Basic Recipe for Cats

An easy recipe introduction to making your cat a home-prepared meal — raw or cooked.

Dr. Fougere’s Homemade Recipe for Cats

1/3 cup of this diet = ~95 kcal. Compare to the caloric density on the back of your cat food label. For a 10lb cat, two meals would roughly meet their resting energy requirements of ~190kcals per day. This could vary depending on your cat’s weight and activity.

To achieve a proper balance of proportions, follow the recipes and provide a variety of ingredients to meet your pet’s nutritional needs. Cats particularly need high levels of meat protein and do best when fed a variety of meats over the course of a week. Raw meat is beneficial because cooking can destroy some of the essential minerals, for example, the taurine needed by cats. When food is cooked, it’s important to add these elements in supplement form. Remember that each animal is an individual and what works for one may not work for another. Discuss any diet changes with your veterinarian first.

Yield: 2 lb., providing 1,000 kcal of energy from protein 48%, fat 46%, and carbohydrates 5%.

​Equivalents:
1 cup = 240 ml
1 tsp (teaspoon) = 5 ml
1 tbs (tablespoon) = 15 ml
25 gm (grams) = 1 oz

Meat Substitutes:
Ground turkey, lean, raw – 2 ½ cups
Rabbit, lean, raw – 3 cups
Beef, lean, raw – 1/4 cup, PLUS Beef, heart, raw – 2 cups
Salmon, canned or fresh*
*Feeding uncooked fish is not recommended. Take care to limit the amount of fish to occasional servings weekly.

Liver exchanges:
Beef liver – 25 gm
Chicken liver – 25 gm
Lamb liver – 25 gm

Vegetable or Fruit Exchanges:
Zucchini – ½ cup, grated raw
Broccoli – ½ cup, lightly steamed (or cooked in recipe)
Celery – 1 ½ cups, cooked (or cooked in recipe); for fluid retention, arthritis

Preparation 1 – Cooked Meat Meal: Combine meat, liver and veggies in a covered pan and cook at low temperature to protect nutrients. Stir occasionally to blend flavors. Do not overcook. Cool and add supplements. (*Taurine must be added to the recipe when the meat is cooked as heat reduces efficacy of taurine. Recommended daily dose of taurine is 250mg daily.) Divide entire food mixture into 10 parts, each one meal for an 8-lb. cat.

Preparation 2 – Raw Meat Meal: Steam vegetables and finely chop. Mince the raw liver and meat and combine with vegetables. Add supplements. Divide whole mixture into 10 parts, each one meal for an 8-lb. cat. Addition of taurine is not required when feeding meats raw but can be added to boost taurine.

**Calcium Note: Consider eggshell as a calcium source or Animal Essentials Seaweed Calcium, which is high in bio-availability and low in phosphorus. When using AE seaweed calcium, only one teaspoon is required. Adding Calcium carbonate is unnecessary if bones are included in the diet. Follow raw meat safety recommendations when choosing meats and preparation.

Additional recommended daily supplements:

• A balanced multi-vitamin with vitamin B-complex
• A balanced antioxidant with vitamins A, C and E
• Kelp, a rich source of vitamins, minerals, and trace elements
• Egg yolk or nutritional yeast (not brewer’s yeast) for natural vitamin B-complex

Use supplements created for animals when possible; species specific is best. Avoid those with added dextrose, sugar or artificial flavoring.