Making Your Own Pet Food
 

I've been getting more and more into making our own, wet dog food for our 3 big dogs. I've been cooking up fresh beef that's on sale, frozen chicken breasts, or thighs along with cooked, fresh eggs and water to make a wet food to go over their kibbles. They like it...a lot! Plus, it is actually cheaper than buying canned dog food.

I have also been considering making our own wet, cat food for our 2 cats. The commercial cat food is getting more expensive than human foods and my cats are getting sick and throwing up all the time when I feed it to them. My friends have told me the same thing is happening to their cats too. What are they putting into this stuff?

Cats are strictly carnivores and have special needs, so I've been researching homemade cat recipes. I've come across a few sites that offer recipes. Here's one that seems like it's doable: https://feline-nutrition.org/nutriti...he-busy-person. I've found a few others as well.

Does anyone here make their own pet food? Tips? Recipes?

I use to make my dog's food but it was a hassle. I use Fresh Pet. Vet said my dog was very healthy for her old age. Said animals could survive on dry or bad can food it but won't keep them healthy. Lots more vet bills for unhealthy pets then the cost of the food good for them. I give my dog raw beef stew meat for treats.

I feed my dogs a raw diet and have for many years. When I started 25 years ago, there were no pre-mix raw foods on the market so I made my own for about 10 years. It really wasn't that hard and with all the problems with pet foods on the market, I would rather do that than risk it.

I buy my raw food now from a local Texas company that processes their own beef. It's a family business and has been very good for me and my dogs.

I totally agree with Onebyone. Quality food is so important for healthy pets just as it is for people. I've found that the extra I pay to give my dogs quality food more than makes up for itself in lower vet bills.

I am feeding a commercial kibble.....but, I generally do mix in something with it. Today as I had nothing else, I opened and put some wet canned dog food in with it. My dog refused to eat it. What I usually mix in with it is a bit of lean roast, chicken breast, or browned lean hamburger and if I have it, a bit of sweet potato (roasted) or cooked carrots, or green beans. He usually gobbles that up and will eat the kibble if it is mixed in. There are some recipes for making your own dog food but you have to be careful of making sure the nutrients are right. I don't give him things like gravy or pan drippings as he is a small dog and the vet cautioned too much fat can cause pancreatitis in small dogs or certain breeds. I have also given him a bit of roasted squash which he also likes. My vet cautioned against the raw meat food as she says she has treated too many cases of food poisonings from feeding a raw diet. strangely, he also likes cooked broccoli which is ok to give dogs per my research. I just think you would need to be really careful with the source of the raw meat to feed raw.

Interesting . . . I've fed raw food for 25 years and have been part of a large online presence that feeds raw. I've never had a problem. I do know that most vets don't know a lot about it and since in vet school their nutrition classes are taught by reps from the dog food companies (no conflict of interest there!), they are well informed about raw feeding. You do have to be more conscientious about refrigerating food, just like you would with human food. It's not for everyone. A lot of people don't want to take the time to be that conscientious and would rather just open a bag and dump the food in. Easy peasy.

We have 2 dogs that are about 90 pounds each. We like to add chicken broth to the kibble, or a can of commercial food (in gravy). My trick is to boil about 3 thighs and use the meat for a human casserole and the broth for the dogs!

I used to make my cat's food, I bought an electric grinder to grind the bones, all the supplements. Buying the meat, chicken and organ meats and a bunch of containers to put the finished product in. I did this for about 8 months, I tracked my expenses and I could have purchased high quality canned cat food for less money. After 8 months I felt like I was a short order cook, I was cooking for myself and husband plus a cat. We also traveled in an RV several weeks during the 8 months, so I had to prepare and freeze cat food ahead of time.

There isn't a dry dog food made that is good for a dog to be the main food source.

When our cat Carmello was alive he became diabetic. We had to give him insulin twice a day. Well, Paul started him on a raw diet and for the last 7 years of his life he didn't need insulin. His blood sugars were consistently normal. He used to check it every day :)
My brother makes his own dog food for his dog but I don't know what he makes. He also makes dog bones (like Milk Bones)

We give out cats Crave. So many others have a lot of fillers in them.

actually, I am more nervous about feeding my dog than I am myself....I know kibble can be bad, I know canned dog foods can be bad, and I know those commercial fresh food tubes can be bad. And I know, if I totally make my own dog food, I could mess up the nutrition of it all....so I think that is why I compromised feeding some of each except the commercial fresh food cuz of all the human food meat recalls these days. I am now buying small bags of kibble as I figure if they mess up a batch, at least I will not be feeding it as long before I get another batch that hopefully isn't messed up. So far, so good, dogs seem to be relatively healthy and have good coats and energy. Sighhh....when I was a kid, it was much more simple. we usually gave the dog leftovers and used a can of dog food when we didn't have any left overs. (I believe it was mainly canned horse meat)