Home Made Cat (& Dog) Food

Having  6 house cats, 2 feral cats, 2 rabbits, 2 chickens, and 8 ducks I am always on the look out for ways to save money on animal feed whilst also making sure they are getting all the nutrients they need.

My Cat Food Recipe

Although I do buy a dry organic biscuit feed I also make my own cat food partly due to wanting to know what they are eating and also because in the past I had a cat with a very sensitive stomach who couldn’t tolerate shop bought wet food without severe sickness, which on one occassion resulted in hospitalisation and it forced me to find alternatives.

It just so happens that I can often get the ingredients for the food very cheaply while giving a far higher quality meal. The basic homemade cat food consists of high protein mix of either cooked white fish, liver or chicken with rice and vegetables at a 60:20:20 ration along with a measure of multivitamins blended together, I use an SA50 Vitamin Supplement as it is high quality and gives them everything they need in the mix.

I have made homemade cat biscuits before, but these have been hit and miss on whether they would eat them (the wet mix they lap up) so I tend to stick with an organic biscuit that I buy in bulk to save money. If your cats don’t suffer from any sensitivity still try to avoid biscuits with colourants in them, you can usually tell these by the 5 different coloured biscuits in each mix.

Dog Food Recipe

Having just carefully read the label it turns out SA50 is also a dog food vitamin supplement. Dogs need different food ratios to cats for their protein and as such I would use the same basics as I do for the cat food but at 35 meat: 35 rice: 30 vegetables. Always gradually introduce the new food to dogs and cats over a month so as to not upset their stomachs.

The cats only get two large tablespoons per cat per meal and portion sizes can be gauged based on a cat or dog’s appetite, current weight and age. I would always feed an elderly cat or dog as much as they would eat but a young kit or pup small amounts through the day to prevent gorging and sickness.

Best Buys

Try supermarkets for reduced section meats as well as using liver and kidneys as these are very cheap and very nutritious cuts. Often butchers have offcuts and will mince these for animal food if you ask. If you have an allotment you’ll have a great source of the veggies to be mixed in, but if not use the veggies you have left over from meals (provided they do not have gravy on them as this is too salty for pets) or veggies that have gone past it looks wise as the animals really won’t mind especially since it is all blended together.

 

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