I made my first batch of raw cat food three years ago.
Since that first batch, I’ve learned so much. I’ve found out make cat food—obviously—but I’ve also picked up on something else. Over the previous few years, step by messy step, I’ve discovered how not to make it!
Every mistake, hurdle, and misunderstanding slowed me down. I needed to make all of those mistakes myself. There wasn’t anyone to warn me about them. But you don’t should undergo the identical struggle.
In this text, I’ll share the largest suggestions I’ve learned about how NOT to make raw cat food. Let’s jump into it.
How to not make raw cat food: a step-by-step guide.
1. Don’t plan ahead. It’s best to attend until you run out before even pondering about making one other batch of food.
That’s right. Don’t keep track of how much cat food you’ve gotten left within the freezer until you’re completely out and left with nothing to satisfy those ever-loudening hungry meows. Even higher for those who don’t keep cans of backup food around and should run to the shop so those kitties don’t starve. Good job.
Once the empty stomachs have been filled and you possibly can hear yourself re-evaluate, don’t schedule any time to make one other batch of food. Hope for the perfect and want upon a star that you simply’ll find time to suit cat food making in in between work and gym-time. I’m sure it would occur.
And do NOT write an inventory of ingredients, whatever you do. Whenever you end up on the food market or butcher shop, you’ll have the opportunity to recollect what goes into the raw cat food recipe, of course. What’s the worst that may occur?
What to do as a substitute:
I’m the primary to confess that I still struggle to find time for cat food preparation. It’s not my favorite thing to do, but let me inform you, it’s so much easier to get it done after I plan ahead and commit to prepping on a certain day. You must work out what works along with your schedule. It could be easier so that you can put aside several hours once a month for a giant cat food making day, or perhaps smaller batches and fewer time fit higher in your schedule. Add a cat food prep day to your planner or Google Calendar so that you won’t forget it!
You’ll be able to even turn Cat Food Making Time into a little bit party—just you, your cat, a little bit music, and raw meat and supplements. It may well actually be a fun method to spend a few hours!
2. Don’t select a transparent recipe. Make sure that it’s as confusing as possible.
You must find essentially the most confusing, information-dense cat food recipe on the market. I like to recommend that the recipe requires plenty of scrolling backwards and forwards, which is all the time fun when your fingers are covered with ground-up chicken.
Don’t print out a duplicate for reference and don’t even bookmark the page you found the recipe on. Finding your favorite recipe must be very inconvenient.
What to do as a substitute:
Once I began making raw cat food, I used a recipe from this super-informative webpage. There was an in depth recipe with modifications and knowledge on why cats needed each of the ingredients. It was great, however the page was also very long and dense. It was tough to sift through, especially while you’re in the midst of making cat food! I like to recommend collecting just a few recipes you trust (simplify them if obligatory) and print them out.
It’s a great idea to laminate your recipe or to place it in a plastic sleeve once it’s printed. This manner you possibly can easily clean off any raw meat that it could be exposed to.
3. Don’t get the correct equipment and make do with whatever you’ve gotten around.
As an alternative of using a correct food scale, pull out the old poorly-calibrated postal scale that you simply’ve got hanging around, and use it as a substitute. Yeah, it’s hard to get measurements right, but do the ratios of muscle meat and organs really matter?
Select small mixing bowls that may’t contain a full batch of cat food. You’ll be able to improve upon that with an undersized cutting board, too. Your chicken will go sliding off onto the counter, but that’s a part of the fun.
What to do as a substitute:
Selecting the correct tools and supplies makes a world of difference. I don’t wish to discourage you from making cat food using the kitchen tools you’ve gotten around. If you happen to’re undecided for those who’re going to make cat food long run, go for it with whatever tools you’ve gotten around. Just bear in mind that it’s much easier with the suitable equipment. An important of those are a food scale, large cutting board, and jumbo mixing bowls. Fortunately, these are all common kitchen supplies!
Along with the tools I discussed above, for those who’re planning on making raw cat food long run, consider investing in a meat grinder that may handle bone. While bone supplements are a good short term substitute, a complement isn’t balanced like an actual bone for long run feeding. Not every meat grinder can handle bone, so make certain you double-check before you purchase.
4. Use inconvenient and messy storage containers.
We wish raw chicken everywhere in the outside of your containers—and what higher method to achieve that than by utilizing plastic baggies? Not only do you get to scoop raw meat smush right into a smeary bag, but you get to scoop it out. Imagine reaching your spoon into the bag, attempting to scoop out the last of the raw chicken. You are trying to avoid touching the chicken-y sides of the bag—oops! Now your hand is roofed in raw cat food.
It must be easy to drip raw cat food onto the surface of the bag, too. At all times a great idea, especially while you’re putting it back within the fridge with the remaining of your food. In spite of everything, don’t raw food naysayers all the time mention how dangerous handling raw meat could be? That is the best way it’s purported to be.
What to do as a substitute:
Plastic baggies store well within the freezer and don’t take up much space. Despite that, I’ve all the time found them to be super wasteful and inconvenient. You’ll be able to’t reuse a chicken-covered plastic bag, and it’s nearly not possible to get all the food out of the underside.
A convenient and space-saving alternative to plastic baggies is 8 oz. stackable plastic deli containers. They’re sturdy, reusable, and straightforward to serve from without making a multitude. Better of all, you possibly can toss them into the dishwasher for sanitizing!
5. If the transition to raw cat food isn’t going as easily as you expected, don’t forget to place yourself down.
In case your cat doesn’t take to raw cat food straight away, it’s your fault. You almost certainly didn’t introduce it slowly enough, or perhaps you made the unsuitable recipe selection.
Embrace the doubt and worry that comes together with the selection to arrange your cat’s meals. It’s quite a lot of responsibility and also you absolutely should fret about your recipe selection and panic that there’s no “complete and balanced for all life stages” label to lean on.
And for those who only have time to complement with raw or determine that you simply don’t wish to feed a raw food regimen in any respect, remind yourself that you simply’ve failed. It’s all in or nothing.
What to do as a substitute:
Don’t expect the raw food transition to go perfectly. Cats who’ve been fed kibble for his or her entire lives sometimes have a look at a bowl of raw food prefer it’s straight out of outer space. “Where’s the…food?”
Feeding raw takes time and patience. Things aren’t all the time going to go the best way you expect. I like feeding my cats raw food—it’s a biologically appropriate selection that I do know they enjoy. I also don’t feed raw food 100% of the time. And that’s okay. You’ll be able to feed your cat raw food a part of the time and canned food the opposite a part of the time. That doesn’t mean you’re a raw feeding failure! You’re just doing what works for you and your cat. Even for those who realize raw feeding isn’t for you, don’t feel bad. A raw food regimen is way from the one nutritious selection
So long as you’re dedicated to feeding your cat a nutritious, meat-based food regimen, you’re on the correct track.
Also Read: 8 Ethical & Eco-Friendly Cat Foods
Making raw cat food is simple with a little bit preparation and patience.
The reality is that making raw cat food is so much less intimidating than it looks at first. With a little bit little bit of prep work and the correct supplies, mixing up your first batch of raw cat food must be a stress-free and fun experience. Just make certain you learn from my mistakes!
Creator Bio:
Eileen Crusta is the co-founder of Wildernesscat and is devoted to helping cats live pleased, healthy, and adventurous lives at their humans’ sides. Visit Wildernesscat for home remedies, radically natural cat nutrition, nature-fueled lifestyle inspiration, and product reviews.
For a full guide to creating raw cat food including a free PDF recipe, take a look at Wildernesscat’s Tips on how to Make Raw Cat Food: 11 Hacks to Make it Easy.
