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Many pet owners thought that by spending a lot of money buying premium dog food brands, they were ensured that their pets were consuming the best.

How wrong could they have been? The recent pet food scare has left many owners feeling quite unsure about the way forward in giving one's pets the best available.

That's where homemade foods spring to mind, where you are in control of what your pet is fed. The Angela Day helpline has been inundated with callers looking for old-fashioned solutions, recipes for pet food.

We have discovered that the homemade option needs a lot more than a few tasty titbits. Feeding pets requires a thorough understanding of the specific nutritional needs of the animal. This covers the nutritive value of different foodstuffs, dietary interactions and methods of preparation and storage.

So feeding Rover a balanced diet, according to the experts, is not as straightforward as it seems and needs considerable time, effort and expertise.

Just like their owners, dogs need a balanced diet which contains just the right amount of protein, fat and carbohydrate, as well as 13 different vitamins and minerals to ensure they stay in peak condition.

Not only must these nutrients be present, they must also be in the correct amounts and proportions to provide a nutritionally complete and balanced diet.

The idea of a balanced homecooked doggy dinner seems to have been poo-poohed by the experts. A diet of meat alone, we are told, is not suitable for dogs.

But what of years gone by, when there were no ready-made pet foods?