In the last month, beloved pets have died and millions of pounds of commercial food were recalled because of a contaminant. Worried pet owners are asking: What can I safely feed my pet now?

The overwhelming response from veterinarians to most of their clients is to keep feeding what you were feeding before the recall.

"If your food isn't on the recall list, that's option 1, and to me that's probably the best option," Omaha veterinarian Dr. Michael Bosilevac said.

Is Your Food Safe?

Many of the 30,000 doctors registered on the Veterinary Information Network message board said that if you want to be cautious, you should eschew all foods that list wheat gluten on the label. That's the first ingredient that was found to be contaminated.

"Avoid feeding foods containing wheat gluten, especially if the company does not guarantee that they have investigated the source of their gluten. Call or check Web sites." Omaha vet Dr. Jeff Schreiber of Miracle Hills Animal Hospital said on VIN.

"Do feed a complete and balanced diet from a major manufacturer that does not list wheat gluten," he says.

Make Your Own?

Although Bosilevac and Schreiber cautioned against homemade diets for pets, there is growing interest in them in light of the recall. During the second week of April, "Real Food for Dogs," a dog-food cookbook, ranked No. 9 on Amazon.com's best-seller list. Pet owners with the time and interest to prepare homemade meals for their pets may find it a good alternative, according to researchers and veterinarians.

Salena Zellers, of Alexandria, Va., used to feed her St. Bernard, Kaela, a homemade diet of chicken and rice when the dog had bouts with a sensitive stomach. When the recalls were announced, Zellers went back into the kitchen. She said she had about half a bag of dog food that was not on the recall list. She wanted to make it last as long as possible, so she supplemented Kaela's commercial diet with a home-cooked meal.

Dr. Tony Buffington, a professor and researcher at The Ohio State University, said that pet owners who have the time and attention to properly cook for their pets should go for it.

"If people want to cook for their dogs -- cats are tougher, but not impossible -- talk to your vet," Buffington said. "They might know something about the individual pet that is important (to their diet)."

Buffington, who has done research for a number of commercial pet food companies, as well as other grant-funded research on pet nutrition for non-commercial entities, likes the recipes at BalanceIt.com and PetDiets.com.

Nutritional Balance

Ralston, Neb., vet Dr. Diane Simmons guides clients through the basics of preparing cooked and raw meals for a pet in her holistic veterinary practice. She said there are a lot of Internet sites telling people it is too difficult to balance a pet's nutritional needs, and that homemade food will do more harm than good over the long run, but she disagrees with it.

"I don't think it's very difficult to balance them at all," Simmons said, as long as owners get some education.

"I have people at least read one book. If someone isn't familiar with (home preparation), that's not wise and you will get into trouble," she said.

Simmons assigns the book "Switch To Raw" by Susan Johnson. She also likes "Dr. Pitcairn's Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats" by Richard H. Pitcairn and Susan Hubble Pitcairn.

Eating BARF?

One of Simmons' clients, Gerianne Darnell, has cooked for her three border collies in Council Bluffs, Iowa, for eight years. The professional dog trainer and wife of a veterinarian follows a raw diet pioneered by Australian veterinarian Ian Billinghurst.

Darnell follows his biologically appropriate raw foods diet, also known as BARF. Every six weeks, she and two friends gather to prepare concoctions of meat, vegetables, eggs and more. They use a garbage disposal placed over a bucket to grind all of the ingredients together.

"I was looking for long-lived dogs," Darnell said, explaining why she started preparing food for her dogs at home. "I was looking for a better way to feed them. When you look at a dog food's label, (there are) a lot of things you can't pronounce."

The three dog lovers make six weeks of food to feed seven dogs. It takes three hours and about $230 in supplies. They supplement the meals with vitamins and nutrients for a sum total cost of about $2 per dog per day, Darnell said.

"This is not for everyone. You need to believe in it," Darnell said.

Don't Just Scrape

That's the advice vets give. Don't scrape table scraps into your dog or cat's bowl and call it a meal. Pets don't have the same nutritional needs as humans, so while a homemade pet diet doesn't have to be hard, it does have to be mindful.

"If diets aren't done correctly there can be downsides," said Simmons. "I want (homemade diet) users to be informed, competent -- it's not something you do half-hearted."

No Short-Term Problems

Even vets opposed to long-term homemade diets, such as Schreiber, said pet owners who may have panicked after the recall and started cooking for their pet haven't harmed their animals. Schreiber said that short-term solutions -- even if they aren't correctly balanced for nutrition -- won't hurt much.

Visit our family section every day next week for our Pet Week features.

Pet Week Features:

Monday -- Other Ways To Give Good Nutrition

Tuesday -- Should You Get A Pet?

Wednesday -- Your Pet Can Lead You To Love

Thursday -- Some Pet Owners Spare No Expense

Friday -- Best Movies For Pet Lovers