MAKING CAT FOOD

Introduction

Before you dive in

Making cat food

Cost

With bones or without bones

Meat types and sources

The recipe

Making the food

Safety issues

Conclusion

After spending a great deal of time reading and learning about the way commercial pet foods are processed, and the ingredients that go into many of these foods, I decided to start making my own cat food.  I found that I was getting more and more frustrated with the species-inappropriate and low quality ingredients found in most of the commercial foods so this was a very easy decision for me to make. 

My cats are very special to me and I feel it is important for them to eat a diet that is equal in nutritional quality to what I would eat myself. 

One of the most common questions I get asked is "why can't I just use this recipe and cook it instead of feeding it raw?"  The goal here is to feed a diet that nature intended for your carnivore - as close as possible to the form and nutritional composition that your cat would eat in a natural setting.

Please be aware that there are steps that can be taken to 'raise the bar' in terms of safety when feeding this type of diet.  For instance, as noted below in the section on safety, I do not have a problem with someone lightly cooking the whole meats prior to grinding.  

With regard to the safety of raw meat diets for cats in general, you will no doubt hear varying opinions on this issue.  It is up to the reader to work within their comfort zone when deciding whether to go forward with this type of diet, or not.  Most things in life do have some risk associated with them but most people think that commercial diets are completely without risk and this could not be further from the truth.

I don't think that a single cat or dog caregiver in the US is not aware of the thousands of cats and dogs that suffered tremendously and died - or have been left with failing kidneys - due to the contamination of commercial foods processed by Menu Foods in the summer of 2007.

While the Menu Foods recall was the largest pet food recall in the history of commercial pet food, make no mistake in thinking that this was the first time that many cats and dogs have died secondary to the contamination of commercial pet food with chemicals, bacteria, and bacterial or mold toxins.

Throughout the history of the commercial pet food industry, there have been numerous recalls of pet food due to salmonella contamination and, just recently (August, 2007), the FDA recalled several foods under the Natural Balance Eatables product line due to botulism toxin contamination.

Some of you may remember the deaths of many cats and dogs after they ate Diamond pet food a couple of years ago.  These animals became very ill - and many died - secondary to liver failure from mold toxins that were contained in the grains of a commercial dry kibble.  Many cats and dogs died as a result of this contaminated food.  The surviving animals will have permanent liver damage. 

In the past, there have been many instances of mold toxin-related deaths of pets after eating contaminated commercial dry food.

The regulatory body for the commercial pet food industry does allow a certain level of mold toxins (found in grains) to be present in your pets' food.  For me, this is unacceptable - especially when feeding cats since grains have no business in their diet to begin with.

With regard to the extremely dangerous and life-threatening fungal toxins found in commercial dry food, this issue will never be a worry when feeding a grain-free diet - either in the form of canned food or the diet discussed on this page.

Mold toxins aside, few people consider the fact that dry kibble, in addition to containing potentially deadly fungal toxins, also contains a great deal of bacteria.  Fortunately, our cats' intestinal tract is designed to handle a much higher bacteria load than that of a human, but if one is worried about the bacteria in raw meat, then the bacteria in dry food also needs to be taken into consideration because dry food is very far from bacteria-free!

And if mold toxins and bacteria in dry food are not enough to cause us worry, please consider the fact that the fats contained in dry food become rancid over time - even with the preservatives that are added to the food.  Heat, oxygen and light are all factors involved in fats becoming rancid.  Keeping dry food in the refrigerator will help with the issue of heat but that still leaves the oxidation issue unaddressed. 

Dry foods that are fed to pets sit in warm warehouses and pet food stores before they even reach our pets' bowls - promoting rancidity of fats, bacterial growth, mold growth, and toxin formation.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that many cats and dogs have died as a result of consuming commercial pet foods.  These deaths include the various illnesses (diabetes, etc.) that manifest themselves due to the species-inappropriate composition of the diet, as well as out-and-out contamination issues as discussed above. 

Unfortunately, humans just don't recognize these illogical and unsafe diets as the cause of the pet's illness.  Humans often fail to put 2 + 2 together in many instances of ill health or death.  Food is often the last thing to even be considered as a cause or contributing factor in the event of an illness or death.

As stated above, we all must work within our comfort zone.  If you find that you are not comfortable feeding a raw meat diet even when implementing the tips in my safety section, then please feed a high quality canned food and remove all dry kibble from your cat's diet.  Although my cats primarily eat a carefully prepared raw meat and bones diet, I do feed some canned food on occasion (a few times a year) for variety and convenience.

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Before you dive in....

.....I want to mention that there are few things more frustrating than slaving away in the kitchen carefully preparing a wonderful meal for your carnivore.....only to have them end up sniffing it and then walking away.  Ugh....

I don't like to see people get discouraged so I strongly suggest that you just take it slowly.

When I decided to start making cat food, I did not go out and buy a grinder and all of the supplements right away.  I just simply bought a chicken thigh and a breast (some cats may like dark meat more than white or vice versa) and cut them up into small pieces to see if my cats would eat raw meat.  A couple of cats went for it right away and a couple of them just walked away.  Ok....that was a start.

I then mixed in a few of these small pieces with their canned food to get them used to the taste and texture of just plain, raw meat.  I also cooked some of the pieces to see how that went over.  If your cat likes it cooked, you can then cook it less and less to get them used to eating raw meat - or lightly cooked as described in the safety section below.

I experimented in various ways as stated above for a couple of weeks before I bought a grinder and the supplements.  Much to my surprise, several of my cats actually immediately preferred what I made for them over the commercial canned food that they were eating. To this day, several of my cats will not even eat canned food anymore - they will only eat their raw diet.  Honestly, though, this tends to be a bit inconvenient during the rare times that I have run out of homemade food and am exhausted and would like for them to just eat a meal of canned food!  I have created little obligate carnivore monsters who hold out for the species-appropriate diet......

Another option before purchasing the grinder and supplements is to try a commercially prepared raw food diet   Feline's Pride  uses a recipe very close to the one on this page and several of my cats give it a 'two dew-claws up' vote when it was offered. This diet is free of any grains, vegetables and fruits.

Another choice for a commercial raw diet is Nature's Variety. This diet is comprised of 95% meat and bones and 5% fruits and vegetables.  It is also grain-free.

A third option is to purchase Instincts TC powder from the Feline Future company.  Here is what Anne (the creator of catnutrition.org) has to say on her website about the fine work that this company's founders have done in the area of feline nutrition research.  In fact, the recipe on this page is adapted from their original work.

I did notice one statement on the Feline Future webpage that I disagree with.  I would not let a cat go without food for 48 hours when trying to get them to switch to a new diet.  There is no reason to be that extreme.  Time and patience is the key - not starvation.  I will let a healthy cat go without food for about 18 hours and then offer them some of their regular food.  See the Tips for Transitioning section contained in my Feeding Your Cat article.

The Instincts TC powder is to be mixed with water, ground meat (no bone), and liver.   Please be aware, however, that I am not advising to use pre-ground meat that has been sitting in a supermarket case so you will still have to find a way to grind up whole, boneless cuts of meat.  Please see the Safety Issues below for more information on pre-ground meat. 

Please keep in mind that many cats are not just going to dive into any new food right away!  It takes time, patience and some tricks to transition cats onto a new diet.  (It took me 3 months to get my cats off of dry food and eating canned food.)  If your cat does not take to a new food immediately, don't get discouraged.  Try mixing the new food with their existing diet of canned food at a ratio of 10% new to 90% old and then gradually increase the new diet from there. 

Your cat may make it easy for you and show enthusiasm for the new food right away....but many (most?) of them will not.  It took one of my cats many months before he would start eating the raw diet with any consistency.  This cat is my Toby - see below for a picture of how he likes his 'raw' diet half cooked and half raw.  I often cook it even more than is shown in the picture below.  Interestingly, Toby is one of my cats that will not eat canned food.

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Now....on to Making Cat Food

This page should be read in conjunction with the wonderful cat food-making section at www.catnutrition.org.  The food-making section of that site (www.catnutrition.org/foodmaking) has an easy-to-follow step-by-step pictorial on making cat food as well as a frequently-asked-questions link that addresses many of the issues that come up when people are new to doing this themselves.  There are also some helpful shortcuts and links to find all the supplies and ingredients you'll need as well as a brief discussion of the rationale for each ingredient in the diet.

Also, if you are interested in learning more about feline nutrition, please read Michelle Bernard's excellent book Raising Cats Naturally. 

I tend to be a bit lazier than Anne so the information here will differ from her way of doing things just a bit.  I will point out where I deviate from her methods and then you can decide for yourself how you would like to proceed.

Making cat food is not difficult.  I am a walking disaster in the kitchen and it is my least favorite room in the house.  If I can make cat food, anybody can.  I won't lie - it can be a bit time-consuming - but it is definitely not difficult or complicated.  If you can follow a simple recipe, you can make cat food.  I prepare enough food for one month at a time.  This will take about 2 hours each month - including clean-up time - for people with 1-2 cats. This is much less time than is involved in caring for cats that become ill from poor nutrition.

In a nutshell - before I go into more detail - I grind up meat and bones, add some water, Vitamin B-complex, Vitamin E, wild salmon oil, taurine, liver (if I am not using a whole carcass), and some eggs if I am not feeling lazy.  (Try not to be like me.....add the eggs.  They really are a very good source of nutrients but if you are out of eggs and want to make up a batch, don't lose any sleep over it - just omit the eggs for that batch.) 

I mix it all up and put it into Ziplock containers and put it in the freezer.  Very simple.

  Grinding Chicken Thighs     Supplements and Water Added       Ready to Freeze

Cost

The cost varies with what type of meat you feed and the source, and also the cost (usually minimal) of your supplements.  The initial expense of the supplements may seem high but they do last a long time and really do not add much to the cost. 

I feed mainly chicken and rabbit. The following figures are my approximate costs.  They include a very rough guesstimation of 13 cents/pound of food for supplements.  As you can see, I am able to make a nutritious raw chicken diet for much less than a high quality canned food such as Wellness.

I buy free-range, antibiotic- and hormone-free chicken thighs from Whole Foods Market for $1.99/#.  By the time the skin is removed and I factor in the water added to the diet plus the supplements, it works out to be about $2.06/#   of finished food.  My cats eat about 5 ounces/day so this diet costs about $0.64/day/cat.  I do not buy organic because it is too expensive. 

The second type of meat that I feed is rabbit and it is shipped to me from Washington - www.wholefoods4pets.com.  I buy 50# at a time of the single ground whole carcass rabbit which is $2.55/# but by the time shipping is figured in, I pay $3.25/#.  When considering the water added to the recipe and the supplements, the 'as fed' rabbit diet nets out to approximately $2.82/#.

When compared to a high quality canned food such as Wellness, the raw chicken is cheaper and the rabbit is about equal.  The 5.5 ounce cans of Wellness net out to ~ $2.80/# and the 12 ounce cans are ~ $2.35/# depending on the source.  Newman's Own and PetGuard canned foods are $4.06/#. 

The grinder that I use is a Tasin TS 108 and is the one that Northern Tool used to sell under the model # 168620.   I have had mine for 5 years and it has been great for grinding meat and bones.

Unfortunately, there have been several complaints about the grinder currently being sold under the Northern Tool model number mentioned above.  It is not the Tasin TS 108 and the newer brand is not holding up well.  It looks just like the Tasin but is not as high in quality as the Tasin.  It is less powerful and the motor is different. You can find the Tasin TS 108 at One Stop Jerky Shop or you can try other internet sources.  The current price at One Stop Jerky Shop is $185.

If you plan to buy a Tasin grinder on ebay, make sure that it is actually a Tasin TS108 and not a look-alike product.

American Eagle also sells grinders but they are more expensive and much heavier than the Tasin TS 108.

A discussion regarding the cost of good nutrition would not be complete without considering the cost of not feeding a species-appropriate, nutritious diet.  The saying "pay me now or pay me later" really applies here. You can feed your cats well - either with a raw diet or a high quality canned food - or you can pay the veterinarian later.  I have often said that if people would feed their cats and dogs better, more vets would be out playing golf.   

One must also consider the cost of time involved when dealing with a sick pet.  For instance, diabetes is a time-consuming and expensive nightmare to deal with.  Inflammatory bowel disease is not much fun either, nor are skin allergies to inappropriate ingredients found in most commercial pet food.  I would rather spend time making cat food than giving my cat insulin or cleaning up vomit or diarrhea from intestinal problems or dealing with any number of other diet-related problems that keep veterinarians' waiting rooms full of sick pets. 

Mikie

With Bones....or Without Bones

One of the most important issues to address when feeding a raw meat diet is the calcium-to-phosphorus ratio.  This does take a bit of thought but it is not rocket science.  Keep in mind:  Bones = calcium.....Meat = phosphorus.

Always remember that calcium is not an optional 'supplement' but a very critical component of the diet.  The bones must be ground with the meat (preferable), or bone meal must be added to the recipe if only meat is used.  A cat cannot live on meat alone.  Meat is high in phosphorus but does not contain much calcium. Therefore, a calcium source must be supplied.  The most obvious - and best - way to do this is to grind the bones with the meat.

I am a stickler for using real bone versus bone meal.  You will not find a substitute source of calcium (bone meal, egg shells, etc.) that has all of the good things that are contained in real bone.  Plus, it is so easy to just grind the meat and bones together.

Even though bones are the most natural and optimal source of calcium, one of the most common problems that people encounter in their cats when starting to feed a raw diet is constipation.  Constipation may become an issue if too much bone is added but constipation may also be a result of introducing a diet that is very foreign to an intestinal tract that has only dealt with dry food in the past and now needs time to adapt to a new diet.

Please keep in mind that cats do not pass feces in the same volume, consistency and frequency that a cat on a dry food diet does.  I have many people write to me with the worry that their cat is "constipated" because they are not passing stool every day.  This is not necessarily a sign of constipation.  Cats on a low residue diet like the one on this webpage will not usually pass stool every day.  There is very little waste contained in this diet and so the volume of feces will be less.  Also, the feces of a raw-fed cat is often dry and crumbly.

Signs of constipation include straining and unable to pass feces, or crying in the litter box/acting distressed.

So how do we know how much is "too much" bone?  The last thing any of us wants to deal with is a constipated cat but this is the tricky part of the equation and varies from cat to cat.

When the typical prey of wild cats is analyzed, there is a fairly wide range in the calcium-to-phosphorus ratio in these prey animals so we do have some leeway when dealing with this issue.

Taking a logical look at the calcium-to-phosphorus ratio, it would seem that the easiest way to ensure that you have a proper ratio is to use a whole carcass of whatever animal you are choosing as a food source.  This is assuming that the average wild cat is going to eat the entire carcass of their prey.  One would also assume that our commercially raised chickens, for example, will most likely have a higher meat-to-bone ratio than a wild chicken would given that chicken producers do whatever they can to promote 'meaty' chickens for us humans.  However, some people feel that an adult chicken may contain too much bone relative to the amount of meat.  Of course, this depends on how meaty each chicken is so no blanket statements can be made with regard to this issue.  Anne, from catnutrition.org, and many other people, have fed whole chicken carcasses for years and their cats have not experienced any issues with constipation.

If you choose to grind up an entire carcass and your cats experience some issues with constipation, you may want to leave out the back and neck since these are the parts of the chicken with the highest bone-to-meat ratio.

Some people may prefer to do what I do and that is to use chicken thighs instead of an entire carcass which will lower the bone content of the food. Also, cutting up carcasses is not only an unpleasant task but is also a time-consuming one.

When I first started feeding my cats a raw meat and bones diet 3 years ago, 2 of my cats did experience a few episodes of minor constipation (cried one time in the litter box but were able to pass the stool within one minute) over the course of the first year.  I played around with the psyllium by increasing it, decreasing it, and then finally omitting it.  All of my fooling around with the psyllium amount did not seem to make any difference in the moisture content of the stools.

The next step that I took in trying to deal with the constipation issue was to decrease the amount of bone that I was using.  I started removing 20%-25% of the bones from the thighs although since I was not really getting all of the meat off of the bones that I was discarding, the value was probably closer to 20%.  Did this help with the constipation issues in my two cats?  Honestly, I am not sure.  The problems were so minimal and infrequent and this made it difficult to accurately assess the situation.

My suggestion would be to start out using the entire thigh if they are good and meaty.  Theoretically, we should not need to remove any bone when using chicken thighs but if your cat is experiencing some problems with constipation, try removing 20% of the bones and see if that helps.

Wings, necks and backs are all parts of the chicken with a very high bone-to-meat ratio.  These parts of the chicken should never be used as the sole component of the diet.

Meat Types and Sources

In addition to chicken and rabbit, good choices include turkey, Cornish game hen, guinea fowl, quail.  The only problem with feeding turkey is that the bones are bigger than chicken bones which can be hard on the grinder. I think Anne feeds some turkey and ends up smashing the bones up a bit so that they will go through the grinder.

I stick to poultry and rabbit and do not feed beef because poultry and rabbit are closer in composition to what a small cat would eat in the wild.  Also, beef and fish have been shown to be hyperallergenic in the cat. 

Raw fish should never be fed in large amounts because it contains thiaminase which will lead to a thiamine deficiency in the cat.

You can either buy whole carcasses and cut them up to fit into the grinder, or if feeding a partial carcass, you can use dark meats (legs and thighs), or a combination of dark meat and breast meat.  

I bought whole carcasses at the beginning of my cat food-making days but soon tired of the work involved.  Plus, I am dangerous with a knife....I ended up bleeding too frequently.  So I now purchase ground whole rabbit instead of whole rabbit that I would have to cut into pieces small enough to fit into the grinding tube, and I buy chicken thighs instead of whole chickens. (Thighs have a higher meat-to-bone ratio than legs do so I prefer thighs over legs.) Chicken thighs are a breeze to send down the grinder tube. 

• I buy free-range, antibiotic- and hormone-free chicken thighs from Whole Foods Market.  I do not spend the additional money for organic but if you are so inclined, you can purchase organic meats.

• I used to buy the single ground whole rabbit which includes the bones and organs (stomach/intestines removed) from www.wholefoods4pets.com (509) 678-5449.  I would then run it through my grinder to grind the bones finer but now I buy double ground which is ground finer.  Since switching to the fine double ground, I no longer use my grinder for making rabbit cat food.  I just thaw and add my supplements and then portion into containers and re-freeze.  The ground rabbit from wholefoods4pets arrives frozen in 4# flat bags (1# and 2# bags are also available) which are easy to store in the freezer.

• For people on the east coast, a rabbit supplier is  www.hare-today.com (814) 587-2178.  I have no idea how finely this company grinds their food.

See below for more discussion about bone size.

The Ingredients

Please check back to this webpage periodically for any updates to the recipe.   The new (2006) NRC guidelines just came out and I may be altering the recipe to account for any changes in the current NRC values.

Many opinions exist regarding the ingredients that should be included in an optimal homemade feline diet.  Everyone is free to do their own research and come to their own conclusions.  The diet that I choose to feed is very basic.  Some of the elaborate and complicated recipes found on the internet are enough to cause anyone to abandon the idea of making their own cat food and that is a shame.  It does not have to be that complicated and involved. The diet of a wild cat is pretty basic - they eat whole carcass prey, often leaving the stomach and intestines behind.  They do not consume a large amount of vegetables or fruits - ingredients often present in large quantities in some recipes and in many commercial raw pet food diets.

The recipe that I started with is found on Anne's site here but I have since shortened the list of ingredients that I use.  I always use a recipe with bones. 

I get the wild salmon oil, powdered taurine, vitamin E, and vitamin B-complex from www.iherb.com or Whole Foods Market but there are numerous sources for these items.

*I use the following ingredients (for cats with no kidney problems) - in amounts listed - per ~2.5 lb of raw meat and bones (no skin) or ~3 lb of raw meat/bones/skin.  If your cat is thin and needs the extra calories, leave the skin on.  If your cat is chubby, remove the skin.  If he is just right, do what I do - remove only half of the skin.  Do not remove the excess fat around the meat.  Cats need a reasonable amount of animal fat in their diet.

When I first started making cat food, I removed all of the skin - figuring that my cats are indoor-only and are not burning off as many calories as an outdoor cat would be.  (But...I am not sure how true this is because ever since I started feeding them better, they now race around the house like crazy - even my 12 year old cats.)

My cats did lose weight (a good thing) on the skinless chicken diet but then I was worried about the fact that in the wild they *would* be consuming the skin of their prey so now I use half of the skin.  If processing 60 chicken thighs, I remove the skin from 30 of them.

If you are not using whole carcasses of chickens or rabbits but are using chicken parts instead, use dark meat (legs/thighs) since dark meat has a more appropriate amount of fat than white meat.  (Breast meat does not contain enough fat if it were to make up the whole diet but it is fine to use some breast meat as long as it is not over ~15% of the total weight)

• 1 cup water (or more if your cat likes it soupy, less if he doesn't)

• 2 eggs - use the yolk raw but lightly cook the white

• 2000 mg wild salmon oil (a good source of essential fatty acids)

• 400 IU Vitamin E (powdered E in capsules is the easiest to use)

• 100 mg Vitamin B-complex (You may want to start with half of this amount for the first batch.  B vitamins have a pretty strong odor and I would not want this odor to deter the cat from eating the food.  Once they are eating the food well, then go to the 100mg amount.)

• 2000 mg taurine (use powdered - either in capsules or loose)

• 3/4 tsp Lite salt when using chicken parts - see below** (Contains potassium and sodium.  Make sure that it contains iodine.)

• Liver - If I am using whole carcass ground rabbit from wholefoods4pets.com, I do not add additional liver.  If I am using chicken legs, thighs or a whole chicken carcass minus the organs, then I will use 3-4 ounces of chicken livers per 2.5 lb of raw meat and bones (or if using skin - 3 lb of meat/bones/skin).

• Psyllium - I no longer use psyllium in my recipe but I suggest that it be added when first starting a cat on a raw diet (more on that below).  Use 2 tsp if using psyllium husk powder.  If using whole psyllium husks, use 4 tsp.  If using psyllium, be sure to add at least 1 cup of water to this recipe, if not more.

This recipe yields enough food for one cat for approximately 10-14 days.

Notes on why I omit certain ingredients:

• Dietary fiber is a bit of a controversial subject among raw feeders.  Many cats, including my own, do just fine without additional fiber added to their diet.  I have experimented with adding different amounts of psyllium and then started leaving the psyllium out of the diet completely.   All cats are individuals and you may have to experiment a bit with the psyllium content of the diet.  Other fiber sources include Benefiber (guar gum) and zucchini. 

• Kelp - You will see recipes on the internet that use kelp.  Kelp is very high in iodine and the thyroid gland is very sensitive to iodine levels that are either too low or too high.  Given the fact that hyperthyroidism is very common in the cat, I do not want to add too much additional iodine to the diet.  Chicken meat (no bones) tends to be low in iodine but this does not take into account that we are feeding bones with this recipe.  Unfortunately, I have been unable to find iodine levels in whole carcass chicken or in chicken bones.  For that reason, I am adding in a small amount of iodine to this diet in the form of Lite salt (iodized) if chicken parts are used.  This is because the thyroid gland of the chicken will not be present.  The thyroid gland is a natural source of iodine. 

 

**If using whole carcass rabbit, I suggest calling your supplier and asking if the thyroid gland is included.  If it is, I would not add the iodized lite salt.  Be sure to use all of the blood that comes with any ground food since blood contains valuable nutrients.

• Multi-glandular supplement - I initially added this item but when Mad Cow disease surfaced, I discontinued the use of this supplement.  Also, I have my doubts that there is any benefit derived from this supplement - other than its iodine source if thyroid glands are used.  It is more than likely just a very expensive source of protein which ends up being digested just like any other protein that is ingested.  If you wish to use this supplement, here is a link to the product that Anne uses.  Unfortunately, that webpage does not list the iodine content so I have no idea how to work that in with the iodized salt that I have in the recipe for use with chicken parts. 

• Dulse - This is an optional trace mineral supplement.  Many people feel that the mineral content of our soil is not what it used to be so this is one reason why some people choose to add it to the recipe.

• Raw heart - Heart is a very good source of taurine but I have never been able to find a convenient source for a large quantity of hearts so I add powdered taurine instead.

• Egg whites - Raw egg whites contain avidin which binds to biotin in the intestinal tract and prevents it from being absorbed.  It is thought that this could lead to a biotin deficiency but I have my doubts that this would be a significant factor with this recipe.  There is biotin in the egg yolk and there is plenty in the B-complex so I doubt that the avidin in the raw egg whites would cause a problem.  But, that said, I would still go ahead and lightly cook the egg whites anyway. 

Egg whites are an excellent source of phosphorus-free protein.  This is a great additive as long as the cat has not shown any allergy/intolerance for egg protein.  For cats with gastrointestinal issues, I would suggest omitting the egg whites when first introducing this diet.  They can always be added in later as a single change to the diet.  That way, any negative reaction can be monitored.  If your cat does not like the diet, try omitting the eggs.  Some cats just do not like eggs.

Truth be told......I have not added egg whites to my cats' food for a couple of years.  The main reason?  I have been too lazy.  The more professional reason?  My Robbie has intestinal issues and I want to keep the proteins his gut tract is exposed to to a minimum.

*Note: I do not recommend this recipe for CRF/I (Chronic Renal Failure/Insufficiency) cats.  There are other recipes that are more suited to feeding cats with this condition.  However, the nutritional needs of these cats must be discussed on an individual patient basis.  The reader can reach me via email to request a phone consultation if they wish to discuss an appropriate diet for a CRF/I kitty.  All consultations are conducted via the phone only after lab work has been provided for my review.  General CRF/I medical management, in addition to appropriate dietary issues, is discussed during the consultation.

You will note that I do not include any vegetables or fruits in my cats' diet.  There seems to be a strong anthropomorphic drive for the addition of vegetables to a carnivore's diet - some people just can't get past the idea that while vegetables may be good for humans, they are not a dietary necessity for a carnivore and will often cause problems in the digestive tract of the cat if fed in large amounts. 

Cats lack the enzymes necessary to process raw vegetables and fruits into an efficiently usable form.  Many people insist on adding large amounts of species-inappropriate vegetables to a carnivore's diet arguing that they would eat them along with the stomach and intestines of their prey.  However, these arguments do not  take into account the fact that this vegetable matter is pre-digested by the prey's own enzymes - enzymes that are lacking in the cat. 

In addition to this very important fact, the amount of vegetable matter in the average bird or mouse is extremely small and often the stomach and the intestines are not even eaten.

Many cats with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)/chronic diarrhea have their symptoms subside once off of all vegetables (and grains as discussed in Feeding Your Cat). My own cat, Robbie, gets horrible diarrhea if fed Wellness which is a very good, grain-free, food but does contain vegetables.   At first I wondered if the vegetables were bothering him but I honestly can't be sure.  Wellness is also a fairly high fat diet so it is possible that the fat content of Wellness also contributes to Robbie's diarrhea. 

Some people do use a small amount of vegetables as a source of fiber and I don't have a problem with that as long as the amount is minimal (~5%).  If a vegetable is used, I would pick zucchini over broccoli since broccoli tends to produce more gas in the intestinal tract.  If you choose to use a small amount of vegetable matter in this diet, do not feed them raw.  Steam them first to help break them down to a more usable form for a carnivore.

Putting the Recipe Together

See Anne's Pictorial here.

I prepare food for my cats in two ways:

1) The easiest and fastest way is to use pre-ground whole carcass rabbit that is shipped to me in a frozen state.  All I need to do is thaw it, add the supplements listed above, and then portion into containers and put them in the freezer.

Using this method, I can make 30 pounds of food in 30 minutes. - IF not adding in chunks of meat at this time.  Unfortunately, I have been ignoring my cats' dental health when using pre-ground meat and bones and a couple of them are paying for it with unhealthy mouths.  I need to start taking the time to add in chunks of chicken meat (~1/2 lb chunked chicken to 2.5 lb of whole carcass ground rabbit) to the pre-ground rabbit that I have been using.

2) The second way that I make food is to grind chicken thighs (meat and bones) and add the supplements listed above.  This is much more time-consuming since I need to use my grinder and also hand chunk some of the thigh meat for dental health.

In order to promote dental health, your cat should be chewing on chunks of meat along with the ground meat and bones.  You can use muscle (thigh or breast) meat or you can also use gizzards.  Gizzards are very fibrous and tough to chew which is great for the teeth!  If your cat will eat them alone, they can also be used as a great dental snack.

When I say "chunks" I mean pieces of meat about the size of a die (~1/2 inch cubes) or a bit smaller at first and then larger once your cats get the hang of chewing on them.  See Anne's pictorial here where she shows the size of the meat chunks.  You may have to start smaller.  Unfortunately, most cats are not used to doing what nature intended for them and they may take some time to get used to gnawing on chunks of meat .  When I first started feeding raw, I did not chunk any of the meat.  My cats were reluctant enough to eat it finely ground (see the grinding plate on the right in the picture below).  As time goes on, however, I am introducing larger chucks into the recipe and a couple of my cats are getting the hang of chewing them but a couple of them refuse to eat anything but the ground food.  They sit there with the "Mommy, please cut my meat for me."- look on their face.  Wimps......they would starve in the wild. Some cats, however, will take to the chunks right away so go ahead and offer some to your cat and see how it goes.

To be honest, chunking the meat is extremely time-consuming and I do not chunk as much as I should.  Unfortunately, my cats' dental health is suffering from my laziness so hopefully you will do better for your cat. 

After chunking as much meat as I have the patience for, I then remove most of the remaining meat from the bone and run it (without the bones) through the larger grinding wheel on the left.  (Using this larger grinding wheel is a bit of a compromise for not chunking as much as I should.) 

Note:  It is is much easier to cut the meat off of the bones and into chunks when the meat is semi-frozen.

After doing a coarse grind on the meat, I then switch plates and run the meaty bones through the smaller grinding plate shown on the right.

Many people, including Anne, chunk a portion of the meat and then send the rest of the meat and bones through the course grinding plate.  I have never heard of any cats having problems with this coarse grind but it is my personal preference to grind the bones a bit finer.

I often get asked about acceptable bone size.  This is where I differ from many raw feeders.  I tend to err on the side of caution and feed a very finely ground food.

This picture illustrates a bone size that I am not comfortable with.

These bone pieces were taken from a single ground rabbit product obtained from wholefoods4pets.com.  At my request, Mary (at WF4P) now runs all of her double ground rabbit through what she jokingly refers to as "Dr. Pierson's microplate" to appeal to my paranoia about bone size.  (The double ground still yields the bone size as shown in the picture above.)  Since Mary has been kind enough to accommodate my neuroticisms, I now just order the "micro" ground rabbit and do not use my grinder.  I just thaw and add the supplements (and chunked chicken meat as discussed above....when I am not feeling lazy......)

With regard to dental health, please 'do as I say, not as I do'.  Don't be lazy or your cat's teeth will pay for it.

If you want to save money, order the single ground and then it will be your choice to feed as is (as many people do) or send it through your grinder.

If I am using chicken thighs, however, I am still stuck using my grinder.

When processing chicken, I run the appropriate amount of liver through the grinder after grinding  the meat and bones.  It is also a good idea to run the cooked egg whites through the small grinding plate.  This way, they will be broken up and more evenly dispersed through the food.  (Some cats don't like the taste of egg whites.) The ground meat/bones/liver and the chunks of meat are then mixed together and placed in the refrigerator while I mix up the supplements.

Whether you are using pre-ground rabbit or chicken that you have ground yourself, it is now time to combine the water, raw egg yolks,  vitamin E, vitamin B-complex, taurine, and salmon oil with a whisk.  After all of this is mixed together, stir in the psyllium.  (Be sure to add the psyllium last otherwise it tends to clump.)

Pour the supplement slurry into the meat mixture.  Mix very well then portion into containers and freeze.

Ideally, the food should only be in the refrigerator (in a completely thawed state) for about 48 hours so keep that in mind when choosing your container size.  The average cat eats about 4-6 ounces per day.  When I was first starting to feed raw, I used baby food jars so there would be no waste during the transition.  I then quickly graduated to larger plastic containers that hold 1-1.5 pounds.  People with just one or two cats may want to use smaller containers.

You will note on Anne's site that she prefers not to warm the food in the microwave.  Instead, she heats it in hot tap water.  This method would never work for me since it takes forever to get hot water at my sink and I hate wasting water.  Plus both my cats and I are impatient, and I never remember to take the food out of the freezer in time to feed my hungry cats.  So all of my cat food-warming is done in the microwave.  Depending on the level of thawing, I may heat it for 5-10 seconds then stir.  I repeat this several times so that the food is not cooked but is just warmed to 'mouse body temperature'.

Exception to the above:  I found that one of my cats, Toby, was (is) very stubborn about transitioning to raw but I noted that he would eat the 'accidentally-cooked' pieces if I left it in the microwave too long.  This was a great discovery as then I stated cooking the food just a bit for Toby.  I have tried to cook it less and less over time but he is really stubborn about eating it completely raw so I humor him and feed it to him half cooked and half raw - or sometimes it is cooked even more than is shown in this picture.

Toby eating his half raw and half cooked rabbit.

I do not worry about cooking the ground bones.  I grind them so fine that this is not even a remote concern for me.

Safety Issues

I hear you asking "But I don't want to buy a grinder....so why can't I just buy ground meat at the supermarket and add a calcium source?"  I, personally, would never do this for reasons stated below but many people do feed pre-ground meat without any problems.  Still, this method is definitely outside of my comfort zone and is not one that I can recommend. 

With regard to adding a basic calcium source (like calcium carbonate) - instead of using bone -  you run a real risk of feeding an unbalanced diet because these calcium supplements are just that - calcium only.  Chicken meat can be low in copper and in zinc.  Copper and zinc, in addition to other important minerals, are contained in bone. 

I buy only whole meats or whole carcasses from the market for the following reasons:

• The surface of whole meats can be washed with cold water before we grind them.  This helps remove the surface bacteria.  Going one step further, the whole meat can be put into boiling water for a few minutes to help kill the surface bacteria.  I suggest doing this for any animal that may be immunocompromised due to illness, advanced age, or if they are receiving any immunosuppressive medications.  I also suggest boiling the meats for a few minutes if you are unsure of your meat source.

For instance, just recently I bought 25# of chicken thighs at Whole Foods Market.  I was unable to get information about when that shipment had arrived so I boiled the thighs for a few minutes.  This resulted in ~1/3 of the outside being cooked and the inner 2/3 being raw.  This was perfectly fine with me and, in fact, I discovered that I could de-bone the meat much easier with this light cooking so I will be doing this from now on when making cat food using chicken thighs.

• Once we grind the whole meat during our cat food preparation, it goes directly into the freezer.  Ground meat that you buy from the supermarket has had the surface bacteria ground into it.  Once the meat is ground, the surface area increases, which makes a great breeding ground for bacteria.  This meat then sits in the refrigerated section of the meat department.  It is not immediately frozen which would halt any further bacterial growth.

What this boils down to is a personal comfort level and I am not comfortable buying ground meat from a supermarket for raw feeding.  If you choose this route, please be very careful of your source. 

You may be wondering what the difference is between the ground meat at the supermarket and the ground rabbit that I buy from wholefoods4pets.com or hare-today.com.  Wholefoods4pets and hare-today process the rabbits and then they immediately freeze the final product versus refrigerating it.  It arrives on my doorstep frozen.

In addition to only using whole meats, check with the butcher who you are purchasing from and see what his delivery schedule is so that you may purchase the freshest meat possible.

Basic food handling hygiene practices should be followed when preparing meat for yourself or your carnivore.

Conclusion

As noted above, I encourage everyone to do their own research regarding feline dietary issues and to formulate their own conclusions.  Dr. Zoran's wonderful article linked in the sidebar of this site is a great place to start.