I originally found this recipe here. I have fed this to my cats for 5+ years and they’re all doing quite well.

What you’ll need

A meat grinder. I own a Tasin TS-108 grinder which I bought many years ago, but can no longer find for sale online. The STX Turboforce grinder is apparently a stand-in replacement, but I have never used it. Weston makes excellent grinders, and is what I would buy tomorrow if my Tasin died. Expect to spend $150-200 (low end) or $400-500 (high end). A nice benefit to a high end grinder with a bigger meat intake hole is you won’t have to cut up your chicken thighs before feeding them in.

A mixing container. For the ground meat, supplements, and water. I use a 5 gallon bucket, which is cleaned before and after each use.

Containers for freezing. I use glass Pyrex containers. Choose a size that, when defrosted, will allow your cat to consume all the food within ~1 week. As the food sits in the fridge it can begin to grow bacteria, so the sooner it is used the better. Don’t freeze everything into a single 5 gallon chunk!

Sanitization & Disinfection. After you use your grinder you will want to sanitize and then disinfect the surface of all the parts. I use “Seventh Generation Professional Disinfecting Kitchen Cleaner”, although it appears that product may no longer be available easily as of July 2024. Whatever you buy, ensure it can disinfect and kill (not simply reduce) germs. CDC Guidelines on the difference.

Recipe

  • 3 lbs bone-in chicken thighs (raw, purchased at Wegmans)
  • 4 oz chicken liver (raw, I purchase this at ShopRite or Wegmans)
  • 1.5 cups water
  • 5-10g fish oil (iHerb Link)
  • 400 IU vitamin E (iHerb Link)
  • 1 capsule vitamin B complex 50 (iHerb link)
  • 3g taurine (powder) (iHerb Link)
  • 1 tsp Morton Iodized salt (Amazon Link, you must use iodized salt to ensure the cat gets the nutrient iodine!)

Feeds one (1) cat for ~4-5 weeks, when feeding approximately 4-6 ounces per day.

You can scale this recipe. I have four (4) cats, so I multiply all ingredients by 4x.

Instructions

  1. Grease a baking sheet and cook the chicken thighs and livers in the oven 7-10 minutes at 400F to kill surface bacteria.
  2. Grind chicken and bones and liver into mixing container. You may need to cut the chicken thighs to fit in the grinder.
  3. Dissolve fish oil and other nutrients in a bowl of warm water. For any powdered nutrients that come inside a capsule, break open the capsule and add directly to the water.
  4. Once dissolved, add nutrient slurry into the ground thighs and livers.
  5. Mix.
  6. Freeze in containers.
  7. Clean up. Ensure all of your parts that come into contact with the raw meat are sanitized and disinfected before storing them.

Frozen cat food can last 4-6 months in the freezer.