Dr.
Michael Fox's Homemade 'Natural'
Diet for Cats
1 whole
chicken cut in pieces
or 1 lb ground beef (not too lean), or ground lamb, or turkey.
1 cup
c hopped
chicken hearts and gizzards.
1/2 cup of peas, chick peas or lentils
Pinch of salt
1 T. fish oil *
2 T
butter
2 T unflavored gelatin
1 egg,
whole
1 T. cider vinegar
1 T. chopped canned clams in juice
1 t. nutritional yeast*
1 t. dried kelp*
1T. calcium lactate/citrate/ or
carbonate supplement, or oyster shell, or 3 Tums tablets.
Combine all above ingredients. Add water to cover all ingredients, simmer and
stir, and add more water as needed until cooked and thickened. Stew should be
thickened enough to be molded
into medium-sized or muffin-size patties (add a little oat meal, bran, or
mashed potato to thicken if needed). Also add an egg or cup of cottage cheese.
Immediately after cooking and cooling, de-bone and discard bones (cats should
not be given cooked bones to eat since they can splinter and cause internal
damage). This stew can be served as: 1/2 cup full for a cat with the rest of
his/her rations. Freeze the rest of the stew as patties, or in muffin trays,
and thaw out as needed. Serve one patty to a cat about three times per week
with regular rations.
For variation, substitute 1 pound
lightly cooked and mixed equal parts of ground or chopped pieces of calf heart,
kidney and liver. (NOTE: some cats are allergic to
fish, corn and also to beef and
dairy products).
·
* These items are available in health food stores. Ideally all ingredients
should be Organically Certified.
· NOTE:
Add fish oil, like Nordic
Naturals or wild salmon oil after the
cooked food has cooled to room temperature. Also add 100 mg of Taurine
to each meal.
A daily
multi-vitamin and multi-mineral supplement is advisable, and one that also
supplies essential amino-acids and is recommended by feline vets is called
Platinum Performance Feline Wellness. Designing Health Inc. also makes
excellent animal (and human) supplements under the label The Missing Link. At a
pinch, crush up one human a ‘one-a day’ complete multi-vitamin. & mineral
supplement and put light sprinkling (about one-quarter) on the cat’s food at
one of the daily feedings.
T = Tablespoon
t = teaspoon
--TRANSITIONING
YOUR CAT ONTO THE NEW DIET SHOULD BE DONE GRADUALLY SO AS TO ALLOW FOR
ADAPTATION AND AVOID AVERSION AND DIGESTIVE PROBLEMS THAT A SUDDEN DIETARY
CHANGE MAY CAUSE----MIX INCREASING AMOUNTS OF YOUR CAT’S NEW FOOD WITH
DECREASING AMOUNTS OF THE OLD FOOD OVER A 7-10 DAY PERIOD.
IT
IS ADVISABLE TO VARY THE BASIC INGREDIENTS
TO PROVIDE VARIETY AND TO AVOID POSSIBLE NUTRITIONAL IMBALANCES, AND TO MONITOR
THE ANIMAL'S BODY CONDITION AND WEIGHT SO AS TO AVOID EITHER OVER-FEEDING OR
UNDER-FEEDING, BASED ON THE AVERAGE CAT CONSUMING ONE THIRD OF A CUPFULL THREE
OR FOUR TIMES A DAY. THIS RECIPE CAN ALSO BE PUT INTO A FOOD PROCESSOR AND FED
RAW.
--NOTE:
DIFFERENT ANIMALS HAVE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT NUTRITIONAL NEEDS ACCORDING TO AGE,
TEMPERAMENT, AMOUNT OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND HEALTH STATUS).
This recipe is safe for all kittens as well as for adult
cats unless they have a genetic predisposition for nutrient-related disease, or
have a pre-existing medical condition such as pancreatic of kidney disease. In
which case, consult with your veterinarian, and always remember to transition
on to any new food gradually. Giving probiotics daily during such transition
can be helpful. Normally, when healthy animals are fed a wholesome, balanced
diet, they absorb what nutrients they need. An unbalanced, high-cereal content
diet leads to unbalanced physiology, nutrient excesses and deficiencies leading
to obesity and a host of health problems as documented in the book NOT FIT FOR A DOG; THE TRUTH ABOUT MANUFACTURED DOG
& CAT FOOD.
Keep teeth clean by giving a
scalded (to kill bacteria) raw chicken wing tip with skin on it for your cat to
chew every 3-4 days, or thin strips of scalded raw beef heart or shank meat—the
tougher the better! . Avoid addictive, high-cereal dry foods that do little to
keep teeth clean, and are responsible for dental and other serious feline
diseases. Also avoid more than once-a-week (if you must), meals of canned fish,
often high in methylmercury, dioxins and other toxic man-made chemicals that
now pollute the environment and contaminate the entire food-chain.
For
more
information on holistic cat care, see my books The Healing Touch for Cats
published by New Market Press, NY.
My latest book on cats entitled CAT BODY CAT MIND: EXPLORING FELINE CONSCIOUSNESS AND TOTAL
WELL-BEING was published by The Lyons Press
in 2007. For details on the health risks of manufactured pet foods, see NOT
FIT FOR A DOG: THE TRUTH ABOUT MANUFACTURED DOG AND CAT FOODS, by Drs. M.W.Fox, E. Hodgkins,
and M. Smart, Quill Driver Books, Sanger CA 2008
Understanding
Your Cats Feeding Preferences
From the American
Association of Feline Practitioners
On an
instinctual level, cats have certain preferences for feeding that should be
considered by caregivers. First, cats prefer to eat multiple small meals throughout
the day. Unfortunately, many cats are frequently fed in one location with
relatively large volumes of food once or twice a day. Some cats even have food
out and available at all times. Both of these can lead to inactivity, obesity,
and stress for your cat.
Cats
are
hunters. To help mimic natural feline feeding behaviors and satisfy that
instinct, puzzle feeders can also be used. Puzzle feeders hold food and must be
handled by the cat to get the food out, which increases activity, and
provides mental and physical stimulation. You can learn more about puzzle
feeders at foodpuzzlesforcats.com.
Another
consideration you should take when feeding your cat is their preference to eat
alone. This can be especially challenging for homes with multiple cats. Forcing
cats to eat together can cause anxiety, stress, obesity, and health problems.
To reduce these concerns, each cat should have a separate feeding station with
distance and visual separation between cats. You can also provide elevated
feeding spaces.
For more detailed
information on How to Feed Your Cat, download our brochure. If you are
concerned that your cat is overeating or undereating, or if you are having
trouble feeding one or multiple cats in your home, your veterinarian can
provide additional advice and evaluate your cats weight and health.