Animal Diet Formulator: A Comprehensive Guide to Pet Food Formulation Software

The Animal Diet Formulator (ADF) is a pet food formulation software designed for pet owners and pet professionals. It is designed to help formulate quality, complete and balanced pet food recipes for dogs and cats safely, efficiently, and within budget. ADF aims to improve the diets and lives of animals around the globe, naturally, with headquarters in the USA and clients worldwide.

What is Animal Diet Formulator?

The ADF allows users to utilize nutritional data on thousands of food ingredients to formulate balanced fresh whole-foods diets. The software emphasizes using minimal supplements that meet USA (AAFCO) and European (FEDIAF) nutrient standards for life stages and activity levels for dogs and cats. The software supports both raw and cooked formulations for both dogs and cats.

Key Features and Benefits

• Nutritional Data: ADF provides access to nutritional data on thousands of food ingredients.
• Balanced Diets: Formulate balanced fresh whole-foods diets using minimal supplements.
• Standards Compliance: Meets USA (AAFCO) and European (FEDIAF) nutrient standards for different life stages and activity levels.
• Versatility: Supports both raw and cooked formulations for dogs and cats.
• Risk Management: Helps to manage risks in formulating quality, complete and balanced pet food recipes.
• Efficiency: Formulate recipes safely, efficiently, and within budget.
• Unified Platform: ADF connects pet owners and pet professionals through a unified platform.

Account Options and Pricing

The Animal Diet Formulator offers three different account options:

1. Individual: Designed for individual pet owners.
2. Professional: Suited for veterinary professionals.
3. Commercial: Intended for pet food brands.

Individual Version

• Cost: \$24.99 per month (after a \$9.99 14-day trial) with a one-year commitment.
• Features:
  • Access for two pet owners.
  • Create 20 different pet profiles.
  • Compare 1000+ different ingredients.
  • Create 25 recipes with auto-adjust nutrients.
  • Generate reports in PDF or Excel format.

Professional Version

• Cost: \$79.99 per month.
• Features:
  • Access for 50 pet owners.
  • Create 100 pet profiles.
  • Create 250 recipes.
  • Access to 1000+ ingredients.
  • Information about cooking methods and pet weight loss.

Commercial Version

• Cost: \$299.99 per month.
• Features:
  • Unlimited access for pet owners.
  • Unlimited pet profiles and recipes.
  • Access to 2000+ ingredients.
  • Information about cooking methods and pet weight loss.

How to Use the Animal Diet Formulator

1. Create Pet Profiles: Input details about your pet, including age, weight, activity level, and life stage.
2. Select Ingredients: Choose from a database of thousands of ingredients to formulate your recipe.
3. Formulate Recipes: Create recipes while ensuring they meet AAFCO or FEDIAF nutrient standards.
4. Auto-Adjust Nutrients: Utilize the auto-adjust feature to balance nutrients in your recipes.
5. Generate Reports: Create detailed reports in PDF or Excel format for analysis and record-keeping.

Personal Experience and Review

One user shared their experience with the Individual version of the ADF software, highlighting its utility in comparing raw dog food ingredients and creating nutrient comparison tables for blog posts. They found it helpful for nerding out about nutrient amounts in different ingredients, such as comparing raw goose with and without skin or comparing nutrient variations in raw livers from different animals.

Likes

• Ingredient Comparison: Useful for comparing nutrient amounts in various ingredients.
• Learning Tool: Helps in understanding the balance of whole foods in a diet, leading to the elimination of unnecessary supplements.
• Nutrient Database: ADF does all the work for you with their database of 1,000 ingredients.

Dislikes

• Subscription Commitment: The one-year subscription commitment without the option to pause can be restrictive.
• Ingredient Database Limitations: Several raw dog food ingredients that are regularly used may be missing from the database.
• Software Issues: It takes several attempts before the software opens and is ready to be used.

What Happens After 1 Year

After removing payment information 14 months into the subscription, the user still had access to some areas of the ADF app. They could still look up raw dog food ingredients and their nutrient profiles, but the ability to compare more than two ingredients at once and formulate recipes was disabled.

Read also: Your Guide to an Animal-Based Diet

Addressing Concerns and Limitations

While ADF offers numerous benefits, it's important to acknowledge some limitations:

• Ingredient Availability: Some users have noted the absence of certain ingredients in the database, which can be a drawback for those seeking to formulate recipes with specific items like rabbit head, heart, feet, lung, liver, kidney, spleen, frames, pork tails, heart, trotters, deer liver, lung, heart, kidney, spleen, duck head, feet, wings, frames, goat head, heart, liver, kidney, spleen, lung, lamb green tripe, beef testicles, calf liver, phytoplankton and fur.
• Subscription Flexibility: The annual commitment may not suit users who need a more flexible subscription model.
• Software Performance: Some users experienced initial difficulties with the software.

The Importance of Fresh, Whole Foods

The benefits of feeding fresh, whole, raw foods rather than processed, packaged foods are widely recognized. Eating fresh, whole foods can assist in the prevention of a plethora of chronic health issues including obesity and other metabolic diseases that we see all too often in the healthcare profession. This approach aligns with the principles of ancestral-type diets, which emphasize meat-based nutrition that meets US and European nutrient standards.

The Role of Key People

• Steve Brown: The original creator of ADF, a nutritional researcher, and the founder and formulator of the first commercially available fresh-raw pet food in the USA.
• Dr. Barbara Royal: The owner of The Royal Treatment Veterinary Center in Chicago, past president of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association (AHVMA), and a co-founder of the Royal Animal Health University (RAHU).
• Dr. Susan Recker: An exceptionally knowledgeable expert in animal nutrition, meal balancing, and canine health, who is a main point of contact for questions and consultations with ADF.

Read also: Are Animal Crackers Healthy?

Read also: A Guide to Animal Dietary Categories

tags: #animal #diet #formulator #information