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So many people have asked me for our catfood recipe and links, I’m posting it on the thread for posterity:

Here ya go, I sent out a few freepmails yesterday. Note that we add a little salt, a pinch of dried onion and a small pinch of garlic to the food. Been doing that for two/three years without any problem. But I read on the thread some people are saying that those things are bad for cats and dogs. So use your own discretion for those ingredients. Any more questions, freepmail me or post on the thread.

The taurine is in the cat supplement, link noted below. Also, if your cats go outside they may be cathcing things and getting amino acids that way.

First a little background:

We live in the woods, and didn’t used to have pets since mrs lj has asthma and can’t have animals in the house. Also our house is really small and outside is woods - dirt, and all kinds of animal scat (deer, fox, bear, cougar, possum, raccoon, squirrel, coyote, etc), so pets would be tracking in who knows what all the time.

Then, about 4 years ago (or was it 5?), feral cats started gnawing out of our compost pile, so out of compassion we started feeding them, mostly leftovers. They gradually got eaten (note above animals around) until there were two left, who gradually got tamer. Unfortunately they were a matched pair and produced a litter of 4 kittens, who we tamed. Mr. and Mrs. were harder to tame, and had another litter before we managed to neuter all surviving cats. After giving a few away and some more getting eaten, we now have 4 neutered cats, all tame.

Okay, next: we are vegetarians, and although it is perfectly normal and natural for cats to be carnivores, we don’t want to purchase meat. So mrs lj investigated how to feed them adequate nutrition, and here is her recipe with a couple of links. She varies the recipe, and adds extra things they like when we have them, such as bits of green beans, zucchini, brocolli, corn on the cob (a big favorite - lots of growling), sweet potatoes, winter squash, and, of course, cheese. And they LOVE fresh home made bread.

The following recipe makes about 4 days’ worth for 4 good sized cats.

2 1/2 cups short grain brown rice
1/2 cup to 2/3 cup lentils

wash well, put in a large pot, and add:

1/2 cup TVP
1/2 cup bulgur wheat (we recently found they love this cooked by itself with the other “added” ingredients)
4 T oil
1/2 t. salt
4 T. kelp (available at feed stores around here, or natural food stores)
a sprinkle of garlic powder (not much, but it’s good for parasites)
a teaspoon of dried onion
about 2 T of Cat Amino Supplement as described below
about 4 T of Cat Yeast Supplement as described below
About 10 cups of water

Bring to a boil, then turn way down to low (like cooking rice or even a little less) and stir every now and then. The bottom has a tendency to cook faster than the top. When the water is absorbed and the lentils are tender, it’s done. Sometimes she has to add more water. She doesn’t always measure accurately (to put it mildly...) Let it cool completely, and then store in the fridge in containers. If they aren’t super enthusiastic, sprinkle some nutritional yeast on it.

I’ve read that when changing your pet’s food, change it bit by bit - like 1/8 amount a day, that way they and their digestion gets used to the new food.

Here’s a link to the place she got the pet supplements (they have both cat and dog and I think horse, the website isn’t the easiest in the world, apparently there will be a new one up soon):

http://www.vegancats.com/ This website has recipes on it.

The website below had really good animal health products; we’ve used several to restore cats to health, and the woman who runs the place loves animals and will always return calls if you have questions about anything. We recently ordered food grade diatomaceous earth; it’s apparently good at curing and preventing parasite infestations as well as taking care of fleas.

http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/

If you have any questions about any of this, freepmail me! I hope it’s of use. We have pounds and pounds of brown rice, lentils and all the other ingredients on hand. We are thankful we took this route instead of purchasing cat food - our cats are very healthy and we love them. They go on walks with us and are very affectionate. (Except Mr. Big Fuzz - he still remembers the day we took him to the vet for fixing, the welding gloves etc...he was a wild one to begin with... But even he rubs and purrs now. He lets mrs lj pick him up, but she wasn’t the one with the welding gloves.)

;-)