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“What supplements did you add to the cat food? I’ve been thinking about making my own (for my cats that is).”

Bulk Cat Food Recipe

12/10/2010

Ingredients

34 lbs chicken thighs (skin, bone and all)
7-8 lbs chicken hearts (organic or “natural”)
4-7 lbs chicken livers (organic or “natural”)

84 gms salmon oil (42 x 2 gm capsules) (Pure Alaska Omega from Costco)
16 Spectrum Fish Oil Omega-3 caplets (320mg EPA & 200mg DHA/caplet)
16 x 400 IU Vitamin E (also Jarrow E-400 “dry E” works well)
16 gm Taurine (16 x 1 gm capsules) (Jarrow)
1600 mg Vitamin B complex (4 Jarrow B-Right capsules)
4 TB Lite salt (50/50 sodium/potassium chloride with iodine)
1 cup whole husk Psyllium powder (Organic India Fiber Harmony)
96 capsules Solary Multi Gland Caps For Women (Women more potent than Men caps)

Note that this recipe is based on recipes by Lisa A. Pierson, DVM, “Anne” at catnutrition.org, and tcfeline.com. The amount of trace minerals I used was calculated based on a total weight of 864 ounces for this recipe, and assuming an average cat eats about 5 ounces of this food a day, and that an average cat’s trace mineral needs are 1/20th the needs of a human based on the average weight ratio of the two. As it turns out, these assumptions are completely consistent with the amounts of the other supplements specified in the Pierson source recipes for the other supplements. I’ve doubled the Salmon oil from those recipes, increased the Psyllium husk powder, and also left out the egg as I believe that egg can be an allergen for many cats and it’s not something that they eat that much of in the wild.

High quality brands besides the ones listed above can be used, but do make sure to use an organic bulk Psyllium husk powder free from artificial flavors and sweeteners. Good sources for supplements are https://www.swansonvitamins.com/, http://www.iherb.com/. Be sure to google for coupons before buying anything from anybody, particularly swansonvitamins, and northerntool.

Dry capsules are processed by chopping them up in one of those little “whirlybird” coffee grinders and then separating the capsule contents from the capsule fragments by shaking everything in one of those screen-type kitchen strainers that have a handle. This takes just couple of minutes. I do this because I don’t want
a lot of gelatin capsule material in the cat food.

Oil-type capsules are placed in a small ramekin, covered with water, and then heated in a microwave oven for 30 seconds or so, or long enough to melt the gelatin capsules enough to free the oil and let it float to the top. The ramekin is then placed in the freezer so the water on the bottom freezes and the oil on top solidifies, which makes the hardened oil very easy to scrape off.

I buy my chicken thighs from Costco. The hardest thing is to find a source for the livers and hearts. Poultry wholesalers may be your best bet, and they can usually order 20 pound bags of each, which means you’ll divide each into three portions, and make up three bags of heart/liver mix, freezing two of them and using the third for the current batch of cat food. BTW, this is really more liver than is needed so you can skim a few pounds for your own consumption: organic chicken livers are divine!

I grind the thighs, hearts and livers with a LEM #22 1 HP Model 781 Grinder Kit, using a #22 3mm (1/8”) grinding plate bought separately, since it’s not part of the standard LEM grinder kit. I bought the 781 grinder from the least expensive vendor I could find at the time and the plate from http://www.butcher-baker.com/servlet/the-1892/%2322-x-1-fdsh-8%22-holes/Detail.)

Hearts and liver are fed into the grinder throat using the grinder pan, but the thighs are fed directly down the grinder throat without the pan, because the grinder throat is wider without the pan connected to it. Also, note that the hearts and livers grind much better if partially frozen. It’s also handy to drape a disposable 99¢ drop cloth over the entire grinder, punching a whole in it for the throat and taping the drop cloth around the throat to keep the whole works clean. Also, cheap disposable plastic drop clothes or inexpensive 33-gallon garbage can liners that have been cut open are good to cover the floor and counters to make cleanup easier.

I use a 22 quart stainless stock pot to receive the ground material, setting the grinder up off the floor on whatever is strong and handy and the right height to get the stock pot under the grinder head. After you are done, you’ll find several grinder plate holes clogged with bone, and there will quite a bit of polished bone particles that have piled up behind the grinder plate when you disassemble the grinder head for cleaning. The bone particles can be poked out with a flat-headed toothpick.

After grinding I mix everything (including the oil and dry supplements with a ½ power drill and a nickel-plated Exaco EM120 Drywall Mud Mixer bit from
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CD33CW/ref=pe_175190_21431760_M2C_SC_3p_dp_1. (A stainless mixer bit would be better than nickel-plated but I couldn’t find one for a reasonable price.) Mixing is quite arduous, even with a big power drill, but is very important to make sure everything is mixed up with complete consistency, as well as pulverizing the ground fat. A power drill like that is VERY noisy, so I use ear protection when I mix.

Next, I use a Kitchener 15-Lb. Stainless Steel Sausage Stuffer (northerntool.com had the best deal at the time I bought mine: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200425065_200425065.

I use the stuffer to stuff white unprinted 1 Lb Chub Bags (1000-quantity purchased from http://store.butchersupply.net/white-unprinted-freezer-chub-bag-p2770.aspx because they had the best deal.) It helps to coat the inside walls and piston gasket with a bit of olive oil before loading it the stuffer the first time. Each loaded stuffer will stuff about 7-8 bags, and it will have to filled 4 times for the amount of cat food made by this receipe.

I use a Poly Bag Tape Machine to tie off the bag ends once they are twisted shut. Here’s one place to buy that:
http://www.lemproducts.com/product/poly-bag-tape-machine/meat-bags-tape

It’s also a good idea after cleanup and drying to spray the grinder head parts and the stuffer with a food grade silicone spray like: http://www.lemproducts.com/product/food-grade-silicone-spray/meat-grinder-accessories. Note the stuffer comes completely apart for cleaning, including the pressure relief valve.

Lastly, freeze the completed chub bags.

Regarding subsequent preparation, I first cut and peel off the chub bag, and then I thaw and cook the food in a microwave, adding at least two cups of water during the process. The Physillum husk powder will soak the water right up, and adding lots of water will keep your cats from being dehydrated, and in particular, ample liquid is really good for the feline urinary tracts of male cats.

I don’t believe in “raw” feeding, namely for two reasons. First, raw chicken is always contaminated to one degree or the other with Salmonella, sometimes heavily, and I want to be able to leave the food out overnight on a plate, and there is no way I would do that with uncooked food. Second, studies have shown that humans absorb and utilize cooked protein better than raw protein, so I don’t see why we can’t provide that same benefit to our cats.

After cooling the cooked food, I refrigerate it and then serve small meals on demand during the day and leave ample food out at night so the cats don’t wake us up. One package lasts me about 1.5 days for two cats.

Finally, obviously smaller batches can be made, but you’ll find that the setup and cleanup time to take at least two thirds of the entire process regardless of the size of the batch you make. You’ll also notice that the grinding part itself will take less than 15 minutes.