The dog food market is growing, and with it grows the number and types of products intended for dog nutrition. Pet owners are also resorting to home-cooked feed, some due to distrust of food manufacturers, others due to possible medical conditions of the pet, and still others due to personal preferences. The nutritional adequacy of home-cooked meals has been found to be inadequate in several studies. Similar results were also found as part of a master's thesis where we calculated appropriate meals using a computer program and prepared them and analysed them in the laboratory. Dry commercial feed was also analysed and compared with manufacturer data. Four different cooked meals were calculated and prepared, two of which were intended for feeding a dog recovering from pancreatitis, and two were intended for feeding a dog for the purpose of preventing the recurrence of struvite stones. Laboratory analysis of cooked meal samples revealed that the program's meal calculations were not comparable to the actual situation or that the meals were inadequate, while the dry commercial feed was adequate or its results were comparable to the data stated on the packaging. We conclude that home-prepared cooked feed may be nutritionally inadequate despite the fact that the program's meal calculations are nutritionally adequate in theory. Deviations were found in both macro and microelements. We also conclude that the manufacturers' data on the analytical composition of commercial feed, which are stated on the packaging, are trust-worthy.
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