Homecooking for Cats

[CavePaws]

Does anyone have any experience home cooking a diet for cats? Liam does not want to eat his wet food anymore (I don't blame him) and is just picking at his kibble (I don't blame him)...He has been receiving a lot of cooked meats recently - which could be why he doesn't want to eat the kibble and canned food. I'm not sure at all about the nutritional value of cooked meats and am realllllllly bad at math so I'm super scared I would screw up a cooked diet for a cat horrendously. Any one have any reading suggestions, links, or advice from experience? It would be of amazing value to LeeLee and I. :)

Honary picture of the picky king.
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[naturalfeddogs]

The only thing thats cooked, I guess that Smokey eats is canned salmon, Only because I can't find decent raw fish around here. Canned I know has a lot of omega 3's and calcium. As far as cooked, thats about my knowledge right there! (because its on the can)! Maybe that is something you could consider a starting point, maybe? Sorry I'm not much help.

[werecatrising]

One of the vets I work with home cooks for her cat. I can ask her about it if you'd like.

[Paws&Tails]

One pound of meat, cubed/minced (or shred after cooking)
Four ounces of organ meat, minced (my kitties will only eat it if it's cut into really small pieces)
One teaspoon eggshell powder
One teaspoon Berte's Green Blend
Quarter teaspoon Berte's Immune Blend per 10 pounds body weight daily
Pinch of taurine (from 500mg capsule) added twice daily AFTER heating up

Cook meat and organ meat and mix together with eggshell powder and Green Blend. Add Immune Blend and taurine before serving.

Amount you feed varies according to weight (2-3% of bodyweight daily). Hare-Today has a feed calculator. All you have to do is put in your pets weight and percentage of bodyweight you want to feed and it will give you an exact amount of ounces/pounds a day they need to eat.

This is very easy to make. If you feed fish you won't need to supplement with fish oil. Feed as wide a variety as you can. The taurine is very important to add, as cats can not synthesize their own taurine from other building block amino acids and taurine is broken down by heat, thus cooking destroys over half to maybe 2/3 of the taurine that was available raw.

[KittyKat]

can you overdose with taurine?

[werecatrising]

can you overdose with taurine?

Nope. Any excess is excreted through the urine.

[hmbutler]

This is interesting for me too, I am trying to get my cat to switch from kibble to raw, but it's proving difficult just to get her to switch from free feeding to meal times - she just seems to ignore me when I put her food down, even when it's been away all day... then she picks a few pieces out and goes away, obviously thinking she'll just come back later. She isnt even eating half the recommended daily amount on the bag of felidae... As well as this, I too am VERY worried about getting the balance right for my kitty, because of the taurine

[werecatrising]

I have a 13 month old cat who was weaned directly onto raw. Her taurine levels were checked recently and were fine.

[Paws&Tails]

This is interesting for me too, I am trying to get my cat to switch from kibble to raw, but it's proving difficult just to get her to switch from free feeding to meal times - she just seems to ignore me when I put her food down, even when it's been away all day... then she picks a few pieces out and goes away, obviously thinking she'll just come back later. She isnt even eating half the recommended daily amount on the bag of felidae... As well as this, I too am VERY worried about getting the balance right for my kitty, because of the taurine

Honestly, I asked my vet how much taurine to add and she okay-ed the amount I'm using (a pinch from a 500mg capsule at two meals a day, but I do it at three meals to be safe). If you're worried, it's fine to give more. Any excess is just secreted by the body. I've also had taurine levels checked after 3 months on this and they are a-okay.

[naturalfeddogs]

Where do you find taurine capsules? I've never seen any.