Success! Transitioned from canned to home-made/cooked

da hoomin

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It's official! Malý and Hezký have been off canned/commercial food since Tuesday. Both are now eating home-made cooked. Malý is eating it a bit better than Hezký is right now. But even he got to the point over the last weekend where he wouldn't eat the bit of canned food I'd put in with the with the home-made. So I took the leap a bit sooner than I'd planned on. So far, so good!

My first try at making bone broth was a success! It gelled nicely. I ran it thru the blender, just because, and froze it in 1oz sticks. I add a thawed stick to each saucer at meal-time.

I ground up the dehydrated chicken and turkey from HT to sprinkle on top of their food and they liked that so much that Malý and I made our own. I dehydrated shredded meat and dried in it in the oven, then I grind it up. "Sprinkles" to put on top of their food - each time!  or I get really dirty looks.

I packaged things separately - mostly in 3oz, that way, I can make different combos as we go along - so they don't get bored and so I can see which combinations they like best. Right now, we have Chicken breast and thigh and turkey drumstick meat. I made the chicken in different consistencies: cubed [for Maly], shredded [for Hezký] and alot of puree to mix in with the other 2. The cubes and shred are actually mixed together. The eat the kind they like and then trade saucers. LOL

It took me a long time! Cooking took all day- you can only fit so much into the oven at once! I used my blender to I had to cube all of the meat first - that took most of another day. Once it's cubed, I stick it in the blender and that part works great. Malý was my constant supervisor once processing the cooked meat started. She did ALOT of taste-testing.  


I got a great deal on a 17# turkey that'll be cooked before we go to bed tonite. Then Monday, Malý and I will start up our production line again. [I add taurine, squid oil and benefiber to the Alnutrin.]

We need to make alot  more sprinkles this time!

I figure we made about a month's worth of food for just over $60 - including the meat and the Alnutrin. That's a 50% savings!

and - since I don't work, I've got all the time in the world. [Tho I did  just order a food processor - hopefully this next batch will be easier/faster!]

I poached some chicken wings earlier tonight and set them on a plate to cool before sticking them in the fridge. Malý swiped one without me knowing and had it 3/4 gone when I turned around 2 minutes later. The girl's an eating machine. 

Thank you all for your help and input!  
  I'm so happy to have them off canned food!

edit: My deer-hunting friend is going to save me bones from the next deer so we'll have venison broth to try!
 

mrsgreenjeens

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Sounds like a fun weekend in the kitchen with the "kids"
.

Squid Oil, huh?  Never heard of it, but why not, I guess.   Doesn't the Alnutrin already have Taurine in it?  I don't think you can have too much of it, but just wondering. 
 
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da hoomin

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Yep - squid oil for Omega 3. LOL 

A TCS buddy recommended it because it has very little taste/smell. Both her cats and mine do not like sea food and this is easier to hide in their food. shhhhhhh!

Yes, Alnutrin has Taurine. But my main reason for switching to home-made was to hopefully help get Malý's seizures under control because she's already at the max dose of phenobarbital.  

I did ALOT of research and studies have proven that lowering/eliminating carbs can help reduce the severity and frequency of seizures. Both Taurine and Omega 3 have also been shown to do that, as well as help protect the liver from the high dose of pheno. Neither of those requires a mega-dose to help, so I'm supplementing fairly cautiously. 

I need to put all of my epilepsy notes together and post them!
 
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mrsgreenjeens

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Posting your epilepsy notes would be awesome!

And thanks for the info on squid oil.  My furries aren't crazy about seafood either, and I've tried what I thought was every different kind of oil out there to add to their food with little satisfaction.  Can't tell you how many rancid oils I've ended up throwing out trying to  S L O W L Y get them used to them
.  Where do you get it?  (I could google it, but I'd rather just ask)
 
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da hoomin

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Posting your epilepsy notes would be awesome!

And thanks for the info on squid oil.  My furries aren't crazy about seafood either, and I've tried what I thought was every different kind of oil out there to add to their food with little satisfaction.  Can't tell you how many rancid oils I've ended up throwing out trying to  S L O W L Y get them used to them
.  Where do you get it?  (I could google it, but I'd rather just ask)
Where the heck did I get SQUID from?!? I must've had too many notes going on at once. I usually triple-check better than this! grrrr.

The thing with squid oil is that it has a higher percentage of DHA than EPA - the opposite of what most fish-based oil have. [Not sure about green-lipped mussel]

Any way - This is the kind we've been using. http://vrshealth.com/feline-products/feline-omega-benefits/

The label says it's "highly refined Omega 3 fish oil from species such as anchovy, sardine + mackerel."

It does still have a smell/taste so it may not be as inconspicuous as what you need for your fur-babies . ..  It comes with a pump that dispenses 1ml, but I can only add a a few drops per meal. I am wondering if this isn't just alot fresher than the fish oil gelcaps?! Probably. 

This isn't perfect, but it's working better for us than the cheap gelcaps did. I'm gonna look around and maybe try something different next month . . .

If you do order from this company, you can order this as a recurring order, get free shipping and then cancel the recurring part. The woman who took my order told me that, so I don't feel guilty!

Still working on the epilepsy research. Hope to get  to where I can share my notes/sources in about a week. 
 
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da hoomin

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UPDATE:

Ok, I've got my notes straightened out and am doing more research into omega 3 oils. 

This site has very good info on "the infamous" squid oil. LOL  http://calamarioil.org

Squid/Calamari oil has a much higher percentage of DHA than EPA [2:1] Fish/Krill/Green-lipped mussel oil has more EPA than DHA.

While there are definitely benefits of EPA, it's DHA that specifically helps the brain - which is what I want for Malý's epilepsy.    

[Still working on getting ALL of my epilepsy/supplement notes together to share!]

SUPPOSEDLY, there is Little to NO TASTE OR SMELL. 

SO. THIS is what I'd made a note of to check out [buy] but got my links messed up. [sigh]

I'm going to order some when I get paid on the 3rd and I'll post what The Kids think of it. 
 

@mrsgreenjeens  
 
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