Homemade Diets and Commercial Raw Meat Products

Also, wild cats do not always consume their prey in its entirety immediately upon killing it so the meat that they eat is not always from a fresh kill.

Cats are very different from humans with respect to their susceptibility to ‘food poisoning’. Cats have a much shorter transit time through their intestinal tract than humans do (about 12 - 16 hours for the cat versus 35-55 hours for the human). This is a very important point because the more time bacteria spend in the intestinal tract, the more they multiply, eventually leading to intestinal upset.

That said, not all sources of raw meat are created equal. For instance, I will not feed pre-ground supermarket meat in a raw form. I buy only whole cuts of meat which can be thoroughly rinsed prior to grinding or they can be partially baked to kill the surface bacteria.

A properly handled and prepared raw or semi-cooked meat diet has much less bacteria in it than many commercial dry foods. Commercial pet foods may also contain high levels of mold toxins from grains which are never a danger in a grain-free raw meat diet.

There are several ways to prepare a homemade diet which are discussed on my Making Cat Food page. My cats have been thriving for the past 11 years on a diet that I prepare using either ground whole carcass rabbit (fed raw) from a reputable farm, or whole meats (chicken thighs) from Whole Foods Market that I grind myself after partially baking. I add just a few supplements and water to complete the diet.

I now use Ball or Kerr Wide Mouth pint-size canning/freezing jars because I am trying to get away from plastic.

People are often overwhelmed or intimidated by the idea of making their cat's food but, in reality, it's quite simple - as long as you follow a balanced recipe. I make cat food once every few months and freeze it. Making your own cat food doesn't mean slaving in the kitchen every day--trust me, if it did, I wouldn't be doing it.

A few hours in the kitchen 4-6 times a year is a very small price to pay for having complete control over what goes into your cat's food bowl.

If you are interested in preparing your own cat food I have other articles here that will help. Interestingly, the Making Cat Food page is the second most visited page on my website - second only to the home page. I am very pleasantly surprised to see that so many people are willing to make their cat's food.

One common mistake people make when feeding a home-prepared diet is thinking that a cat can live on meat alone - without bones as a source of calcium. While meat must be the primary component of a feline diet, there is not enough calcium in meat (without the bones) to provide a proper calcium-to-phosphorus ratio.

Always remember that calcium is not an optional 'supplement' but is a very critical component of the diet.

The bones must be ground with the meat (preferable), or bone meal must be added to the recipe. (I am a stickler for using fresh bone - not bone meal.)

Another way to feed a raw meat diet is to purchase ready-to-feed frozen commercial pet diets. Many people feed these diets with great results. Unfortunately, as is also true with canned foods, these products vary a great deal with respect to quality and ingredients.

Many of these products use only poultry backs and necks which have a very high bone:meat ratio and, subsequently, a very high mineral load.

Some products also contain items such as vegetables in a much higher quantity than would be found in a cat's natural diet. Plus, the vegetables in these diets are obviously not predigested as they would be if consumed with the cat's prey.