There’s no good reason to bring up pet food scares. As with anything
mass-produced, there is the risk of contamination at some point, but there’s no evidence that you should
be constantly afraid. However, there also isn’t any reason to avoid something a bit outside the norm, such
as homemade cat food. Have you considered making your cat’s dinners fresh from your kitchen? Well here’s a
little advice to help you get started.
Before deciding to make your cat’s meals from scratch (pardon the pun), it’s important to
know what cats need in their diet to function best. Critical among this is the knowledge that unlike
dogs, cats cannot have vegetarian diets, otherwise they will become sick and eventually diet of
malnutrition since cats can’t strip essential proteins from non-meat products in the same way that dogs
and humans can.
With that in mind, you must ensure that you kitty is getting protein from meat and fish,
the same place they will be getting amino acids and fatty acids. They also need vitamins, minerals, and
water to survive. While part of the reason you’d want to switch from a pre-packaged diet to one you make
at home is to avoid corn and starches, adding a little bit to your feline’s diet isn’t a terrible thing
as it can give them extra energy and promote activity. Too much is still a bad thing, same as with
humans.
A lot of debate is raised about the risk/reward of a raw method of serving opposed to a
cooked method. Either way can be beneficial and a problem at the same time. With raw, you do risk the
chance of salmonella or other harmful bacteria infecting your cat or you yourself, plus you’re unable to
leave food out for very long as it will spoil extremely fast. If kept under control though, the diet can
be harmless. The same goes for cooking the meat as overcooking will strip it of important vitamins and
minerals. There’s no perfect answer, so you may have to weigh the options in your head before proceeding
further.
One such recipe that’s gained a bit of a following comes from www.catinfo.org. This particular recipe can apparently make enough food to
last the average cat between 10 and 14 days and doesn’t take too much. You will need:
-3 pounds of whole fowl or rabbit, including bones, organs, and skin
-1 cup water
-2 eggs (use raw yolks, and lightly cook the whites)
-2000 mg wild salmon oil
-400 IU vitamin E (powdered E in capsule form works)
-100 mg vitamin B-complex (start with a smaller amount when beginning a raw meat diet; the vitamin has a strong
odor)
-2000 mg taurine, powdered
-¾ tsp lite salt with iodine (when using chicken parts)
-Liver (add 4 oz if the meat you are using does not include organs)
-Psyllium (add when first introducing the raw meat diet to your cat)
There is, however, another recipe readily available, should you like something different
to try. The alternate, coming from the MSPCA-Angell Animal Medical Center provides a day’s worth of food
for the average, healthy feline that happens to weigh around 12 pounds. That recipe needs the
following:
-Protein: cooked dark meat chicken, beef, pork, lamb, salmon, or tuna (83 grams or 3
wt-ounces)
-Carbohydrate: cooked white rice, oatmeal, barley, corn, peas, or pasta (50 grams or 1/3 cup)
-Fiber: cooked sweet potato, without skin (30 grams or 1/5 cup)
-Fat (optional): vegetable, safflower, olive oil or fish oil (1/4 teaspoon)
-Balance IT Feline: 2.7 grams or half a red scoop (in the container). This is a commercial blend of vitamins
and minerals.
No matter what you decide to feed your fuzzy companion, it’s important to realize that a
balanced diet is still key. Make sure they’re getting the vitamins and minerals they need and above all
that portion control is in effect. With that in mind, your cat should live a happy, healthy
life!
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