Homemade Cat Food: Canned/Pre-cooked Fish

By Cat, May 2020 (Image, right, from Wikimedia Commons)

Sardines in a Can

After reading a Mercola article about the importance of serving homemade food for your pets (9), I’ve decided to introduce homemade cat food to my elderly cats.

I prefer making food that is mostly raw fish, chicken or rabbit meat and organ meat (heart, liver, brain, etc.), but I’ll start with using canned or lightly-cooked fish to see how it goes. I present two different recipes here, each of which makes about 1 cup of food, enough for 2 days for 2 cats. and Minerals (the list may grow as I create more recipes)

• Includes: 1. Canned or Lightly-Cooked Fish for Cats; 2. Canned Sardine Food for Cats
• See also: 1. Homemade Pet Food; 2. Homemade Cat-Food (About) for notes about ingredients: Amino Acids, Fats/Oils, Fiber/Starch, and Minerals (the list may grow as I create more recipes)

Sample Recipe: Canned or Lightly-Cooked Fish

This recipe is adapted from Love to Know’s Mackerel recipe (3), that uses canned mackerel, but I prefer to use lightly cooked fresh fish, because it is not as damaged at the molecular level as caused by the high-heat and pressure of canning.

The original recipe uses cooked brown rice, but because it is a true grain which is not good for cats, I use wild rice (not a true grain) as a binder (to hold the ingredients together).

One recipe makes a little more than 1 cup of cat food, which is enough for 2 or more meals.

I intend to convert the measured amount of fish from “cup” to “grams,” to be more reliable and consistent, since every type and piece of fish will measure differently.

Ingredients

• 10 oz (about 1 cup) canned or lightly-cooked fish such as salmon, tuna, mackerel or sardines, or a mix
• 2-3 tsp freshly-ground flax seeds (optional)
• 1 – 3 tsp fish oil* (if using canned fish, unless it is oil-packed), or less if using fresh, raw fish
• 1 Tbsp cooked wild rice (preferably Organic), measured after cooking
• 1 – 2 Tbsp of homemade chicken or beef broth
• amino acids (not needed if using raw meats)
  • ½ – ¾ tsp  powdered taurine (amino acid)
  • ¼ tsp powdered arginine
• about ½ capsule of supplemental selenomethionine** if recipe is good for 3-4 days for my 2 elderly cats  (based on one-tenth capsule/cat/day (200 mcg/cap) (recommended for cats 8 years old or older, or for cats of any age with selenium deficiency)
• ¼ scoop per serving of Dr. Mercola’s Whole Food Digestive Probiotic for Cats & Dogs (see iHerb code MCL-01837), an optional ingredient
• Equipment:
• steamer (to lightly cook fresh fish)
• bowl
• hand-held blender

‘* Do NOT use cod liver oil, as it contains vitamin D that is toxic to cats. When making your first batch of homemade cat food, use only ¼ tsp or less fish oil, as it has a strong smell and flavor that may discourage your cat from approaching the bowl. Then slowly increase the amount of fish oil in future batches.

‘** Re: selenomethionine supplement: I use Thorne brand. The amount is based on an average weight of 12 lb/cat (which is 8% of the average 150-lb human who would use 1 capsule/day):

• For 1 cat, use ¼ capsule for 3-days worth of food, or ⅛ capsule for 1½ days of food
• For my 2 cats, I use 0.08 capsule/cat/day, or almost ½ capsule for 3-days worth of food, or ¼ capsule for 1½ days of homemade food.

Method

1. If using wild rice, cook it first, then measure 1 Tbsp for use in this recipe (see my recipe for steamed wild rice). NOTE: all the dark-colored rice kernels should be opened and showing lots of white when cooked enough.
2. If using fresh fish, lightly cook it first by steaming the fillet about 3-4 minutes total, then remove from heat and let cool a bit.
3. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and use a hand-held blender at low-medium speed to mix well.
4. Serve immediately and refrigerate leftovers up to three days, or freeze in individual servings, to last longer.

Testing: June 2010: I made a quarter-recipe using ¼ of the ingredient amounts as written. I used about ¼ cup leftover cooked wild-caught salmon fillet, that I broke into flakes before combining with the other ingredients. And I used only a couple drops of fish oil, since salmon provides some fish oil. They were not interested in the first tiny bit I put out for them (about 1 teaspoon), but they eventually did eat most of it. Bits of salmon that were not broken up as much as the rest, were not eaten since my cats don’t have molar teeth for chewing. Next time I’ll do a better job of finely chopping up the flakes.

Sample Recipe: Canned Sardine Cat Food

This one is adapted from Love to Know’s Sardines recipe (3), that uses canned sardines, packed in oil. One recipe makes a little less than 1 cup of cat food, which is enough for 1 – 2 meals. I use Wild Planet brand of wild sardines in extra virgin olive oil, total 4.4 oz, but packed in fish oil would be even better!

This is the first homemade cat food recipe I’ve tried; see testing, below. I’ve updated the recipe based on testing. I was worried my cats would not like it because they ignored it for 16 hours. But when I woke up the next morning, their bowl was empty. Hooray!

Ingredients and equipment

• 4 oz can of sardines packed in oil
• ⅛ tsp fish oil*
• 2-3 tsp freshly-ground flax seeds
• 2 Tbsp of mashed, cooked carrot
• amino acids (needed only if using canned or cooked sardines):
  • ½ – ¾ tsp  powdered taurine (amino acid)
  • ¼ tsp powdered arginine
• about ⅔ capsule/cat/day of supplemental selenomethionine (200 mcg/cap)(recommended for cats 8 years old or older, or for cats of any age with selenium deficiency)**
• ¼ scoop per serving of Dr. Mercola’s Whole Food Digestive Probiotic for Cats & Dogs, optional
• Equipment:
• 2 small bowls
• fork or other tool to mash the carrots
• hand-held blender

‘* When making your first batch of homemade cat food, use only ¼ tsp or less fish oil, as it has a strong smell and flavor that may discourage your cat from approaching the bowl. Then slowly increase the amount of fish oil in future batches.

‘** Re: amount of selenomethionine supplement, and based on an average weight of 12 lb/cat (which is 8% of the average 150-lb human who would use 1 capsule/day):

• For 1 cat, use ¼ capsule for 3-days worth of food, or ⅛ capsule for 1½ days of food
• For my 2 cats, I use 0.08 capsule/cat/day, or almost ½ capsule for 3-days worth of food, or ¼ capsule for 1½ days of homemade food.

Method:

1. Cook and mash carrot.
2. Grind flax seeds.
3. Mash sardines (with oil they were packed in), fish oil, ground flax seeds, and supplement ingredients in bowl.
4. Add mashed carrot and mash all together using a hand-held blender.
5. Serve immediately and refrigerate leftovers up to three days, or freeze in individual servings, to last longer.

Testing: Canned Sardine Cat Food

5/24/20: Simmered a raw carrot for about 15 minutes, then mashed, measured its volume and then weighed it =  69 grams (for future reference). Forgot to stir in 2 capsules of selenomethionine (for 2-days food for 2 cats). Broke up sardines into smaller sections and stirred in the oil from the sardines’ container. I don’t yet have the powdered taurine and arginine, so skipped that (I will still give them some kibble that contains the amino acids). Mashed all together using my hand-held blender. Put half into a half-cup Mason jar for immediate use, and the remainder (about 1 cup) in a bag to keep in freezer for future use (if the cats like it). Result: Made about 1 cup of mashed food. It looks good but my cats were not interested in it at first. I think I used too much carrot, as its color and flavor dominates. Later in the day, they had eaten it up – hooray, but I still think I used too much carrot. Next time: Use 2-3 tsp freshly ground flax seeds and 1-2 Tbsp mashed carrot. Also add Mercola’s digestive probiotic (added to recipe after testing).

References:

1. Feline Living: info and recipes: felineliving.net/homemade-cat-food-recipes/#The_Recipe
2. Web MD: Homemade and Raw Cat Food: pets.webmd.com/cats/guide/homemade-cat-food-and-raw-cat-food#3
3. 8 Irresistible Homemade Cat Food Recipes: cats.lovetoknow.com/Homemade_Cat_Food_Recipe
4. Flaxseed oil equivalence: calculateme.com/recipe/1-tablespoons-of-vegetable-oil
5. consciouscat.net/2015/02/16/nutritional-yeast-secret-weapon-get-finicky-cats-eat/
6. Selenium supplements: bestreviews.com/best-selenium-supplements
7. Vet info on taurine dose: vetinfo.com/cat-taurine-requirements.html
8. feline nutrition:
   1. on arginine: feline-nutrition.org/nutrition/what-is-arginine-and-is-it-essential
   2. on taurine dose: feline-nutrition.org/nutrition/how-much-taurine-should-i-add
9. Mercola: healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2020/05/10/homemade-raw-pet-food.aspx