How To Make Cat Food At Home

Safety Concerns & Tips

Homemade raw diets can potentially pose health and safety issues if not prepared correctly. Here are a few safety tips to keep top of mind:

• Pre-ground meat must be thoroughly cooked because its possible that surface bacteria can be ground into the meat.
• Always clean and disinfect all food preparation areas.
• Wash your hands with soap and water after handling ingredients.
• Deep clean all tools and equipment that were used to prepare the homemade cat food.
• Always be aware of the size of the bone pieces in the food. Large pieces can get stuck in your cats mouth or could cause them to choke.
• Before switching to a homemade diet, take your cat to the vet for a dental exam. Healthy teeth are essential for chewing the chunks of meat that are present in homemade diets.
• Make sure that the recipes you are preparing are complete and balanced. Feeding your cat unbalanced meals can cause health risks due to a lack of essential nutrients.

Cat Food Recipes For Tasty Fish Entrees

Learning how to make cat food is fun, and it’s very rewarding when your cat finds the food irresistible. Cats love the flavor of fish, so they’ll enjoy these entrees.

Directions

What Is Cat Food Anyway

Packaged, commercial cat food is a convenient way to keep your pet satisfied and healthy. The products are designed to meet certain nutritional requirements for growing, healthy cats.

Since cats are carnivores, they rely on the nutrients in meat products. Thus, most pet foods include a lot of protein, some fats and a small amount of carbohydrates. The food usually includes other ingredients, such as vitamins, minerals, fatty acids and amino acids.

The ratios in commercially prepared cat food are specifically created and balanced to create the optimal diet for your pet.

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Dr Michelle Burchs Homemade Cat Treats Recipe: Tuna Jerky

• 1 pound raw tuna

• Cooking spray

Put the cubes in a single layer on an oven-safe pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for several hours until dry and jerky-like. Turn the tuna once after 2-3 hours. The tuna jerky needs to be refrigerated and can be kept there for 3-4 weeks.

How To Make Homemade Cat Food

Making homemade cat food can be a daunting endeavor. While there are hundreds of dog food recipes online, it seems that the small amount of resources that offer homemade cat food recipes have conflicting information on what should and should not be included in your cats diet. Making your own cat food is not something you can simply dive into, but if you are interested in taking the first few steps, here is what you need to know.

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Raw Cat Food: The Risks And The Rewards

When it comes to the risks of raw cat food, it is all about common pathogens like Salmonella and Listeria. People who want to feed their cats raw diet must know about animal to human disease transmission and contagion problems.

Despite these risks, more and more pet owners choose a raw food diet for their cats because it offers some fantastic rewards like big improvements in skin, coat, energy and overall well-being.

It is known that raw food helps felines recover faster from numerous health issues such as urinary tract problems, digestive problems, dental disease, allergies, asthma, degenerative diseases, immune disorders, epilepsy and so on.

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

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Homemade Kibbles For Cats

This is also a great one out of the best homemade cat food recipes with kibbles:

• 1 to 2 cups of water or as needed
• 2 tbsp cod liver oil
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 2 cups of soy flour
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 4 tbsps vegetable oil
• 1 to 2 can mackerel
• 1/2 cup brewer’s yeast
• 1/2 cup nonfat dry milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix every dry ingredient you have in a large bowl, and then mash the mackerel in another bowl to get tiny pieces. Add water and oil to the mixture. Add this combination of mackerel into the mixture of dry items and mix them well. You need to use your hands because the dough is tough. Roll the dough out to about a quarter-inch thickness and cut into a quarter-inch pieces, you can use a pizza;cutter or a knife. Mound the bits on cookie sheets that rubbed with oil and bake for twenty five to thirty minute. While baking, toss the pieces occasionally with 2 wooden spoons, so they will become brown evenly. Remove from the heat and let the dish cool thoroughly before taking it out. You should store this dish in the refrigerator . This homemade cat food recipe should be frozen well for storage in a longer time.

Make Sure The Calcium To Phosphorus Ratio Is Right

This may sound like gibberish, but it isnt as complicated as it sounds. Calcium and phosphorus are minerals essential to a cats health. Calcium builds up your cats bones, and it also plays a critical role in muscle control and ion balance. Cats need phosphorus to repair their tissues and cells. Combined, the two strengthen your cats bones and teeth.

Many store-bought cat foods provide this balance in the form of ground up bone meal. If you choose to by bone meal, make sure its high quality. Some bone meal is used for gardening, and this will not give your cat the proper nutrition they need. Some people who have been making their own cat food for years grind their own bone meal, as well. If you dont elect to use bone meal, you can use eggshell powder instead. Mixed in with meat, eggshell powder provides your cat with the same nutrition as if they were eating bone meal.

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How To Make The Best Homemade Cat Food

Lets face it. Theres just something special about home-cooked meals that no restaurant even the fanciest can replicate. Nothing compares to the delicious taste of a personal feast.

Why should kitty be left out? After all, shes part of the family too! Giving her leftovers from your plate isnt the same as making a healthy dish of her very own created with her unique nutritional needs in mind.

Its a lot easier than you might think to feed your cat a homemade, DIY diet. You can make excellent cat food from simple ingredients you may already have in your kitchen. Its fast, affordable, and extremely satisfying.

In this article, well explain everything you need to know to become the ultimate feline chef from ingredients and tools to recipes and useful tips.

Article Contents

Recipes Adapted From Home Prepared Dog And Cat Diets

The following;recipes have been adapted from Home Prepared Dog and Cat Diets by Donald R. Strombeck, DVM, PhD. The book contains 200 recipes, but you have to search through it to find those for cats. It’s still an excellent book for your library if you are starting to feed your cat a;home-prepared diet.

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Dr Michelle Burchs Homemade Adult Cat Meal Recipe

• 3 pounds poultry thigh meat/bones/skin

• 4 ounces of chicken liver

• 1.5 cups of water

• 1 Tablespoon whole psyllium husk

• 1 Tablespoon Wysong AddLife Dog & Cat Food Supplement

• 10 scoops Welactin Fish Oil liquid

• ½ teaspoon salt with iodine

Bake the poultry thigh meat at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 50 to 55 minutes. Debone the meat from the cooked thighs once cooled and cut into bite-sized pieces. Cook the liver in a non-stick skillet for approximately 20 minutes on low heat. Halfway through cooking, stir and break up the meat. Boil the eggs for 8 to 10 minutes. Once the eggs have cooled down, remove most of the shells and cut the egg into bite-sized pieces. Mix all cooked ingredients and remaining ingredients together.

This recipe will yield enough for one cat for approximately 10-12 days with eating 4-6 ounces a day.

Raw Cat Food Or Cooked

To quote a popular meme, Why not both?People who are against raw food are worried about parasites and bacteria. People who are against cooked food are concerned about the loss of nutrients in their cats diet. In this case, it’s better to look at the positive benefits each side has, use a little common sense and compromise. Consider par-cooking, heating it just enough to eliminate the surface bacteria.

Use the same food safety precautions you would for preparing raw meat for human consumption. Do not cross-contaminate by using cutting boards and utensils used for raw meat on vegetables, store the meat at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below and above all, wash your hands. Ground meat tends to have a lot of surface bacteria mixed in, but if you use your own grinder and keep it clean, it should be fine.

Keep in mind, your cat has different nutritional needs than yours. She can eat not only raw meat, but the organs that you might find disgusting. However, older pets being transitioned to homemade food diet and cats with sensitive or damaged gastrointestinal tracts might benefit more from a cooked food diet.

If you do cook meat for your cat, she might not only prefer it to be very rare, but it’s more nutritionally sound for her. Rare meat still has those healthy enzymes while all surface bacteria has been killed off, plus it’s still nice and moist.

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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.

Tip No 2: Dont Buy Kitten Food For A Cat

One of the most important items to consider when choosing a cat food is found on the back of the cat food container. The nutritional adequacy statement tells you if the product will serve as a complete and balanced meal for your cat’s particular life stage. Life stage refers to a cats specific developmental period.

The statement will either say cat food or kitten food. It may also say the food is for all life stages, growth and maintenance, growth and reproduction , and, possibly, for indoor or outdoor cats.

There is no one single combination of food that is best for all cats, says pet nutritionist Angele Thompson, PhD. So pick the one that works best for yours.

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Homemade Chicken Soup For Cat

Cat owners, we all know how hard it is to encourage your furry pal to drink up. Hydration is especially important for cats and even more so for those who depend on dry cat kibbles as their main source of nutrients. Dehydrated cats run a higher risk of getting urinary tract, kidney disease or other health issues. If regular water doesnt seem to appeal to your fussy feline, soups for cats can be a great solution. However, we recommend feeding soups to adults or senior cats only and ensure the soup contains little to no sodium. This chicken soup for cats is a tasty and easy-to-make alternative. Itll be sure to help your kitty hit their daily fluid intake!

Prep time: 5 minutes

What To Know About Feeding Your Cat

Whether your cat is a picky eater or a little on the pudgy side, they probably let you know how they feel about what you put in their bowl.

Cats are very opinionated about food, and a lot of their food preferences are formed in the first year, says Julie A. Churchill, DVM, PhD, associate professor of nutrition at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine in St. Paul. So if your cat is a kitten, now is the time to get them used to different types of food — wet, dry, and semidry.

But even if your pet is older, there are still ways to make sure they are;getting all the nutrients they need;to be healthy. Start by learning more about what youre buying and what your cat needs.

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Should Your Cat Eat Homemade Cat Food

It is generally recommended that pet owners purchase prepared pet food to ensure that their pets are getting the nutrients they need. It can be difficult to recreate the balance of commercially produced pet food when youre creating it at home.

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However, I recognize that there are circumstances that may occur which require you to make homemade cat food for your pets. These situations can include budget concerns, emergencies and more.

Furthermore, I live in an area that is densely populated by barn cats and other strays. They dont have access to commercial cat food, yet they survive and even thrive. They do this because they are instinctive hunters, and our area offers a lot of natural prey. Clearly, a cat does not need commercially produced food to survive.

How Much How Often

Most cats will eat their main meals at dawn and dusk, when they would normally be hunting and catching prey in the wild, so those are often the best times to feed them.

Continued

How much your kitty should get in their bowl depends on their age, size, and how active they are, but the average is about 200 calories per day. Its a good idea to ask your veterinary team to help you calculate your cats needs. Pay careful attention to the calorie counts on all foods you give to your cat, Churchill says. The calorie count can vary significantly from food to food.;

Cats will also nibble during the day if you leave food sitting out, but be aware: They arent good judges of how much they should eat.

Overfeeding is an epidemic, Churchill says. When cats gain too much weight, they can have problems like joint disease, heart disease, and diabetes.

Vets say its best to feed cats at specific mealtimes, and to put food away at all other times.

If your cat is more chowhound than finicky feline, it might be most helpful to switch to a food lower in calories rather than cut back on quantity, Hill says. The problem with restricting food is that it can lead to mean cats.

What about treats? Its fine to dole them out occasionally, but dont overdo it. They should be no more than 5% to 10% of your cats daily calories.

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