Making your own ground raw cat food at home gives you the most control over what goes into your cat's food, and is also the most economical method. It takes a little time and some equipment, but it's worth it. Depending on your available freezer space and the number of cats you are preparing food for, you should only have to make food every two to four weeks. Once you do it a few times, you'll realize how easy it is. If you're organized, you can easily make 15 pounds of food in about an hour and a half, including clean-up. Following is an overview of what you'll need to get started, a recipe to follow, average costs and some helpful tips.

 

 

• Grinder. You will need a grinder that can handle bones. I currently use a Waring Pro Professional meat grinder. It can handle chicken thigh bones with no problem, but can't handle drumsticks. It can do turkey wing bones and some of the smaller bones from the frame. I use the grinding disk with approximately 1/8" holes. Other people I know use the Tasin TS108 with great results. You can get the Tasin from the One Stop Jerky Shop, which has great customer service. They won't void the warranty because you're grinding bone as some manufacturers will. Both Tasin and American Eagle make larger (and pricier) models also. You can also use the meat grinding attachment on a Cuisinart mixer. But, it can't handle bones that are very big, meaning you may have to smash them up first, and that's pretty messy. If you don't already have the meat grinding attachment, I would recommend putting your money towards a stand-alone grinder as the attachment is pricey.
• A very sharp knife. Keep your knife sharp! You are more likely to cut yourself with a dull blade than a sharp one.
• Poultry shears.
• Meat cleaver. You may not need this if you are starting with parts, but it's a must if you are working from a whole carcass.
• Set of mixing bowls, preferably stainless steel. You'll need at least three: a small one to mix the eggs and supplements, a medium one to use under the grinder outlet and a large one that's at least 8 quarts, for mixing it all up.
• Plastic or glass freezable containers and labels.
• Ear plugs. Grinders are loud. Or you can use ear buds and listen to music.
• Latex or nitrile gloves.
• Newspaper to cover your work surface. Makes clean up much easier.
• Kitchen scale.
• Large cutting board.
• Freezer space.

 

 

Ideally, you want to get meat that is antibiotic and hormone free, and free-range if possible. Get organic meats if you can, but organic is usually a lot more expensive. Try to get the best quality and the freshest meat you can. Cats may refuse meat if it's not fresh.

 

You definitely want to get liver from a good source since the liver stores toxins. Preferably from a free-range animal, with no hormones or antibiotics used.

 

The recipe calls for chicken hearts, which can be difficult to source. Hare Today sells chicken hearts at a very good price. I have also seen them at a local Korean supermarket, so try checking ethnic food stores in your area or ask your butcher if he can get them for you. Try to use the real organs if at all possible; hearts are the major source for taurine — an absolutely essential amino acid. It's so much better for your cats to get the real animal parts rather than just the supplement substitute!

 

If you have ample freezer space you can also try buying in bulk direct from organic or free-range farms or butchers in your area.

 

Buy free-range eggs, preferably organic, from hens that have not been given antibiotics or hormones.

 

 

This is a term I dislike because it makes it sound like these are optional. They are not. These supplements are required. Skipping supplements or letting your recipe "drift" can have serious health consequences for your cat. There are different recipes that call for slightly different supplements, but they cover the same basic needs of the cat. What these supplements make up for is the fact that we aren't feeding cats the whole prey diet they would get in the wild. People have used recipes such as the one below for years without any deficiencies showing up. It is always a good idea to vary the meats you feed, not only for variety for your cat, but also to cover any unknown gaps in the nutrient profile of a particular meat. There may be an as yet unidentified essential micro-nutrient in one kind of meat and not another.

 

All of these supplements are available from Whole Foods, and most are available at health food stores or online.

 

Basically, this recipe is the one from Anne Jablonski with some changes from Dr. Lisa Pierson. Both of the original recipes are similar, but with a couple of ingredient differences. Here are the supplements you'll need: