Catfood, the pressure-canned version

[freemotion]

Another thought that doesn't seem to be in this thread as I send this link to another friend, and questions have come up....be sure to include the skin and some of the fat from the broth. Do not de-fat the food or use skinless breast as the bulk of the food. Cats need good fats in their diets, as we do. You need some of the fat to get the nutrients from the meat. Fat kitties will still lose weight on this, and remember, cats MUST lose weight very slowly, rapid weight loss is very bad for them.

Adding the broth back in is also important, and making slow broth (12-24 hours of slow simmering, then strain.....you can pick more meat off the bones if you wish, too. Add a bit of apple cider vinegar in the beginning, and used filtered water if on city water so you are not concentrating the chemicals. Skim off maybe half the fat only, since commercial chickens are very fatty.)

You can also use hearts with the livers if you can get them, very good for the older kitties, high in CoQ10 for heart health.

You can add eggs, too, especially from pastured chickens, where the yolks will be very high in true vitamin A and the best Omega III's.

Don't add veg oils like flax. Cats are carnivores.

If you don't have a grinder and a canner, pre-cook all the ingredients and use a food processor to grind everything. This will be a lot more work, but if you decide to stick with it, you can buy a grinder or a stand mixer with a grinder attachment with the savings over commercial catfood and vet bills! And freeze in one-day portions, thaw in the fridge in advance, avoid the microwave for meat products. It changes the proteins and makes them toxic. When I was freezing my batches, I saved the liver containers and froze in those.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

OK, so I really like this concept, freemotion. Not sure why I only just found your thread. My only concern is the livers. Are they really ok for the cats to eat? I though livers concentrated poisons?

My cats are spoiled and would want a fish version too.

 

[big brown horse]

Hey, thank you for this information!!!! My pups eat the raw diet too I switched them last summer when our oldest St. Bernard died from bone cancer. We spent a fortune on the best dog foods out there only to find it may have been the cause of her demise.

Now the cat, well I just never really knew how to make his food. So now, YEA!

I don't have a canner but you said that I can freeze it after I make it?

My food processor is broken, so I will be going to Goodwill to look for another. Until then do you have any suggestions?

Oh, how much do you feed your adult cat? My cat (who never could loose weight, we have tried everything too) is about 16 lbs, he basically looks like a big scruffy coon. This sounds like it will help him trim down. Maybe he won't be so cranky too?
(We fed him reduced fat Iams then we tried a vet version of diet kitty food put his food bowl upstairs ontop of the dryer so he would have to at least move to find his food etc.) I am very grateful to have found this forum!!!

FREEMOTION THANK YOU!!

 

[freemotion]

DM, in an ideal world, the only ingredients I would use would be from pastured chickens raised totally naturally. It is not an ideal world.....so compromises are made. When you compare commercial catfood to homemade, it is SO much better, even with some compromise. Commercial chickens live such a short life, their livers likely aren't too bad....but from the looks of them, these aren't the healthiest chickens. Toss any yellow livers, and look out for the green gallbladder, I've tossed those on occasion, too. I would be more inclined to avoid CAFO raised beef liver. More time for more crapp.

Livers are a biological filter, so cooking should render them reasonably ok. Kidneys are more of the chemical filter.

BBH, I used to freeze my batches before I got my pressure canner. My fussy cat didn't like that as much, and we had to carefully re-introduce EACH batch, what a pain!!! Grinding everything up helps with cats who are used to commercial foods. They can't pick and choose, and all batches are similar, even if the veggies vary slightly.

Until you get your food processor, you might just cook the veggies and toss them in the blender with a bit of broth, and maybe finely mince the meat with a sharp knife. Then stir it all up. My coon cat would not tolerate that, though, he is extremely picky. That will be a lot more work, though, but it is still better than commercial food. Iams is one of the worst, and don't get me started on Hills.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I would agree that homemade catfood would be a whole lot better than what comes in a can . . . my problem is if I make it myself I'll be overly picky about what I would put into it.

I did a brief google search about eating liver and read that it can contain metals, including arsenic (isn't that in commercial chicken feed?), and pesticide residues like DDT. Not sure, but the site I read that on may have been overly biased. Well, I may just skip adding liver if/when I get around to trying this.

Inerestingly, when my cats catch and eat rodents they only eat the neck/shoulder area and avoid the internal organs and head. My cats must be picky and spoiled.

What veggies do your cats prefer?

 

[big brown horse]

O.k. I just bought all the ingredients and everything looks great, meaning the liver. I only have one cat so I cut that recipe in 1/2. There is a huge 170+ family garage sale in Seattle that I am going to tomorrow to look for a food processor. (Free, even my blender is long gone...too many margaritias.)

I am going to cook all the ingredients today (it is already in the process) and blend or process it up tomorrow. I am going to freeze it in daily batches in those plastic ball "canning" containers.

I will thaw it in the evenings and night in the fridge until the next morning's serving or something that works for my cat and me. I still have cat food left, so I will slowly wean him over to the new and improved stuff.

I know he is fat and crabby and sometimes I want to just pull his tail (did I just admit that?), but I would be devestated if I lost him due to the food I have been feeding him. (By the way, his name is Scott. Isnt that funny? He came with that name from the rescue place, he was 4 when I got him, now he is 12.)

So again here is a THANK YOU Free motion, from big brown horse aka Sally

edited because I wish this forum had spell check!!

 

[freemotion]

I use carrots and pumpkin, mostly because the carrots are readily available year-round and I freeze a lot of pumpkin in the fall. I use zucchini for the same reason, and when I run out, I use frozen green beans. I always add something leafy, usually collards, which pack a bigger punch nutrition-wise than spinach. Kale would work, too. My dog strongly favors collards, though, so we tend to stock up on those.

Avoid starchy veggies like corn and peas.

I bet you are going to find residues in almost anything that you buy from a commercial source, and even some things that you grow in your own garden, depending on who used the land in the past. DDT was widely used, even by homeowners, for many years and remains in the soil. My dad said they would put it on a bandana and tie it on their heads to keep blackflies and mosquitoes off!

Rain also brings pollutants into the home garden. You have to just let some things go. Well, I have to, anyways! I am already insane!

 

[big brown horse]

Hi y'all,

I just finished making this recipe freemotion! Can you tell that I am excited? Easy Peasy! (I still have to clean up though...)

I varried a little from your method to make it easier for me:
1. I boiled the chicken whole with an added lb. of chicken hearts.
2. About 10 minutes before I turned down the heat I added 5-6 baby carrots and a handful of frozen broccoli--it is all that I had "green" that wasn't too starchy.
3. After 10 minutes (the whole cooking time was about 45 minutes?? I can't remember because I cooked everything on Friday and it has been in the fridge since while I ran around town looking for a used food processor. (I ended up buying one new, details later.) o.k. after 10 minutes of boiling with the chicken I turned everything off and let cool.
(Mine cooled for a few days! )
4. Everything (skin, fat everything except bones) in a blender/food processor in batches using the broth to help mix.
5. I mixed in a can of sardines packed in h2o into the processor.
6. Poured it all in a big bowl.
7. I used small freezer bags to make individual servings about 8 table spoons each. I made 14 of those bags and put them into a big freezer bag for protection. (I think each little baggie holds actually 2 days worth.)
8. I will thaw it the day before and serve as needed keeping the rest of that baggie in the fridge.

Here is the best part about this month's supply of homemade catfood it cost about $5.00 worth of ingrediants.

This time I didn't use any vitamins just because I forgot. He is still being weined off of his dry cat food so I think we are kinda covered there. (Probably not though accordidng to some opinions.) Next time I will add the vitamins that freemotion suggested.

 

[hennypenny9]

I've been meaning to try this! I'd drastically scale it down, since I only have one cat, and would be freezing it instead of canning. (at this point) So it would be okay to put through the blender? I don't have a food processor or grinder.

I would only do maybe two pounds as an experiment, and continue if he'll eat it. I've never found something the silly cat won't eat. But I know for SURE that if I made the full recipe, he would get all picky. The brat.

 

[big brown horse]

I've been meaning to try this! I'd drastically scale it down, since I only have one cat, and would be freezing it instead of canning. (at this point) So it would be okay to put through the blender? I don't have a food processor or grinder.

I would only do maybe two pounds as an experiment, and continue if he'll eat it. I've never found something the silly cat won't eat. But I know for SURE that if I made the full recipe, he would get all picky. The brat.

I only have one cat. I used a blender...but it has lots of power and doubles (so it said on the box) as a food chopper. Worked fine. I froze everything in small batches. (Except for today and tomorrows portion.)

The rest of the food is freezing flat in baggies and takes up about 3 inches high by 12 inch square, two pizzas worth of space.