Home made cat food

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NancyJac

NancyJac

Member Since 2013
I have toyed with this idea a number of times but have never really gotten there. After researching, I get analysis paralysis and end up a bit overwhelmed and thinking it is too 1) hard, 2) expensive, 3) time consuming. Since Hairy's diabetes dx, I have been adding meat (boiled chicken and/or gizzards, hearts, liver) to canned food to up the protein content without adding any additional carbs. But now I am concerned that doing that might increase the phosphorous content to much and decrease the calcium content since I don't have a grinder to grind up the bones.

I would appreciate any input from those of you that do make your own cat food. Of particular interest is what kind of grinder you use, how much you make at one time (I have 4 cats), what recipe you use, how is the cost comparison to commercial canned food, how long does it take to make at batch, etc.
 
I use the balanced recipe on catinfo.org although it is not recommended for CRF cats because of the high phosphorus content. The recipe give links to products and grinders. I bought the Tasin grinder that is recommended on Dr. Pierson's site. It is an investment ($150) but a really good grinder and will last many years.

I have four cats eating raw twice a day and I supplement some canned food in between. My cats don't like it the longer it is frozen so I only make about 5lbs each time and it usually fills 16-20 half pint ball jars. I keep two jars out and freeze the rest and open one jar per meal (2x per day). I like it because of the difference I see in my kitties' health: soft coats; no more daily vomit episodes; small poo; livelier kitties; and they seem more satisfied - not acting hungry all the time.

With set-up, grinding, mixing and clean-up, it takes me an hour to an hour and a half. The first time was a mess and it took hours but it got easier to maneuver around my small kitchen. When I run out, I wait a few days to make more because then my cats miss it and get ferocious about eating it again. Once you purchase the supplements, then all you have to continually purchase is the chicken, livers and eggs.

It is not difficult, it is worth the time and the energy when you see the results and it is only expensive during initial set-up.
 
Thank you RobinCot for that wonderful information. I was looking at that recipe last time and I think I still have it bookmarked.

Does anybody make cat food using a meat grinder attachment for a kitchen aid mixer? Since I already have the mixer it seems it would be less expensive and space consuming, but I'm not sure that would be large enough or heavy duty enough to handle 5 lbs of raw bone in chicken.
 
I remember my mom grinding meat, but never bones with our Kitchen Aid.
I don't believe it was designed for that.

KitchenAid site

Grinder Attachment info
"NOTE: Very hard, dense foods such as totally dried homemade bread should not be ground in the Food Grinder. Homemade bread should be ground fresh and then oven or air-dried."

The described uses in the downloadable product manual read meat, not meat and bone.

You really want something like the Tasin
 
I also follow the raw food recipe at catinfo.org. My girls have eaten raw food for 6 years.

You can always make food without the bone, I use a premix from Felinespride.com. Uses bonemeal instead of bone, I just add the other ingredients, chicken, liver, eggs, etc. That way you could just your mixer's grinder attachment to grind up the meat if you like.

My girls used to eat the recipe with the bones for a few years, but I always worried about sharp bone shards and the bone was very constipating to them, so I switched to the bonemeal, and it has helped in that area tremendously, plus I think they like it more.
 
I used my kitchenaid for grinding meat, and it didn't even love doing that... so I'm guessing a dedicated grinder is necessary if you want to do bone. Unfortunately, my cats wouldn't touch the dark meat, even with nothing added to it, so I haven't gone any further with it :(
 
I don't have the kitchen aid attachment, was just thinking of getting one if it would do the job. I've actually pureed cooked chicken (no bones) in my blender so if I go with boneless and and bone meal instead, I may not need to buy a grinder at all. I think I had read somewhere that using actual bone rather than bone meal was better, something about a difference in calcium as I recall. But certainly don't want them constipated, so may have to consider that in a different light.
 
Was searching on the Kitchen Aid and came upon this site.

Here are a few tips:

I feed my normal(not diabetic) cat Dr. Pierson's recipe. I buy my meat pre-ground with bones & organs included. It's much easier and WAY less time consuming. Plus my cat can't have poultry so it's not easy to find meat for her at the grocery store/butcher.

My Kitchen Aid mixer is older than I am. It was my grandma's and let me tell you, they don't make them like they used to. She ground HARD (I broke a baby tooth on a piece once), bread chunks for bread crumbs for years. Made dozens of sausages worth of ground meat. If you can steal mom or grandma's mixer, do it, or buy a dedicated meat grinder. The new KA's aren't worth their space on the shelf when it comes to grinding.

On that note, I do occasionally grind cat meat in my KA grinder, it is more of a 'gloop' than the purchased grind, but it works. It does NOT(!!!!) handle bone at all. Occasionally I'll miss a shard smaller than my pinky nail when I am regrinding and you'd think I put a hunk of steel in there.

If you aren't ready to commit to the Tasin, check out Cabella's, Bass Pro Shops, or your local hunting store. Most sell grinders for making sausage that can handle soft poultry bones for under $200.

If you are looking for a meat source, I use My Pet Carnivore and have been nothing but satisfied. The customer service, ease of ordering, selection, and delivery options aren't even close to rivaled by anyone else. I get fine ground rabbit and course ground mutton/goat/pork (gotta keep my kitty on her toes). Don't forget to visit your local deer processors, they'll often have organs and trim meat that they otherwise would throw away.

I wish you all the best of luck with you diabetic kitties. Unfortunately my bottle baby passed away last June, just shy of his 11th birthday from cancer. (of the everything in his abdomen) He was on insulin from age 8, him and my father shared a meter & test strips.

If you have any questions about my adventures in raw feeding, grinding, and how surprisingly not awkward it is to ask someone for some deer liver/heart, I'm happy to share.
 
I also use Dr. Pierson's recipe using whole chicken thighs with skin and bone and liver purchased at Whole Foods. It costs about $20. I invested in the Tasin grinder and love it. It is worth the money. I have used other sources like Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow in PA for ground Rabbit, Duck, Pheasant and others but my cats would not touch it. The meat was good but the shipping is expensive because you can only purchase a minimum of 10 pounds for shipping and then the shipping is $18. I would continue to purchase from them for the variety if my cats would eat it.

I use a lot of enticing toppings to keep it different like parmesan, Forti Flora and Catnip. I love knowing my cats are eating the way they should be and are showing all the healthy signs of it.

I am sorry your baby left you to go to the Rainbow Bridge. I can't imagine what it is like to do all that we do for our sugarcats and then not have to do them anymore.
 
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