I found
an excellent article on homemade cat food. This article gives a good guideline on the base ingredients that you can use in your cat food. It also advises on how much is too much of any ingredient, and the best ways to prepare them.
(Remember that a wholly homemade diet will not be balanced and should be used in conjunction with dry food or nutritional supplements.)
Another article I find informative is this
table of potentially toxic ingredients that should not be included in homemade cat food.
So far the best ingredients I have repeatedly used with good result in my homemade cat foods are:
- Salmon
- Tuna
- Chicken
- Eggs
- Cranberry juice
- Carrots
- Apples
- Cat milk
- Rosemary for flavour, and to a less favourable extent, basil (related to catnip)
Ingredients that I have tried on my cats but are less favoured:
- Minced beef
- Minced pork
- Ikan bilis (i.e. anchovies)
- Cheese
- Prawns
- Sweet potatoes
As I am not a cook inclined towards complicated recipes, I have not tried anything that requires too much effort to prepare. But I am keen on experimenting with new ingredients, such as white fish, avocado, fresh sardine or mackerel, oats or wheatgerm, catnip and chamomile for flavour. Not everything is available at my supermarket downstairs, and I don't really know much about most white fish and how palatable or healthy they will be for my cats. As for catnip, I haven't tried any myself and cannot fully visualise the resulting taste of any food prepared with catnip.
Until then, when the mood strikes, I will be cooking again for my cats. It's really fun, and cost saving!
