Does anyone here make their own cat food?

I've been doing a lot of research lately about making Madden and Pooch home-made food instead of store bought. The more I read about what is in store-bought food (even the better brands) the sicker and angrier I get. I'm still collecting information before I talk to my vet about it and I wondered if any of you feed a home-made diet. If so could you provide recipiets or links for me to check out? Also, if you do, is the diet cleared through your vet? Thanks so much for the info!

Pat gave a great homemade link... I do some homemade and yes I clear it thru my vet...

Unless your Vet is a holistic vet, there really isn't any point in consulting them about diet. They are blissfully inept at advising about nutritional needs of our animals.
My finding is that most vets concentrate on fixing illnesses in our pets. That's good...don't get me wrong....we want them to do that! However, most of them don't really have a good grasp on what is right and wrong to feed.
I can recommend that you buy a book written by Dr. Richard Pitcairn, called: The complete guide to natural health for dogs & cats.
It's a very good book with all sorts of info about making your own food.

I am heading fast towards doing a homecooked diet. I will be buying this book Home Prepared Diets for Dog and Cats - the Healthy Alternative by Dr. Strombeck

Fortunately not all vets are inept re diet, and yes, I would run this by your vet. If you ever wish to go opposite of your vet, either find the articles to share with them and still discuss it, or find a new vet...imho.

I'm not into feeding raw, but an awesome overall site on cat nutrition and the state of most commercial foods is www.catinfo.org

Thanks for all the info! As much as I wish he was, he's not a holistic vet. I can't seem to find one anywhere near where I am unfortunately. I plan on calling several in the area though and getting plenty of different opinions. I kinda figured that they wouldn't know a whole lot about it. My husband says they want us to feed commercial because they get more business that way. If pets eat bad food they get sick, they get sick we take them to the vet. It makes sense to me.

Originally Posted by maddensmom

My husband says they want us to feed commercial because they get more business that way. If pets eat bad food they get sick, they get sick we take them to the vet. It makes sense to me.

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I don't know if its as conspiracy theory as all that....but some vets can tend to push certain foods because of deals and kick-back they recieve from companies......

I am fortunate enough to have a vet who is very educated in cat food, and is open minded to different feeding methods...(i.e. raw, holistic, kibble...ect)......

You just need to find the right vet....Most of them are not money grubbers and do care about your pets.......

Originally Posted by maddensmom

If pets eat bad food they get sick, they get sick we take them to the vet. It makes sense to me.

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That only makes sense to me if all vets are non-pet lovers who are just out to make money. Many are far from that, carrying huge debt, working long hours, in the profession for all the right reasons - a deep, abiding love for pets and wanting to help their owners keep them healthy and in their lives for a very long time.

But I am less cynical than many about this

I didn't mean for it to sound harsh, I don't believe that all vets are that way. The vet that we use is GREAT and has never came across as a 'money grubber' but a couple I have used in the past have. One vet inparticular would perscribe things that your pet didn't actually need just to make more money off of you. Thats all I was refering too.

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

I am heading fast towards doing a homecooked diet. I will be buying this book Home Prepared Diets for Dog and Cats - the Healthy Alternative by Dr. Strombeck

Fortunately not all vets are inept re diet, and yes, I would run this by your vet. If you ever wish to go opposite of your vet, either find the articles to share with them and still discuss it, or find a new vet...imho.

I'm not into feeding raw, but an awesome overall site on cat nutrition and the state of most commercial foods is www.catinfo.org

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Hiya and thanks for the link. I was aware that there were issues with commercial pet foods, but not how glaringly serious or widespread they were.

Seems I have more reading to do.

Originally Posted by maddensmom

I didn't mean for it to sound harsh, I don't believe that all vets are that way. The vet that we use is GREAT and has never came across as a 'money grubber' but a couple I have used in the past have. One vet inparticular would perscribe things that your pet didn't actually need just to make more money off of you. Thats all I was refering too.

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Gotcha...I've met a few prizes in my time (and don't get me started on some of the surgeons I worked with when still working as an RN...shudder).

Originally Posted by maddensmom

I didn't mean for it to sound harsh, I don't believe that all vets are that way. The vet that we use is GREAT and has never came across as a 'money grubber' but a couple I have used in the past have. One vet inparticular would perscribe things that your pet didn't actually need just to make more money off of you. Thats all I was refering too.

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Yeah the vet we had before this new one was a real jerk....Doofus came in with a cough, and he told us how fat he was getting....(He is not fat at all)...and tried to throw weight management food on us.........

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

That only makes sense to me if all vets are non-pet lovers who are just out to make money. Many are far from that, carrying huge debt, working long hours, in the profession for all the right reasons - a deep, abiding love for pets and wanting to help their owners keep them healthy and in their lives for a very long time.

But I am less cynical than many about this

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Unfortunatly, alot of vets are all about the money. As some know my cat was sick, I was short on funds, not one vet within my city or local cities were willing to work out a payment plan!! and I called them all, almost 30 different vets. After alot of persistance I found one And he was awesome too!! He took great care of Buddy. Its very sad that many vets put their wallet first.