Humans continue to make a name for themselves

[dave from knoxville]

Other, smaller cats

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

bite me.

Zing!

[Sarah]

I follow this recipe:

4.4 pounds raw muscle meat with bones (chicken thighs and drumsticks or, better, a whole carcass of rabbit or chicken amounting to 2 kg; if you don't use a whole carcass, opt for dark meat like thighs and drumsticks from chicken or turkey)

14 oz raw heart, ideally from the same animal (if no heart is available, substitute with 4000 mg Taurine)

7 oz raw liver, ideally from the same animal (if you can't find appropriate liver, you can substitute 40,000 IU of Vitamin A and 1600 IU of Vitamin D--but try to use real liver rather than substitutes)
NOTE: If you cannot find the heart or liver and decide to substitute with the Taurine/Vitamin A and D, then remember to REPLACE the missing amount of organ meat with the equivalent amount of muscle meat. In other words, if you cannot find heart, you add another 400 grams of the meat/bones. If you can’t find the liver, add another 200 grams of meat/bone.

16 oz [2 cups] water

4 raw egg yolks (use eggs from free-range, antibiotic-free chickens if you can)

4 capsules raw glandular supplement, such as, for example, multigland supplement by Immoplex)

4000 mg salmon oil (see note at bottom of recipe*)

800 IU Vitamin E (“dry E” works well)

200 mg Vitamin B complex

1/4 tsp. kelp and 1/4 tsp of dulse (1/2 tsp total)
4 tsp. psyllium husk powder (8 tsp. if using whole psyllium husks; see note at bottom of recipe**)

NOTE: If you will not be using the food immediately and freezing for more than a week or two, toss in 4000 mg of additional Taurine to make up for what may get lost during storage. It is also not a bad idea to sprinkle extra Taurine from a capsule on the food as you're serving it two or three times a week, just to be certain your cat is getting plenty of this critical amino acid.

1.  Remove the skin from the muscle meat. Chunk up (i.e., cut) as much of the muscle meat (minus most of the skin if using chicken or turkey, but leave skin on if using rabbit) as you can stand into bite-sized (nickel-sized, approximately) pieces. Save the chunked meat for later. Do not grind it. 

2. Grind up the raw liver, any skin, raw meaty bones, and raw heart. Once ground, stir this meat/bone mixture well and return to refrigerator.

3.  Fill a bowl with 2 cups of water and whisk everything (non-meat) except the psyllium. If you had to replace liver with Vitamin A/D or replace heart with Taurine, add the substitutes now. Add psyllium at the end--if you're using it-- and mix well. Finally, put the three mixtures together--the "supplement slurry" that you have just mixed, the ground up meat/bone/organs, and the chunks of meat that you cut up by hand. Portion into containers and freeze. Don't overfill the containers. The food expands when frozen and you don't want lids popping off. Thaw as you go. The food shouldn't be left thawed in the refrigerator more than 48 hours before serving. To serve, portion into a 'zipper baggie' and warm under hot water in the sink. NEVER microwave the food. Cats like their food at something approximating "mouse body temperature" [except mine are fine eat it cold].

*Every two or three days, I suggest sprinkling a few drops of fresh salmon oil from a newly-opened capsule on to the cats' food. The Essential Fatty Acids in salmon oil are extremely fragile, and since we do not know exactly how much gets lost during freezing, I think it's wise to use a bit of fresh salmon oil directly on the food a few times a week. Most cats love the flavor.

**Not all cats require additional fiber (psyllium) in their diet. If your cat has been eating low-quality commercial food for several years, especially dry food, she may have lost bowel elasticity and may benefit from the extra fiber. As a general rule, I recommend using psyllium when an adult cat first gets raw food. I rarely add much psyllium to my adult cats' diet. Bear in mind that some cats seem to get constipated without additional fiber, whereas other cats seem to get constipated if they get too much fiber. Each cat is unique, and you'll have to judge what works best for your cat.

It takes me about two hours to make a batch of this cat food, and one batch last two weeks.  Each cat gets 1/3 cup a day, in two meals (my cats weigh 7-8 pounds).  Both are thriving.

[dave from knoxville]

I don't think I have seen other, smaller cats that would yield this much meat.

[Beth]

I follow this recipe:

4.4 pounds raw muscle meat with bones (chicken thighs and drumsticks or, better, a whole carcass of rabbit or chicken amounting to 2 kg; if you don't use a whole carcass, opt for dark meat like thighs and drumsticks from chicken or turkey)

14 oz raw heart, ideally from the same animal (if no heart is available, substitute with 4000 mg Taurine)

7 oz raw liver, ideally from the same animal (if you can't find appropriate liver, you can substitute 40,000 IU of Vitamin A and 1600 IU of Vitamin D--but try to use real liver rather than substitutes)
NOTE: If you cannot find the heart or liver and decide to substitute with the Taurine/Vitamin A and D, then remember to REPLACE the missing amount of organ meat with the equivalent amount of muscle meat. In other words, if you cannot find heart, you add another 400 grams of the meat/bones. If you can’t find the liver, add another 200 grams of meat/bone.

16 oz [2 cups] water

4 raw egg yolks (use eggs from free-range, antibiotic-free chickens if you can)

4 capsules raw glandular supplement, such as, for example, multigland supplement by Immoplex)

4000 mg salmon oil (see note at bottom of recipe*)

800 IU Vitamin E (“dry E” works well)

200 mg Vitamin B complex

1/4 tsp. kelp and 1/4 tsp of dulse (1/2 tsp total)
4 tsp. psyllium husk powder (8 tsp. if using whole psyllium husks; see note at bottom of recipe**)

NOTE: If you will not be using the food immediately and freezing for more than a week or two, toss in 4000 mg of additional Taurine to make up for what may get lost during storage. It is also not a bad idea to sprinkle extra Taurine from a capsule on the food as you're serving it two or three times a week, just to be certain your cat is getting plenty of this critical amino acid.

1.  Remove the skin from the muscle meat. Chunk up (i.e., cut) as much of the muscle meat (minus most of the skin if using chicken or turkey, but leave skin on if using rabbit) as you can stand into bite-sized (nickel-sized, approximately) pieces. Save the chunked meat for later. Do not grind it. 

2. Grind up the raw liver, any skin, raw meaty bones, and raw heart. Once ground, stir this meat/bone mixture well and return to refrigerator.

3.  Fill a bowl with 2 cups of water and whisk everything (non-meat) except the psyllium. If you had to replace liver with Vitamin A/D or replace heart with Taurine, add the substitutes now. Add psyllium at the end--if you're using it-- and mix well. Finally, put the three mixtures together--the "supplement slurry" that you have just mixed, the ground up meat/bone/organs, and the chunks of meat that you cut up by hand. Portion into containers and freeze. Don't overfill the containers. The food expands when frozen and you don't want lids popping off. Thaw as you go. The food shouldn't be left thawed in the refrigerator more than 48 hours before serving. To serve, portion into a 'zipper baggie' and warm under hot water in the sink. NEVER microwave the food. Cats like their food at something approximating "mouse body temperature" [except mine are fine eat it cold].

*Every two or three days, I suggest sprinkling a few drops of fresh salmon oil from a newly-opened capsule on to the cats' food. The Essential Fatty Acids in salmon oil are extremely fragile, and since we do not know exactly how much gets lost during freezing, I think it's wise to use a bit of fresh salmon oil directly on the food a few times a week. Most cats love the flavor.

**Not all cats require additional fiber (psyllium) in their diet. If your cat has been eating low-quality commercial food for several years, especially dry food, she may have lost bowel elasticity and may benefit from the extra fiber. As a general rule, I recommend using psyllium when an adult cat first gets raw food. I rarely add much psyllium to my adult cats' diet. Bear in mind that some cats seem to get constipated without additional fiber, whereas other cats seem to get constipated if they get too much fiber. Each cat is unique, and you'll have to judge what works best for your cat.

It takes me about two hours to make a batch of this cat food, and one batch last two weeks.  Each cat gets 1/3 cup a day, in two meals (my cats weigh 7-8 pounds).  Both are thriving.

Wow, thanks Sarah that's awesome. I've never worked with raw meat before, but we'll see how this goes. I'm not that squeamish. I'm curious, how much will this run me? Also, do you get your meat from the grocery store, or do you go to other sources (I'm in farm country, so I have access to other sources).

[Sarah]

I've never bothered to figure out how much a batch costs me, to tell the truth.  For the moment, I'm using chicken from the grocery store (though that may change, as I said earlier); I generally get it for 79 cents a pound.  Since you have more sources, you'll probably be able to find a better price.  I get chicken livers and hearts from the local organic farmer for $3 (expensive, but I can't see feeding my cats battery chickens' livers) and $1 a pound, respectively (again, I bet you'll find a cheaper source).  For now, I'm getting my eggs from the grocery store, but soon enough a guy up the road will be supplying me with free-range eggs for $1.50/dozen (considerably less than the grocery store price).  The supplements cost a fair bit, of course, but a bottle goes a long way (the bottle of vitamin E I have, for example, would supply enough for fifty batches--or almost two years of food); plus I'm thinking of leaving out the glandular supplement once the current supply runs out.  I'd bet one batch--enough food to feed two cats twice a day for two weeks--costs me $6.

I've used both a manual and an electric grinder to grind the bones, and so far the manual one is the easier.  It takes some force but is more thorough, and cleanup is easier.

[erika]

Veggie Recipe of the Day: Easy Quiche Type Thing

Bag of shredded potatoes (frozen Hash Browns)
Eggs (6 or 7?)
Milk (optional - 1/4 cup)
1 cup of cheese (strong-flavored cheese is best)
Chopped Frozen Spinach - defrosted with the water squeezed out, or whatever other kinds of semi-cooked veggies you want to add.
Oregano, salt and pepper.

Defrost about 2 cups of the potatoes and squeeze all the water out. Smoosh into the bottom of a greased pie pan or small glass baking dish. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or so. Put the spinach or other veggies and cheese in the crust. Pour mixture of eggs, milk and spices over it. Bake for about 45 minutes or til it's done.

This is super cheap and easy. You can then make potato pancakes with the leftover potatoes. (Mix with onion, tablespoon of flour and 1 egg and fry them up)

I made this one with spinach, feta and plum tomato. Carmelized (grilled) onion with cheddar and chives is also good.

[Andy]

You can then make potato pancakes with the leftover potatoes. (Mix with onion, tablespoon of flour and 1 egg and fry them up)

I call them latkes.

[f. crib]

Wow Sarah that’s awesome how much you care for your pet’s wellbeing.  I’ve been giving my dog this http://www.thewholedog.org/canineTF.html and she acts like how she used to when she was young.

Has anyone tried a raw food diet before?  I’m on it now, it’s hard, I never feel full.  I keep craving grains.  It’s the healthiest I ever felt in my life, but the time it takes to prepare decent meals is exhausting. 

[Sarah]

Yeah, both my dogs are way livelier since I changed their diet (each gets one raw chicken leg/thigh quarter in the morning, and for supper a mixture of about a half pound of raw meat--usually beef or pork, 'cause my options are limited--a couple of dollops of ground vegetables, three or so tablespoons of egg, a bit of oil--fish and olive--and supplements).  I wish I fed myself as well as I feed my beasts. 

I'm impressed that you're on a raw diet.  It must indeed be very hard.  Christ, for the first time in my life I'm actually thinking about the possibility of giving up meat and eventually going vegan, but the thought of no more dairy especially gives me pause.  Giving up grains on top of everything else would push me over the edge.

[Oogie]

The abuse makes the meat more tender.

Which reminds me of my favorite food, Stomped Veal Brachiolle.

Or this.

[Sarah]

Why should anyone be surprised by this? 

Eating aborted fetuses strikes me as more moral than much other meat eating (bear in mind, please, that I'm a meat eater myself).  I do question whether even unborn baby meat is healthy--humans are such filthy animals--but that's another problem. 

[Oogie]

Everything is permitted, nothing is nutritious.

[f. crib]

Yeah, both my dogs are way livelier since I changed their diet (each gets one raw chicken leg/thigh quarter in the morning, and for supper a mixture of about a half pound of raw meat--usually beef or pork, 'cause my options are limited--a couple of dollops of ground vegetables, three or so tablespoons of egg, a bit of oil--fish and olive--and supplements).  I wish I fed myself as well as I feed my beasts. 

I'm impressed that you're on a raw diet.  It must indeed be very hard.  Christ, for the first time in my life I'm actually thinking about the possibility of giving up meat and eventually going vegan, but the thought of no more dairy especially gives me pause.  Giving up grains on top of everything else would push me over the edge.

 


I don’t think ill ever be able to go completely raw, it’s too difficult to make three filling meals a day. But I do agree with the raw foodist stance that human and other animals bodies were never meant to consume cooked foods.

[Sarah]

I agree completely, f. crib.  But I also think we're all doomed, so nothing really matters, and that balances things out for me.

Re eating raw, it has always seemed to me that grazing all day long (in addition to actual meals) would be the way to go.  A pocket ever full of seeds, nuts, and fruit (are you allowed to eat dried fruit?  It's not cooked, after all, and indeed can wizen naturally on the vine/branch) into which one could dip at will would help, I would think.