How do I modify the amount of food in each recipe I'm creating. Example: How do I specify that I would use 2 cups of potatoes etc
Click the down arrow to the right of the UNIT column in the Ingredient List. You will get whatever units are available for each ingredient. Not all ingredients have cups or ounces as units of measures. All ingredients have grams.
How do I add supplements? Are they in Food Search?
You add supplements using the Food Wizard. It is important to know the gram weight of the supplement you are adding. We also have a service where you can request our help to add a supplement. This service is for our Pet Diet 365 line of products. See our service in the Discussion Forums.
How do I add ingredients to new recipes I am trying to make?
You add ingredients through the Recipe Balancer. Highlight a recipe in the Recipes module and press the Recipe Balancer button on the ribbon. This will open the Balancer module. Add foods by using the Search Food button on the ribbon in the Balancer. When you add a food it will go into the ingredient list at 100 grams. Change the quantity and immediately press the ENTER/RETURN key. The new value for that ingredient will be updated in the database and all the graphs will be updated in real time.
How do I save my recipe? I don't see a SAVE button.
We removed the SAVE button because it is no longer needed. Once you start adding foods to the ingredient list, those ingredients are saved automatically to that recipe. All ingredients/supplements are first saved into the recipe at 100 grams. When you change an ingredient amount, you must press the RETURN/ENTER key. Your new value is saved and all the graphs are updated immediately.
How do I select an item from my ingredient list so that I can can then go to table data and see the complete breakdown of that ingredient?
That feature is coming in our next release, Pet Diet 365 Home. The table data in the beta is meant for internal use.
I’ve entered information for Balance IT Carnivore Blend into PDD. When I entered a recipe with meat as provided by Balance It, and review the nutritional information in Pet Diet Designer the Ca:P ratios are off, and the nutritional information is not matching the Nutrient profile on the Balance IT website. Can you explain this?
First, the Balance It formulator uses a different standard to calculate nutrient requirements. The standard they use is AAFCO, which is a commercial standard based off of NRC.
PDD uses NRC, as that is the gold standard.
AAFCO sets standards for commercial pet food and the components of these foods are often not of human food quality. So, the AAFCO takes the NRC standard and incorporated a "fudge" factor into the recommended amounts of some nutrients that takes bioavailability and other factors into account, to better reflect the decreased nutrient availability of ingredients commonly used in pet foods.
The NRC standard was designed for more purified feeds where the nutrient availability is higher than ingredients used in pet foods. So whole food ingredients used by humans are better suited to the NRC standard.
AAFCO also doesn't include important fatty acids and fatty acid ratios in their standard.
AAFCO also uses modified Atwater factors to calculate the available energy of foods, whereas PDD (NRC) uses standard Atwater factors.
Further, AAFCO formulates diets for 2 life stages (maintenance and growth). So diets are not individualized.
PDD formulates diets precisely for each individual pet using the NRC standard, so PDD is far more accurate and the numbers will differ. Dogs have 5 life stages and cats have 4 life stages, according to NRC.
Balance your diet according to PDD.
Here is what to look for:
1) Nutrient Summary and Ratios are all in the green
2) The Remaining Calorie Targets (on the ribbon) should be as close to zero as possible, and
3) Make sure your nutrients do not exceed safe upper limits (see blog links below)
I am trying to do a custom diet. How do I add ingredients and balance a recipe after I have attached a newly created recipe to a pet?
In the Recipes module, highlight the recipe you are creating and click the RECIPE BALANCER button on the ribbon. You are now taken to the Recipe Balancer module. Start adding foods by using the Search Foods button. There is a PLUS (+) sign beside each food. Just click it and the food will be entered into the ingredient list at 100 grams.
Change the amount and press the ENTER/RETURN key to save the new amount for that ingredient. All of the graphs will be updated. Keep adding/removing ingredients and changing amounts until you have a balanced recipe.
A recipe is balanced when all of the percentage bars and ratios (gauges) are in the green. Also, the remaining calorie amount on the ribbon is as close to zero as possible.
You can check the following articles below to make sure that your recipe does not surpass the safe upper limit for a nutrient.
Safe Upper Limits for Dog Diets
Safe Upper Limits for Cat Diets
I would like a bit of clarification on balancing EPA & DHA in recipes. If the Recipe Balancer dial drops to below 1:1, does this mean I need to add ingredient with more EPA in order to balance out the higher amounts of the DHA currently in the recipe?
If the needle is to the left of the green area, then you need to add a product with more DHA than EPA. If the needle is to the right of the green area, then you need foods with more EPA than DHA. Use the nutrient search and select both DHA and EPA to analyze foods.
I do not have the LA:ALA ratio gauge/graph for cats. Am I missing this for a reason, how can I get it?
The requirement for alpha-linolenic acid in cats does not depend upon the linoleic acid content of the diet. So there is no ratio for cats.
What is the safe upper limit (SUL) for dogs?
The following lists the safe upper limits for dogs. Note that this list only refers to the safe upper limit based on the NRC recommended allowance. Pet Diet 365 will have these limits built in automatically, including the safe upper limits for NRC minimum requirement. We will use arbitrary amounts (including amounts from the FEDIAF / AAFCO industry standards) for nutrients that do not have safe upper limits. We will also allow the user to alter these arbitrary amounts.
Note that puppies have more stringent requirements (see Lysine and Calcium).
Puppies 4-14 Weeks Old
Lysine 227 %
Total Fat 387 %
Linoleic Acid 494 %
EPA & DHA 2153 %
Calcium 150 %
Vitamin A 989 %
Vitamin D 588 %
Puppies 14 Weeks and Older
Lysine 285 %
Total Fat 387 %
Linoleic Acid 494 %
EPA & DHA 2153 %
Calcium 150 %
Vitamin A 989 %
Vitamin D 588 %
Adult Dogs
Total Fat 597 %
Linoleic Acid 582 %
EPA & DHA 2545 %
Vitamin A 4221 %
Vitamin D 588 %
Late Gestation & Peak Lactation
Total Fat 387 %
Linoleic Acid 493 %
EPA & DHA 2153 %
Vitamin A 989 %
Vitamin D 588 %
What is the safe upper limit (SUL) for cats?
The following lists the safe upper limits for cats. Note that this list only refers to the safe upper limit based on the NRC recommended allowance. Pet Diet 365 will have these limits built in automatically, including the safe upper limits for NRC minimum requirement. We will use arbitrary amounts (including amounts from the FEDIAF / AAFCO industry standards) for nutrients that do not have safe upper limits. We will also allow the user to alter these arbitrary amounts.
Note that kittens have more stringent requirements.
Kittens
Arginine 364 %
Histidine 662 %
Isoleucine 1550 %
Methionine 295 %
Leucine 678 %
Lysine 690 %
Phenylalanine 557 %
Phenylalanine & Tyrosine 354 %
Threonine 793 %
Tryptophan 1062 %
Valine 1356 %
Taurine 2220 %
Total Fat 366 %
Linoleic Acid 985 %
Vitamin A 8000 %
Vitamin D 13428 %
Adult Cats
Total Fat 366 %
Linoleic Acid 985 %
Arachidonic Acid 3333 %
Vitamin A 10000 %
Vitamin D 10742 %
Late Gestation & Peak Lactation
Total Fat 366 %
Linoleic Acid 985 %
Vitamin A 5000 %
Vitamin D 10742 %
