Cat food recipe

I think one of the most important things I did for my cats was to start making their food. I thought about it and researched it for a long time and finally a friend told me about a website, www.catinfo.org. I probably read over the part about making cat food 20 times before I decided to do it. I wanted to be sure my cats would eat it, so at first I used boneless chicken (or deboned it myself) and put it in the grinder. To start with, I gradually switched them over to canned food only. It took a while--you would think they would be happy to just get canned food, but after a few times, they really want their dry food back! After they were only eating canned food, I started mixing the homemade food in and gradually cut back the canned food. It still took some time. I sprinkled FortiFlora on top until they decided they liked it. Now that's all they eat unless I accidentally run out of homemade food. Then they eat canned food while I'm making more. A couple of my kitties were pretty overweight. Hadley wasn't even 2 years old and she had gotten so big and I was really worried about her! I have been making this food for them for less than a year now and they have both slimmed down so much and they all seem healthier. One had chronic ear problems that have gone away and he had a limp, probably partly due to being overweight and that has practically disappeared. He is almost 16 and he is playful now and chases his favorite toy frequently! Another was diagnosed with IBS and his diarrhea never completely went away until I changed him to this food. One cat has CKD (CRF) so I am happy knowing he is getting extra water in his food instead of eating dry food.

So below is the recipe I used. This was taken from http://catinfo.org/?link=makingcatfood. Please, please read over the article carefully and several times. I did and I still refer back to it. The website is kind of wordy and hard to follow when you are making the food, so I condensed it below so it can be printed to look at while you prepare the food. But there is much more detailed info there. There is information there about using ground rabbit meat but the recipe differs a little.  She also discusses different grinders. I use something like this:
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-203011283/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=meat+grinder&storeId=10051

I think mine is a Buffalo brand, but it looks just like it. My husband is pretty handy and he added a motor and pulley and it goes really fast. I tried using something like this to start with:
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100646834/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=meat+grinder&storeId=10051 But wasn't happy with it at all--it was slow and I kept having to take it apart to clean it. I think I only ever got 2 recipes out of it. The one I use now will go for a while before you have to clean it out. I made 11 recipes (33 lbs) and never had to clean it out and only had to stop twice when it got "stuck". I just turned it off, removed the pulley and turned it by hand a few times to move the bones through. I will post a pic and see if my handy husband can give some tips on building your own grinder set up. Mine will definitely have a permanent space in my kitchen when we remodel!

Just a few more tips...I make one recipe at a time. I tried to double it once and its really too much to mix in a big bowl. Cook the chicken 3 lbs. at a time. That way you can save the drippings from each one and do one recipe at a time. While I am preparing one recipe that I just cooked, I have another cooking in the oven. It took me several hours to make enough food for about a month, but I prefer to get as much done at once as I can. I'd make more at a time if I had a bigger freezer!

Okay, so here is the recipe. Read the article and check with your vet to make sure it is okay for your cat(s). My vet suggested adding the vitamin D for my cat with Chronic Kidney Disease. Your vet can help you decide what is best for your kitty. I think the most important is to at least get your kitties on canned food instead of dry food!

Cat food
1 recipe= enough for one cat for 10-14 days
Most cats eat 6-8 oz. per day

3 pounds of poultry thigh meat/bones/skin1 cup filtered water (or more if your cat will eat it with more water)
2 eggs - use the yolk raw but lightly cook the white
5000 mg fish oil (if your cat does not like fish, it is ok to use only 2,000 mg) use caps, not oil, from smaller fish like anchovies or sardines if possible
400 IU (268 mg) Vitamin E (powdered E in capsules is the easiest to use)
400 IU Vitamin D (this is something my vet suggested since one of my cats has kidney disease and she says its okay for the others. She said 500 IU, but all I could find was 400 IU)
50 mg Vitamin B-complex (capsules or tablets)
2,000 mg taurine (use powdered - either in capsules or loose)

3/4 tsp Morton Lite salt with iodine (For people living outside of the United States who cannot source Morton Lite Salt with iodine, use 1/2 tsp of regular salt with iodine.)
Liver - 4 ounces of chicken livers per 3 lb of meat/bones/skin.
Fiber - A cat's natural diet is extremely low in fiber. Contrary to popular belief, the hair and feathers of their prey is not a source of fiber. Fiber only comes from plant material - not other animals. The only source of fiber for a cat in the wild is the miniscule amount in the gut tract of their herbivorous/omnivorous prey or the plants that they may eat. Since cats don't generally chow down on much plant material, this is also a negligible source of fiber. (only if necessary) If you want to use psyllium, add 2 tsp if using psyllium husk powder. If using whole psyllium husks, use 4 tsp. If using any fiber source, be sure to add more water to the this recipe (I don't add this to my recipe)
　
If you aren't using a grinder and including the bones, add NOW brand Bonemeal Powder 3 pounds of boneless meat and skin, then the amount of bone meal (NOW brand linked below) to use is 2 1/3 tablespoons. That is 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon....or....7 level teaspoons. (1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons)
All bonemeal powders aren't the same and this is the one her recipe is based on, so I recommend sticking with this one.

Instructions:If using capsules, open them and add the powder to the water. If using tablets, dissolve the tablets in the water. Dissolve the fish oil capsules in the water for ~10 minutes and then, once they are somewhat dissolved, make sure that all of the oil is liberated from the capsule by squeezing the capsules with your fingers within the water. Using warm water helps dissolve them faster. It is fine to leave the capsules in the water. They are gelatin (a protein) and most cats readily eat them.
　
Note that for this preparation, a grinder (for use with bones) is not needed but a food processor is.
Bake chicken or turkey thighs & liver at 350 degrees) leaving ~50% of the thigh meat raw. (The time needed varies depending on how thick the thighs are.) Use a big pan to make cooking easier and save all the drippings to add to your recipe. Remove from the oven and put in cold water to stop the cooking process.

Remove some of the raw meat from the bone for chunking. Cut the meat into chunks for dental health.... as much as you have the patience for. I do skip this step sometimes and don't do a lot because one of my kitties only has 4 teeth! But if yours have all their teeth, I think you should go for it! Chunks should be about 1/2" cubes or smaller at first, then larger (the size of your thumb) after your cat is used to chewing on them.
Run the meaty bones and non-chunked meat and skin through the grinder using a plate with 4 mm holes
Run the liver through the grinder along with the meat and bones. If you decide to add eggs, run them through the grinder. This way, they will be broken up and more evenly dispersed through the food. (Some cats don't like the taste of egg.) The ground meat/bones/skin/liver/eggs plus the fat drippings from the baking pan and the chunks of meat are then placed in the refrigerator while the supplements are mixed up.
Mix up the supplement slurry:
Combine the warmed water, egg yolks (if you did not cook the whole egg), vitamin E, vitamin D, vitamin B-complex, taurine, and fish oil, lite salt. If you didn't use bones, add the bone meal now too.
It takes about 15 minutes for the capsules to dissolve and I use my hand to make sure that all of the oil is squeezed out of each capsule. It is ok to leave the capsules in the water. Most cats eat them, mine always do.Remember to add the Lite salt if using only chicken/turkey thighs. See the original article if you decide to use rabbit meat instead of chicken or turkey. This is an important source of iodine since the thyroid gland is not included when using only chicken/turkey parts.

After all of the supplements are dissolved and thoroughly mixed together, stir in the psyllium - if using this ingredient. (Be sure to add the psyllium last otherwise it tends to clump.) I have never used psyllium and have never had problems without it.
Pour the supplement slurry into the meat/bones/skin/liver/egg mixture. Mix very well then portion into containers and freeze.
Ideally, the food should only be in the refrigerator (in a completely thawed state) for 48 - 72 hours so keep that in mind when choosing your container size. The average cat eats about 4-6 ounces per day. When I was first starting to feed raw, I used baby food jars so there would be no waste during the transition. I then quickly graduated to larger plastic containers that hold 1-1.5 pounds. People with just one or two cats need to pick the container size that works for them.
Some suggest heating the food in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, just until warm but not cooked. Others recommend warming in a bowl of hot water. My cats can't wait to eat in the mornings and just eat it cold. If its still partially frozen, I thaw it in a sink full of hot water while I'm getting the breakfast and coffee ready.
Watch your cat to make sure that he is consuming both the chunks and the ground-up portion. Otherwise, he will be eating an unbalanced diet. And....if you have a kitten, train him to eat chunks of meat early in life!
One trick that you might try is to serve a full meal of 100% chunks - when your cat pretty hungry in order to get him used to chewing on meat chunks. Hunger goes a long way when trying to get a cat to embrace any new food - as long as your cat has a healthy, non-painful mouth. You can also try sprinkling the chunks of meat in Parmesan cheese or FortiFlora. I also sprinkled FortiFlora on their food until they got used to it to encourage them to eat it, but I don't need to do that anymore.