how about homemade catfood?

[naturalmama]

I am wondering how to make my own catfood for my finicky feline? I have heard they need something called taurine. Is this something you can buy somewhere to add to your own recipe?

[owensmom]

I tried to make cat food for my (then) 14 year old cat and it didn't fly... I did find taurine in the vitamin section of my natural foods store though.

Good luck with the finicky one!
~meow~

[bigcats]

I suggest Dr. Pitcairn's book Natural Health for Dogs and Cats... you should read it anyway, even if you weren't interested in homemade pet food! It's really good for the naturally minded pet owner.

Yep, I've bought taurine in capsule form.

[moonshadow]

Wellnes Cat Food

I posted under the "make your own dog food" question, but I'll post here, as well. Wellness Brand makes excellent organic, natural cat food full of all kinds of great ingredients (check out their website at www.oldmotherhubbard.com under "Wellness.")

But, if you're looking for homemade food. Pat McKay has excellent dietary/recipie suggestions on her website. She is the founder of homemade pet food!! www.patmckay.com

There's also a great book out by Celeste Yarnell (a holistic vet in California) called Natural Cat Care: A Complete Guide to Holistically Caring for your Cat. Highly, highly recomended. You can take a look at the book on Amazon.com

Moonshadow

[Curious]

I had the pleasure of meeting Cheryl Schwartz, author of Four Paws Five Directions, a book on Chinese medicine for pets. She suggested a recipe of ground turkey plus rice cakes, cooked with water.

This was specifically for my cat who had skin problems, weight gain, weird appetite, and colitis. She did great, and some friends tried the same recipe for their cats who enjoyed it and did well, even though they did not have my cat's problems.

I now use oatmeal instead of rice cakes. My cat has never tired of this.

[naturalmama]

Do you just use cooked oatmeal and cooked ground turkey mixed together? What about the taurine that they need?

[Mindy]

I made my own cat food for years. I started out based on the information in the New Natural Car by Anitra Frasier (I think - sorry it's after midnight and my brain is shutting down.) I used to make large batches and freeze in yoghurt containers. Only I cooked the meat as I just did not trust raw meat and certainly could not afford all organic meat for my cats! I finally stopped after my second child was born when I just didn't have the time anymore. Feel bad about that but certain decisions like that just had to be made. good luck!