I need homemade dog/cat food recipes

[bluegrassmom]

I hope it's ok to put this in this room. I've got 3 dogs and 2 cats and their food prices are climbing just like ours are. I really need to be able to feed them without spending a ton of money. But at the same time I want to keep them healthy and cared for. I know I've seen here and there through the years here that different ones make their own pet food.

 

Could you share your recipes or point me in the right direction?

 

(And Westie, I'm not going to be able to keep rabbit heads in my freezer at this time, lol.... )

[PoGo]

Here are a few threads about dog food:

 

http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthrea...6&Number=205472

 

http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthrea...0&Number=107042

 

 

 

This one was posted in "The Edge", so unless you have access to that forum, you won’t be able to view it.

 

http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthrea...d&Number=154878

 

[Evergreen]

Here is a good article by someone who believes in making there own dog food all the time.

For the Dogs

[mommato3boys]

Believe it or not but Allrecipes have dog food recipes.

 

http://allrecipes.com/Search/Recipes.aspx?WithTerm=dog+food

 

 

[Snowmom]

 

I was doing some searching and found this site. You can download a recipe book from here.

 

http://www.i-love-dogs.com/dog-food-recipes.html

 

 

[Aint2nuts]

Cat Food Recipe Ingredients:

 

3 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups soy flour

1 cup wheat germ

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup nonfat dry milk

1/2 cup brewer's yeast

1 (15 ounce) can mackerel

5 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon cod liver oil

2 cups of water or as needed

Cat Food Recipe Directions:

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl, mash the mackerel into small pieces. Mix in the oil and water.

 

Add the mackerel mixture to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. The dough is tough, so use your hands. Roll dough out to about 1/4" thickness and cut into 1/4" bits, using a knife or pizza cutter. Mound the bits onto greased cookie sheets and bake for 25 minutes. \

 

During baking, occasionally toss the bits with two wooden spoons, so they brown evenly. Turn the heat off and allow the treats to cool thoroughly before removing and storing in an airtight container in the refrigerator. This recipe freezes very well for longer storage

 

[westbrook]

don't forget you can feed your or should I say you need to feed your dog a little fish. Mackerel in a can in the canned fish isle.. it is usually next to the salmon on the top shelf. (it is the cheapest I have found)

 

A few tablespoons of this added to the food will help with some of the minerals chicken or beef lack.. such as the omega 3 and 6.

 

Adding ground flax to the homemade dog food will also add those same Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids to their food.

 

Olive oil poured over their food will add the much needed oil to help maintain their skin and coat. You don't need much, again a couple of tablespoons.

[Hawthorn]

Why not consider BARF feeding your pets?

 

We have a dog, and she eats fish (tinned), offal (which is cheap) and chicken carcasses (which are free) plus I put a little extra veg in the pot for her too, but take it out before its fully cooked through. We also have something called keepers mix, which gives them extra vitamins. Shes in very good health, and another bonus is they don't need their teeth cleaning - it's the carbs in the processed food that cause the plaque build up on their teeth. They don't have the amylase to break it down like we do.

Check out your butchers for freebies - they often throw chicken carcasses/bones etc away, and you save them money on garbage collection Plus, healthy dog!

To answer a few questions before anyone asks LOL.

No, the bones don't splinter because they are fed raw. You should NEVER feed an animal cooked bones.

There is only the same risk of cross contamination as you preparing meat for yourself.

It's healthier for your pet. This is the stuff they were designed to eat, in nature.

Their poo smells a lot less. Seriously.

They drink a lot less water, and they poop less because they absorb most of the nutrients, rather than it just going straight through them.

[westbrook]

I BARF my dogs... you will see references to frozen bunny heads, entrails, legs, and so on. I raise rabbits for the dogs too!

 

Not every one is aware of this type of diet.

 

keep telling everyone about it!

 

 

[westbrook]

as some of you might not be aware of what the BARF diet is... look at the two words..

 

BARF and DIET

 

now.. I can eat all I want.. then BARF it up... let the dogs eat and I can stay on my diet!

 

 

 

[westbrook]

ROFL!!!!!!!!! how many of you fell for that?

[Hawthorn]

Rolo, my BEAUTIFUL English Bull Terrier, has been barf fed since she was weaned

 

I gave her kibble once. She looked at me, looked at the bowl and walked away LOL.

 

She's a proper food snob!

 

You can take a processed food dog and turn them into a BARFY, but you can't take a BARFY and make them eat processed food.

 

She would rather starve I think LOL.

 

We had her at the vets (stoopid dog ate a full pack of M&M's....she's a chocolate hound) and they kept her overnight. They were most concerned because she wouldn't eat. They tried to feed her the complete kibble stuff!

[HSmom]

I been meaning to ask....

 

I pressure canned some chicken drumsticks. Later, I pulled the meat off the bone and used it in something. I noticed that the bones were...really different! They seemed firm, but I could break and crumble them easily with my fingers. I wondered if they would be safe to grind up, or crush, and add to my dog's food? I would imagine that they contain a lot of valuable nutrients, even after pressure canning.

 

[westbrook]

trying to reference all dog food threads...

 

http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthrea...true#Post198026

[bluegrassmom]

Thanks for all the wonderful ideas! It looks like this could end up being a whole binder section unto itself!

 

Originally Posted By: HSmom

I wondered if they would be safe to grind up, or crush, and add to my dog's food? I would imagine that they contain a lot of valuable nutrients, even after pressure canning.

 

I could have sworn that I saw a post a year or more ago about someone doing just that and canning it for their dogs. Westie? Was it you??

[westbrook]

yep.... chicken bones will turn to mush had you cooked them longer.

 

If you have left over chicken bones from family meal.. you can freeze them for later or cook them in the crock pot with water and make a nice soup broth... the longer you cook the bones the softer they become.. add rice or wheat or oats, left over vegetables and feed to dogs!

 

You can can your own stew mixture and add the grains later on... great use for left over everything.

 

this is why I have been trying to link all the threads to each other. We need a Dog Food and a Cat Food FAQ

[bluegrassmom]

Originally Posted By: westbrook

this is why I have been trying to link all the threads to each other. We need a Dog Food and a Cat Food FAQ

Yes, that would be great.

So which would you recommend for cooking the bones down for dog food - crock pot or pressure cooker? And I'm assuming that any kind of bone will do.

[westbrook]

either... crock pot you can turn on and leave for days.. pressure cooker you have to stand over.

 

usually the harder bones like port or beef don't mush.. chicken bones are hallow. Rabbit doesn't mush to well either. But.. cooking the marrow out of the bones and make a nice rich broth for the family soup or stew and now making the dog food out of left overs!

[mimi]

One thing you need to be careful about if you pressure cook or even cook those chix bones to mush in the crockpot is that you can be feeding too much bone to meat. Many years ago when chix necks were almost free at stores our landlord at the time used to pressure cook them for their cockapoos---they ended up constipating them terribly and the vet told them to add more oil and less bone at one time. The bonemeal was so dry and in such a high ration that they just plugged up solid.

[westbrook]

this is why you have to feed a little pumpkin with the vegetables and meat.

[kappydell]

HsMom: Long time ago (20+years) I read a health food type book that recommended cooking those bones to mush, blending up to a puree and using as an additive in PEOPLE food for calcium boost. I even tried it once. Did not taste bad, only slightly gritty, but palatable I guess if I needed the calcium bad enough. (Better than soaking eggshells in vinegar and drinking it - YUK!!! Now THAT tasted vile!!) Animals should love those liquified bones though.

[Cricket]

I never would have thought of that for human food. Good idea, especially for those of us at a "delicate" age where our bones may be thinning. Waste not, want not!

[HSmom]

Thanks all...I'm sure my pup will be very pleased!