The vet that started me on this journey of home cooked food is Dr Nicole Sheehan at Whole Pet Veterinary Hospital Davidson; just outside of Charlotte, NC. She is a holistic vet that taught me a new way to care for my pet.

My research journey started at, “I need to make my dogs food. What can he eat?”. As my search went on, I came to, “It needs to have all the nutrients he needs before 6 months are up. What does that mean?”.  Which took me to, “I need to make a complete and balanced dish. How?” and finally, “I need to be certain the dish I created is what I think it is.”. I did a lot of research on the internet to learn the questions I needed to ask and find the sources that I should reference that are reputable. I used resources like AVMA, AAFCO, WSAVA, Tufts University, Pet Nutrition at OVC, AKC, Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats, ACVN, and Veterinary Nutritional Consultants to name a few.

I had food tested at Clemson University and worked with a nutritionist to develop a feeding schedule, calculated guaranteed analysis, and a balanced and complete dish. After the calculations were done, I did cooking trials to determine the correct amounts of raw ingredients to make the final as fed percentages needed in the recipe. I worked with Pet Recipe Designers at Veterinary Nutritional Consultants; here are their credentials:

·       Ph.D. in Animal Nutrition

·       More than 20 years of clinical experience in veterinary medicine

·       State licenses to practice medicine

·       They are each members of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), American Academy of Veterinary Nutrition (AAVN) and their respective state Veterinary Medical Associations.

The Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionists® at Veterinary Nutritional Consultations, Inc (VetNutrition.com) initially formulated these recipes to be compliant with AAFCO 2022 nutrient profiles. Formulation was completed in 2022.

The American College of Veterinary Nutrition (ACVN) offers a certification process for degreed Veterinarians. The ACVN^® is the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) recognized certifying organization for a Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionist®. The ACVN^® undergoes a comprehensive evaluation by the American Board of Veterinary Specialties (ABVS) every three years to ensure that they are maintaining the required standards in our certification process. You can find out more about them here: https://acvn.org/

Our first recipe offering has chicken as the main protein.

If you leave out any portion of the recipe or change the ingredient, the food is not complete and balanced. All proteins, vegetables, nutritional supplements, fruits, and oils are not created equally. They all have different nutrient profiles. This recipe has been carefully formulated to meet the AAFCO compliant for adult dog’s diets.

If you leave out any portion of the recipe, the food is not complete and balanced. Your dog requires a complete and balanced meal to get all his/her nutrients and minerals. With that said, adult dogs can eat unbalanced for up to 6 months. If you’d like to test the recipe and see how they like it, that’s not a problem. I would serve it as a treat and feed them the recommended serving of food that you are currently using; assuming it is balanced and complete.

If you’d like to feed a portion of cooked and a portion of kibble, I’d recommend making sure both are prepared balanced and complete. This is a great option for large and extra-large dogs who require a lot of food daily. You could do any ratio that works for you and your pet. The portions of each would depend on their individual feeding schedules. Say, you are aiming for 50/50. You’d take 50% of the kibble required at each meal according to the kibble manufacturer and then do the same with the home cooked.

The food is fully cooked when stored so it doesn’t need to be reheated. If you and your pup prefer it reheated, that’s ok. I would aim for a temperature near room temp.

It is manufactured by Veterinary Nutrition Specialists and was created by Edward Moser, MS, VMD, DACVN, Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionist™.

The supplements are created for the further manufacture of adult maintenance diets. They are a source for essential vitamins, trace minerals, choline, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and sodium.  

I have a 60-pound dog and make him 40 pounds of food in 1 day each month. This batch lasts him for a month. My goal is for pet owners to cook for their pet once a month to make the most of their time. Owners of smaller dogs will be able to make several months at a time. Larger dog owners will most likely be cooking once a month. Owners with extra large dogs may need to do it twice a month.

FDA has guidelines for food storage here: https://www.fda.gov/media/74435/download.

I freeze the food in individual containers sized appropriately for the portion sizes my dog needs. Since I make a month of food at a time, it’s only frozen for a month at a time at most. When I open a new thawed container, I pull out a frozen one to allow it to thaw in the fridge while I’m using the newly opened container. The rate of thaw will depend on your refrigerator and container size. I personally use containers that last about a week of feeding for Seeley. A week in the fridge is longer than FDA regulations, it is what I allow for my own food and am comfortable with the risk.

Here are some containers I can recommend: See recommended Storage options