Shopping for cat food can be exhausting and overwhelming. With so many brands and recipes out there, it can be tough to sift through them all. If your cat has allergies, sensitivities, or particular preferences, the task becomes even more difficult.
Cat owners everywhere are making the switch to homemade cat food and it’s certainly an option to consider if you can make it work. We’ve done hours of research and have consulted with veterinarians and pet nutrition experts to learn what homemade cat food is all about.
Before we dive into the details, we want to make one thing clear: homemade cat food isn’t the right choice for every cat or cat parent.
Making Cat Food
Making your own cat food at home is an option if you want to have total control over what goes into your cat’s diet. It’s also helpful if your cat has severe allergies or specific nutritional needs that you’re having a hard time accommodating with commercial diets.
It takes time and research (not to mention a significant financial investment) to create a complete and balanced diet for your cat.
Unless you’re a veterinary nutritionist yourself, we don’t recommend creating homemade cat food without a recipe. Nutritional balance is extremely important, and it may be difficult to achieve the necessary amounts of trace nutrients unless you choose your ingredients intentionally.
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We’ve assembled a small sample of homemade cat food recipes that have been created by veterinarians and veterinary nutritionists in accordance with AAFCO recommendations.
Because they are formulated according to the nutritional needs of . Most recipes can be adjusted for different types of proteins, though you’ll need to check the recipe notes to see whether you need to add or subtract things like skin, liver, heart, or other supplements based on your protein choice.
Note: The following three recipes have been gathered from other online resources. We recommend reviewing the recipe with your veterinarian or working with a veterinary nutritionist to make sure it will provide for your cat’s nutritional needs.
How To Make Homemade Cat Food
This recipe from the Feline Nutrition Foundation is one of the best-trusted options on the web and is a good choice if you want to begin with chicken-based food.
: When portioning out the raw food, take into account how much you’ll be feeding your cat at each meal to make it easier on yourself. You can freeze the food in plastic containers, freezer bags, or even ice cube trays to create smaller portions.
This recipe from CatInfo.org is for cooked food, meaning that you won’t have to worry as much about the pathogens associated with raw meat.
Homemade Raw Or Gently Cooked And Fresh Food Recipe For Dogs And Cats, Species Appropriate, No Grains Or Other Starchy Carbohydrates
: This recipe can be fed ground or as chunks. When feeding ground, mix the dry supplements well before adding them to the mix. When feeding as chunks, cut the pieces small – chop it into thin slices rather than square chunks.
: If you don’t have a grinder, you can start by pureeing the organ meats with the egg and water. Cut the chicken wings into pieces and pulse them together with the organ meat puree in a food processor or high-powered blender. If no other option exists, you can chop the ingredients very finely by hand.
: This food is not intended to be the basis for a complete diet. The single-serve recipe is easy to scale. Simply multiply the measured ingredients to make larger portions. To store larger portions, combine the chicken, rice, clams, and chicken fat separately from the dry supplements and add them just before serving. Avoid seasoning the chicken and rice when cooking.
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: The cut of pork you choose will determine the fat content of the recipe. Pork loin is generally a leaner cut of meat and makes a great starter meat for new to raw food. If your cat needs more calories or fat in his diet, you could swap out some of the pork for raw chicken thigh, keeping the skin. If you prefer not to include kidney in your cat’s diet, increase the raw chicken liver to 3.2 oz.
The quality of your cat’s diet is incredibly important. More than just keeping his tummy from rumbling, his food is his primary source of nutrition. Like humans and all other animals, require a specific balance of nutrients to keep their bodies functioning optimally.
The truth is all commercial cat foods are not created equal. Pet food manufacturers exist to make money – like any other business – and they use various marketing tactics to do it. Cailin R. Heinze, VMD and writer for the Cummings Veterinary Medical Center at Tufts University, comments on the “premiumization” of pet food.
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Premium is a marketing term that was first used in the alcohol industry but has spread to everything from human health and beauty products to pet food. Heinze says, “These products may actually be higher quality than average, or they may just be perceived to be higher quality.”
This is a bigger issue in commercial pet food than many pet owners realize. The FDA regulates certain aspects of pet food manufacture and labeling, but brands have a lot of freedom when it comes to the claims they make on their packaging.
Because the world of commercial pet food is so complex, many cat owners are making the switch, or at least considering making the switch, to homemade. Commercial pet food manufacturers are required to list the ingredients and nutritional analysis for their products on the label, but there’s a lot that goes unsaid. In the end, you can’t be completely sure what you’re buying when you grab a bag of pet food off the shelf.
Homemade Cat Food: Pros & Cons Of Making Your Cat Food
You’ve heard the saying, “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” For many cat owners, that’s the primary motivation behind switching to homemade cat food. If you really want to know what you’re putting into your cat’s body, the best option might be making the food yourself.
The truth is homemade cat food isn’t perfect, but neither is commercial food. As a cat owner, it’s your duty to make a responsible decision regarding your cat’s diet. Whether you choose homemade cat food, a fresh cat food delivery service, or high-quality commercial food is up to you.
If you were to do a side-by-side comparison of your cat versus a wild cat (for example, a lion), you’d notice the differences immediately. Not only is your cat much smaller, but he doesn’t have the same “wild” look about him. He may think he’s a ferocious beast when he’s chasing down the laser pointer, but the differences between the two are pretty stark.
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Domestic dogs and have changed a lot over time. But, unlike canine dietary requirements, feline dietary requirements have not evolved from their ancient origins. In fact, domestic are nearly genetically identical to African wild and their bodies are still designed to follow a similar diet.
More than that, however, they are obligate carnivores – they are carnivores by necessity, not just preference. Their bodies are biologically adapted to a diet of raw prey.
The only way to keep your cat healthy and avoid nutritional deficiencies is to feed him the type of diet his body can process and utilize properly.
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Commercial diets are formulated to provide for your cat’s minimum needs in terms of essential nutrients, but they aren’t all biologically appropriate. If you’re going to feed your cat homemade food, it needs to be nutritionally balanced and optimized for your cat’s biology so his body can digest it and utilize the nutrients properly.
Before setting out to make homemade cat food, you need to understand the basics of your cat’s nutritional needs. After all, what good will it do to switch your cat to a homemade diet if it doesn’t actually benefit him more than his previous diet?
Protein is the most important nutrient for obligate carnivores like and it needs to come from animal sources. This may include poultry like chicken or turkey, meat like beef or lamb, or even fish. Decisions about which protein to use in your homemade cat food will come down to your cat’s preferences (and any allergies or sensitivities), as well as availability and pricing.
What You Need To Know About Homemade Cat Food
Like protein, fat should come from animal sources. When using poultry, you can use a mixture of white meat and dark meat to ensure appropriate fat levels. If you’re using lean poultry like rabbit, you may need to add animal fats to your recipe.
Though your cat may need less of these micronutrients than he needs of fat and protein, he has specific requirements to prevent nutritional deficiencies.
Animal proteins provide some key vitamins and minerals, but you may also need to include organ meats or a nutrient pre-mix to ensure nutritional balance.
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Water is also incredibly important for , especially considering don’t tend to drink a lot on their own. Adequate hydration is needed to keep all of a cat’s body processes working properly. Fortunately, fresh food is generally much higher in moisture than commercial dry food.
As obligate carnivores, have no biological requirement for carbohydrates in their diet. In fact, their bodies aren’t designed to digest plant materials and don’t have the enzymes necessary to derive
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