catbird
Global Moderator
Hero Member
Posts: 3608
Torti Goddess
|
 |
« on: January 06, 2008, 04:41:48 PM » |
|
I am dancing for joy! I finally got some of my cats to eat homemade food!
This afternoon I prepared boneless chicken thighs with baby food carrots and ground eggshell according to kaffe's super-simple recipe. I baked the thighs, baked the eggshell a little and ground it in a mortar and pestle. After the thighs were done, I cooled them a little so that I could handle them, cut them in chunks, and dumped everything in the food processor. I processed it to the consistency of commercial pate' style cat food.
Linley and Kalahari licked their plates clean and were looking for more! Even the notorious Phantom, (who is like Mikey in the old cereal commercial--"she hates everything")actually ate a couple of bites!, about as much as she does with canned cat food.
Also interesting was the experiment that I tried before I baked the thighs: I minced up a little of the raw thigh meat and offered it, just to see what they would do. Linley ate all 10 kitty-sized pieces that I gave him and was looking for more, but since he is not used to raw food I did not want to over-do it and risk upsetting his stomach. The most amazing thing was that Isis, of all cats, ate 4 of the 5 raw pieces I gave her. Isis has always refused to eat anything besides commercial cat food; won't even eat canned tuna.
The only one who wouldn't touch any was Cameo. She acted really, really interested in the cooked stuff, but appeared anxious when offered it to eat.
I have tried several other cat recipes before, and they would not eat it. This was the easiest thing I have ever made, and it was a success.
kaffe, thank you so much for the recipe! No special equipment, no fancy ingredients, and it worked!
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
MarySmith
|
|
« Reply #1 on: January 06, 2008, 05:10:54 PM » |
|
Good for you! And good for your kitties!!
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
MarySmith
|
|
|
|
lesliek
|
|
« Reply #2 on: January 06, 2008, 05:18:50 PM » |
|
Congratulations Catbird ! Welcome to homecooking.
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
"the world's most inept extortionist"
|
|
|
JustMe
Global Moderator
Hero Member
Posts: 4695
Herdin' Cats and 2 GSDs
|
|
« Reply #3 on: January 06, 2008, 05:19:00 PM » |
|
I am dancing for joy! I finally got some of my cats to eat homemade food!
kaffe, thank you so much for the recipe! No special equipment, no fancy ingredients, and it worked!
Catbird, Wooo hooo! Great job! |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
Never forget our cats and dogs and the Pet Food Recalls of 2007; the reason most of us are here!
|
|
|
|
mainecoonpeg
|
|
« Reply #4 on: January 06, 2008, 06:05:50 PM » |
|
Yay catbird Go kitties............. Mama only wants whats best for you    |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
If cats could talk......They wouldn't
Tortie cats are like Almond Joys........Very sweet and a little nuts
|
|
|
|
straybaby
|
|
« Reply #5 on: January 06, 2008, 07:41:51 PM » |
|
*happy dance!* i found a weird quirk with one of my cats. she's hesitant to try new foods sometimes, so if i put a bit on my finger she'll eat it. very strange! but it works! and if she could speak english for just 5 minutes, i would love for her to explain it to me  |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
mainecoonpeg
|
|
« Reply #6 on: January 06, 2008, 08:23:17 PM » |
|
stray.... found a wooden sign awhile ago that hangs in my kitchen beautiful piece with a bunch of kittens painted on and the following saying, "IF cats could talk.......... "they wouldn't".......  |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
If cats could talk......They wouldn't
Tortie cats are like Almond Joys........Very sweet and a little nuts
|
|
|
|
kaffe
Guest
|
|
« Reply #7 on: January 06, 2008, 08:41:13 PM » |
|
CONGRATULATIONS Catbird! Even I did not have that much a success the first couple of times I offered home-prepared raw and cooked! But persistence really really pays off in the end. And it is only a matter of time before your most timid kitty gets on board. She'll see what the others are eating and will get accustomed to the scents of the new food and get into it just like the others. At any rate, I am so very very happy for you and your kitties. They will now get more whole fresh foods minimally processed! hah! Excellent! |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
straybaby
|
|
« Reply #8 on: January 06, 2008, 08:47:08 PM » |
|
stray.... found a wooden sign awhile ago that hangs in my kitchen beautiful piece with a bunch of kittens painted on and the following saying, "IF cats could talk.......... "they wouldn't"....... DARN!!! they could save my brain a lot of work!! lol!~ |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
catbird
Global Moderator
Hero Member
Posts: 3608
Torti Goddess
|
|
« Reply #9 on: January 07, 2008, 07:25:31 AM » |
|
May I remind all of you that I am a vegetarian and do not normally cook or eat meat! I nearly had to leave the house while the chicken thighs were baking because the smell seemed so gross to me. What lengths I go to for my cats...But if a vegetarian can do it, I think most anyone can. Thanks for all your support! The finger-offering technique described by straybaby works for one of my cats sometimes. Another technique that has helped mine to accept different foods is to take the dish to where they are, rather than just put dishes down in the usual feeding spots. This is how I got Phantom to try the home-cooked. She ate it while sitting on the sofa. (Good thing she is not a messy eater.) Isis ate the raw while sitting in my husband's favorite chair. (What he doesn't know won't hurt him ) We'll see if they will eat the leftover portions that I froze. I think at this point they will get commercial food in the morning, and home-made for dinner. Going to try to find out if I can get ground rabbit locally, since they like rabbit. But I suppose I would have to add something to that for taurine? |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
mainecoonpeg
|
|
« Reply #10 on: January 07, 2008, 07:53:51 AM » |
|
catbird, straybaby and Kaffe have both said, I think, that the organs contain good amounts of taurine. Perhaps the rabbit hearts are a good source. I also remember that straybaby has said that clams contain good amounts of taurine. I'll try to find the links. You are the best meowmie. I realize you are are vegetarian and I am sure that cooking meat and parts of meat is very difficult, BUT you are the BEST MEOWMIE and your kitties love you even more for protecting them  |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
If cats could talk......They wouldn't
Tortie cats are like Almond Joys........Very sweet and a little nuts
|
|
|
|
5CatMom
|
|
« Reply #11 on: January 07, 2008, 08:03:11 AM » |
|
Catbird,
Good for you and your kitties.
At first, one of my kitties would only try homemade if I rubbed a pinch of it on the side of his mouth. As he licked it off, he decided it was pretty good stuff, and has been going strong ever since.
5CatMom
=^..^=
|
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
"What is man without the beasts? If the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected." Chief Seattle
"We are the caretakers of our creatures . . . the peacekeepers of our planet"
|
|
|
|
|
|
kaffe
Guest
|
|
« Reply #13 on: January 07, 2008, 06:43:40 PM » |
|
What lengths I go to for my cats...But if a vegetarian can do it, I think most anyone can. Thanks for all your support!
Going to try to find out if I can get ground rabbit locally, since they like rabbit. But I suppose I would have to add something to that for taurine?
Catbird, You are a Champ! I know how the smell of meat can gross out vegetarians... a couple of my vegan relations don't come for Thanksgiving or Christmas precisely for that reason! About the ground rabbit... a few points I am thinking on: 1. Rabbit has less taurine (a lot less) than chicken. So feeding rabbit meat exclusively long term is NOT a good idea. 2. You propose to feed kitties some commercial and some home-prep. Maybe 50% commercial and 50% home prep? In this case, the taurine supplement in commercial pet food will "supplement" any taurine deficiency in rabbit... and even more if you "rotate" ground rabbit with ground chicken or turkey. 3. Of course, you can always add a taurine supplement to the ground rabbit. This will be my personal choice. The usual taurine supplementation according to AAFCO guidelines is 2000mg per kilogram wet processed food. 4. If powder supplements weirds you out, or if you don't have the taurine powder, you can always add clams or sardines (with the juices). At any rate, you don't need to worry over-much on the first rabbit offerings... it's feeding rabbit exclusively for months and months without taurine supplementation that may pose eventual taurine deficiency. |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
straybaby
|
|
« Reply #14 on: January 07, 2008, 07:15:13 PM » |
|
"you can always add clams or sardines (with the juices)" salmon juice is also supposed to be high in Taurine, and don't forget hearts! just remember to make sure all seafood is from safe waters kaffe, i was looking at the organ recipes you posted. my cats LOVE a good chicken gut mash!! it's gotta be one of the grosser things (for me) to prepare, but all the slurping and purrs are sure worth it! hmm, think i'll make some tomorrow. i love it when they put me on a pedestal! |
|
|
|
|
Logged
|
|
|
|
|
