Clarification on Balance IT Supplement for Home-Cooked

goholistic

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I decided to start a new thread because I think this is an important clarification that people should be aware of when using Balance IT products (www.balanceit.com) to supplement their home-cooked cat food.

Balance IT has two older feline products - Balance IT Feline and Balance IT Feline K - which have been around for about 8 years. These two formulas are meant to be added to already cooked meat, which means you weigh the cooked meat/ingredients, then add the supplement, mix well, and serve.

Their newer product - Balance IT Original Blends Carnivore Blend (for dogs and cats) - was launched a couple of years ago and is designed to be mixed with a raw protein source before cooking. You weigh the raw meat, add the supplement to the raw meat, and then cook everything together via their recommended method. The amount of vitamins in the Blends are increased to correct for the vitamin heat degradation that occurs with cooking. This means that the Blends product should NEVER be added after cooking or else you will be over-supplementing!

I told the Balance IT team that I thought this could be better clarified on their website, especially for those who may alternate between different products or decide to buy a different one than they are used to.

I cannot recommend any particular recipes or an amount of the supplement to give, but you may play around with their "free recipe generator" on their website.
 

ldg

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So ALL of the Balance IT premixes are meant to be used with cooked-only recipes, is that correct? One is used after the meat is cooked, one is used before the meat is cooked, and they have no premix meant to be used with raw meats?
 
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goholistic

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So ALL of the Balance IT premixes are meant to be used with cooked-only recipes, is that correct? One is used after the meat is cooked, one is used before the meat is cooked, and they have no premix meant to be used with raw meats?
Yes, this is how I understand it. The supplements were developed and tested for cooked recipes only. Here's one of the FAQs taken from their website:
Q. Do I really need to cook the ingredients in my recipe? I hear raw food is good for pets.

A. We NEVER recommend feeding raw meat as it can result in serious life-threatening infections for both pets and people. Always use safe handling procedures when cooking with raw meats by washing hands, preventing cross-contamination, cooking food thoroughly, and storing food properly.

The guidance from the AVMA at https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/FAQs/Pages/Raw-Pet-Foods-and-the-AVMA-Policy-FAQ.aspx may also be of interest.

It is also important to cook each ingredient as directed in the cooking instructions for the recipe, as the cooking method can significantly change the level of nutrients in the cooked food. For example, boiling a food results in some loss of nutrients into the surrounding water; therefore, if the recipe instructs you to bake the ingredient and you choose to boil it, the total level of nutrient in the diet may be significantly decreased.
As you can see, they don't seem to like raw feeding. (I think the first sentence is a little dramatic.
)  They don't actually say "no" to this question, but I wouldn't risk it simply from a nutrient balance standpoint.
 

Delany

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Could someone update this please? Balance it has just revised their formulas and also how to use them. I don't feel confident to post the details here in case I get it wrong though. But here's a link to their site:
Balance IT

Thanks~
 

mschauer

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It is difficult to find specific information on the Balance IT web site. It looks to me like all they did was make minor tweaks to their formulations and that they are still used the same way but you would probably get the most definitive answer by emailing the company directly.
 

Delany

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I already know what to do with it for my own cat. I thought this thread was a main one for people to find out about it. Sorry, I don't actually need any info myself. I'm a bit tired lately so I'm probably incoherent and also not reading things properly! Well, the link is there so anyone can look for themselves. I better go sleep for about a week till I get my senses back.:sleep2: Sorry to cause confusion! Take care.
 
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