Castor & Pollux Organix Grain
Castor & Pollux buy their ingredients directly from American farmers and cook up their recipes in factories in America. This means that they can be sure of the quality of the ingredients and manufacturing processes. However, this does mean that it is more expensive than some other brands.
The primary ingredient is organic meat, which delivers 34% protein that is matched with carbohydrates from grain-free sources such as sweet potatoes and lentils. However, it is relatively high in carbohydrates, which is not something that cats need in their diet.
It is free from nasty additives including preservatives and antibiotics and is packed with additional vitamins, including taurine and omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids that are essential for a healthy coat.
It comes in four different flavors, and special life-stage formulas are also available, so you can easily find the ideal dry food for your cat. In our opinion, it is the best natural dry cat food.
Pros
- Organic superfoods e.g. cranberry, flaxseed, and coconut oil
- No artificial preservatives
Follow The Recipes Exactly
Your potential problems dont end once you have access to a good recipe.
Research has shown that, with time, many pet parents make substitutions in the diet and/or completely stop including vital ingredients, like vitamin and mineral supplements.
Never make changes to your cats recipes without first talking to your veterinarian or veterinary nutritionist.
How Much Iodine Does A Normal Cat Require
Given the diversity of iodine concentration in homemade, commercially-available, and wild-caught food, its difficult to identify how much iodine cats require.
In 2006, the National Research Council suggested that the dietary iodine requirement for cats was 1.3 ppm. Newer research conducted by Hills Pet Nutrition suggests that the requirement may actually be closer to 0.46 ppm.
The 0.32 ppm iodine in the Hills diet is low. While its currently thought that iodine is only used for thyroid hormone synthesis, we ultimately dont know how an iodine-restricted diet will affect long-term health.
Because its restrictive, not species-appropriate, and isnt a real cure, think of this diet as a temporary measure or as a last resort for cats who cant undergo surgery or receive radioiodine.
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Mistake : Adding Too Much Supplementation
If you get supplements for your cat food, but add too much, this can also cause significant health problems:
- An excess of magnesium is associated with stones in the feline urinary tract.
- Vitamin A, while critical, becomes very toxic when too much is consumed.
- Too much calcium causes depressed food intake and decreased growth in cats.
- Excessive vitamin D is also toxic.
Diy Pork Gravy For Cats
This is the prime rib of the cat kingdom, although the prime is made out of pork rather than beef. With a couple of spare hours on your hands, you can make a luscious gravy that is sure to make your cat lick their chops come at dinnertime. Here is what you will need:
- Cut up your pork, then put it in a big pan along with the olive oil.
- Stir the beef, and allow it to brown without burning.
- Add the broth, the carrots, the tomato, and the gelatin to the mix.
- Then, stir everything until well combined, and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes.
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Raw Rules Food For Cats
There are two main rules for feeding cats. When you follow these, youre working with the cats natural nutritional patterns.
After seeing so much success with switching our cat Bob to a raw food diet for kidney disease, friends and family and readers have been asking me about a recipe for kittens and healthy cats.
The only change to the Feline Kidney Care Raw Food recipe is that I used bone-in chicken in place of the beef, as it contains the healthy fats from the skin as well as bone bone that cats need to grow and maintain bone health. Cats with kidney disease need to limit their phospherous, but cats without kidney disease should NOT limit phosphorous and should include bones in the diet.
Is this recipe enough taurine? I wasnt sure, since taurine in the chicken heart may degrade when its frozen, and my chicken hearts come frozen. Since taurine is so essential to cats, I sprinkle powdered taurine, 1 pinch, on each container of his food .
Ziwi Peak Venison Grain
Read Our Full Brand ReviewView Lab Report
What makes this food different from most others is its concentration of biologically-appropriate meat ingredients: Ziwi Peak canned food contains 93% venison muscle meat, organs, and bones. This makes it a protein-packed, easily digestible food that will fuel your cats indoor dwelling without encouraging weight gain.
Cats with food sensitivities and allergies will appreciate the limited ingredient list.
Reviewers mention another unexpected perk of such a clean food less odor in the litter box.
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Benefits Of Preparing Homemade Cat Food
Homemade cat food offers several notable benefits:
- You have complete control over the ingredients in your cats food. Some commercially available cat food brands include ingredients that arent necessary for your cat, such as vegetables, fruits or added grains. By making your own cat food, you can prioritize the meat, vitamins and minerals that your cat needs.
- You can freeze large batches. Pierson recommends preparing enough food for three to four months. However, be sure not to keep homemade cat food in the freezer longer than four months since nutrients can degrade over time.
Cats are obligate carnivores, which means they thrive on diets that are rich in animal protein, making homemade raw diets especially beneficial. Raw diets:
- Contain low carbohydrate levels, which can help prevent obesity and diabetes
- Are high in moisture, helping your cat get adequate hydration that promotes kidney health
- Provide efficient protein levels due do a lack of heat processing
- Promote dental health by decreasing plaque buildup, tooth loss and gum disease
How To Get My Cat To Eat Homemade Cat Food
It will be easier to switch a cat from canned food to raw or cooked. Typically, the transition takes about a week. You start serving food in 20/80 ratio, then 40/60, 50/50, and replace the old food gradually. However, the process of transition may take months dont give up. Some pet owners suggest starting with raw/cooked food treats, such as chicken wings.
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Is Homemade Cat Food Better Than Commercial Diets
Making your cats food at home does offer some benefits. First, you have complete control over the ingredients that you use. Are you looking for a diet that is free from artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives? Do you want your cat to go organic or grain-free? Its all up to you.
Homemade food can be a good option for cats with dietary sensitivities.
If your cat has a food allergy or intolerance, its easy enough to avoid your cats triggers. You may also be able to tempt a sick cat to eat a homemade food when they refuse to touch other options.
Tuna And Catnip Treats
Every good kitty deserves a treat or two especially if it contains catnips! Cats absolutely love catnips, a herb from the mint family Labiatae. It contains an active ingredient known as nepetalactone, which may cause a high in your cat to help your furry friend relax! However, be sure to moderate your cats intake of this homemade cat recipe as too much catnip may cause nauseousness.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Recipe Instructions:
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Tuna Ball Cat Food Recipe
There is a name for cats who simply cannot get enough tuna Tunaholics! This hearty cat food recipe is one to keep on hand as your cat is sure to hang around the kitchen and meow at your feet to request for more. These ingredients are likely ones we always keep in our pantry which makes this a simple and easy go-to recipe!
Dangerous Homemade Cat Food Mistakes + How To Avoid Them
Making your own cat food can be cost-effective and very healthy for your cat, but and this is a BIG BUT, friends only if you do it right: otherwise, it could potentially be life-threatening to your cat.
Dr. Karen Becker writes about a kitten fed only raw chicken muscle meat until he was 5 months old. He became critically deficient in several important nutrients, which caused metabolic bone disease, rear leg lameness, and central retinal degeneration! Dr. Becker said that shes seen an increasing number of pets with skeletal problems, organ failure and endocrine abnormalities caused by dietary deficiencies of essential nutrients.
Ive made a lot of homemade cat food and researched it enough to know how easy it is to get certain things wrong. Ive been wanting to write this post for a long time, as I see a lot of confusion and mixed messages out there.
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Raw Homemade Cat Food
- 3 lbs whole fowl or rabbit, including bones and skin
- 1 cup of water
- Two eggs
- 2000 mg wild salmon oil
- 100 IU vitamin E
- 100 mg vitamin B complex
- 2000 mg taurine
- 3/4 tsp salt with iodine
- 4 oz liver
- Psyllium husk
This recipe can be frozen and last for about a week to ten days for one cat, depending on the body weight. Its important to note that this recipe must be served fresh and cant be left out too long. It must also be stored frozen, and the portions must be defrosted before serving. You cant keep this in the fridge, or your cat will likely catch a foodborne illness from the raw ingredients.
However, for pet parents who keep their cats on a strictly raw diet, this is a great way to introduce a little bit of homemade food into your cats repertoire to see if they like it.
Except When It Comes To Their Evolutionary Dietary Needs
Domestic dogs and cats have changed a lot over time. But, unlike canine dietary requirements, feline dietary requirements have not evolved from their ancient origins. In fact, domestic cats are nearly genetically identical to African wildcats and their bodies are still designed to follow a similar diet.
In other words, cats are carnivores and they always have been.
More than that, however, they are obligate carnivores they are carnivores by necessity, not just preference. Their bodies are biologically adapted to a diet of raw prey.
Here are some clues that cats are carnivores :
- They have teeth and claws designed to tear flesh
- They have short digestive tracts
- They have digestive enzymes designed to break down protein
- Their bodies are able to utilize animal fat
- Their blood glucose requirements are met through gluconeogenesis
- They lack the enzyme needed to turn carotene from plants into vitamin A
What were trying to say is your cats body requires a very specific type of diet: a meat-based diet.
The only way to keep your cat healthy and avoid nutritional deficiencies is to feed him the type of diet his body can process and utilize properly.
Commercial diets are formulated to provide for your cats minimum needs in terms of essential nutrients, but they arent all biologically appropriate. If youre going to feed your cat homemade food, it needs to be nutritionally balanced and optimized for your cats biology so his body can digest it and utilize the nutrients properly.
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Homemade Cat Food Recipes That Are Best And Healthy For Your Kitty
Perhaps you’ve gotten frustrated in searching for the perfect cat food. You might feel betrayed to find that the pricey gourmet cat food that advertised itself as being good for health and all natural is little better than spicy wood pulp.
Not only do you have to find a cat food that’s nutritionally sound and in your budget, but it has to be something your furry but finicky friend will eat.
It could be you’re ready to throw up your hands and say Forget it! I’ll cook my cat’s food myself!I’ll go for homemade cat food! This is really not a bad idea, provided you know what you’re doing.
You love what you see? Purrfect! Rest assured that I put these products on the list specifically due to their genuine quality and not for other reasons. I would just like to be transparent with you and inform you that FelineLiving may obtain a share of sales or other monetary compensation from the links on this page. I hope your furry friends will love these reviewed products and that it will spark joy in each pair of feline eyes!
Mary Nielsen
Here at FelineLiving.Net we have a dedicated mission to provide cat owners like you with well-researched information so they can provide the best care and nutrition to their cat.
Our readers rely upon the cat food reviews, articles and recall alerts that we research and publish. We also routinely update and review our own reviews ensuring that any changes by manufacturers are brought to your attention.
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Youll Save Money Making Cat Food At Home
You may think that raw cat food is expensive.
It may cost some extra money upfront. Especially if you buy frozen raw foods online.
But think about it like this
Again, more than half the cats in the US are overweight and obese.
And most of us feed kibble.
Overweight cats are at higher risk for:
- Arthritis
- SHORTENED LIVES
Excessive fat puts a serious strain on organs.
Homemade raw cat food can help your cat lose weight and stay at an ideal weight.
Youll save more money in the long run with an upfront investment in healthy cat food.
Maybe your cat is fine now on dry food. But these serious health issues sneak up on us.
If you still have doubts, check out Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins patent in which she treats diabetic cats.
Dr. Hodgkins was able to reverse and eliminate diabetes just by switching cats from dry kibble to high protein low carb wet food.
Please show this to your vet and work on a safe transition plan. Youll need to adjust insulin levels according to your cats blood glucose.
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Cons Of Homemade Cat Food:
- Preparing a homemade diet takes more time than pouring a bowl of kibble.
- It can be more expensive to feed your cat homemade food.
- Achieving balanced nutrition can be tricky only use a veterinarian-formulated recipe.
- It can be a little more difficult to store the food to avoid foodborne illness.
- Once your cat transitions to a homemade diet it may be reluctant to switch back.
Switching your cat to a homemade diet isnt a decision that should be made lightly. If it isnt properly balanced, a homemade diet can actually be worse than a commercial diet. Its very important to talk to your veterinarian before making the switch and make sure you choose a homemade cat food recipe formulated by an animal nutritionist or veterinarian.
It is crucial that you consider your cats overall health when deciding whether to feed your cat a homemade diet. For example, cats with chronic kidney disease need a special diet that must have a precise balance of nutrients to reduce the workload on the kidneys. This balance may be difficult to achieve with a homemade diet. Again, your veterinarian will help you decide the most appropriate diet for your cat.
Essential Nutrients In A Cats Diet
Creating a well-balanced diet is important when cooking homemade cat food. There are various needs for a proper cat diet to provide an intact pH balance and make your feline as healthy as possible.
The two most essential nutrients are protein and water. Being carnivores, cats require protein to grow, develop, thrive and, of course, survive. Raw cat food, as well as home-cooked one, allows making your furry proper hydration during the day. Thats so important because the level of hydration influences the cats well-being, skin and coat condition.
When it comes to amino acids, you should realize that they are the next in the list of important nutrients for cats. Many acids are kept in protein sources. Taurine is the most basic one that is vital for a felines health.Such necessary amino acids as Omega-3, Omega-6, DHA, LA, AA, EPA, GLA and CLA should be also added to your cats diet. They ensure great health for your furry.
For normal physiological development, it is essential to include vitamins and minerals in your felines diet. Phosphorus, chloride and vitamins C, B6, K and D are crucial for your cats health development.
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