Making own food, do I need a grinder?

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TygerLilly

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I'm thinking of making my own cat food. All of my cats have no problem with eating meat as is, no grinding or even cutting into small chunks. I'm thinking of getting frozen ground turkey from the meat market and putting all the supplements in that, but otherwise feeding just a chunk of meat so it keeps their teeth clean. I have been feeding a zoo dry food which keeps their teeth clean, so now I'm going to have to watch their dental health closer.

I just compared my zoo quality dry food with the cheap stuff I use to lure ferals with. Wow! I don't think there is much meat at all in the cheap stuff. A cat would starve to death on this stuff, but the moment I took the bag from the closet, all the cats started begging.
 
As I incorporate the bones into my home made raw food, I need a grinder for this. The bones contain the needed taurine and other needed nutrients, so I don't need to add extra.

If you are not planning on grinding bones, then you will need to add taurine to ensure it's a complete diet.
 
TygerLilly,
I believe Dian & Wheezer has directed you to the site that I have been following for information. I did purchase the grinder that has been suggested here and should get it by the end of next week.
I have been doing the raw foods for the 2 of 3 girls for a while. I have just been buying chicken from the groc. and some premixed raw. The smallest of our family EATS IT LIKE NO OTHER, the middle girl will if I put it in the magic bullet and make it ff consistancy. This I know will take a while, but I am willing to try as I feel it is better for them, now lets just hope they do too! ;-)

I think all of the vit. will run me about 35.00 and last for a while. I located a Whole Foods Market about 6 miles from me, so I will be visiting there this week end.

I was more wondering if the groc. meats: chicken, turkey leg, frozen livers would be fine to use vrs. the free range as far as the bacteria issue. Just wondering if any raw food homemakers use this types of meats. That is what I have been doing so far because of finances and not knowing there was a market close enough to check out/purchase these items.

Good luck w/ your kitties and raw food.
 
I buy the #10 bags of chicken legs and thighs from walmart and a container of chicken livers. cannot afford more that that.
hillary, even on dr. lisas site you add taurine even when grinding bone. taurine is from the hearts of animals, I do not believe there is any in the bones
 
I think the reason people suggest whole foods is you have a better idea of how old the meat is and how it was handled. I get my meat at our local co-op market (no whole foods within 45min), and just get some with the farthest expiration date. Plus, I'm doing the partial cooking that Dr Lisa talks about so any external stuff should be killed.

As for ground meat, the reason that is not recommended is that with most meat, the outside will have bacteria which can be killed by partial cooking and I "think" by washing. When you grind it, the outside and inside are all mixed and the only was to make sure everything has been killed off is by cooking all the way through. Sort of like why you can eat a steak on the raw side, but are supposed to serve hamburger fully cooked.

I also just ordered a grinder and the supplements. Mine are eating Nature's Variety with no problem, but is pretty pricey!
 
If anyone needs a gently used Tasin grinder I'd sell for minimal price to another cat-food maker. I had 5 cats at the time of purchase and was making food allllllll the time. I switched to the frozen raw, and am very very happy with that.
 
I have a meat market close by, actually two of them, but one also does the butchering. I'm going to talk to them about fresh bone meal. Maybe if they already make it I can special order some. I'm not doing anything extra for Morphy at all with cutting into chunks. I just take the bone out and hand it to him, and it disappears. Tomorrow he gets his first tuna flavored water. Every brand I looked at had soy in it. What's with that? And I thought I could just read the cat food label and it would tell me how many calories from carbs. Ignorance is NOT bliss. I bought a ReliOn Micro Moniitor. It was only eight dollars, so that was a nice surprise. I only bought a few syringes, as I want to make sure I have it right before I buy a huge box. I checked on the price of insulin, and I think my vet just charged me cost. He's done that before. I see him on Thursday and will take my meter and have him show me how it works. Since only one of my cats is less than six years old, I'm feeling this was a good buy. Jazz is around twelve years old and pudgy. My serval was a very sick kitten, so I'm super paranoid about him, and can now at least know his blood sugar is ok.

Once I get smart enough to know what to ask I'm going to ask for a breakdown on my dry cat chow. It might just be the answer for some of those cats who won't eat canned or fresh. It's special order stuff, but I bet it's cheaper than prescription cat food. Morphy is the first health problem I've had since I started feeding it. I'm hoping it will work out so I can let him free feed on it, as it has all the taurine and vitamins, and is good for his teeth. Oh, that's the other thing, none of my cats gets their teeth brushed, but I've had three to the vet for check ups and there wasn't enough tartar to worry about.
 
I doubt a zoo dry food would have great ingredients or a nutritional composition. Is it Mazuri brand? They make a exotic cat dry food for zoos and other places. The food is just as junky as many commerical dry cat foods: Poultry by-product meal, ground brown rice, corn gluten meal, dried beet pulp, porcine animal fat preserved with BHA, poultry fat preserved with ethoxyquin, dehulled soybean meal, poultry digest, dried whey, fish meal, wheat germ....

A raw diet is much better for your cats :smile: You can use a good recipie (like the one on Dr. Lisa's web site) or add a pre-mix supplement to the plain cut up raw meat (TC Instincts is one brand).
 
TygerLilly said:
Once I get smart enough to know what to ask I'm going to ask for a breakdown on my dry cat chow. It might just be the answer for some of those cats who won't eat canned or fresh.
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I strongly disagree for several reasons - most notably the fact that ALL dry foods are detrimental to urinary tract health and none of them are "good for teeth". The notion that dry food exerts any beneficial effects on teeth is an old wives' tale that I wish would stop being perpetuated.

Plus they are all too high in carbs and, unless they are grain-free, they contain far too many plant-based proteins....in addition to being cooked-to-death.

And..... the bacteria load...fungal mycotoxins, storage mites....etc.

Dry food is far from an optimal source of food for a cat.
 
Any dry food huh? So how do I keep their teeth clean? I was thinking it was the food as none have had dental work and yet have no plack build up. They are all going to get raw (just cooked as much as Dr. Lisa recommends) chicken as treats now. Also I feed them the softer ends of chicken bones, the knuckle, as I noticed the big cats always eat those, even if they leave the rest of the bone.

How are peas for carbs? I won't give them to Morphy any more, but my serval is nuts for greens, and I can't grow much cat grass here, so I feed him frozen peas occasionally when he starts chewing anything that looks like grass. I have to hide my broom or he eats it. He used to steal hay out of the chinchilla's cage, even though they would rush over and bite his nose and chk chk chk at him angrily.
 
TygerLilly said:
Any dry food huh? So how do I keep their teeth clean?
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Either brush your cat's teeth and/or feed them raw poultry necks and gizzards and hearts :smile: There are some sugar-free toothpastes you can use for the diabetic. CET is one. Use either the poultry flavored one or the seafood flavored one, not the malt flavored one. Use a pet toothbrush or finger brush or even a piece of gauze. Here is a video of how to brush a cat's teeth: http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/pet/fhc/brushing_teeth

Gnawing on raw poultry necks and gizzards and hearts mimicks what a cat out in the wild would do.

How are peas for carbs? I won't give them to Morphy any more, but my serval is nuts for greens, and I can't grow much cat grass here, so I feed him frozen peas occasionally when he starts chewing anything that looks like grass.
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Hm... I don't know about peas. Someone else might now how many carbs a pea might have.

Cat grass and catnip are fine for a diabetic :smile: Can you grow a small pot indoors? Pet stores sell sporuting pots of grass and catnip and you can also grow both directly from seed.
 
Yeah, the teeth thing is a myth that has sadly been perpetuated by the dry food manufacturers and vets (who, more sadly, get literally all their nutrition training from the pet food companies) for years.

It clicked for me when someone pointed out "would you give you kids corn pops or corn nuts and expect it to clean their teeth?"
 
I'm pretty sure the kids will happily accept gizzards. I know Morphy and Moosie will. I need to find a break down of what a serval actually needs, as my "expert" on servals said I should keep him on dry and a lower protein level because he's aging and it's better for his urinary track. Don't think I agree. He's not diabetic, and I'm going to do my best to prevent any nutritional problems with my kids.

Morphy is loving all this attention and wet treats. His vet checkup is today, after which I go on a wet foods quest. His chicken is still frozen so I might as well pick up some for today. I'm going to the local meat stores. Don't have a Walmart handy but I do have a Rainbow Foods that sells frozen chicken that seems fresh and is reasonable. Also going to see if I can find Dr. Elsey's Ultra cat litter. Right now I'm using alfalfa pellets. NOT the cat litter ones, feed quality, pure alfalfa with no additives. The cats boxes get dumped at least once a day and I toss the litterbox if it smells after cleaning. I think the ones I'm using are too small for the boys, and like the tote box one Dr. Lisa recommends.
 
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