Homemade Cooked

[moneekw]

Hello
We will be getting our kitties in less than 2 weeks and have decided that I PROBABLY want to make their food. I am not comfortable with raw at this time (we have ten young grandchildren that visit often and my lack of knowledge has me a little nervous regarding raw and small children).
So...I'm looking for a fairly simple, nutritionally balanced recipe for cooked cat food that I can prepare monthly-ish. I need to keep costs down the best I can without compromising quality. I can by a grinder, if needed or preferred.
I've searched but the more I read, the more confused and unsure I become. We'll be bringing our kittens home next Saturday and I want to begin the transition from dry food right away.

I would truly appreciate any help.

Monique

 

[moneekw]

Ugh..typo. I can BUY a grinder. : )

 

[EmmiTemmi]

Are you looking to blend your own supplements or use a vitamin pre-mix to add to cooked meat?

There is a pre-mix sold on Amazon (and other places I'm sure) called U-Stew for Cats, and is specifically meant to be mixed with cooked meat as a way to balance out the nutrients for a cat's diet.

 

[shadowsrescue]

I started home cooking about one year ago. I started with a pre mix ( EZ complete) and then gravitated towards adding my own supplements. I make chicken, turkey, pork and rabbit. I usually make food every 2-3 weeks for 3 cats.

 

[jen]

Do you guys just cook the meat like normal and sprinkle on the vitamins or do you grind it all and mix the vitamins in there and then cook it?

 

[shadowsrescue]

I cook the meat and organs ( liver and hearts). I then puree to desired size per my cats liking. I then add all of the cooking liquid and supplements.

 

[moneekw]

Are you looking to blend your own supplements or use a vitamin pre-mix to add to cooked meat?

There is a pre-mix sold on Amazon (and other places I'm sure) called U-Stew for Cats, and is specifically meant to be mixed with cooked meat as a way to balance out the nutrients for a cat's diet.

My reasons for looking into making my own are so I know exactly what is in their food and to keep the cost of their food down. I can blend my own supplements if it is cheaper.

 

[moneekw]

I started home cooking about one year ago. I started with a pre mix ( EZ complete) and then gravitated towards adding my own supplements. I make chicken, turkey, pork and rabbit. I usually make food every 2-3 weeks for 3 cats.

That's fantastic! Would you mind sharing recipes with me?

 

[moneekw]

Would you mind sharing recipes and other info with me?

 

[LTS3]

Here's the cooked food resources thread: Home-Cooked Cat Food Resources There's a link there to home cooked recipes that use individual supplements.

 

[moneekw]

Here's the cooked food resources thread: Home-Cooked Cat Food Resources There's a link there to home cooked recipes that use individual supplements.

Thank you!

 

[shadowsrescue]

It took me months of research to determine the best method and recipes to use. It was much much easier to start with a premix and determine if you are up for the challenge.

 

[orange&white]

I'm not sure you'll need a grinder if you are cooking the food. I know amysuen was using a pressure cooker to make cat food and cooking the bones to total mush for homemade bone meal. Maybe she can chime in.

I feed all raw with my own supplements, and it is very affordable at 50-75 cents per cat per day. The amounts of supplements may be different with cooked food since heat will denature/damage some of the natural vitamins in the meat. Since you have young children around, cooking is probably the best idea unless you could feed scheduled meals and keep the kids away from the cats' food while they eat.

 

[LTS3]

I'm not sure you'll need a grinder if you are cooking the food. .

One can just cut the meat up into cat-sized pieces before cooking. It doesn't take long to do. You just need a good sharp knife or kitchen shears.

 

[orange&white]

...or shred it after cooking, like pulled pork! Now I'm hungry.

 

[shadowsrescue]

I chunk mine into pieces before cooking then use a food processor to get to the desired consistency. My cats mostly prefer pate style. I use a crock pot to cook the meat as it helps to reduce any moisture loss. It takes about 4 hours per 5 lbs of meat. I always cool the meat first before adding any supplements.

 

[amysuen]

Yes, like orange&white said, I use a pressure cooker for the bones. I've used Dr. Pierson's recipe for about a year, with some modifications: I cook the food more than she does (because one of our cats pukes raw food) and I include the optional eggs. After cooking I debone and pressure cook the bones for 90 minutes on High while I put together the rest of the recipe. After they're done I puree them in the blender. I've never used pre-mixed vitamins - I buy them from Amazon. IMO it's not hard to use them and for me the cheaper price is worth it. We start with about 16 lbs of chicken thighs and with the higher amount of liver and optional eggs we end up with about 2 weeks' worth of food for our 3 cats.

One tip I just figured out is instead of throwing away the extra bones I freeze them for the next batch. Cooking the bones is the most time-consuming so my goal is to eventually have enough extra that I can pressure cook frozen bones while the fresh thighs are baking. If I can do both at the same time I'll save about an hour of cooking/cooling time!

Another tip is that I keep the chicken liver containers for the finished food. They hold just over a day's worth of food for our cats and because they're all the same size and shape they're easier to store in the freezer. Plus they don't break as easily when they fall out of the freezer!

 

[moneekw]

Yes, like orange&white said, I use a pressure cooker for the bones. I've used Dr. Pierson's recipe for about a year, with some modifications: I cook the food more than she does (because one of our cats pukes raw food) and I include the optional eggs. After cooking I debone and pressure cook the bones for 90 minutes on High while I put together the rest of the recipe. After they're done I puree them in the blender. I've never used pre-mixed vitamins - I buy them from Amazon. IMO it's not hard to use them and for me the cheaper price is worth it. We start with about 16 lbs of chicken thighs and with the higher amount of liver and optional eggs we end up with about 2 weeks' worth of food for our 3 cats.

One tip I just figured out is instead of throwing away the extra bones I freeze them for the next batch. Cooking the bones is the most time-consuming so my goal is to eventually have enough extra that I can pressure cook frozen bones while the fresh thighs are baking. If I can do both at the same time I'll save about an hour of cooking/cooling time!

Another tip is that I keep the chicken liver containers for the finished food. They hold just over a day's worth of food for our cats and because they're all the same size and shape they're easier to store in the freezer. Plus they don't break as easily when they fall out of the freezer!

This helps me a lot! I will look more into Dr. Pierson's recipe. How long do you cook the meat for? Can you send me a link to the vitamins you buy through Amazon?
Thanks again for your help!

 

[amysuen]

This helps me a lot! I will look more into Dr. Pierson's recipe. How long do you cook the meat for? Can you send me a link to the vitamins you buy through Amazon?
Thanks again for your help!

It depends on whether we do it in the oven or not and if we thaw it beforehand or not. I cook it until it's almost done - just a little pink in the middle. Sometimes I do it in the pressure cooker - 12 min if thawed, 15-16 min if still frozen.

We've gotten some supplements at our grocery drug stores on sale or buy-one-get-one-free, but haven't found taurine locally. Here are links to some supplements, but I usually do a fresh search each time because prices change. I don't remember which fish oil I got on Amazon - the last few times we've gotten it from the drug store.
Taurine
Vitamin E
Vitamin B-50

 

[moneekw]

Thanks a million!