Making my first batch of cooked chicken thighs tomorrow

[tia2]

I have 7 cats to feed. 5 in the house and 2 in my barn. One is FIV+ so I'm opting to cook. If I've calculated correctly, at 3oz per day per cat I need at least ~21 oz per day.  So for rounding ease, that's 2lbs per day?  that seems like a lot. Am I correct?  

Am going to trial with about 9lbs tomorrow and see how everyone faires. That will give me about a week to see who my problem children will be.  

Will it be safe enough to do the 15 minute light bake method in the oven for my FIV cat?  I want to then grind the cooked meat with bone in the grinder. Is that ok?

Thanks!!

Terri

 

[tia2]

So I did it and everybody loves it so ground cooked bones it is! Will keep an eye on them for any issues.

 

[abby2932]

Do you mean ground RAW bones? You should never feed cooked bones to an animal, ground or whole.

Sorry I didn't respond to your first post a little earlier. I have never cooked my cat's food although many people do home cook cat food. I think that a 15 minute light bake should be fine but only boneless meat should be cooked.

I'm assuming you are adding organs and supplements such as taurine, Vitamin B-Complex, etc or some sort of premix like TC Feline or BalanceIt in addition to the meat?

Lastly, in my opinion, 3oz of food per cat per day does not sound like much. my 2 cats eat about 3.6 ounces each a day and that is on the low side in comparison to other raw feeders here who I estimate feed their cats 4-6 ounces per cat per day.

Hopefully someone else comes along and and adds their thinking.

But great news that they are taking to the new food!

 

[tia2]

I'm following Dr. Piersons recipe and ligtly cooking the thighs. Adding in all the supplements after it is ground. I did a double grind. Didn't feel any bones while mixing. I'm not entirely confident that raw is safe for my FIV cat?

 

[peaches08]

Cooked bones can splinter more easily than raw bones, and I'm not so sure that the cats can digest cooked bone as easily as raw either. 

@LDG has an FIV+ cat on raw, has had cats on chemo for cancer on raw, so the bacteria isn't really a concern.  Not to mention, the bacteria are on the outside of the chicken so there's no need to cook it through.  When I was using the searing method, I seared the thighs in the oven at 550F for 5 minutes tops then shocked them in ice water to stop the cooking process.  Turns out my cats like plain raw better.

 

[tia2]

Ok thanks. I only cooked it lightly and it was raw on the inside. Maybe ill try full raw sometime. What is used for calcium in cooked without bones. Eggshells?

 

[abby2932]

I just double checked Dr. Pierson's recipe and you're right, she does bake the thighs (bone and all) at 350 for about 15 minutes so it looks like you should be fine. 

And it really is super exciting that your kitties are liking the food!

All 7 are taking to it well? That's amazing!

I think if you wanted to cook the meat without the bones, you could just debone the things, cook the meat lightly and throw the meat and raw bones into the grinder after the meat cools. Or you could use eggshell instead. 

I have never dealt with an FIV+ cat, nor have I done any research so I don't have any advice on whether completely raw would pose a hazard or not. I WANT to say that the raw is perfectly fine but if you are concerned about the compromised immune system you could give the cat a probiotic containing acidophilus and bifidus. I think those strains keep the gut flora happy and help prevent cats from getting salmonella. But definitely don't just take my word for it because I have no experience or knowledge of immunocompromised cats.

Keep us updated on the progress!

 

[tia2]

The kibble junkie is a tough sell but she tried it! I like the idea of deboning and then grinding. I really want to keep the calcium from the bone. I remember reading a thread a couple years back that LDG would not feed raw to her fiv cat and was advised not to. I'm curious what changed. In the recipe, I replace one cup of water with one cup of homemade kefir. Super probiotics. I won't waiver from that and especially not if we go full raw. Its like medicine for the immune system . One of the barn cats wasn't as eager this morning but 5 out of 7 is still good. They will come around. I have a 5lb hyperthyroid senior who needs weight badly and he really likes it. We'll see how it goes.
Thanks!
Terri

 

[peaches08]

If it stayed raw on the inside, then you're fine!  Mine showed changes in that length of time.  Not a lot, but enough to scare me hence I changed temp and cooking time (nice to have 5 star chefs for friends sometimes!). 

Eggshells, MCHA, and some use a vitamin supplement for the calcium source is using cooked meats.  I like bone too, hence I changed how I lightly cooked the meat but now don't need to.

If your cats are OK on kefir, fine.  Others such as LDG and @GoHolistic use a different probiotic that packs a pretty powerful punch in a small serving.  Maybe they'll chime in. 

Your hyperthyroid cat, is she on medication?  Is she to be on a limited iodine diet or anything?

 

[tia2]

Yes he is on medication. I would never feed him the y/d diet. Its not advised by many nutritionist including Dr.Pierson. If I reduced his diet for low iodine, he would be eating a completely innapropriate diet for health. Its a crappy disease. His thyroid level is stable at the moment. Wish I could do the i131. We still may.

 

[peaches08]

Yes he is on medication. I would never feed him the y/d diet. Its not advised by many nutritionist including Dr.Pierson. If I reduced his diet for low iodine, he would be eating a completely innapropriate diet for health. Its a crappy disease. His thyroid level is stable at the moment. Wish I could do the i131. We still may.

Yeah, if I were faced with a hyperthyroid cat I'd be looking for something other than Y/D too.  Can he have iodine while on meds? 

 

[tia2]

Yes he can. Its encouraged to still provide the best diet. Yet iodine is in everything! I didn't like using the iodized salt and egg yolks for instance but if I stray from the recipe I think it would become unbalanced. So I don't feed him fish, etc and try to avoid where I can. The meds are bringing his number down nicely and am praying that we can get some muscle tone and weight back with his diet.

 

[peaches08]

Omitting the egg yolks should be OK (per Dr. P), but the salt is necessary.  If he can't have iodine, there are non-iodized 50/50 salt substitutes available.  But I don't know if that is right for your cat or not, I'm not up on hyperthyroid cats and if they are medicated what they can have.