Is it safe to give cats home-made food?

[marylovescats]

I am debating over if I should give my cat canned or home-made food. I will greatly appreciate if you can share your experience. Thanks in advance!

 

[cataholic07]

I feed my cats premade raw and they love it. No poop smells and they look very healthy and happy. You can make the raw yourself but it does have to be completely balanced with organs, bone etc. It can be a bit of a process but quite cheap. Or you can do something like ezcomplete or tc feline

 

[marylovescats]

Thanks for sharing. Did you consult your vet before you started raw food?

 

[white shadow]

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Hi marylovescats and welcome to the forum !

While you're waiting for an answer to that question, this might interest you (as could the other related topics here): Making Cat Food - Lisa A. Pierson, DVM.
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[Azazel]

Yes, it is safe to feed homemade food. Where there might be problems is if you don’t do your research and feed a nutritionally balanced diet or if you source bad meat. Follow an established/credible recipe online. The one on feline-nutrition.org is a good one.

Most vets don’t know much about feline nutrition so they aren’t the best people to consult about cat food, but I am lucky that my vet is knowledgeable, and yes, she very much supports me feeding homemade raw food.

By the way, you can feed a mix of homemade and canned too.

 

[LTS3]

Home made cat food, either raw or cooked, are safe IF you follow a good reputable recipe or use a pre-mix. You can't just give a bowl of cut up meat to a cat. Meat on it's own lacks then necessary vitamins and minerals a cat needs and nutritional deficiencies will develop over time.

There are three "sticky threads" at the top of the Raw and Home Cooked forum with more info on both raw and cooked diets, including links to reputable species appropriate recipes and links to pre-mix supplements.

You do not need a vet's approval to feed your cat a home made diet. Most vets discourage such diets because it's far too easy for a pet owner to feed a nutritionally deficient diet or species inappropriate diet (ie, full of veggies and grains). There are also concerns about salmonella and such from raw meats.

I feed both my cats a commercial raw frozen diet, Nature's Variety Instinct. My vet generally discourages clients from feeding raw diets but he's fine with me feeding raw.

 

[marylovescats]

Thanks for the insights. yes, most vets do not know about cat nutrition. same like doctors for us. they only know how to recommend medicine. same thing.

 

[marylovescats]

thanks for sharing. I appreciate it.

 

[marylovescats]

Yes, it is safe to feed homemade food. Where there might be problems is if you don’t do your research and feed a nutritionally balanced diet or if you source bad meat. Follow an established/credible recipe online. The one on feline-nutrition.org is a good one.

Most vets don’t know much about feline nutrition so they aren’t the best people to consult about cat food, but I am lucky that my vet is knowledgeable, and yes, she very much supports me feeding homemade raw food.

By the way, you can feed a mix of homemade and canned too.

Thanks for the insights. yes, most vets do not know about cat nutrition. same like doctors for us. they only know how to recommend medicine. same thing.

 

[marylovescats]

Home made cat food, either raw or cooked, are safe IF you follow a good reputable recipe or use a pre-mix. You can't just give a bowl of cut up meat to a cat. Meat on it's own lacks then necessary vitamins and minerals a cat needs and nutritional deficiencies will develop over time.

There are three "sticky threads" at the top of the Raw and Home Cooked forum with more info on both raw and cooked diets, including links to reputable species appropriate recipes and links to pre-mix supplements.

You do not need a vet's approval to feed your cat a home made diet. Most vets discourage such diets because it's far too easy for a pet owner to feed a nutritionally deficient diet or species inappropriate diet (ie, full of veggies and grains). There are also concerns about salmonella and such from raw meats.

I feed both my cats a commercial raw frozen diet, Nature's Variety Instinct. My vet generally discourages clients from feeding raw diets but he's fine with me feeding raw.

thanks for sharing. I appreciate it.