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"It's critically important that the homemade diet is nutritionally balanced and complete and that often requires adding certain supplements including vitamins and minerals," said Cairns, DVM, MS, DACVIM – board-certified small animal internal medicine specialist, Vice president of medical excellence and education for Thrive Pet Healthcare, and secretary of the board of directors of the Chicago Veterinary Medical Association."The big risk would be that we are feeding a long-term nutritionally unbalanced diet," she added.Cairns suggested partnering with your veterinarian to determine what specific food is going to be optimal for your pet including different brands that best meet their nutritional requirements."Really, it's not very different than with humans. So good nutrition means that a pet is getting the right amount of nutrients like proteins and fats and carbohydrates as well as the right about of minerals and vitamins that the pet needs but also getting those things in the right quantity," Cairns said.