Monthly Archives: September 2012
Making Your Own Dehydrated Cat Food
Posted by S
Last week I covered how to make your own dehydrated dog food. This time, I’ll cover cats as it is bit more involved due to the differences in dietary needs.
This is assuming your cat isn’t a mouser, won’t be hunting or has no claws.
Cats require a difference ratio than dogs for their food.
A basic cat food recipe would be:
3 parts meat
1 part organs (my cats particularly like liver and hearts)
1 part grain
1/2 part vegetables
Dehydrate all your ingredients until fully dry to avoid rancidity. Times will vary on your location, dehydrator and humidity. (Here’s my dehydrator)
When making dehydrated animal food, I usually dehydrate everything then powder it. Once its powdered, I measure out the ratio using a measuring cup or tablespoon depending on the container I want to fill.
Vegetables for cats can include: carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and peas amongst several others, check with your vet if you are not sure.
When your mixture is complete, be sure to seal it in an airtight container (or include an oxygen absorber) and store in a cool, dry place.
When ready to serve, mix water in slowly to get the consistency your cats like.
Making Your Own Dehydrated Dog Food
Posted by S
When it comes to preparing, sometimes our furry friends are overlooked.
Dog food can be expensive, bulky and depending on what you feed them, it can expire quickly.
A cheap and easy way to store dog food long time is to dehydrate your own ingredients (Here is my beloved dehydrator: https://amzn.to/39aoRbO ) and mix it. When ready to serve, you add a bit of water and you’re set.
Dogs need a certain balance of nutrients in their diet but its simple to figure out the ratio.
They need about:
1 part meat
1 part grain
1 part vegetables
There are of course people that feed their dogs grain free, but that’s up to you.
When dehydrating meat, I usually make sure that its fully cooked first and then dehydrate it from there.
You can use your table scraps but make sure that you cook your meat plain, adding flavorings, salt, pepper and other things later, just to be safe.
Vegetables you could do raw or cooked, again, make sure ther’es no added butter or anything that could go rancid
if not dehydrated properly.
And as for grains, I usually use rice or oats for my dogs (as one of them has a sensitive stomach).
To make the mixture, I gather all my dehydrated ingredients and buzz them up in a food processor so it makes a fine powder. Then I measure about a cups worth of each, put it in a bowl and mix it thoroughly.
Then just add to a jar or a mylar bag with an oxygen absorber and store in a cool, dry place.
Vegetables to USE: spinach, celery, carrots, peas, green beans and sweet potatoes are all puppy favorites.
Vegetables to AVOID: avocados, onions, garlic and tomatoes have all been listed as toxic at some point to dogs, so I felt it best to add them here although I know some people who swear by giving their dogs garlic (I don’t.)
My pups also like fruits such as banana, apple, watermelon, and blueberries. I have dehydrated these separately as treats.
Next week I’ll cover our feline companions.
BurroakBurrow 