Greetings everyone!
I have some questions and concerns with regard to my cat's and kitten's current diet. When Felix was a kitten, I took him to the vet for basic treatment and because I was worried about general kitten things. Long story short, my veterinarian told me that I should only feed dry food and occasionally, wet food. But a few months ago, I was told that I should be feeding my cats mainly wet food. I was shocked and ashamed because I feel as though I have deprived Felix of a better diet and I fear I have put him at risk of health problems (even though he is only 5 years and 9 months old).
Smokey gets more chicken than Felix does because since the vet told me to only feed him dry food, that's all he has gotten as a kitten and that's all he knows. And Smokey has been getting lots of wet food as a kitten (from what her previous owner told me) so she's familiar with it. Her teeth are healthier, she has less plague and her teeth are much more whiter than Felix's teeth.
So for the past few days, I have been doing endless research on how to make your own cat food because I calculated the cost of buying a good quality wet food and I figured it would be better to make my own. The ingredients, from what I can see, are also pretty basic so it's easy for me to make it myself. Yesterday, I bought chicken heart, liver, and gizzards. I also bought some chicken breast. I cooked it up for 30 - 40 minutes (yes, I know heat destroys nutrients) and then I grinded it up in a food processor. I added a few blueberries (no more than 6), a bit of carrot and peas. But the mixture is mostly meat. I added water and the natural chicken broth from the cooking process and waited for it to cool down. I fed it to Smokey and Hendrik; they both ate it of course and cried for more which they've NEVER done for food before. This was shocking! But unfortunately, Felix would not touch it. I had no choice but to give him dry food again for dinner which I now feel terrible doing since I know it's not the best thing for him. On top of that, I'll be ordering a bottle of taurine today to add to the mixture because all that cooking most likely destroyed almost all of it. It only costed about $9.44 or so which I am very happy about. I also thought about adding bones but my grinder stopped working so I didn't add any.
Okay, so my questions are:
1. How do I get Felix to eat wet food after being on dry food for all these years?
2. Should I be adding more supplements to their homemade food?
3. Am I doing the right thing by making my own food or should I just buy canned food?
4. How can I add more calcium so that Hendrik gets enough?
5. Should I look into buying antibiotic and hormone free meat? (I couldn't find any organs as such)
Thank you!
I have some questions and concerns with regard to my cat's and kitten's current diet. When Felix was a kitten, I took him to the vet for basic treatment and because I was worried about general kitten things. Long story short, my veterinarian told me that I should only feed dry food and occasionally, wet food. But a few months ago, I was told that I should be feeding my cats mainly wet food. I was shocked and ashamed because I feel as though I have deprived Felix of a better diet and I fear I have put him at risk of health problems (even though he is only 5 years and 9 months old).
Smokey gets more chicken than Felix does because since the vet told me to only feed him dry food, that's all he has gotten as a kitten and that's all he knows. And Smokey has been getting lots of wet food as a kitten (from what her previous owner told me) so she's familiar with it. Her teeth are healthier, she has less plague and her teeth are much more whiter than Felix's teeth.
So for the past few days, I have been doing endless research on how to make your own cat food because I calculated the cost of buying a good quality wet food and I figured it would be better to make my own. The ingredients, from what I can see, are also pretty basic so it's easy for me to make it myself. Yesterday, I bought chicken heart, liver, and gizzards. I also bought some chicken breast. I cooked it up for 30 - 40 minutes (yes, I know heat destroys nutrients) and then I grinded it up in a food processor. I added a few blueberries (no more than 6), a bit of carrot and peas. But the mixture is mostly meat. I added water and the natural chicken broth from the cooking process and waited for it to cool down. I fed it to Smokey and Hendrik; they both ate it of course and cried for more which they've NEVER done for food before. This was shocking! But unfortunately, Felix would not touch it. I had no choice but to give him dry food again for dinner which I now feel terrible doing since I know it's not the best thing for him. On top of that, I'll be ordering a bottle of taurine today to add to the mixture because all that cooking most likely destroyed almost all of it. It only costed about $9.44 or so which I am very happy about. I also thought about adding bones but my grinder stopped working so I didn't add any.
Okay, so my questions are:
1. How do I get Felix to eat wet food after being on dry food for all these years?
2. Should I be adding more supplements to their homemade food?
3. Am I doing the right thing by making my own food or should I just buy canned food?
4. How can I add more calcium so that Hendrik gets enough?
5. Should I look into buying antibiotic and hormone free meat? (I couldn't find any organs as such)
Thank you!
