Dog and Cat Foods - Better Choices

[rainbowtrout]

I don''t know if anyone is interested, but I just started MC on his new diet. It''s home-cooked because I only get sporadic kitten food here, and it''s not great quality when I do.

However, after his reaction I may keep him on it in the US! He adores this food, he seems more enegetic, his poop smells less, etc....AND I feel good knowing exactly what''s in it. It'' s a bit of trouble, but considering how expensive wellness/innova evo are, it''s less expensive for me. Obviously there is a lot of hygienic considerations that go into this--I never leave his food out more than 20-30 mins, then I throw any uneaten out. His bowl gets very well washed after every meal, etc.

The recipie (had a vet or two look it over for me)

1400 grams [3 pounds] raw muscle meat (i.e., meat from chicken thighs and drumsticks or turkey or rabbit)
400 grams [14 oz] raw heart, ideally from the same animal (if no heart is available, substitute with 4000 mg Taurine)
200 grams [7 oz] raw liver, ideally from the same animal (if you can''t find appropriate liver, you can substitute 40,000 IU of Vitamin A and 1600 IU of Vitamin D--but try to use real liver instead of substitutes)
16 oz [2 cups] water
4 tablespoons bonemeal (the kind intended for human consumption--not the type used for gardening)
2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin
4 raw egg yolks
4000 mg salmon oil (I use the Fish Oil from whole foods, it has just as much O-3)
800 IU Vitamin E
200 mg Vitamin B complex
1/2 teaspoon of kelp and 1/2 teaspoon of dulse
4 tsp. psyllium husk powder


My major addition to this diet is that I blanch the meat in water brought to rolling boil for 1-2 minutes to ensure I''ve killed any surface bacteria or parasites.


MC is a little strange with this food though! He growls while he eats it. Like, he extracts a nice hunk of meat, and growls firmly at it, and god forbid I try to take it away and put it back in his dish!!! (we had several disagreements about this yesterday....he tried to drop a chunk of meat in my shoe and really didn''t want me to take it away from him. Finally got him by the scruff, took the meat, rinsed it off, tore it in half, and fed it to him by hand so he learned not to be as bitey-possessive. He also shows a disturbing confusion --raw chicken chunk=! mouse.....it''s not alive kitty, don''t play with it for god''s sake...

 

[rainbowtrout]

Forgot the two websites I mostly got the diet from:

catnutrition.org
catinfo.org

 

[AmberGretchen]

RT - I''ve seen raw diets for cats before, and that sounds like a good one. That''s so wonderful that you take all the time and trouble to do that - I wouldn''t be surprised if its cheaper to do that in the US as well, but I just don''t think I''d ever find the time, plus being a vegetarian I think it would just gross me out way too much. I''m sure I would get over that if I had to, but since its not necessary I''ll pay the extra for the convenience factor for now. Thanks so much for sharing that recipe though - its definitely a legitimate way to go and I''m sure MC will thrive on it! That''s so funny about him attacking the chicken meat - I know cats do that with toys, so it kind of makes sense that he might do that with something that''s about the size and shape of a small rodent. That''s great that you''re teaching him hand-feeding to avoid any food aggression issues though, I''m sure you''ll be very glad later when he''s bigger and can do more damage

VegasAngel - that''s great that your kitty likes the EVO. Its definitely the best food I know of for putting weight on cats, so hopefully it will help yours gain weight.

Lynn - I wouldn''t worry about free-feeding Buster as long as he''s at a healthy weight. The best way to determine this yourself is to look at a chart of body condition - they say the ideal is 3 or 4 according to that chart. You can also find accompanying descriptions for the body condition if you google it. As a general rule of thumb, your cat should have a defined "waist" when looking form the top, and you should be able to feel their ribs by palpating their sides but they shouldn''t stick out. But as long as Buster isn''t overweight I wouldn''t worry about free-feeding - some cats are prone to it and some aren''t.

 

[rainbowtrout]

Yeah, it''s totally a personal choice---I''m sure the high quality cat foods are equally good, but as a grad student I have a more flexible schedule than I do a flexible budget! It''s fairly easy to be home to feed him, etc.

When I have money I want to feed Feline Future, I think. Basically the same thing but they send you the supplements all nicely mixed and ready to go, and no need for raw chicken hearts.
(www.felinefuture.com)

I have also heard tearing the raw meat is great for their teeth--it seems to make sense but who knows.


If you can organize it, making it only take about 2 hours once every two weeks, not counting picking up the supplies (meat) and the supplements (about once or twice a year).

 

[Cind11]

Has anyone ever heard of or fed their cats Wellness Core? It''s a dry food. I ended up buying it after the store I buy my cat food from stopped carrying Chicken Soup for the Cat lover''s Soul in big bags. This food is grain free. The protein level is not less than 50% which does have me wondering. (Chicken Soup had 30% protein. The other Wellness dry foods have 36% protein) This one looks good to me though because it has deboned chicken and deboned turkey as the first two ingredients instead of some kind of by product or corn meal as I''ve noticed a lot of the dry foods have. Just curious as to whether anyone is familar with this.

 

[firebirdgold]

Another kudos to Evo. I took my poor limping cat into a specialist today who was very impressed at his muscle mass and overall condition considering his age and his bad leg. I love getting compliments on his coat and on how good he looks!

 

[AmberGretchen]

Oh Indie - I hope your poor baby is OK - please post an update on him! I''m glad you got nice comments on his overall condition though - that always feels good to know you are taking good care of your pets

Cind - I''ve heard good things about Wellness, but nothing specifically about Wellness Core. I think its worth a shot though, as long as there aren''t any of the crappy ingredients like corn meal in it.

 

[rainbowtrout]

For a nice value option:


I got FI to switch Chen to the Whole Foods 360. It is better than their fancy in-house brand and doesn't add expensive fillers like blueberries or sweet potatoes.

He says--"I'm still not sure if I buy the grains are bad for cats thing, but I'll try it...."

It does use by-product meats as the protien source, but no grains. It's also a great value at .45/can.

 

[diamondfan]

I have had Miss Maya on the Canidae now since this all occured in March. I tranisitioned her over slowly and had no issues, and she loves the new food. She is glowing on it, has lost a bit of weight which is good since she was on the high end of her range, and she looks great.

 

[firebirdgold]

Date: 6/21/2007 10:15:00 AM
Author: AmberGretchen
Oh Indie - I hope your poor baby is OK - please post an update on him! I''m glad you got nice comments on his overall condition though - that always feels good to know you are taking good care of your pets

Posted in family and health, since he''s my baby! Thanks for asking!

Rainbowtrout: I always worry what ''by-product'' meats actually means. But then again in the wild felines and canines eat all kinds of bits from their kills, not just the kind we humans prefer.

Evo is supposed to be the next best thing to a raw food diet (at least that''s what they claim), so that implies that a real raw food diet is better for pets. I just have enough trouble cooking for DH and I let alone our slew of furries.

 

[rainbowtrout]

Yeah, the problem from "by products" is the kind of animals (sometimes sick) and the quality of the protein--chicken feet vs thigh, for example. But I put "by products" in his raw food (hearts, skin, etc) so they aren''t all bad, and canned food is heated to kill any pathogens anyway, so.


I''m not sure if the raw is better or not, except for their teeth perhaps. But the truth is, I don''t have FI to feed, so I''m spoiling the cat instead!