finally home cooking again

[stephanie42]

i was having trouble sourcing chicken hearts for my three cats.  the last three weeks they've been eating canned - merrick, weruva, wellness pates.  today when i called my local meat market, they had chicken hearts again!  so i spent the afternoon cooking up chicken thighs and hearts and livers and eggs.  and the cats seem happy again.  i did something a little different: i took the chicken out at exactly 150 degrees and ran the thighs under water to stop the cooking - they're definitely less cooked than last time.  i also cooked the liver and hearts in a pot with a bit of water, brought to a boil, and simmered for about ten minutes.  the texture is definitely a bit different than when i was baking them and they seemed much more moist.

piglet, as usual, is the pickiest one.  i didn't want the other two hogs eating 'hers' so i picked it up.  about ten minutes later i saw piglet licking at one of the empty plates, so i put her food back down and she ate just about all of it.

i've also set aside two chicken hearts for a snack when my husband gets home.  watching samantha eat a chicken heart feels very primal to me.  and it's not because i know what she's eating; it's something about the way she protects it or something.  it just looks different than when samantha eats her 'normal' food.  it reminds me that i could probably let her outside and she'd hunt the crap out of the local wildlife.  my other two would probably just nap in the sun.

 

[if i fit i sit]

home cooked food/ raw food is the best for cats, i know cat food is good and easy, but sometimes it just has too many ingredients, and you nede to watch out for certain brands etc etc.. 

cats are mini lions, so they definitly like raw.

 

[peaches08]

Are you grinding the chicken/bone?

 

[stephanie42]

 
Are you grinding the chicken/bone?

yes - grinding the chicken, but not adding bone.  one of the biggest reasons i started cooking for them is to control phosphorus levels.  i'm adding eggshell instead of bone.  i'm considering cutting some in chunks, but piglet really seems to prefer pate-like consistency.  

 

[peaches08]

I gotcha, I remember the CKD stuff now.  Was there a problem feeding raw homemade due to sourcing hearts?

Oh, and if this helps, when I first started raw I seared the thighs then shocked them in ice water.  That way I kept more of the raw goodness inside.  Then one day I decided to try no searing, and my cats liked their food even more!  Because one of mine has a problem with raw beef (regurgitation), so I lightly cooked it.  They weren't as enthusiastic about it.  Cats.

 

[stephanie42]

the main problem feeding full on raw is that piglet the ckd/ckf cat *would not* eat it 

additionally, i was able to cut the cost per pound in half by buying from a local market instead of a farm.  i wanted to cook it a bit, just in case.  everyone is happy with cooked chicken.  this is the least cooked i've served it so far.  it was just white and cooked through on the outside parts, and the inner thighs were... well, not raw, but i would have sent them back to the chef with a firm note if it were me!

perhaps i'll barely sear a thigh or two next time and put those chunks in a separate packet so i can offer them as treats to the cats, or on top.  i'm not sure piglet will eat them missing two premolars and all six canines she went after a bit of chicken heart, a small bit.  i generally quarter a raw heart and offer bits to the kitties when i'm cooking.  piglet went for the smallest bit and ate it.  i was happy to see her do that though!

 

[peaches08]

Hey, do what you have to to keep them eating.  That's the whole point of all this!

Another thing about searing if it helps.  I had a little pan with a rack in it, I used that for searing.  I put the oven at 550 F, seared for just a few minutes (enough to turn the skin *just* pale gold), then shocked it in ice water.  Save the juices in the pan and add it back to the food!  That's money right there!

 

[stephanie42]

i always add the cooking juices back in.  so much goodness!  my big boy jake does much better grain-free; he was 19lbs and when we switched to grain free he got down to 17lbs.  since we've been feeding home fed and high-quality canned, jake's been hovering around 15-16lbs, which i'm very happy with.  

piglet has been steadily losing weight bit by bit, which is very concerning.  i sometimes add some fat to her dish, and she always gets a bit more than the other two.  i haven't given her pepcid because the idea of pilling her is terrifying; she hates it and i hate stressing piglet out.  she's eating, i just don't know if her weight loss is because she's eating less or if she's getting sicker.  piglet never really finishes her food at in one sitting, and the other two swoop in like vultures if you're not careful (my husband is never careful).  

the vet that we'd been going to for acupuncture agreed to treat her (he's an internist too) and said that we would continue doing what we're doing until piglet shows other signs or starts losing weight.  piglet's still happy and purring.  she seems a bit sleepier but i mean, she's a cat.  they sleep like 19 hours a day anyway.  piglet jumps up on my lap and purrs and wants love, and when i break out a toy she plays like normal.