homemade cat food recipe

Among the many simple joys of my life, are my two cats - Daphne & Snax. For several years now I've been giving them extra love by making homemade cat food. It's truly amazing how much healthier they became after I started & how much healthier they are compared to other cats the same age.

So I'm finally posting a cat food recipe. I also highly recommend buying the book Natural Health for Dogs & Cats by Richard H. Pitcairn & Susan Hubble Pitcairn. It recently helped me to put a stop to Daphne's recurring urinary tract infections. I kept bringing her to the vet who kept putting her on antibiotics until I learned that this condition in cats is rarely due to bacteria (unlike w/ humans) but due to crystals that form in their urine. I started giving her vitamin C to acidify her urine as the Pitcairns suggest & it instantly went away & hasn't come back. AWESOME!!!

The recipe to be shared & loved widely:

2 C millet (or 6 C cooked) (Grain substitutes: 4 C rolled oats (+ 8 C water = 8 C cooked) or 2 C bulgur (+ 4 C water = 5 C cooked)
2 eggs
2 lbs (4 C) ground turkey or chicken (or lean chuck, lean heart, lean hamburger, liver, giblets, fish or other lean meats)
4 T Healthy Powder (see below)
2 T bonemeal (or 4000 mg calcium or 2 1/4 t eggshell powder)
2 T vegetable oil or butter (or 1 T each)
10,000 IU vitamin A
100-200 IU vitamin E
1 t fresh vegetable with each meal (optional) - my cats like peas, squash, melons
500 mg taurine supplement (optional)

The book's directions: Bring 6 C of water to a boil. Add the millet, cover & simmer 20-30 minutes or until the water is absorbed. You may need to add a bit more water during cooking. When the millet is soft stir in eggs to let them set a bit from the heat. Then mix in the remaining ingredients. Yield: About 11 C. Immediately freeze whatever cannot be eaten in 2-3 days. Daily ration: small = 1/2 - 2/3 C; medium = 3/4 - 1 C; large = 1 - 1 3/4 C.

My method: I always use rolled oats now because Daphne has a very sensitive digestive system but you are encouraged to try different kinds of grains. So I make the oats, then add the eggs & mix them in. Then I mix in everything but the meat first because it's easier to mix well at this point. Then I mix in the meat. I put it in yogurt containers (or something about that size for 2 smallish cats) & freeze all but one at a time.

Healthy Powder

2 C nutritional (torula) yeast
1 C lecithin granules
1/4 C kelp powder
1/4 C bonemeal (or 9000 mg calcium or 5 t eggshell powder)
1000 mg vitamin C (ground) or 1/4 t sodium ascorbate (optional)

Mix all ingredients together & refrigerate. To make eggshell powder, save & wash eggshells. When you have several, bake them for 10 minutes & crush them with a mortar & pestle (maybe a coffee grinder or something would also work??).

I find most of the supplements at the food co-op. If there is something I can't find, I go to an herb/supplement store.

Here's to happy, healthy kitties!