Home-Made Cat Foods .. Help needed please.

[Gillian Harvey]

When I first started raw feeding some years ago, I brought myself a cheap (ish!) small chest freezer specifically for the cat food. I've got the freezer in the garage. I have got a fridge freezer indoors, so I just bring in a few tubs at a time so they are handy.

The tubs are about 4.5 inches long x 3.5 inches wide x 3 inches high.

[Lauryn]

I was just about to ask about the size of the tubs and how much space they take. I only have a slimline fridge freezer. Perhaps if I had a a chest freezer it would be better but most of the time I feel like I can barely get a bag of peas in! 

Maybe it's back to the drawing board for me. Some of mine have poorly tummies right now, so I'm in no rush to change their eating routines.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

The problem with the natural instincts for me is that there is a min order and I can't store that much food in my freezer (at least not if I want to have my food in the freezer too!).

[Mymblesdaughter]

Hi Gillian

I think you're right they say free range and organic on the side bar information on their site but when I look at the individual food it just says free range chicken nothing about organic. I've emailed them to ask.

Lauryn, I'm trying the Herrmanns food from zooplus, it hasn't arrived yet but if that doesn't work out I'll probably give them a go. Although not much point going with them as Gillian says if they aren't organic, may as well go for the Natural Instincts. I'll let you know if I do order some.       

[Lauryn]

I remember about the portions, yes. Much better in terms of quantity!

Almost certain that someone is specifically feeding them. Even my particularly stupid tom brings stuff back and he's fairly timid, too. So can't imagine him helping himself. In my more paranoid moments, I've thought about getting one of those collar cameras. But then I decided they were too expensive, I was mental and they're absolutely flipping massive!

Mymblesdaughter - It's a good find, but the Natural Instincts one is only £22 for 5kg with delivery and at least you know what you're getting in terms of volume. I'd be interested to know how much a non-taster box costed and how much you got in the taster.

[Gillian Harvey]

I've just found this website looks like they are branching out into cat food. They have a special offer £15 taster box for cats at the moment doesn't say how much food it contains though. It does seem to be free range and organic as well as raw. So might be worth a try for anyone looking at animal welfare as well. 

http://www.darlingsrealcatfood.com/

Darlings have been making cat food for some time now. I used to buy it, but it started to get too expensive, although Naturall Instincts have just gone up in price too.  Don't think Darlings is organic - I've purchased from their previous supplier (just up the road from me) and it was never organic or free range as far as I'm aware.

someone (and I really can't work out who) seems to be giving them quite a lot of extra food. One of them has brought a whole slice of ham home one day and the following week a whole fillet of what looked like smoked haddock.

Are you sure they arent actually helping themselves in someone's house? rather than someone actually deliberately feeding them! it has been known lol!

Don't forget, with raw, you don't need to feed as much as normal tinned/pouch, its more energy dense and fills them up more.

[Mymblesdaughter]

I've just found this website looks like they are branching out into cat food. They have a special offer £15 taster box for cats at the moment doesn't say how much food it contains though. It does seem to be free range and organic as well as raw. So might be worth a try for anyone looking at animal welfare as well. 

http://www.darlingsrealcatfood.com/

[Lauryn]

Some really good sources, thanks! I'm feeling more confident about doing this with every link. The Natural Instinct stuff is interesting, by my calculations that should cost about £8 a week for mine, which isn't too awful at all.

I thought that might be the case with fish - I felt I knew something about too much fish, but wasn't sure what. Good to have that clarified. I don't really mind handling most meat as much as I do offal. Mostly I ask because I tend to keep quite a lot of fish in my house, anyway.

I think I'll order a couple of the Natural Instinct tubs and see how we get on.

On a slightly different matter, I'm having some trouble with letting my cats outside. They're never going to be indoor cats because of the way they had to live for such a long time and I've always had outdoor cats, anyway. However, someone (and I really can't work out who) seems to be giving them quite a lot of extra food. One of them has brought a whole slice of ham home one day and the following week a whole fillet of what looked like smoked haddock. I can't tell you how angry I am about this, I could strangle whoever is doing it. They are clearly loved cats. My female's fur still hasn't grown back from when she was spayed the other week - they're obviously looked after. I've put ID tags on saying that they are chipped and with 'STOP - DO NOT FEED' notices on but this hasn't worked. They're almost impossible to keep inside, too. Short of banging on every door in the neighbourhood I'm not sure what I can do. Any suggestions? I'm hoping this diet will help.

[Gillian Harvey]

I use Natural Instinct (the link Susanne posted). It comes in plastic tubs and you just thaw and serve.  I used to make my own, but its a bit of a faff even when you know the correct proportions of meat/bone/offal etc.  I've also used Woldsway rabbit meat, and thats very popular with my lot as well. So, for anyone not wanting to handle meat and do all the prep, its a good option, as its just like opening a tin of cat food.

You can also add a supplement powder like TC Instincts to plain raw meat to make a balanced food http://tcfeline.com/

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

You can buy pre-made raw from here if you want to go down that route.  I think raw is better and easier to prepare as whilst you may still have to add in supplements, if you cook the food you will destroy a lot of vitamins and minerals and will need to be careful to add them back in.  Pre-made raw foods like below are pretty  much ready to eat

http://www.naturalinstinct.com/

http://www.woldsway.co.uk/


Some info here on making cat food and some good stuff about nutrition in general

http://www.catinfo.org/?link=makingcatfood

I'm not sure about feeding fish too often - I have some links at home but can't remember them off the top of my head.  I don't think it's recommended to feed it too often (bear in mind that most fishy cat foods only contain a small amount of fish and others will have added nutrients).  It tends to be high in the wrong kind of fats - cats are carnivores and need saturated fats whereas fish tends to contain high levels of unsaturated fats.  There's also a condition called steatitis which can occur if cats are fed too much of certain types of fish

http://www.cat-world.com.au/steatitis-yellow-fat-disease-in-cats

Personally, I would stick with primarily meat despite your distaste for it.  It's what cats are designed to eat and what they thrive on

[Tiggy's Mum]

I know you can get readymade raw cat food with all the correct additives in, I'm sure Gillian feeds it to hers so hopefully she'll spot this soon and can give you the details.

[Lauryn]

Yes, that definitely seems to be the plan.

I'm siding more with raw, but I guess that depends upon the source of the foods. It would make more sense in terms of a natural diet, but it would be my luck poisoning all of my animals. And probably myself, for that matter.

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

That's the problem ..... one person says one thing, then another says another.  I think you need to read as much as possible to get as much info as you can .... you can then draw out the main things that everyone agrees on.   

[Lauryn]

Thanks! Interesting bank holiday reading. I'm getting confused by who is right about raw foods, though. *sigh*

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

These links may be of help .... http://www.naturalfeeding.co.uk/catsnf.htm

http://www.naturalpetcare.co.uk/nutrition/nutrition/rawcats.html

[Lauryn]

I too am not keen on preparing meats! At the end of the day, I know it comes with the territory of having animals that need a certain diet so I'm not ruling it out but ick! I did give my adults liver the other day (I know this needs to be minimal due to the Vit A), and I yuck, yuck, yuck.

Obviously, being a pescetarian, fish doesn't bother me at all... so I'll gladly prepare that. But I'm curious about the effects of eating too much. I know tuna's not the best thing, but for example Morrison's sell dabs for around 80p for a pack of two fillets. If this was boned, would it be a problem if it made up a fair amount of their diet?

I've been looking at this:

http://www.savvyhomemade.com/home-made-cat-food.html

[Mymblesdaughter]

Hi

I've a similar problem, I've just taken on two kittens and I'm vegan! What I'm hoping to do is feed them fish a couple of times a week as it's a reasonable price and at least free range. Although I do worry as I keep reading that fish is bad for cats. I've ordered some Herrmanns cat food from zooplus. It's expensive but it's organic and free range and the animals are killed on the farm. I've also ordered some dry food from there. I really hope they like it. Everyone seems to say they eat less than they would of say whiskas as it's high protein. It should arrive in the next couple of days so I'll let you know what the cat think.   

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/canned_cat_food_pouches/hermanns_organic_cat_food/hermanns_organic_menu/226898

I did think about buying fresh meat and giving them a supplement that you can add to it to make sure they get everything they need but I really don't want to be preparing meat.   

[Lauryn]

Thanks for moving it! I'm not being all that bright right now... Ho hum 

[Tiggy's Mum]

I have absolutely no idea about raw feeding/homemade foods but have moved this as requested 

Hopefully someone will be along shortly with some input 

[Lauryn]

Hi all,

I was wondering if some of you could give me some advice on the possibility of making my own cat food. I've found a couple of sources online and know of one other person who does this, but nothing beats talking it through right?

I know the kinds of things they shouldn't have (and I've read the post here about bad food stuffs just in case there was anything I was missing), my main priority is making sure they get a healthy diet.

As I've explained before, I recently took on 2 cats whose 'owner' had moved out of the house next door to us and left them. The female was heavily pregnant at the time, so I have a bit of a mixture in ages. The kittens (some of which will be leaving me soon, one I'm keeping and another is staying on with me a little longer) are about to turn 13 weeks, so I think they may be the trickier ones to cater for. The estimates of ages I was given by my vet is that my female should be about a year old now and the tom is somewhere around 18 months.

There are a few of reasons for my asking. Firstly, I'm a pescetarian myself so I have issues with the way the meat has been dealt with in commercial cat food. Secondly, the more I read about commercial cat foods and their additives, the more I can't stop thinking about it. But I'm also curious about what I've heard in terms of financial benefits. Don't get me wrong, the cats eat before me and I'd put their welfare before most of my morals, but I'd like to explore this possibility a bit more.

Do any of you make your own?

What kinds of things would you recommend using?

Would it be feasible for them to primarily eat fish? (I'd still get them some meat, but the expense really hits there as I'd want to make sure it was farmed right).

Any advice about how good/pants this idea is would be great.

Oh, and at the moment they eat mostly Science Plan (kittens have the kitten formula, but the adults have a neutered adult formula), they used to eat this well, but they've decided they're not hot on it and would prefer meat/fish.

Thanks in advance and apologies for the essay I've just written! 

Could a moderator please be kind enough to move this for me, please? Somehow I've made it land in the wrong section. Idiot.  Sorry!!