Veteran Pet Food Maker

Trinitty · Apr 20, 2007

Hello there! 
I've been making my cats' food for more than seven years now with wonderful results. They are VERY healthy. 
I STRONGLY urge everyone to make their own pet food. It's almost criminal how simple and sensible it is. I was very sad to see all of the sad stories on the pet food recall, it was a disaster waiting to happen. 
If any of you have any questions about making your own pet food, feel free to ask me, I would love to share information with you. 
I recommend reading: FOOD PETS DIE FOR by Ann N. Martin. It was written many years ago and explained why the disaster we have now was preventable but yet bound to happen. 
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Here are the BEST websites for cat food: <a href="http://www.catnutrition.org/" target="_blank">http://www.catnutrition.org/</a> 
This woman has a really great pictorial explaining how to make raw meat cat food. She has lots of good information. 
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There are lots of groups on Yahoo that feed raw food. Just search for them there and you can sign up.... I have a feeling that they are experiencing an upsurge in interest. 
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This one is a life saver. I can't say enough wonderful things about these people. <a href="http://www.felinefuture.com" target="_blank">www.felinefuture.com</a> 
They are a business, I've been using their recipe (but making it all from scratch) since I first started. They are passionat cat researchers, they have a colony of cats on Salt Spring Island and they came up with this recipe that mimics whole prey and delivers great results. I strongly urge you all to read the site, it makes SO MUCH SENSE. 
Example: Felines are obligate carnivores: They need to eat meat to survive. They have evolved over millions of years to EAT RAW MEAT in the form of small prey animals. Just because an animal is domesticated, doesn't mean that the physiology changes. Cat's CANNOT digest plant matter, they get nothing out of it. 
There are great tips and recommendations on that site. 
Here is the recipe I use: 
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Use chicken, turkey or rabbit. 
Try to stay same-species for meats and organs. 
These ingredients are interdependent, don’t leave any out. 
There are lots of options for getting calcium, including grinding raw bone. 
Powdered, human-grade bone meal from the health food store is the easiest place to start. 
1000 grams Muscle Meat (I use drumsticks with skin) 
200 grams Heart 
100 grams Liver 
1 cup Water 
2 egg Yolks 
2 Tblsp Bone Meal Powder 
2 tsp Psyllium Husks 
2 Tblsp gelatin (I use Knox, unflavoured) 
1 Tblsp salmon oil (I use a can of salmon instead) 
1 capsule Vitamin B complex 
1 capsule Vitamin E 400 IUD 
1 tsp powdered kelp 
.... 
Mix all ingregients together in a large bowl, except for the muscle and organ meats. It should looke like a thickening yellow slurry with green bits. 
Use poultry shears to slice up the organ and muscle meats, dropping the bits into the slurry mixture as you go. 
Mix it all together. 
Spoon about 1/2 cup portions into zippered freezer bags, flattening them out nice and thin as you go. If you have two cats, put a whole cup in, you can feed them with one bag. 
Stack in the freezer. 
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To feed: 
Place the frozen bag of meat into a sink of hot water. Wait until it is soft and warm. NO MICROWAVE. 
Pour meat mixture into ceramic or stainless steel or glass bowls. NO PLASTIC. 
Offer for an hour. 
Put uneaten meat back in the fridge for up to 24 hours. 
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IF your cat won't budge, try using a bit of canned Wellness cat food mixed into the meat mixture at the time of the feeding. (Wellness only uses human grade ingredients!) Or, use some canned tuna or salmon mixed in with it to transition them.

BensMom · Apr 20, 2007

Interesting. 
I am really trying to get my guys eating raw, but they are resistant to the bones, organs and basically only eat the muscle meat if I cut it into small pieces. I really want them to chew whole bones for the dental benefits, but this mix sounds like a good comprimise for now. I am still leaving out Innova EVO kibble since they are only eating a little raw meat. 
How many servings does this make? Do you only feed them once a day?

Trinitty · Apr 20, 2007

If I almost triple the batch, it lasts just over one month for two cats. 
This is a good comprimise, IMO, it's hard to get them onto raw bone right away. 
I would try giving raw chicken wings to start on raw bone.

viking · Apr 20, 2007

Thank you for urls. I'll read <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile"> 
I've been reading about the raw meat before, and eventually i'll try those recipes. But for now i am worried about the quality of meat. 
I would not like to buy industrialized meat, with organs like liver, and feed it raw to my cat. And, there is no organic meat around yet. 
(Not until i have bought a property where i can keep own animals. Hopefully this year <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile"> ) 
I poach(?translation) pollack for <a href="http://www.eurofoto.no/show_image_stream.php?bid=26553852&dx=370&dy=491" target="_blank">my tabby Tiger (picture)</a>. 
(and other fish if i've got some for dinner myself) 
I sometimes try to tempt him with raw fish, but no ... he wont have it yet. 
He has tasted cooked chicken/turkey-meat lately, and seem to like it. But he does not get much at the time, as i am not sure how his stomach likes it. 
He has 'dryfeed' avaliable. mainly for his teeth. And occasionaly get a commercial canned catfood with meat. I dont like it at all, and would rather make something myself. 
He loves hunting birds, but im not sure he has ever caught one or if he eats them. I kinda hopes he does ... ? <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/duck.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Duck">: 
Tiger is very healthy and strong. People usually comments on how nice his fur is, and how they can tell he has a good life. 
But i want to keep him like that, so making him healthy food is absolutely on my agenda. 
So, what are your thoughts on the meat-issue?

Trinitty · Apr 20, 2007

I do share your concerns about industrialized meats, especially the organs. I don't eat them myself. 
However, I feel, through my own experience with them, that the benefits out-weigh the risks by far for our felines. 
That dry feed and canned wet food that you supplement with still has all of these same organs in them, but they are rendered. So, you are still getting the things you don't want, like the antibiotics or any hormones you might be worried about, but you aren't getting the taurine, the B-Complex, the water content, the amino acids in their raw, most digestible form. 
The Feline Future website addresses this in much better detail than I can! They are really crunchy, I wouldn't be surprized if the couple who started it are vegetarians or only organic-food eaters. 
I, personally, think that the fish is great for your cat, some people don't feed it because they feel their cats get really fixated on it. 
Felines do eat fish in the wild, not as often as rodent or herbivore meat or fowl, but it's still a part of the diet. I would keep trying to feed raw and fresh if I were you, HOWEVER, I don't know about the taurine content of fish. That's why the raw heart is essential to the recipe, it's rich in taurine with is absolutely required by the feline. 
Trin.

jlutgendorf · Apr 20, 2007

What are recomendations for cats who are carb/kibble addicts. I can get two of my cats to at least each chunks of chicken breast, but my UTI kitty (who could really use the raw diet) is a carb fiend! I cannot get him to eat anything but kibble. 
~Julia

Trinitty · Apr 20, 2007

I have a carb-addict too. So much so, that I have caught him chewing into a bag of DRY OATMEAL! He was started on kibble as a kitten before I knew better. 
Does your cat like ANY wet food? Does he like canned fish? 
I would take some canned fish that he likes and mix it in with a little bit of the raw meat and a little bit of his kibble. He will get the scent of the kibble he's fixated on, and the tastey fish and might eat the fresh meat chunks with it. 
Slowly increase the meat portion, decreasing the canned fish. Eventually see if you can sneak the kibble out of the mix. You could try keeping it out of the house. 
I keep a bag of Wellness kibble to use in place of cat treats like Pounce. The Wellness stuff still isn't great, (wouldn't use it as an actual meal) it still has rice and stupid things like cranberry and alphalpha, but it's human grade and safe, in my opinion. So, my little carb addict gets his hit from that as a treat. My female who was raise on raw meat doesn't care for it at all. 
Trin.

viking · Apr 20, 2007

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<div>Originally Posted by Trinitty <a href="/community/forum/post/7905405"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
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That dry feed and canned wet food that you supplement with still has all of these same organs in them, but they are rendered. So, you are still getting the things you don't want, like the antibiotics or any hormones you might be worried about, but you aren't getting the taurine, the B-Complex, the water content, the amino acids in their raw, most digestible form. 
I would keep trying to feed raw and fresh if I were you, HOWEVER, I don't know about the taurine content of fish. That's why the raw heart is essential to the recipe, it's rich in taurine with is absolutely required by the feline. 
Trin.</div>
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you are right, ofcourse. 
i try to remind myself that i live in norway, and that commercial meat here still has a certain degree of quality. 
i'll have a chat with my fishing friend, and the local butcher. 
my cat says 'tnx trrRRrrrRRRrrrin'.

PuppyFluffer · Apr 21, 2007

I've got an old cat who was just diagnosed with kidney disease. She's a former stray, at least 14 years old. Ive got her on SQ fluids once a day for three days, then 2-3 times a week and two different versions of prescription diets to try. 
Is is possible to successfully put a cat in this situation on raw?

viking · Apr 24, 2007

PuppyFluffer: i am not sure how her body will react to the transition, but i cant see how raw food could give her more trouble then presctiption diets. 
i would try it out. 
but i'm no vet. 
-- 
The last days Tiger has eaten raw trout with liver and roe (?translation), 
and some raw pig. I think the transition will work out fine. 
One step at the time. I do not have all ingredients avaliable yet, but i dont think that should stop me from giving him raw meats when i can. do you? 
Pig is the largest animal i would feed him, and only very seldom. I belive the meat we give them should reflect what they would be able to catch themselves in the wild.

Trinitty · Apr 25, 2007

Puppyfluffer, 
I don't think it would harm her, but, I am not a vet. Are there any raw-educated vets you could ask? Raw is ideal, and I can see how it would be really helful for her kidneys, dehydration is one of the main problems with commericial foods. 
Viking: 
The people who made up the recipe that I use recommend NOT using raw pork. I'm not sure about the reasoning, I think it has to do with a bacteria that isn't destroyed through digestion. I recommend reading their explaination on their website. <a href="http://www.felinefuture.com" target="_blank">www.felinefuture.com</a>. 
And, to answer your question, no, I can't see anything wrong with supplementing the commercial diet with raw meats as long as your cat is getting taurine from somewhere, raw heart, commerical food, supplement, etc. 
Trin.

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