Nutritional food made without using any unhealthy elements made entirely at home is called homemade food. It has high benefits for your beloved cat. The raw materials used are pure and hand-picked. What and how much to make depends entirely on your cat’s diet, food preferences, and nutritional needs.
You can use various modes of cooking the food, like boiling, blanching, baking, air-frying, pan-searing, or serving it raw in some cases. The best thing homemade food does is that you can maintain the calorie count, nutrients, carbs, etc., in the food to keep the cat healthy and disease-free.
What are the Healthiest Ingredients for a Cat’s Diet Available in the Kitchen?
When making homemade food for your cat, it is essential to consider what ingredients you should use. Cats cannot eat everything we humans do. So, you should carefully choose them. Here is a list of all the healthy food elements and their nutritional benefits for cats.
| Food Category | Food Items | Nutritional Benefits |
| Lean Meats | Lamb, pork, beef, and sausages | Excellent source of iron, and Vitamin B, less fat, and has high protein content. |
| Poultry | Chicken, turkey, goose, and duck | Rich in selenium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, and iron; very low-fat content, high protein, high-fiber percentage; and contains anserine (antioxidant). |
| Fish and Seafood | Fish, prawns, crabs, and lobster | Good for the skin and fur of cats, rich in calcium and phosphorus, contains selenium, and is rich in Vitamin D, B, A, and others. |
| Vegetables | Carrots, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, pumpkin, peas, and cucumber | Carrots and pumpkin are rich in antioxidants; broccoli, spinach, and lettuce have carotenoids and high fiber; cucumber is high in water and fiber content; peas are the richest source of nitrogen. |
| Fruits | Bananas, blueberries, watermelon, and apples (peeled) | Increases the fiber intake and moisture content in the body, is rich in antioxidants and vitamin C, and adds taste to the food. |
| Grains | Corn, bread, oatmeal, and millet | Gives cats much-needed carbs and provides iron, calcium, other minerals, vegetable protein, fiber, etc. |
What is Comparatively Better for a Cat – Raw Food or Cooked Food?
While cooking for your cat, you must take care of many things like proteins, carbs, health benefits, etc. You can serve food in 2 ways, as stated below.
Raw Food
As we all know, cats are naturally carnivorous species and primarily live in the woods. Hence, they tend to eat raw food like raw meat and animals.
However, feeding raw food has its own benefits and cons. Like it is the best natural food for them, but if not washed properly, or if a cat is fed expired or stale meat, there are high chances of the food acting poisonous to the cat’s stomach.
Cooked Food
With the changes over time and in generations of cats, people now feed their felines with cooked food. In a way, it is not wrong.
Feeding cooked food over raw food is also beneficial for the cat’s health. Cooked food covers all the nutrients a cat cannot get in raw food.
Tips to Keep in Mind While Cooking Homemade Food for Cats
Pet parents are always on edge to try new things for their pets. They put a lot of effort into making homemade food for their lovely pooches. Here are a few points to remember while cooking for your cat.
- Oily food does not suit cats. Hence, cook their food using healthier methods or the least possible oil.
- Meals should be in smaller quantities, 4-5 times a day.
- Boiling or blanching can be made tasty by combining it with some spices.
- Pair one protein with a carb food element to ensure both a stomach-filling and nutritious meal.
- Make it a point to check the AAFCO statement on the tins of raw pet food.
- Never feed your cat potatoes, tomatoes, onions, ginger, or garlic.
How to Make Homemade Food for Cats?
There are a few major healthy ways to cook food for your cat. Some of these methods include the following.
1. Boiling
The healthiest form of cooking is boiling. Here’s how you can do so.
- Wash the meat, fish, egg, or vegetable properly with water.
- Use a utensil to heat water till it is boiling hot.
- If needed, chop the food element, add some spices, and add it to the water.
- Take it out when it turns cooked and soft.
- Feed it to the cat with/ without some carbs.
2. Blanching
It is another healthy form of cooking food. Blanching is very similar to boiling but cannot be used for meat. So, you can blanch veggies in the following way.
- Wash the vegetables and fruits properly with water.
- Use a utensil to heat some water as per needed.
- Chop the vegetables (primarily leafy ones like spinach and lettuce) and add some basic spices.
- This half-cooked method is best to retain the nutrients of the food.
3. Baking
Another method to cook food for cats is baking. It can be used well on meat elements. However, you would need a microwave oven to bake. The following is a step-by-step guide to do so.
- Wash the meat or vegetables properly to get rid of germs.
- Chop them into small pieces and add enough spices to make them tasty.
- Coat the element with oil.
- Preheat the oven and place the food element in it.
- Add a timer and take it out as it gets ready.
No matter how you cook the food, the comfort of the food stays on the plate too. So, provide your cat food in a raised bowl like the Y YHY Cat Bowl. Its titled design makes it easier for cats to eat food without straining their neck.
Is It Good to Feed Dairy Products to Cats?
Feeding dairy products to cats is a bad option. Feeding low-lactose products such as cheese, cottage cheese, processed cheese, or yogurt can be good for cats, but only if provided in minimum quantities.
Milk and ice-creams are a big NO! for the cats. If by any chance you thought that your cat would eat ice cream, you made the worst decision. Feeding ice cream to cats is the most harmful thing as not only will the cold affect their health, but the sugar content in the product will also affect the cat’s body, hair, and skin.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the aspects from different angles, we have a straight answer: pure homemade and hand-cooked food is best for cats. Cooked food reduces the risk of bacteria in the food compared to raw food. Also, it gives the proper amount of nutrients a cat should get from that particular food.
