I need info on homemade cat food?

Question

I have a 14 year old male cat. He has become very picky lately as to what he will eat. He did have urinary problems when he was younger, but has not had any issues in years. I usually feed him Iams. I also give him a few cans of the new fancy feast each week. He really likes the fancy feast as long as it doesn't contain fish.

My problem is that it is far too expensive for me to feed him the fancy feast alone and I don't want to buy him cheap food with less nutrition. He has stopped eating the Iams. I think that he either is holding out for the wet food, or the hard food may be difficult for him to chew.

It looks like homemade food may be an excellent option for me, but I want to be certain to make it properly. Should I add a supplement? Should I add veggies? If so, what kind.

I can feed myself good food for as much as a case of store bought cat food cost, so I think I can give him a better meal than pre-packaged food. Any help will be appreciated.

Answer 1

* STEP 1: Understand that there are certain foods that should be avoided when you make your own cat food. Never feed your cat chocolate, alcohol, onions, pork (including bacon), raw fish, raw eggs, milk or bones. Each of these has its own ill effects on cats.
* STEP 2: Realize that you should not feed your cat dog food. Cats require five times more protein than dogs do, so dog food will not meet cats' nutritional needs. Avoid feeding your cat a vegetarian diet for the same reason.
* STEP 3: Limit the use of tuna because of the risks associated with the mercury levels in it.
* STEP 4: Feed liver in moderation and not at all if you're giving your cat vitamin A supplements. Overdoses of vitamin A can be toxic.
* STEP 5: Know that many cat food recipes are available on the Internet and in books.
* STEP 6: Look for recipes that are high in protein content.
* STEP 7: Include some small amounts of vegetables in your cat's food. An example of a healthful cat food recipe is cooking together a mixture of 1 lb. ground turkey, 2 tbsp. tomato paste, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder and 2 tsp. brewer's yeast.
* STEP 8: Opt for another tasty treat that calls for the cooking together of 4 oz. meat, two whole eggs, 1 tbsp. carrot, 1 tbsp. cottage cheese and 1 tbsp. sunflower oil. Recognize that you should cook meat before feeding it to your cat.
* STEP 9: Add flavorings such as garlic salt and kelp powder to the food you cook for your cat. Small amounts of dairy products are acceptable, but cats should not drink a lot of milk. Use lactose-free milk instead.
* STEP 10: Combine some dry, commercial cat food with meat, eggs, lactose-free milk and flavorings to get your cat used to eating homemade cat food.

Answer 2

Home-made sounds like a lot of work and you may not be feeding the cat enough nutrients that it needs. Why not try some premium cat food from a pet store instead? Iams isn't really that good for cats. Cats love Nutro Natural Choice Complete, and it has a money back guarantee. My cat loves it and eats it like its treats. Feed canned and dry since canned has the extra water in it that cats need. This food isn't the best you can get but so far its the only one I've tried. It doesn't have by-products in it.

Answer 3

I don't know how to make homemade cat food, althought it is a VERY good idea! I've had a similar problem though. I gave my cats a special treat from time to time... canned food. Well, they'd eat the canned food and then snub the dry food. I just continued to leave the dry food out and they'd eat it. He'll eat his Iams before he'll let himself go hungry... trust me.

If you're insistent on making the homemade cat food, I do know that grass is good for cats and they like it. It gives them stuff that they crave. Especially if you have an indoor cat, I would definitely recommend grass. They sell bags of it in the store for you to buy and grow yourself, it's not very expensive.

Answer 4

In the short of it, Old Cat Lady is right.

The biggest thing you need to realize is Fancy Feast is one of the WORST possible foods you can be feeding. Iams is horrible as well.

No wonder cats are picky, Fancy Feast contains no real meat or vegetables. It contains only fillers, by-products, and other horrible ingredients.

PLEASE if you want a healthy cat feed a high quality pet food. The following foods are the equivalent to feeding home cooked healthy foods - Innova, Wellness, Solid Gold, Fromm, Felidae, Merrick, etc.

Please do a bit more research on the subject of pet nutrition. You will be amazed at what the majority of pet food companies do to hide the disgusting and deadly truth about what goes into their foods.

Answer 5

Talk to your vet.. He will be able to tell you everything you need. You two will be able to set up a meal plan that is best for your cat. I have two extremely picky cats myself. I feed them Hill Science Diet, full feed. Then I would give them a can of food a day to share, I have 2 cats. They had almost competely stopped eating the dry food and was only eating the wet, they both lost weight, which they needed. They completely refused to eat the dry, but I stopped feeding them the can and within a few days they were eating the dry again and now hardly want wet. I would try seeing if you can just give dry, the cat wont starve himself, he will go to the food. If that doesn't work talk to your vet and the meal plan. Good luck

Answer 6

I feed my cats a raw meat, home-prepared diet and it is not cheaper than high quality (and I don't mean Fancy Feast) canned food. I use both. So if inexpensive is your primary objective I don't have good news for you. Others may do the raw diet for less than I do as I have not chosen to economize on my cats' food. Many raw feeders are feeding 10 cats and up and probably know ways to keep the price down. Some people add vegetables, I do not. It might be better to add some for an older cat though I never did for my cat who was recently euthanized at age 22 and 1/2. She ate only the raw food I prepared for her for the seven years that I had her and was considered to be in excellent health by all the vets who dealt with her. Old age does eventually catch up with people and cats too.

My main concern with your cat is that he may need dental cleaning or possibly tooth extractions. When cats don't want dry food dental problems are usually the issue. I would strongly urge you to have the vet assess his dental health and take the steps necessary to correct any problems there.

The ideal raw diet includes the raw bones and I think your cat would not eat that if his mouth is sore. If you leave the bones out it is easy to supplement with bone meal for the necessary calcium balance. My cats were five to seven years old when I started the raw diet and would never chew bones so I have used ground meat. Ground meat, canned food and dry food all cause plaque and bacteria to accumulate on the teeth and my cats need annual dental cleanings. (They are the age of your cat). So saving money in the food area could result in expense in teeth cleaning which I feel you cat needs whatever you decide to do about the food.

There are quite a number of Yahoo groups of people who feed their cats a raw diet. I belong to Holisticat and that group has raw diet recipes in its archives. You can go to www.catinfo.org and read about raw diets from the veterinarian there. At www.littlebigcat.com Dr. Jean Hovfe has an article titled "Easy Homemade Diets for Cats and Dogs", also "Homemade vs. Commercial Food for Cats (and Dogs).

So, first of all, please have your guy's dental health assessed and do what is necessary to make him OK in that area. Start doing your research on the raw diets. Natural Balance has a line of canned food - it is high quality and I get it at my local pet discount store at a good rate. That store also carries Wellness canned and that it a quality food too. I also use Nature's Logic and Nature's Organic canned food. It is easy to go the www.petfooddirect.com and click on any canned food you are considering. You can figure the price per can by simple division from the information at that site and see which would best fit into your budget. I would start him on some of these foods while you are learning about doing your own food. Then you can figure up cost vs. quality and make your decision.

Answer 7

Cats are purely carnivorous by nature and need many essential nutrients, such as taurine, in their food. Commercial cat food contains these supplements, which is why other pet foods are not recommended for cats.

[edit] Homemade food
Many pet owners feed cats homemade diets. These diets generally consist of some form of cooked meat or raw meat, ground bone, pureed vegetables, taurine supplements, and other multivitamin supplements. Although cats are naturally resistant to many of the bacteria that raw meats contain, meat can sometimes also contain parasites and other harmful organisms and for this reason raw meat is sometimes frozen for periods of time before being used. Some pet owners use human vitamin supplements, and others use vitamin supplements specifically engineered for cats. Veterinarians sometimes recommend including digestive enzyme supplements in a homemade diet. Some pet food manufacturers offer packaged versions of a raw food diet that closely resembles such homemade diets. These packaged versions are generally kept frozen, with individual portions being thawed in advance.

Vegetarian or vegan food

Vegetarian or vegan cat food has been available for many years, and is targeted primarily at vegan and vegetarian pet owners. Most veterinarians recommend against vegetarian diets for cats, as cats are obligate carnivores and require nutrients (including taurine, arachidonic acid, vitamin A, vitamin B12 and niacin) found in meat sources that cannot be obtained in sufficient amount in plant sources, although many can be synthesized. Studies have found that supplemented vegetarian cat food resulted in nutrients within the reference range.[1]

Even when adequately supplemented, some claim vegetarian diets present other risks, such as urine acidity problems, which are less common in meat-based foods. A few vegetarian cat food brands are labelled by their manufacturers as meeting AAFCO's Cat Food Nutrient Profile while other manufacturers recommend their products to be supplemented and not used as a standalone. Many pet owners have caused their cats to become malnourished when they do not follow the recommendation and mistakenly assume that the latter food is nutritionally complete

Answer 8

Cats need taurine in their diet. It is an essential amino acid that cat food is enriched with. Unless you can provide taurine in the homemade food, you wont be able to do it. Taurine is a must for cats and you would also need to know how much of it to use.

Answer 9

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