Mixing Cat food with real food

15 years ago

I picked up a pack of Whiskas pouch food with 3 varieties but its chunks in, what looks like, oil. I've been trying to get Dustin to eat canned food but he'll usually lick the juices up and sometimes goes back and eats a bit of the meaty stuff. I've already noticed his coat feels silkier so I'm going to keep trying until I find food that he will eat. The first type I tried was grilled chicken/beef/salmon (was a mix pack) and he'd lick the juices but not eat the meat initially then he'd eat some of it. I don't want to waste this food so I'm thinking maybe I can make it more appetizing.

Mom just made a turkey and sent me home with leftovers so I thought maybe I could take a couple of the turkey flavoured pouches and mix some real turkey in with some of the cooked juice from the turkey and maybe I could mince the meat finer and cook it for a bit on the stove to get the flavours to mix and be tastier. Is this a bad idea?

I've also thought about mincing and cooking the other flavours by themselves. If I break the chuncks into smaller pieces its still bits of meat in, what looks like, oil. If I cooked it together for a bit I thought the juices and meat might mingle and the whole thing would be more appealing. Then I'd put it in tupperware and give it to Dustin when its not hot.

I don't want to start cooking from scratch but I thought there might be ways to make something taste better for him. I have to be careful with my money and can't afford to throw this out IF I can help it. If he won't eat it I'm happy if he licks the juices up but sometimes he won't do that. I think I'll probably go shopping alone so I can look over the variety and grab a tin of different brands and flavours and then keep a record of what he eats and how much of it. Any suggestions? I have visited http://www.catinfo.org/commercialcannedfoods.htm and read up a bit but bringing Dustin home took a bite out of my budget so I am looking to balance quality with what I can afford. And without a car I don't want to make trips to out of the way pet stores unless I'm grabbing a selection and probably would grab 2 weeks or a months supply at the time, once we settle on something he and I both like.

Here is a link that might be useful: QUALITY COMMERCIAL FOODS

Comments (4)

friedajune
15 years ago
I am not really answering your subject question (sorry), but regarding buying pet food on a budget, I have found that buying in bulk online to be a tremendous money saver. Often websites will offer free shipping if you purchase over a certain dollar amount (usually $50 or $60), and the internet prices are lower than at stores, and you won't pay sales tax. I feed my cats both canned and dry food. I buy 2 cases of canned food (24 cans/case) and 3 4-lb. bags at a time. Although for dry food, I don't like to buy the bigger bags than 4 lbs., cause they'll get stale before they are finished. I am then set for months. While you may feel $50 or $60 is a lot, do the math on what a similar amount would cost at a brick-and-mortar store, and you'll see the savings. Since you will then be set for months, it's a time saver. Another advantage is that it would be shipped to your door, and since you don't have a car, that would make life easier for you.

Foods like the the pouched Whiskas you mention are very expensive. You are paying for all that packaging, and there's an awful lot of dressing and filler, but not much meat. Your cat will need to eat more of it to meet nutritional needs. If you're on a budget, that is a poor choice.

As to giving cats people food, I feel that any meat or fresh fish is great. Cats are carnivores, and should be eating meat. My vet feels that the astounding increase in cat diabetes in the last 30 years (diabetes was very rare in cats before that) is due to the large percentage of carbs in packaged cat food, and carbs is an unnatural diet for cats.

I have a 16-year-old cat in great health, and my other cat lived to 17; they both had fresh meat added to their food their whole lives, so I can attest that it seems to be good for them. So, e.g. whenever I am making hamburger, chicken, or as you say, extra turkey, I give some to my cats. I just put it on a little plate, and they gobble it down; it's heaven for them. If your cat is unfamiliar with fresh cooked meat, it make take a few tries, and some wasted food, for him to enjoy it. Eventually, he'll "get it". If the meat is still warm, it'll be very much more attractive to him.
lilod
15 years ago
My cats eat mainly dry - but they get some canned each day. Like Dustin, they would lick the juices and then pack the rest down in the dish and walk away. Now I mix the canned food with water to make sort of a soup and they eat every bite (or slurp?) Four cats get 1/3 of a can twice a day and have free access to dry - measured out - once it's gone, it's gone until the next meal.
Two of them just had a check-up and the vet marveled at their great coat and good health, sp I guess I am doing something right.
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jodik_gw
15 years ago
My comments aren't going to be direct answers to your questions, but I'd like to stress a couple of things as they relate to pet feeds in general...

I don't have cats... I have dogs. Even so, it's extremely important to me that their nutritional needs are met. Most commercial feeds do NOT adequately meet those needs.

Commercial pet feeds are not purchased by your pets, but by you! Therefore, the industry aims its advertising and packaging and literature at YOU! They aim the flavors and colors and smells of the feed at YOU! Keep that in mind.

If your cat or dog were to buy its own feed, it would walk right past the pet section of the grocery store, and head directly for the meat counter! Cats and dogs are carnivores! No vegetarian diet is healthy for them!

Fillers, preservatives, dyes, and the quality of the other ingredients in the average commercial pet food are not healthy or very nutritional, and are way below the standard at which I want my pets to eat!

Do a little bit of digging on the actual manufacture of pet feeds, and you'll find some very disturbing information!

I make my dogs food from scratch... however, not everyone can do that. What you can do, though, is research what a healthy feline diet consists of, and feed accordingly and to the best of your ability.

Personally, I'd never feed a commercially packaged food to my pets ever again...
sweetchastity
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the input.

akchicago - I think ordering online would be a great solution to set us up for a few months, thanks for suggesting it!

lilod - Thanks for suggesting making the food more like a soup. I think he'll go for that and the meat won't dry out. He eats his dry as well and his coat is improving, getting softer and silkier. I pet the neighbouring cat today and he's like silk. I know she feeds her cats very well. Maybe I can talk to her a bit about where she gets her food.

jodik - My mom used to cook up a batch of rice and mix it in with roast beef and chicken and whatever other meats she had on hand to cook up for the dogs and just put the roasting bowl on the floor in front of them and let them go at it. She enjoyed cooking for the dogs more than my dad because they never complained, lol.

Someone here posted the link I linked above and I've read a bit about feline nutrition and plan to continue to read and investigate food until I find a brand Dustin likes and I can easily get that is nutritional and not bankrupting.

I bought a bag of food when I got him from the pet store and asked for the one they were currently feeding him so he'd have some familiar food he'd eat. I don't want to change his whole diet too suddenly so thought I'd stick with familiar dry food until we got a canned choice made and then try different dry food until we get a diet both of us are happy with.

When I was kitty-sitting the neighbour's cats she went into a lot of information regarding fillers and cat food. Her pantry was a virtual smorgasbord and by how healthy her cats look and feel I can tell she knows what she's doing. I'll see if she isn't busy one night maybe we can discuss the subject again, since at the time I wasn't planning on getting my own cat.

I will definitely do more research and look at some home cooked meals. I couldn't do it everyday but I think maybe on the weekends I can make the time to prepare a healthy home cooked meal for my pet.

Thank you all for taking the time to respond!

Mixing Cat food with real food

Comments (4)

friedajune

lilod

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Mixing Cat food with real food

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friedajune

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