home made food

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Just-As-Appy

Just-As-Appy

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I'm just wondering if anyone has done a cost analysis on making your own cat food - is it more expensive or less over the long term? Also, do you need a special meat grinder and if so where do I get one?

Thanks in advance for info/suggestions.
 
For me personally, it is way cheaper. I spent $50 on a Northern Industrial meat grinder off ebay, $20 on a meat cleaver. I usually buy Perdue chicken on sale at my local grocery store and can make food for my 3 cats for about $27 a month. When I don't have time to grind it, I buy whole fine ground chicken from www.mypetcarnivore.com since they are local for $2.20 a pound and can fee the crew for $40 a month. Conversely before the switch, I was spending around $90 a month in Fancy Feast for all 3. So within 2 months all of my "start up" costs were already taken care of and it has been shear savings since then.
 
Thanks so much for the replies. I have to admit that I was a little imitimdated when I read Dr. Lisa's info.

I really like the idea of the already ground chicken - does anyone have a Canadian source? Any thoughts about turkey vs chicken?
 
I don't know of a Canadian source of hand. Just don't by it ground from your grocer. If it isn't flash frozen right after grinding, having it sit in the fridge pre ground gives a larger surface area for bacteria to grow.
 
if grinding yourself, turkey is harder to chop than chicken - bigger bones and such. if your cat likes poultry, I'd start off with chicken first, when you know what you are doing works, then you could try a turkey or two.
 
I would love to cook my own cat food - my guys won't eat anything raw though. Does anyone have a nutritionally balanced recipe for cooked homemade food they would like to share. I am afraid if I "went for it" on my own, I would be missing some important nutrients, etc.

Thanks,
Judy, Jake, & civvie Boomer
 
If you read Dr. Lisa's entire site on making your own food, she talks about one of her cats who isn't keen on raw, and so she semi-cooks some for him. She also cans some for emergencies. If I make it, I will likely cook it. I figure that home-made, even cooked, has got to be better than commercial. And with my one behavioural problem cat, I'd like to hav control over what goes into her mouth. I have a hunch that part of her behavioural issue is related to food allergies, and so willing to give this a try for her. Just have to make it easy for me too!
 
drjsiems said:
I would love to cook my own cat food - my guys won't eat anything raw though. Does anyone have a nutritionally balanced recipe for cooked homemade food they would like to share. I am afraid if I "went for it" on my own, I would be missing some important nutrients, etc.
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Have you tried "tricking" the cats into eating raw by mixing small amounts into canned food? For non-diabetics you can use gravy-based foods. Some cats won't go for frozen or homemade raw right away. In that case, trycommerical freeze dried raw pet food. It's kind of smilar to freeze dried meat treats in texture so many cats just think that they're eating yummy treats :smile: Just crush up a patty into small pieces and put on top of or mixed into the canned.

If you follow a good homemade raw recipie, you won't be missing anything important. Dr. Lisa has a good one on her web site that many people here use. The recipie lists all the vitamins and minerals you need and where to buy them.

There is a "frankenprey" model of raw diet that does not include any extra supplements. The theory is that if you feed a cat a diet that is 80% meat, 10% bone, and 10% organs no extra vitamins or minerals are needed. It's similar to what a cat would eat in the wild. You can Google it for more info.

Another option is to do a sort of semi-homemade raw. You use the raw meats of your choice and add in a pre-mix which contains all the necessary vitamins and minerals. TC Feline, Better In The Raw, and Alnutrin are three brands you can buy online. You do not cook the mixture.

There are good commerical brands of raw pet food out there, some even grain-free and low in carbs.

Here's a cooked recipie but it's only recommended to use as a transition diet: http://rawmeatcatfood.com/2010/08/16/can-i-feed-my-cat-cooked-meat/ You ]must use the TC Feline pre-mix with this recipie so your cat gets all the essential nutrients.
 
One of mine wouldn't touch the raw. I had to mix in the Fancy feast for almost a month before she'd eat it without the canned food. Started with just a dollop of raw and mostly FF, then slowly changed the percentages each week. Now she eats nothing but raw.

Just an FYI - semi cooked is very different from cooked. When you cook the meat you are changing the nutritional content. You can't just take a raw recipe and cook it unfortunately. Not for long term at least.
 
I must have missed Dr. Lisa's partially cooked recipe on her site. Thanks for this and all of the other good information on home cooking!

Judy, Jake, & civvie Boomer
 
Kelly & Oscar said:
Just an FYI - semi cooked is very different from cooked. When you cook the meat you are changing the nutritional content. You can't just take a raw recipe and cook it unfortunately. Not for long term at least.
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Correct.

There is no *completely* cooked recipe on my website but I do cover semi-cooking (baking) in great detail on my Making Cat Food page.
 
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