What Magic Ingredients Will Draw Them Away From The Canned Stuff?

[juntjoo]

I just found this sub forum and will be going through it but wanted to ask my specific question.

I normally do chicken with some bone and gizzards and other goodies and pork sometimes and serve it cooked and I throw in some herbs and veggies and rice, a little, but maybe still too much as they still prefer the "McDonald's" as I call it, which is usually either fancy feast medleys or pate so I have to mix them with the home cooked.

Sometimes I'll liven it up with cheese or cream but I really want to figure out what it is, only the healthy ingredients, that the companies add, if there are any, that make their food so tasty so I can get them totally off the canned stuff. I tried once serving a chicken raw and grinded up good with nothing else at all, just as they'd eat it in the wild but that didn't even entice him(the pickiest of my two). So any suggestions pls share! thanks

 

[LTS3]

Animal digest. FortiFlora is a good product to try. A little sprinkle is all you need. You can buy this online for a little less than what the vet would likely charge for it.

You can also try crushing up freeze dried treats and sprinkling that over food.

Cats don't need rice and veggies in their diet so I wouldn't include that in the food. What cooked recipe are you using? A lot of cooked recipies found online may not be nutritionally balanced properly.

 

[dhammagirl]

One of my cats loves nutritional yeast, so a sprinkle of that on his food will get him to eat. I also love nutritional yeast, and I buy a big container of non-fortified nutritional yeast.
Another cat doesn't care for the nutritional yeast, but is enticed by a sprinkle of crushed cat treats.
Mixed raw with Fancy Feast classic pate is one cat's preference.

As LTS3 mentioned, cats don't need veggies or grains, and it would be best to not include that in their food.
Check that the canned food doesn't have any veggies or grains or wheat gluten. Fancy Feast classic pate fits the bill and is affordable.

 

[juntjoo]

hmm... thanks for your responses. I don't use any recipe per say, but I've read around and basically they just feed them ground meat with some bone. And I was hoping to find some few magic ingredients or combo of a few that just drives them crazy but looks like you guys use unnatural flavor boosters which are fine but I was just hoping to find things cats could find on their own natural, like, IDK, like a bunny eating a carrot or something. I've read on that one site everyone in here sites that you can add grains and veggies but only very little and I probably use too much so I'll cut down on that but I still wonder in addition to certain meats if there are other things in nature cats like. Nutritional yeast? what's that exactly and how does a cat find that in nature? I'll Google...

Anyway, it might also have a lot to do with their particular palettes. And like like the pros figured it out and stuck it in cans. I just don't know how to read the ingredients lol but it pretty much looks like some natural foods and a bunch of laboratory concoctions. My cats are now just addicted to the processed food so I'll just have to learn how to 'process' it myself as natural as possible. Thanks, I'll keep searching and experimenting.

 

[dhammagirl]

Are you including organs with the meat? They need liver and hearts at the very least.
As far as what housecats would find and eat on their own, that'd be small birds and mammals like mice and rabbits, reptiles like lizards and some bugs.
They wouldn't be finding and eating grains and veggies.
They might get the tiny amount of vegetable matter in the stomach of their prey, if they eat the stomach. It would then be partially digested and include enzymes to digest it. Cats lack the enzymes for breaking down carbohydrates.
You could try some pureed raw liver and/or hearts as an enticement.

 

[juntjoo]

Are you including organs with the meat? They need liver and hearts at the very least.
As far as what housecats would find and eat on their own, that'd be small birds and mammals like mice and rabbits, reptiles like lizards and some bugs.
They wouldn't be finding and eating grains and veggies.
They might get the tiny amount of vegetable matter in the stomach of their prey, if they eat the stomach. It would then be partially digested and include enzymes to digest it. Cats lack the enzymes for breaking down carbohydrates.
You could try some pureed raw liver and/or hearts as an enticement.

yes! liver and hearts but the grocery store doesnt always have hearts but yes, those tend to attract their taste buds. They don't seem to like the other gizzards though but I like to add them for nutritional value. Im sure Im using good stuff but just the wrong proportions. I womder about cat nip as a seasoning? Do/can they eat that?

 

[Ardina]

You can try raw egg yolks - not only are they very nutritious and packed with B vitamins, but a lot of cats also really like the taste too. Just make sure it's yolks only, not whites (raw egg whites degrade certain vitamins). I would stay away from herbs as well - they can be toxic to cats.

 

[juntjoo]

You can try raw egg yolks - not only are they very nutritious and packed with B vitamins, but a lot of cats also really like the taste too. Just make sure it's yolks only, not whites (raw egg whites degrade certain vitamins). I would stay away from herbs as well - they can be toxic to cats.

thanks. I have added whole eggs before and they like them. And aren't we supposed to avoid yolks or was that debunked? If so, perfect, yolks for them, whites for me.

So maybe next time Ill try more hearts and liver, remove the gizzards, add yolks...

 

[dhammagirl]

Generally, the ratio to aim for is 80% meat, 10% organs, 10% bone.
Too much bone causes constipation, not enough causes calcium deficiency and related health problems.
Check out the website
Knowwhatyoufeed.com
It has good info on making cat food and a recipe calculator.

Some cats really enjoy catnip, others couldn't care less, but it's not something to add to food. They'll eat some, rub on it, roll around in it, get crazy. My cats like the fresh catnip from the garden.

 

[Ardina]

I have actually tried catnip on canned food for Saipha, who was very picky until I started her on raw. It helped a little bit, but eventually she figured out how to eat the catnip on top and then would walk away from the rest of the food. So I don't think it would hurt to give it a try. Not optimistic that it'll do much though.

 

[LTS3]

hmm... thanks for your responses. I don't use any recipe per say, but I've read around and basically they just feed them ground meat with some bone.

Maet and bone isn't enough for a cat nutritionally. You need to add organs as well and make sure that the diet is at the ideal ratio of 80% meat, 10% bone, 5% liver, and 5% other organs. If organs are hard to find, you should consider using a pre-mix instead of organs and bones. The pre-mix contains all of the necessary vitamins and minerals. You basically just take X amount of boneless meat and mix X amount of the pre-mix in with X amount of water, stir to combine, and then portion out into serving sizes and freeze. Easy and,most importantly, nutritionally complete EZComplete is one popular pre-mix to use.

Raw egg yolks is fine to give. It's raw egg whites that can cause a problem. A cooked whole egg is fine.

 

[valentine319]

As others have mentioned you can't just wing this.

5 dangerous homemade cat food mistakes + how to avoid them

A nutrient mix may be the easiest thing for you at this stage.

 

[lisahe]

As others have mentioned you can't just wing this.

5 dangerous homemade cat food mistakes + how to avoid them

A nutrient mix may be the easiest thing for you at this stage.

"You can't just wing this" is exactly why I only make homemade food with a supplement! Between figuring out what needs to go in and what combinations of ingredients do and don't work, and then sourcing meats and supplements, it ends up being easier to use EZComplete, which is a great supplement. Our vet loves the ingredients, especially the pancreas, which seems to really benefit our pickier cat, and our cats love the food. And I love that I don't have to worry about balancing or the very serious consequences of getting things wrong. It's food I feel good about feeding.