If you are interested in preparing your own cat food which many cat experts and lovers extol (as it improves cat health they say) but which veterinarians normally decry, then here is an example by Dr Bruce Fogle who is a top veterinarian and a well-known author on companion animals.
When making the food he says you should select human grade ingredients. He reminds us that meat alone is not enough because it is not balanced unless you provide the whole animal which is not the point of this article. Fish and meat are good sources of protein and fat but they are too low in calcium, vitamin A and vitamin D.
The recipe he provides is for an average-sized adult cat and he has chosen chicken as the base meat because it is universally available.
Recipe
Chicken 140 g
Liver 30 g
Uncooked rice 70 g
Sterilised bonemeal 10 g
Iodised salt 5 mL
Sunflower or corn oil 2 g
You cook the rice, bonemeal, salt and corn oil in twice the volume of water. You then simmer for twenty minutes. You add the chicken and liver, simmering for another ten minutes. Then blend it thoroughly to prevent your cat separating the meat from the rice. The recipe produces about 800 kcal of energy which should feed an 8 pounds or 3.8 kg average cat for three days or a larger cat at 11 pounds or 5 kilograms for two days.
He usefully provides some variations to this diet. For example, he says for weight control you can replace medium-fat chicken with very lean poultry or flaky white fish. You can also reduce the vegetable oil by half.
If you want to add more fibre you can include 40 g (two thirds of a cup) of wheat bran to the recipe and increase the water for cooking by 50%. He reminds us that cereal is poorly digested by cats. If you add grain then you can cook a cup of grain in 2.5 cups of water for seventy-five minutes over low heat. If your cat has grain in his stool it indicates that it has not been digested properly. To remedy this problem you can try soaking the grain in water overnight and cooking it longer using more water. Alternatively you can use cracked grain instead of whole grain.
Bon appétit…
My thanks to Dr Fogle and his excellent book: Natural Cat Care.
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