Catfood, the pressure-canned version

[freemotion]

$5 for a months' worth, and that is for the best that money can buy, imagine that!

If you don't have a way to chop it, and your kitty isn't fussy, you could try just dicing it up. Choose veggies your cat already likes if possible, or he will just eat around those. Or maybe a potato masher would help combine everything?? Just a guess. My coon cat would freak and go on a hunger strike if I did this, and his freaking includes a bout of cystitis and "thinking outside the box," so I comply with His Highness's wishes and grind everything up.

Putting it through the blender with broth is good, too. If you can boil the bones a while with a bit of ACV, the broth should be gelatinous when cool. So it won't be a soupy mess when served. This is a super-food, all kinds of benefits, and for cats, extra good as it adds more moisture to their diet.

 

[big brown horse]

Hi free,

I saw that you served the bones to your hens. How did you process them first?

 

[hennypenny9]

The price and the healthfulness is why I'm going for it. Even buying the cheapest canned cat food, I pay around $15 per month unless I hit a sale. And it's all "by-products" and grains. But he does better on that then straight dry food.

 

[freemotion]

Hi free,

I saw that you served the bones to your hens. How did you process them first?

I put them in the roaster a pile at a time and mash them with a potato masher. Most go into baggies and into the freezer, I feed that mostly when there are no bugs available. Because I feed my hens whole grains, protein has been the challenge, this has been a great partial solution.

Then I leave some in the roaster and set it on the ground for the girls and watch out! Stampede! That pan is picked clean in seconds.

I probably could just put the bones out whole, but I want to be sure they are all soft and will get eaten by the hens, not my poodle, who goes through the pasture with me on the way to our walking place.

And hennypenny9, spread the word! Making your own catfood is pure love!

 

[big brown horse]

The ACV sounds like a good tip. I am going to use it in next month's batch. Does the taste deter the cat? How much to use say per gallon of broth?

Now lets hope he looses some flab and gets into a better mood. When I found him at the adoption agency he was sooo nice and cuddly! Now he is like, "Hey lady, what do you think you are doing!!!" when I try to pet him. Holding him is completely out of the question! (His nick name is Precious Brat. )

 

[big brown horse]

But GAUD I love that durn cat!! I cant keep my hands off him! He is soo chubbly wubbly wobbly.

 

[hennypenny9]

The ACV sounds like a good tip. I am going to use it in next month's batch. Does the taste deter the cat? How much to use say per gallon of broth?

Now lets hope he looses some flab and gets into a better mood. When I found him at the adoption agency he was sooo nice and cuddly! Now he is like, "Hey lady, what do you think you are doing!!!" when I try to pet him. Holding him is completely out of the question! (His nick name is Precious Brat. )

My friend had a cat like that once. His name was Mr. Grinch. He once got a claw stuck in my hand because I couldn't help petting him. (he bit me when I tried to get the claw out) He lost lots of weight simply by being put on a feeding schedule, instead of all-he-could-eat. And he got a little more friendly, also. Mostly he toned down when they got a kitten. Then he turned into "babysitter kitty!"

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Ahhh . . . see we have the "Queen of the Spiders" at our house. She generally lurks in shadows and glares in your general direction. She WILL claw and/or bite you, if you try to pet her. That goes for us (her co-habitators) and for any visitors who dare try to touch her.

Thanks Free for the suggestions for vegetable additions. I was thinking that if one could bear to part with it, asparagus would be a good addition. I hear that cats just love it and "Queen of the Spiders" tried to uproot one of my newly planted asparagus plants.

Edited for spelling

 

[big brown horse]

 

[freemotion]

The ACV will not leave a taste, I would use one "glug" in a gallon....maybe a couple or three tablespoons? It helps draw minerals out of the bones and into the broth. Important, since kitty is not eating any bones, which he would if he were eating mice and sparrows and such. The long simmer time is important for that, too.

My chubbly wubbly wobbly cat has slimmed down nicely (remember, SLOW weight loss for cats!) and still has all that extra tummy skin, so is still snuggly wubbly squooshy wooshy!

One time, I accidentally dropped a spear of asparagus while putting leftovers away.....I'm not certain it ever touched the floor! My two cats did an amazing tug-of-war over it and gobbled it down in seconds flat!