Thinking of switching to homemade with balance it but have a picky cat

[Cheekiezsheek]

I'm really glad I found this forum as it seems that no one knows much about homecooked and balance it elsewhere. I recently started looking into homecooked and I knew about balance it but I always thought that it was much too confusing to really navigate. After looking into it more I learned how to use it better as well as understand instructions and all that. I like that it's backed by nutritionists unlike some other supplement companies and homecooked recipe generators. One of my worries is my cat can be pretty picky and isn't really that into plain cooked meats like a normal cat would, I've heard that some of the supplements can be bitter or change the flavor of the food. What has been your experience with feeding picky eaters homemade? I'm going to buy a small packet of each of the supplements to see if he ends up having a preference before hopefully being able to fully switch to all homemade.

My other concern is with my vet, I'm going to be taking my boy to the vet soon to get his annual wellness check and make sure he is completely healthy before switching his diet. I want to discuss switching to homemade through balance it but I'm a bit worried that my vet may not familiar with balance it and may end up discouraging me from feeding homecooked. How would I go about that and in finding a vet who is familiar with the site?

any tips and or advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Maggiez]

I think you could try cooking a small portion (without adding supplement) and serve it with their regular food, to see how they react.

I'm switching my kittens to a half-raw diet right now. I gradually add small portions to their breakfast and then dinner, along with their regular canned food. Sometimes they gobble up the raw food but sometimes they don't want to touch it. Then I'd mix it with the canned food and they would eat it. I also have friends who have picky cats. They recommend adding a topper to the food so it smells more attractive.

I feed my kittens homemade food sometimes. But since I only give them a small portion, I do not add supplement. I think it's a great idea to talk to your vet first. But don't be discouraged if your vet didn't show support.

This is a popular article on cat food (including homemade): Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition – Common Sense. Healthy Cats. Making Cat Food
It's mostly about raw diet but it includes important information on homemade food.

 

[LTS3]

You don't need to discuss food with the vet at all. Many vets discourage feeding homemade diets because it's far too easy to feed an unbalanced diet.

I don't think many people here use the Balance It supplement. The supplement only works if you create a diet using their specific recipe creator Autobalancer® EZ. I tried creating a diet with just chicken breast meat and nothing else and the result said it was not possible to create such a recipe Cats have no use for veggies or grains in the diet.

EZComplete and UStew are popular pre-mixes for cooked meat diets. There are a few others. All you need is plain cooked meat, no veggies or other stuff. You can try using toppers and some canned food to entice a picky cat to eat the new diet.

 

[Cheekiezsheek]

You don't need to discuss food with the vet at all. Many vets discourage feeding homemade diets because it's far too easy to feed an unbalanced diet.

I don't think many people here use the Balance It supplement. The supplement only works if you create a diet using their specific recipe creator Autobalancer® EZ. I tried creating a diet with just chicken breast meat and nothing else and the result said it was not possible to create such a recipe Cats have no use for veggies or grains in the diet.

EZComplete and UStew are popular pre-mixes for cooked meat diets. There are a few others. All you need is plain cooked meat, no veggies or other stuff. You can try using toppers and some canned food to entice a picky cat to eat the new diet.

While I’m not hoping for my vet to formulate or really guide me by any means I would just want them to know and be on board. I definitely know that when clients come in with their pets are or wanting their pets on homemade diets most of the time it’s unbalanced.
I’m aware about the supplement only works with a recipe formulated on the site, chicken breast alone is not very nutrient dense so it’s probably why it didn’t make a recipe. I’ve played around with it and I’ve made recipes with a variety of just meats and fish and no veggies and it’s always formulated a recipe. While I agree that making a recipe with lots of oats, sweet potatoes, and peas etc In my opinion at least defeats the purpose of a homemade diet if it’s gonna be carb filled. Though I’d say that a diet with a little bit of greens like some kale or spinach would be digested well.
I personally really liked the balance it calculator due to the variety of ingredients your able to choose from as I’d prefer to feed a diet with a variety of meats and organs and such rather than just ground meat and the vitamin which I’ve found to be the case with other supplements I’ve come across

 

[Cheekiezsheek]

I think you could try cooking a small portion (without adding supplement) and serve it with their regular food, to see how they react.

I'm switching my kittens to a half-raw diet right now. I gradually add small portions to their breakfast and then dinner, along with their regular canned food. Sometimes they gobble up the raw food but sometimes they don't want to touch it. Then I'd mix it with the canned food and they would eat it. I also have friends who have picky cats. They recommend adding a topper to the food so it smells more attractive.

I feed my kittens homemade food sometimes. But since I only give them a small portion, I do not add supplement. I think it's a great idea to talk to your vet first. But don't be discouraged if your vet didn't show support.

This is a popular article on cat food (including homemade): Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition – Common Sense. Healthy Cats. Making Cat Food
It's mostly about raw diet but it includes important information on homemade food.

Yeah I definitely plan to add some cooked meats and eggs and such to his food to get him used and then increase to hopefully be able to transition and then add the supplements.
I definitely want my vet on board but if not I hope to get a referral to a nutritionist

 

[maggie101]

Thank you LTS3 for suggesting EZ Complete! My cats love it. Maggie is a very picky eater. She likes pieces of meat mixed in. I do cook it and add ez and water. I did think homemade was too confusing til this was suggested. My cats like the smell of meat. So far, my cat Peaches has not thrown up. EZ has all the nutrients needed. It's by Food For Life. They also get canned in the morning mixed with one piece of nw naturals freeze dried. I would try the other brands suggested because the shipping took 2 weeks

 

[LTS3]

Organs and non-supplemented meat can be fed up to 10% of the diet. So variety is possible if you use another pre-mix supplement. Feed only raw egg yolk or a fully cooked whole egg. Raw egg white can affect nutrient absorption in cats.

Don't be surprised if your vet has a strong opposition to any kind of homemade diet. You don't need the vet's approval to feed a homemade diet. Food is one of those things you and the vet just about. You don't need a new vet just because the current one doesn't like what you feed.

 

[Cheekiezsheek]

Organs and non-supplemented meat can be fed up to 10% of the diet. So variety is possible if you use another pre-mix supplement. Feed only raw egg yolk or a fully cooked whole egg. Raw egg white can affect nutrient absorption in cats.

Don't be surprised if your vet has a strong opposition to any kind of homemade diet. You don't need the vet's approval to feed a homemade diet. Food is one of those things you and the vet just about. You don't need a new vet just because the current one doesn't like what you feed.

Yeah that’s the thing I liked with balance it that I’m able to feed organs and whole cooked eggs while it being part of the recipe and not extra calories.
Since I have yet to build a relationship with any vet as my cat is just a year old and we got him as a kitten switching vets wouldn’t hurt at all and I was already indecisive between choosing between two vets that we’ve been to in the end I decided on vet though

 

[Cheekiezsheek]

Organs and non-supplemented meat can be fed up to 10% of the diet. So variety is possible if you use another pre-mix supplement. Feed only raw egg yolk or a fully cooked whole egg. Raw egg white can affect nutrient absorption in cats.

Don't be surprised if your vet has a strong opposition to any kind of homemade diet. You don't need the vet's approval to feed a homemade diet. Food is one of those things you and the vet just about. You don't need a new vet just because the current one doesn't like what you feed.

Thanks so much though! I really appreciate it