Feline Raw Diet Recipes: A Comprehensive Guide

Transitioning your cat to a raw food diet can significantly benefit their health, mirroring the diet of their wild ancestors. This guide provides detailed recipes and considerations for creating balanced and nutritious raw meals for your feline companion.

Introduction to Raw Feeding for Cats

A homemade raw cat food diet consists of more than just meat; it includes organs, bone, fat, egg yolks, water, and essential supplements. The goal is to mimic the natural prey-based diet of cats, ensuring they receive complete nutrition without unnecessary carbohydrates. Making your own raw cat food gives you the most control over the ingredients, allowing you to select high-quality meats and supplements. Contrary to popular belief, homemade raw cat food meals are often less expensive than commercial canned diets.

Essential Components of a Raw Cat Food Diet

When preparing homemade cat food, balancing the diet is crucial. Cats require the right amounts of macronutrients (protein, fat, and carbohydrates) and micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, and healthy oils).

Macronutrients

• Protein: Primarily sourced from muscle meat.
• Fat: Essential for energy and sourced from meat and added oils.
• Carbohydrates: Cats have minimal need for carbohydrates.

Micronutrients

• Vitamins: Primarily from secreting organs like liver and kidney.
• Minerals: Primarily from bones.
• Healthy Oils: Omega-3 fatty acids from oily fish or supplements.

Balancing the Diet

• Muscle Meat: Forms the majority of the diet. Consider chicken, turkey, duck, rabbit, lamb, and goose. Heart is considered a muscle meat and is an excellent source of taurine.
• Bone: Provides calcium, magnesium, potassium, and other vital minerals. Can be included whole or ground. Aim for 6-10% of the diet.
• Secreting Organs: Vital for vitamins. Include liver and kidney, making up around 10% of the overall meal, with liver no more than half of that.
• Omega-3: Add oily fish or a high-quality omega-3 oil.

Recipe 1: Raw Cat Food with Bone

This recipe includes real bone for optimal nutrition.

Ingredients

• 1400 grams (3 lbs) raw muscle meat (e.g., chicken thighs and drumsticks)
• 200 grams (7 oz) raw liver (chicken liver works well)
• 200 grams (7 oz) raw heart
• 1.5 tsp Lite salt (with iodine)
• (Optional) 4 tsp psyllium husk powder (8 tsp if coarsely ground)
• (Optional) 4000 mg additional Taurine (if freezing for more than two weeks)

Instructions

1. Remove about half of the skin from the muscle meat. Chunk up much of the muscle meat into bite-sized (nickel-sized, approximately) pieces. Save the chunked meat for later.
2. Grind the raw liver, any skin, raw meaty bones, and raw heart.
3. Fill a bowl with 2 cups of water and whisk everything (non-meat) except the psyllium. If you had to replace liver with Vitamin A/D or replace heart with Taurine, add the substitutes now. Add psyllium at the end - if you’re using it - and mix well.
4. Finally, put the three mixtures together-the “supplement slurry” that you have just mixed, the ground up meat/bone/organs, and the chunks of meat that you cut up by hand.
5. Don’t overfill the containers. The food expands when frozen and you don’t want lids popping off. Thaw as you go. The food shouldn’t be left thawed in the refrigerator more than 48 hours before serving.
6. To serve, portion into a ‘zipper baggie’ and warm under hot water in the sink. Don’t microwave the food.
7. Every two or three days, sprinkle a few drops of fresh salmon oil from a newly-opened capsule onto the cats’ food.

Recipe 2: Raw Cat Food Without Bone (Short-Term Use Only)

This recipe is an inferior option and should only be used temporarily if you do not have a grinder. It relies on an isolated calcium supplement and gelatin to make up for missing cartilage.

Read also: Kidney-Friendly Cat Food Explained

Ingredients

• 1400 grams (3 lbs) raw muscle meat (i.e., chicken thighs and drumsticks meat)
• 200 grams (7 oz) raw liver (chicken liver works well)
• Calcium supplement (to provide approximately 1000-1200 mg of calcium per pound of meat)
• Gelatin
• 1.5 tsp Lite salt (with iodine)
• (Optional) 4 tsp psyllium husk powder (8 tsp if coarsely ground)
• (Optional) 4000 mg additional Taurine (if freezing for more than two weeks)

Instructions

1. Remove about half of the skin from the muscle meat. Chunk up much of the muscle meat into bite-sized (nickel-sized, approximately) pieces.
2. Grind the raw liver and remaining meat. Stir this mixture well and return to the refrigerator.
3. Fill a bowl with 2 cups of water and whisk everything (non-meat) except the psyllium and gelatin. If you had to replace liver with Vitamin A and D or heart with Taurine, add those substitutes now. Add psyllium (if you’re using that) and gelatin at the end and stir well.
4. Put the three mixtures together -the “supplement slurry” that you have just mixed, the ground-up meat, and the chunks of meat you cut by hand.
5. Don’t overfill the containers and thaw only what you can use within 48 hours.
6. Every two or three days, put a few drops of fresh salmon oil from a newly-opened capsule onto the cats’ food.

Important Considerations for Both Recipes

Organ Meat Substitutions

• If you cannot find the heart or liver and decide to substitute with Taurine/Vitamin A and D, replace the missing amount of organ meat with the equivalent amount of muscle meat. For example, if you cannot find heart, add another 400 grams of the meat.

Whole Ground Rabbit

• If you’re using whole ground rabbit from a supplier, check with the supplier to see if the thyroid gland is included.

Psyllium Husk Powder

• Not all cats require additional fiber (psyllium) in their diet. It is generally recommended when an adult cat first gets raw food. Some cats seem to get constipated without additional fiber, whereas other cats seem to get constipated if they get too much fiber.

Bone Content

• As of 2016, bone content should be reduced to 50% whole carcass with bone and 50% boneless meat.

Freezing and Storage

• If you will not be using the food immediately and freezing for more than a week or two, toss in 4000 mg of additional Taurine to make up for what may get lost during storage.
• The food expands when frozen, so don’t overfill the containers.
• The food shouldn’t be left thawed in the refrigerator more than 48 hours before serving.

Salmon Oil

• The Essential Fatty Acids in salmon oil are extremely fragile, and since we don’t know exactly how much gets lost during freezing, use a bit of fresh salmon oil directly on the food a few times a week.

Alternative Recipe: Chicken Thigh Based Raw Cat Food

This recipe utilizes chicken thighs as the primary ingredient and includes detailed instructions for preparation.

Ingredients

• 4.5 pounds (about 2 kg) chicken thighs with bone
• 14 ounces (400 grams) raw chicken heart (or substitute with 4000 mg Taurine)
• 8 ounces (.24 liter) water
• 2000 mg Taurine (in addition to any used as a heart substitute)
• 400 IU Vitamin E
• .5 tsp Lite Salt with Iodine
• 1 tsp Wild Salmon Oil

Preparation

1. Remove about 20 to 25% of the bone from the total amount of meat used.
2. Remove the skin from half of the thighs.
3. Rinse the meat with water to help remove any surface bacteria.
4. Weigh out the ingredients.
5. In a small mixing bowl, open up the supplement capsules and discard the empty gelatin caps. Add the egg yolks and water to the bowl, and whisk until mixed.
6. Chunk up meat from the thighs into roughly ½ inch pieces.
7. Start feeding the thighs through the grinder. Add the liver, heart, and fish oil capsules at intervals to the grinder.
8. When it's all ground, transfer it to a large bowl, add the slurry mixture, the chunked meat, and the psyllium husk, and mix thoroughly.
9. Portion out the mixture into glass or plastic containers or freezer Ziploc®-type bags, label them, and freeze.

Optional Step: Partial Baking for Meat Safety

If you have concerns over the quality of the meat, you can partially bake the thighs to kill surface bacteria. Place the whole chicken thighs on a baking sheet or pan and cook for 10 to 15 minutes at 350°F. Let them cool before grinding.

Additional Meat Options

• Whole Chicken: Remove the neck and the backbone to reduce the bone content.
• Turkey: Use turkey thighs, avoiding only turkey necks or wings.
• Rabbit: Follow the instructions above if you are using a dressed rabbit or rabbit parts.

Feeding Guidelines

• Calculate the approximate amount to feed each cat per day. Most cats eat about 4-6 ounces per day.
• Feed two to three meals per day, leaving the food down for no more than 30 minutes.
• Kittens will eat more than adult cats, and seniors will eat less.

Thawing and Serving

• Thaw the food in the refrigerator at least 24 hours before serving.
• If you forgot to thaw the food, put the food to be thawed in a plastic baggie and zip it closed tightly. Float the bag in cold tap water for about 30 minutes or until thawed.

Safety and Hygiene

• Wash your hands well before beginning and use only clean utensils and bowls.
• Disinfect the area where you prepared or fed your cats. A bleach solution (1:22 bleach/water) or distilled white vinegar followed by a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution are the cheapest, easiest, and safest to use around cats for disinfection.

Potential Health Benefits of a Raw Diet

• High digestibility.
• High bioavailability.
• No odor from the food.
• No stool odor and stool will be well-formed.
• Overweight cats will lose weight.
• Underweight cats will gain weight.
• Normal weight cats will add muscle tone.
• Urine production will double due to proper hydration.
• Dry, flaky skin and dull coat will disappear. Fur will become soft and glossy.
• Cats may become more energetic and playful.
• Some cats exhibit less shyness and exhibit more social interaction with other cats and people.
• Less vomiting and diarrhea.

Addressing Veterinary Concerns

Many veterinarians' concerns about raw diets stem from experiences treating cats fed unbalanced home-prepared diets. Bring a copy of your recipe to your veterinarian for review and discussion.

Quick and Easy Solutions for a Few Days

For short-term solutions, consider these options:

• Eggs: Packed with nutrients, can be given raw or lightly scrambled (no milk).
• Oily Fish: Tinned oily fish in spring water, tomato, or olive oil (drained and rinsed).
• Meat Chunks or Mince: Chicken, turkey, duck, or lamb, frozen for at least three days.
• Organs: Liver and kidney (around 10% of the meal, with liver no more than half of that).
• Bones: Raw chicken or duck wing tips, chicken necks, day-old chicks, and pinky mice (always supervise).

Long-Term Diet Planning

For long-term homemade cat food, ensure you provide everything your kitty needs to thrive.

Read also: The Hoxsey Diet

• Include a variety of different meats (4 or 5 regularly).
• If you can’t include bone in your cat’s food, supply another source of calcium.
• Consider a quality source of omega-3 for your cat.
• Bone broth is an optional addition that will provide your cat with moisture as well as a range of minerals, and glucosamine, chondroitin and collagen to help keep joints healthy.

Risks Associated with Raw Feeding

There are risks associated with raw feeding, particularly when you’re making the food yourself. Our food is tested before being sent to you. Bella+Duke ingredients are frozen at source to minimise bacterial contamination and are tested for harmful bacteria on arrival with us. Food remains frozen throughout the process and each finished batch is then tested again, and stored in freezers. We’re very proud to be one of the first UK raw food manufacturers to have been awarded the RawSafe accreditation - confirmation that our food is produced to the highest industry standards. Our meals are formulated by pet nutrition experts so you can relax in the knowledge your cat is getting all the nutritions and vitamins they need.

Homemade Eggshell Powder

Eggshells are about 90 to 97% calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate is 35 to 40% elemental calcium, which is what we measure. When working with eggshell powder it is important to realize that different powders may have different densities; some may be more finely ground than others. For this reason, when you make your own, you will need to get an accurate measurement of what yours weighs per teaspoon to be able to add the right amount. For example: When we made homemade eggshell powder, which is finely ground, one teaspoon weighed 6.1 grams. This means that 6.1 grams/1 tsp of our eggshell powder has 1921mg of…

Other Considerations

• It is important to remember that you must attain blood work for your cat before any diet change, to make sure your cat will not have any adverse effects from the conversion.
• If you wish to make a homemade diet for your cat(s), use only a raw food recipe. Cooking the diet will destroy many of the required nutrients and you will be serving a less than balanced diet.
• Conversion can sometimes be a long process with cats and you shouldn’t get discouraged to the point of giving up. Give yourself and your cat time to adjust to the new diet.
• Beef and fish have been shown to be hyperallergenic in the cat and raw fish should never be fed because it contains thiaminase which will lead to a thiamin (vitamin B1) deficiency in the cat.
• Fish also tends to be addictive to cats because of the strong scent and taste. Certain species of fish, such as tuna, may be contaminated with heavy metals such as mercury.
• Grain-fed beef is also higher in fat, lower in protein, and usually loaded with antibiotics and growth hormones than grass-fed and/or organically raised cattle. Pork is not recommended. Trichinosis is caused by eating raw pork that is contaminated with the larvae of the roundworm Trichinella spp.
• Make sure to wash your hands well before beginning and use only clean utensils and bowls.

Storage

This raw food diet should not be stored more than a couple of months in the freezer. Extended storage may lead to the breakdown of most if not all of the taurine and there could be a decrease in essential fatty acid activity and destruction of vitamin E. If you live in an area that experiences frequent and lengthy power outages, you may need a portable generator. Make sure to follow the directions for the generator, as it produces invisible and deadly carbon monoxide fumes.

Read also: Walnut Keto Guide

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