information unlike the alternative of static “cookbook" recipes. This means that when new essential nutrient requirements become known to Balance It^® through new published studies or due to regulations, the requirements that are used by the Autobalancer® to formulate recipes can be and are updated. In addition, this also means that the nutrient concentrations for differing foods are also refreshed from time to time. Combined, this can lead to new outcomes when creating a recipe with the same ingredients or foods later. Couple this with the potential for a supplement to also be reformulated, and recipe amounts and the ability to meet requirements does change and should be expected. Therefore, it is always a good idea to re-evaluate/rebuild any homemade recipe at least every few months to make sure current and accurate information is being relied on for a recipe’s creation.