Baked and Boiled Chicken ??

New to this forum. I'm sure there is an answer to my question somewhere in these posts but there are just so many to search. 

Can I feed my 5 month old cat cooked chicken for every meal? Costco has skinless and boneless leg and thigh meat for 1.89 a pound. He seems to like it better than any of the canned food I feed him. I've been feeding him the Wervua Truluxe line. 

I'm not ready to take the plunge to raw yet, though I do find it interesting and something to consider in the future. But for now is regular baked and boiled chicken better than canned food?

thanks

Jase

No because chicken and other meat with nothing else added is not a complete balanced diet and will not provide the essential vitamins and minerals a cat needs. Limit the chicken and other meats to treats and feed your cat regular cat food (canned or dry).

If you want to feed cooked meat as the main diet, then you need to add in supplements. There''s a list of commerical pre-mixes you can buy and recipies with iindividual supplemlents here: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/264153/home-cooked-cat-food-resources

Just to add to LTS3's good advice...

IMHO, boneless chicken fed properly, with a supplement, is great food, better than most canned foods. I use EZcomplete with various cuts of chicken, pork, and turkey, and our cats love it. I like that it doesn't have any of the thickeners or vegetable additions that are in so many canned foods: ingredients like gums, carrageenan, and potato starch just don't need to be in cat food! EZcomplete can be used with cooked or raw meat so would work for you if you decided to switch to raw.

Thank you for the replies. I figured homemade chicken had to be better than a canned food but it does make sense that its not complete. So I'm trying to figure the easiest way to make him some homemade food

Looks like some Costco skinless and boneless thigh and leg meat is a good base. I'll grab some chicken heart and livers from the local supermarket, saw them the other day in a package together. Then all I need is a supplement, either Alnutrin or EZcomplete should work. That seems like the most basic and easiest complete recipe?  

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByPP2-Qsfkh4ZjhkR1ZWREpxaTA/edit

the pdf link above is from the "my first cooked chicken cat food thread".  Looks very simple and basic. The past 3 days I've been alternating baked chicken with the remaining cans of Wervua I have left. It hysterical,   he jumps into the refrigerator every time I open it since he knows that where the baked chicken comes from. He eats the canned food but usually walk away from it when I put it out and then goes back to it 30 mins latter when he realizes he's not getting baked chicken. I hope he enjoys the Homemade food as much as he likes the plain chicken.

Lastly does anyone have a preference Alnutrin or EZcomplete? And can I do this in a vitamix, I don't have a food processor or grinder. I feel like a Vitamix can do anything especially with the help of the plunger it has. 

Thanks Again

Jase

I just read EZcomplete already has the liver in it. So I should add any more to it. So that kind of removes one step vs the Alnutrin, right? 

Still does anyone have a preference of one vs the other

thanks

jasesun23 said:

 
I just read EZcomplete already has the liver in it. So I should add any more to it. So that kind of removes one step vs the Alnutrin, right? 

Still does anyone have a preference of one vs the other

thanks

Click to expand...

Just quickly for now... if you use EZcomplete, no, you should not add more liver. Heart is fine, though. I've never used Alnutrin so can't compare: I really like the EZc ingredients, though, and our vet does, too. (One of our cats has a minor nausea problem and EZc seems to help a lot, even though I only feed one meal of it a day: the vet thinks it's the pancreas in the supplement.)

As for processing, I shred the meat, that's what our cats like best. I would love to process it because it's faster but they hated the same meat when I made it that way! You can also slice, dice, or chop, whatever your cat prefers.

LisaHE said:

 
Just quickly for now... if you use EZcomplete, no, you should not add more liver. Heart is fine, though. I've never used Alnutrin so can't compare: I really like the EZc ingredients, though, and our vet does, too. (One of our cats has a minor nausea problem and EZc seems to help a lot, even though I only feed one meal of it a day: the vet thinks it's the pancreas in the supplement.)

As for processing, I shred the meat, that's what our cats like best. I would love to process it because it's faster but they hated the same meat when I made it that way! You can also slice, dice, or chop, whatever your cat prefers.

Click to expand...

LisaHE, can you tell me exactly what recipe you use? Did I read that you buy your meats from the grocery story? (there's such conflicting information out there).  I am off to read Dr. Pierson's site again, I read it a long time ago, but need a refresher.  I SO want to start my Kit on this type of diet, but I really get confused with all the information out there.  Buying the "good stuff" is getting too expensive for me; she loves little chunky foods and the Weruva shreds the best, so I am hoping to find a recipe that the result is little chunks or shreds, and it sounds like that is what you do.

Thank you.

BuddyBellaMom said:

 
LisaHE, can you tell me exactly what recipe you use? Did I read that you buy your meats from the grocery story? (there's such conflicting information out there).  I am off to read Dr. Pierson's site again, I read it a long time ago, but need a refresher.  I SO want to start my Kit on this type of diet, but I really get confused with all the information out there.  Buying the "good stuff" is getting too expensive for me; she loves little chunky foods and the Weruva shreds the best, so I am hoping to find a recipe that the result is little chunks or shreds, and it sounds like that is what you do.

Thank you.

Click to expand...

I don't use a recipe, I use the EZcomplete pre-mix supplement with cooked, boneless meat. (Link here) It's not super-cheap but if you shop well for the meat, looking for sales and mixing cuts, the cost is somewhere in the middle. (Pork is almost always a bargain and our cats like it a lot!)

Supermarket meat is fine as long as you buy only whole cuts of meat and chop or grind it yourself. Be sure to read the label as some meats may contain broth and flavorings and other stuff a cat doesn't need. Independent pet stores often sell chubs of meat for pet food use. You can use these as well. Be sure to use the correct type of chub for the pre-mix you are using. Some chubs are  boneless organless meats while others contain bone and organ. EZComplete and other pre-mxes are for boneless organless meats only.

LTS3 said:

 
No because chicken and other meat with nothing else added is not a complete balanced diet and will not provide the essential vitamins and minerals a cat needs. Limit the chicken and other meats to treats and feed your cat regular cat food (canned or dry).

If you want to feed cooked meat as the main diet, then you need to add in supplements. There''s a list of commerical pre-mixes you can buy and recipies with iindividual supplemlents here: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/264153/home-cooked-cat-food-resources

Click to expand...

LTS3:  Good common sense info.  My kitties are a bit fuzzy when it comes to

bits of baked chicken or beef.  Their preference seems to be the dry food.

However, my Maine Coon Tuxedo loves the tuna water from the tuna fish

can.  When he knows he's going to get this treat, he is so lovable kissing 

and affectionate.  Note:  this is not his daily diet, once and awhile, because

I heard tuna fish is not good for male cats.  

LTS3 said:

 
No because chicken and other meat with nothing else added is not a complete balanced diet and will not provide the essential vitamins and minerals a cat needs. Limit the chicken and other meats to treats and feed your cat regular cat food (canned or dry).

If you want to feed cooked meat as the main diet, then you need to add in supplements. There''s a list of commerical pre-mixes you can buy and recipies with iindividual supplemlents here: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/264153/home-cooked-cat-food-resources

Click to expand...

LTS3:  Good common sense info.  My kitties are a bit fuzzy when it comes to

bits of baked chicken or beef.  Their preference seems to be the dry food.

However, my Maine Coon Tuxedo loves the tuna water from the tuna fish

can.  When he knows he's going to get this treat, he is so lovable kissing 

and affectionate.  Note:  this is not his daily diet, once and awhile, because

I heard tuna fish is not good for male cats.  

Well I just ordered some EZ Complete supplement to add to my chicken. Will update this post as soon as the kitten tries it. Thanks for the help in finding this product

Jase

jasesun23 said:

 
Well I just ordered some EZ Complete supplement to add to my chicken. Will update this post as soon as the kitten tries it. Thanks for the help in finding this product

Jase

Click to expand...

I hope your kitten likes it! It's very good stuff!

Its a little too early to tell but it doesn't seem like he likes the smell too much.  If I put some Instant raw next to it he goes for the raw first right away. If I put some baked chicken next to it without the EZ Complete he devours that. He tends to turn his head towards the EZ Complete food. However if I walk away within the next 30 mins he will eat it. So if he's hungry he will eat it but it doesn't seem to be on his top list at the moment. 

For the time being I'm mixing a little baked Chicken/EzComplete mixture in  his remaining Weruva canned food like EZs directions say to do, but even then he sniffs it and walks away. It does have a strong odor that may take some time to get used to. 

But man does he love the raw Instincts rabbit and chicken. I might have to try some raw meat with the EZ Complete in the future, but then again he might shy away from the smell of that as well

jasesun23 said:

 
Its a little too early to tell but it doesn't seem like he likes the smell too much.  If I put some Instant raw next to it he goes for the raw first right away. If I put some baked chicken next to it without the EZ Complete he devours that. He tends to turn his head towards the EZ Complete food. However if I walk away within the next 30 mins he will eat it. So if he's hungry he will eat it but it doesn't seem to be on his top list at the moment. 

For the time being I'm mixing a little baked Chicken/EzComplete mixture in  his remaining Weruva canned food like EZs directions say to do, but even then he sniffs it and walks away. It does have a strong odor that may take some time to get used to. 

But man does he love the raw Instincts rabbit and chicken. I might have to try some raw meat with the EZ Complete in the future, but then again he might shy away from the smell of that as well

Click to expand...

Our cats had a similar reaction the first time I fed EZcomplete to them: they circled it and didn't recognize it as food. They were a bit wary of it for the first several times but quickly got used to it. Either mixing a new food with something else -- which you're already doing -- or sprinkling it with crumbled treats can be a good way to encourage a cat to eat something new.

Lisa do you do raw at all? I know you mentioned above you do cooked different cuts of meat and linked a supplier, but how about raw? 

jasesun23 said:

 
New to this forum. I'm sure there is an answer to my question somewhere in these posts but there are just so many to search. 

Can I feed my 5 month old cat cooked chicken for every meal? Costco has skinless and boneless leg and thigh meat for 1.89 a pound. He seems to like it better than any of the canned food I feed him. I've been feeding him the Wervua Truluxe line. 

I'm not ready to take the plunge to raw yet, though I do find it interesting and something to consider in the future. But for now is regular baked and boiled chicken better than canned food?

thanks

Jase

Click to expand...

Not to comfortable feeding the kitties with anything raw.  Quality dry food 

has all the vitamins needed.  For a treat every once and awhile I'll break 

down and give my Tuxedo the tuna fish water from the canned tuna 

fish that you buy in the supermarket.  For some reason, Tuxedo loves

this water and gets all kinds of affectionate with me.  Read that Tuna

Fish is not good for male felines.  Dry Food does don't stick to the cats

teeth like wet food causing tartar and problems.

I feed my TNR colony of 8 raw ground chicken (Walmart .79/lb) supplemented with kibble mix meow mix and before grain chicken. Fed them this way for 3 years with no apparent ill effects.

Tasin grinder was best investment. Grinds everything including bones....I remove the big nuckle bones. I do 3 ten lb packages at a time....takes about an hour including the cut up. Freeze in Tupperware small containers.

jasesun23 said:

 
Lisa do you do raw at all? I know you mentioned above you do cooked different cuts of meat and linked a supplier, but how about raw? 

Click to expand...

The greatest part of our cats' diet is commercial raw food. But I don't make it myself: I'm most uncomfortable disciplining myself to use the meat while it's still fresh and safe. (I'm not even very good about using up meat for cooked food!) This all works out for the best for lots of reasons, including that the cats love/demand variety and it's easier for my husband to feed the cats commercial raw, stockpiled cooked, and a little canned food each day when I'm traveling for work!