Making your own cat food?

wrote:

So with all the horror of tainted commercial cat food, I'm thinking
about making my own cat food. I know of a few people who make their
own dog food, but nobody who makes cat food. Is it more complicated
or something?

A freind of mine used to cook an assortment of (tough) meat
in her slow-cooker for her dog - not sure whether she did
for her cats (or whether her recipe included anything but
the meat - usually beef in some form). I know she fed both
cats and dog a treat of raw liver, a couple of times a week.

Jack Campin - bogus address wrote:


Cats must have more calcium than you will get in meat. You have to
grind bones up as well.

Are you sure? I've only seen "bone meal" listed on dog food
labels - one of the differences between cat and dog food, IIRC.

jmcquown wrote:

kilikini wrote:

Jack Campin - bogus address wrote:

Don't use pork, it can carry a virus that damages cats' digestive
systems.

Ah! That explains why there's no ham cat food! I didn't know that.
Thank you!

kili


Cats may like ham but it's not good for them. And it has nothing to do with
religious convictions LOL

That goes for ANY "cured" meat - ham, corned beef, pastrami,
smoked fish, whatever! (An occasional "treat", if they like
it, but I've read it tends to cause intestinal inflamations
if fed in any quantity.)

On 2007-03-24 19:32:17 -0500, said:

So with all the horror of tainted commercial cat food, I'm thinking
about making my own cat food. I know of a few people who make their
own dog food, but nobody who makes cat food. Is it more complicated
or something?

I'm not going to feed them a raw diet. But I'm thinking about buying
meat and cooking it for them. If I were to do this, would I need to
add anything to their diet to make it complete? I notice that most
cans of cat food list taurine. Doesn't most meat already have taurine?
Maybe because the food is made of by-products, they actually have to
add the taurine back in?

I really hope this thread won't get hijacked by a "raw vs cooked"
argument, because I'm asking for advice, and I'm really hoping that
people will give me serious and helpful suggestions about feeding
my cats *cooked* food. (If some people must get into that argument,
can I ask that you please change the subject line? Thanks!)

What would be the best meats? Beef? Chicken? Fish? Turkey? A lot
of people say that cats shouldn't be fed "people food", but that is
exactly what I'm thinking of doing. But meat only. What else does
a cat need?

Thanks!!
Joyce

Here is the place to start:

http://www.catinfo.org/makingcatfood.htm

Dr. Lisa Pierson is the vet that developed DM, but she still doesn't
like all the stuff the companie adds. She is truly THE expert. She
gives lots of good tips for transitioning and ways to get to the stage
of making your own. I know I'm really getting there myself. I think I
could get Pearl on board, but Sugar is the big dry food hold out.

Karen wrote:

Here is the place to start:
http://www.catinfo.org/makingcatfood.htm

Thank you! That sounds great.

Joyce

On Mar 24, 8:32 pm, wrote:
So with all the horror of tainted commercial cat food, I'm thinking
about making my own cat food. I know of a few people who make their
own dog food, but nobody who makes cat food. Is it more complicated
or something?

I'm not going to feed them a raw diet. But I'm thinking about buying
meat and cooking it for them. If I were to do this, would I need to
add anything to their diet to make it complete? I notice that most
cans of cat food list taurine. Doesn't most meat already have taurine?
Maybe because the food is made of by-products, they actually have to
add the taurine back in?

I really hope this thread won't get hijacked by a "raw vs cooked"
argument, because I'm asking for advice, and I'm really hoping that
people will give me serious and helpful suggestions about feeding
my cats *cooked* food. (If some people must get into that argument,
can I ask that you please change the subject line? Thanks!)

What would be the best meats? Beef? Chicken? Fish? Turkey? A lot
of people say that cats shouldn't be fed "people food", but that is
exactly what I'm thinking of doing. But meat only. What else does
a cat need?

Thanks!!
Joyce

If I recall correctly, there are recipes for homemade
cat food in the book
Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health For Dogs and Cats.

Also check The New Natural Cat by Anitra Frazier.

Winnie

On Mar 24, 8:55 pm, Jack Campin - bogus address
Fish is bad as a primary food because it has too much magnesium and
not enough calcium.

Yes, fish is a No No for male cats prone to urinary blockage where Mg
is one of the prime contributing factors. Rusty was on IAM's Ocean
Fish when he was
first blocked.

Winnie

EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:
jmcquown wrote:

kilikini wrote:

Jack Campin - bogus address wrote:

Don't use pork, it can carry a virus that damages cats' digestive
systems.

Ah! That explains why there's no ham cat food! I didn't know that.
Thank you!

kili


Cats may like ham but it's not good for them. And it has nothing to
do with religious convictions LOL

That goes for ANY "cured" meat - ham, corned beef, pastrami,
smoked fish, whatever! (An occasional "treat", if they like
it, but I've read it tends to cause intestinal inflamations
if fed in any quantity.)

Yes, that's what I've read too. Even "hoomin" canned tuna isn't good for
them except on occasion.