This recipe has been put together by myself after hours of research because our oldest cat is having hyperthyroidism, which causes her to burn more calories than she can take in, and since even the diet feed specially formulated for that condition doesn't make much of a dent in her thyroid condition, and is otherwise also not the best diet for a feline friend with a wasting disease (neither is any store bought cat food, check labels and you will generally see meat and animal byproduct contents of 4-12 percent, while we're trying to feed an obligate carnivore who in nature eats little other than the freshest meat, with a focus on brains, organs and blood, and if they don't get enough quality meats, their bodies digest their own muscle mass), we felt the need to try something different. This diet will not take care of her hyperthyroidism, we had pills for that but recently she decided she doesn't want the pills anymore, fighting it to the point where it's no longer possible to humanely force-feed her them. So in this case this diet caters to a basically already dying cat, and the goal here is to keep her in as best a condition as possible for as long as possible. How long that will be, only time will tell. In my recipe I added lemon balm as a herbal remedy for hyperthyroidism and related conditions, as well as easing anxiety and irritability stemming from the hyperthyroidism and easing joint pains since she's also got some arthritis going on. It's a herb that goes well with most cats. Companies that claim they have your pet's best interest and health in mind, however, have to make money off you, and in order to do that, they do the same thing as people did for themselves when the best foods became more scarce some 6000 years ago, they use grass seeds as food. So they add wheat, rice and other grains to the diet to bulk it up because it's cheap and it takes care of a part of the vitamin B complex and fiber needs. But it also builds you a cat that's actually underperforming in terms of health and slowly developing health conditions because it's body is just getting by well enough, instead of being in a prime state. This doesn't show because first of all young animals are very resilient, second, for disease to develop as a result it usually takes years because the feeds are still balanced enough to keep your animal seemingly healthy for many years, and third, cats will always try to avoid showing pain. They feel it, but they instinctively hide all weakness since in the wild they are both hunters as well as being hunted, so any weakness in appearance makes them a more vulnerable subject. This is also why a lot of cats like to sleep with their owners, in the wild they also have a need for shelter. This is also why when your cat comes to you with signs of being hurt, you best take it seriously.
If you want to use this diet for your cat, keep in mind this is a diet designed for healthy cats, to keep them in optimal health. It may also serve as a diet to support a weakened health, but any present health conditions will still need addressing by whatever form is most optimal in your cat's case, and depending on the case this diet might not be your pest option, and may even be dangerous for all I know. Consult your veterinarian if you have any concerns, and keep a close eye on stools, they could very well become less frequent because this is a highly digestible low-waste diet, but in all other aspects the stools should remain in your cat's normal stool ranges. Small differences in stool hardness are not a problem though. Cats having trouble with passing stools or having trouble staying hydrated (our old lady being one of them) could also be a lot happier on this diet, since it also caters to those issues with olive oil and psyllium fibers and a high moisture content, which is very good since cats don't have a high thirst drive (and as such, kibble is far from an ideal feed), which can also worsen with age compounding the stool problems.
This recipe makes food for about 5 days, give or take a day or 2 depending on cat size, appetite, and additional treats or kibble. You can multiply it as much as you like, but it's best not to go over 4 months in in the freezer, 1 month if it's a small freezer compartment. Prices may vary, I buy it the meats organic, the cat milk is just pet store stuff, the supplements are a bit of an expensive first buy but they will last you a looooong time since cat's don't need much of any of it. You will need a scale for the supplements because it can't be too much off or health issues could arise over time, and a mortar and pestle to grind up the egg shell to a fine powder.
Always check all the ingredients of the supplements you use and make sure there are no ingredients in there that are not ok for cats in general, or your cat specifically.
I think it should go without saying, but, always use fresh meats and carrots. No spoiled ingredients!
Needed ingredients: 300g Turkey meat (cuts meant for stew are cheaper and perfect for this) 200g chicken liver 200g carrots a spoonful of olive oil 1 medium sized organic free range egg, the shell will also be used 1.5g psyllium fibers 2g of lemon balm (optional, cats generally like it and it's good for most of them, check in case your cats has any conditions) 100ml water for the lemon balm additional water for the carrots and meats 50 ml cat milk (it comes from cows, but don't use regular cow's milk as it needs some adjustments to be suitable for your kitty's digestive tract) 20g nutritional yeast flakes 200mg shark cartilage 400mg magnesium taurate (it's ok if it has a small dose of B6 in there, which a lot tend to have, the taurine part is the important part though) 50 IU Vitamin E (this is a lot less than is in your general capsule, and you'll need to adjust the dose accordingly. The capsule is gelatin and can be added to the recipe. For me, the capsule with contents squeezed out amounted to around 50IU so I just threw in the oily gelatin shell) 5 drops sesame oil 5 drop of krill oil
Cut up the turkey in strips so it doesn't take too long to cook. Put a pot on medium heat, spoonful of olive oil in the pot, add the meats, giving the turkey a minute while stirring occasionally before adding the chicken livers. After adding the livers, stir regularly and break up the livers a bit with a wooden spoon or spatula as it cooks. After a few minutes when the livers are nicely falling apart, add a small amount of water to avoid any browning. Let simmer for about half an hour.
Put 2g of lemon balm in another small pot, add 100ml water, bring to a simmer and turn off the heat, cover with a lid and steep for 20 minutes before straining the tea and discarding the used lemon balm.
Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 150°C.
Cut up the 200g of carrots (for me it was 1 big one) in quarter inch slices, add them to a smaller pot and add hot or boiling water, almost enough to cover the carrot slices. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer for 5 minutes before removing from the heat source and setting aside. Keep the water in there cause we're not throwing any of those nutrients out. Put in a sink with cold water to cool it quicker. Put the tea in there as well.
When the meats have simmered for half an hour, turn off the heat and set aside to cool for 5 minutes before cracking your egg open in the meat stew and throwing the shell in the heated oven for 10 minutes. Stir the egg through the meat stew. Add the psyllium fibers and stir again. Set in the sink to cool, stirring the pot occasionally.
After 10 minutes, take the shell out of the oven, grind it up in a mortar and pestle (which you cleaned first since cats can't have all herbs n spices humans can) to an as fine as possible powder. When you think you're done, do it for about just as long again. Your kitty will love you for it, cause kitty don't like gritty. Add the powder to the stew.
Measure out all the other ingredients (vitamin E, shark cartilage, yeast flakes, cat milk, sesame n krill oils), wait until the stew, tea and carrots have cooled to under 30°C, then combine them all and mix them well with a blender. Divide in 4-6 portions depending on cat size, appetite and additional kibble, keep one or two portions in the fridge and freeze the rest. Put out a portion of cat food to thaw every evening for the next day. Cover it or you'll be defrosting a new one next morning, cause that's how much your cats are gonna love this stuff!
Disclaimer: I'm no veterinarian. I'm just a guy with a huge interest for natural health and the interactions between living systems and creatures and their environments, who happened to run into an issue with his cat and decided to take matters in his own hands. Don't put your matters in them, you have your own hands for that. Do your own research, optimize this recipe for your own situation, and realize omitting something might very well mean your cat will be missing something.
-------------------- The best things in life can be smelled on one's fingers.
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Well, thyroid issues are something that's very prevalent in cats, and the reasons why are not fully understood, but there have been vets who have said (and it only stands to reason given that there are similar mechanisms to be found in humans, so in other mammals) that the addition of grains to obligate carnivores' diet is not good for them, and I firmly believe that to be true. What you can do there is simply buy pet foods that are grain free. There's a bunch of them to try and they will all be priced higher than the regular stuff because of it's superior quality. Grains, namely wheat, corn coming second, are the cheapest food source in the world, so it's being used to bulk up almost every other food, as long as it's processed. Leaving it out means more space for meat aka more money spent wiser.
Another problem is probably iodine and/or sodium levels being way too high in cat food compared to what is naturally available in their diet. Solution is the same, or making your own, cause even the organic grain free stuff will likely have higher levels than what's really necessary.
That's also the reason you can't feed your cat ANYTHING else when it's on a thyroid diet plan (hills prescription diet), cause all the other foods will have such high levels that even 1 single kibble treat of normal food will then exceed the limit which they can take with hyperthyroidism.
Best thing you can do is buy the organic grain free, and there's a higher chance your cats will like those varieties specifically even though they don't take to others, simply because of the high meat content. Try a single one of each flavor you can find for starters so you get to know what they'll find interesting. If they don't agree right away, sometimes it helps simply not giving them any other foods for the day. Getting used to a new flavor can sometimes need a bit of encouragement with cats. Also, don't give it too much attention when you give them the food, basically just ignore them but stay in their vicinity. Cats don't per se like to be watched while eating food, but they feel a lot safer when their owner is in the direct vicinity while eating. Could help.. If in 3 days she still don't like it though, I'd start giving other foods again.
-------------------- The best things in life can be smelled on one's fingers.
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