DIY cat food recipes

Commercially prepared cat food is readily available at any pet store these days. It's convenient if the owner is at work all day and doesn't even have time to prepare their own food. Dry kibble can also be left in the feeder all day without worrying about spoiling. However, many pet owners prefer to transition their pets from commercially prepared food to a natural diet.

Sometimes the reason is necessity, when commercial food is not recommended for a cat's health. And often, owners switch their pet to homemade food, knowing it's closer to a cat's natural diet than canned food. Besides all this, cooking is a fun activity. It's important to understand your cat's needs, find interesting cat dishes, and try making them.

First of all, you should know what foods and in what quantities should be included in your cat's diet to ensure it's complete and balanced in terms of the nutrients it needs. You should also learn how to prepare homemade cat food: what can be added to the dishes? raw, and what must be subjected to heat treatment.

Composition of the diet for cats

A cat is a carnivorous mammal of the Felidae family. Like all carnivores, it feeds primarily on meat. Meat products should make up to 80% of a cat's daily diet, of which 10% can be by-products. Any meat can be used, but pork should be used in limited quantities, as it is more difficult to digest and contains a lot of fat.

The remaining 20% ​​of a cat's diet should consist of vegetables, grains, potatoes, legumes, greens, and eggs (no more than 2-3 per week). Vegetables suitable for cats include cabbage (Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower), carrots, spinach, celery, pumpkin, and zucchini. Include whatever your cat prefers in the menu. Avoid feeding onions and garlic to cats—these foods are toxic to cats. Homemade food should contain sufficient vitamins and minerals, so it's recommended to add vitamin and mineral pills or tablets recommended by your veterinarian to prepared meals.

It can be difficult for cats to immediately transition from canned food to a natural diet, so it's best to start with wet canned food, which is closer to homemade food in appearance and taste. If you have other pets (such as a dog), you'll need to prepare their own food separately, as their diet is different: cats require much more protein. There are many simple cat food recipes, and your pet is sure to love at least some of them. So, how can you make your own cat food instead of buying commercially prepared food?

Meat dishes

Meat is the main source of protein and fat. Chicken, turkey, and beef are suitable for cats, but it's best not to feed pork to cats too often.

Raw chicken with vegetable pilaf

For the pilaf, you'll need: 1 cup of brown rice, two large carrots, a few stalks of celery, and a cup of green peas or green beans. Pre-steam the rice, then grate the celery and carrots coarsely. Pour 2 cups of boiling water over the rice and vegetable mixture and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Cool the cooked pilaf to room temperature and add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (preferably olive oil). This amount of pilaf is enough for several feedings and can be stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Before serving, add some finely diced raw skinless chicken fillet to the vegetable pilaf.

Chicken with mashed potatoes and egg

Boil 2 diced potatoes and cool to room temperature. Place in a blender, add 1 teaspoon of butter, 100 g of raw chicken, and 1 egg. Blend the ingredients until smooth. This dish is perfect for small kittens and older cats. If you use cooked chicken, you can make this food in advance for a couple of days and store it in the refrigerator.

Meat with broccoli puree

Ingredients:

• raw beef - 100 g;
• broccoli or cauliflower - 50 g;
• vegetable fat - 0.5 tsp;
• Calcium gluconate - 1 tablet.

Cut the beef into small pieces, separate the cabbage into florets, boil and blend, and grind the calcium gluconate tablet into powder. You can use canned baby cabbage for this dish. Mix everything together and drizzle with oil.

Meat pancakes

Grate a small carrot and 100 grams of frozen chicken or beef fillet (you can also use ground beef). Add a calcium gluconate tablet, a handful of finely chopped nettles or lettuce, ¼ cup green peas, and 1 raw egg. Form small pancakes and bake in the oven or microwave—lightly, just enough to hold them together. These pancakes can be stored in the freezer and reheated in the microwave as needed.

Fish dishes

Fish contains minerals, essential amino acids, and is rich in fat-soluble vitamins, and, like meat, serves as a source of protein. Pollock, hake, cod, mackerel, pike, salmon, halibut, and trout are all suitable for preparing cat food. Lean fish is an excellent food option for overweight cats, but due to its low calorie content, it is not recommended for pregnant or nursing cats, or kittens.

Salmon with rice and egg

Remove the skin and bones from 100-150 grams of salmon, cut it, and simmer or steam it. Cook ¼ cup of rice until mushy, hard-boil 1 egg and chop finely. Mix everything together, add a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil, a few finely chopped sprigs of dill or parsley, and a vitamin-mineral supplement or calcium gluconate tablet. This dish can be prepared in advance and stored in containers or bags in the freezer.

A gourmet fish dish

Boil the sea or freshwater fish fillet and cut into small pieces. Cook the rice as you would regular porridge, and grate the raw carrots. Mix all the ingredients, adding the sprouted wheat and olive oil. For one serving you'll need:

• 250 g fish fillet (can be replaced with a can of canned fish in oil);
• 4 tbsp rice;
• 1 small carrot;
• 1 tbsp sprouted wheat;
• 1 tbsp olive oil.

Shrimp salad

Ingredients:

• 0.5 cups of small shrimp or 4-5 large ones;
• 1 medium sized carrot;
• 0.5 hard-boiled egg;
• 1 tsp olive oil.

Boil the shrimp for 10-15 minutes, remove the tail, peel, and chop with a knife. Grate the raw carrots and hard-boiled egg or blend them. Mix everything together and add vegetable oil. Even the pickiest cats will eat this tender and delicious salad with gusto.

Offal dishes

Animal and bird organs are very beneficial for cats. They contain proteins, fats, essential amino acids (including taurine, which is crucial for cats), vitamins, and minerals. If your cat is reluctant to eat liver, heart, or kidneys, these by-products can be included in meat or fish dishes, or their flavor can be masked with grains or vegetables.

Delicate pate made from chicken offal

To prepare a serving of pate you will need:

• 200 g chicken giblets (heart, liver, stomachs);
• 1 tbsp butter;
• 1 carrot;
• a few sprigs of parsley or celery.

Lightly fry the giblets in oil, boil the carrots. Grind everything through a meat grinder and add finely chopped herbs.

Liver with cabbage and oatmeal

This recipe makes 4-5 servings. The pilaf can be divided into bags and frozen; then simply remove the bag from the freezer and reheat the contents.

For the dish you will need:

• 0.5 kg liver (chicken, rabbit or beef);
• 1 cup of oatmeal;
• 0.6 cups of broccoli florets or green peas;
• 2-3 tbsp sunflower or olive oil.

Boil the liver and cabbage and cut into small pieces. Steam the oatmeal in boiling water. Mix everything together, adding vegetable oil.

Stew of offal and vegetables

For 4-5 servings of the dish you need to take:

• 0.5 kg of chicken giblets mixture;
• 1 small carrot;
• half a medium-sized zucchini;
• 1 cup of pearl barley, buckwheat, oatmeal or corn grits;
• 2-3 tbsp. l. olive oil.

Mince the raw offal, grate the vegetables coarsely, and cook the grits. Mix everything together and add the butter. This dish can be prepared in advance and stored in the freezer in plastic bags.

Please also check out our website for more information What kind of cereal can I give to cats?.

Soups

Soups should be an essential part of a cat's natural diet. These carnivores require fiber, which is found in boiled vegetables and grains, and the cooking process releases many beneficial substances from meat or fish into the water. Cats with stomach or intestinal issues and small kittens especially need warm soups.

Meat soup with semolina and yolk

Add 100 g of meat trimmings or chicken, a small washed and peeled carrot, and pour 0.5 liters of water over it. Cook for half an hour. Then, stirring vigorously, add 1-2 tablespoons of semolina, 1 teaspoon of butter, and a raw egg yolk. Cook for another 5 minutes. Before serving, remove the meat from the soup and finely chop it with a knife.

Diet chicken soup with broccoli

Boil chicken (about 100 g) in a glass of water, and steam a few broccoli florets. Puree the ingredients in a blender until smooth, pour in lukewarm broth, and add 1 teaspoon of butter. This dietary meal is eagerly enjoyed by both adult cats and kittens, and is also recommended for picky eaters who tend to eat meat and leave vegetables in their food bowl.

Low-calorie fish soup

Low-calorie meals are recommended for spayed and neutered cats, as well as older cats prone to obesity. To make fish soup, you'll need:

• 0.5 l of water;
• 100-150 g lean fish (hake, pollock, pike);
• small carrot;
• 2 tbsp of any cereal;
• ¼ tbsp sunflower oil (optional).

Fillet the fish and simmer it with the grated carrots and grains for 0.5 hours over low heat. Then remove the fish, remove the backbones, chop, and return it to the broth.

Cream soup with meatballs

Products:

• minced meat (any, except pork) - 100-150g;
• rice - 1-2 tbsp;
• carrot (small piece);
• green beans or green peas - 2 tbsp.

Directions: Cook rice and vegetable soup in 0.5 liters of water. Add small meatballs formed from ground meat 10 minutes before the end of cooking. Remove the meatballs, blend the remaining meat, and then return the meatballs to the soup. There's no need to break them up; your cat will enjoy scooping out whole pieces of meat from the soup.

Homemade croquettes

If you want to pamper your pet who's accustomed to ready-made dry food, you can make your own kibble. They taste just as good as store-bought kibble, but are certainly much healthier and safer, as they contain no preservatives or artificial flavor enhancers. Making these treats is simple: puree the ingredients in a blender, mix them well, spread the resulting mushy mixture into a thin layer on a baking sheet, and bake in the oven at 100°C for about 20 minutes. Then, break the still-soft kibble into small pieces and bake in the oven for another hour. Here are some sample kits for making homemade dry food.

Option 1:

• ground beef - 0.5 kg;
• beef or chicken liver - 0.2 kg;
• boiled rice - 1 cup;
• calcium gluconate - 4 tablets;
• vegetable fat - 1 tbsp.

Option 2:

• beef liver - 0.5 kg;
• oatmeal - 1 cup;
• eggs - 2 pcs.;
• fish oil - 1 tbsp.

Option 3:

• chicken or beef heart - 0.5 kg;
• chicken liver - 0.3 kg;
• boiled carrots - 150 g.
• unsalted crackers - 300 g.

If you feed your cat properly, they'll be healthy, active, and looking great. Whether to feed them homemade meals or ready-made kibble or canned food is up to the pet owner. Organizing a homemade diet requires more time and effort. But cats, like people, appreciate attention and love, and they're often more willing to eat food prepared specifically for them. Fresh food made from nutritious ingredients, even if alternated with store-bought canned cat food, is an excellent addition to your pet's diet.

Delicious homemade croquettes: video recipe

Read also:

• GMOs and organic foods in pet food
• How to feed a cat correctly?
• How to properly transition a cat to dry food?