RAW - Pet Food Recipe for Dogs and Cats (Makes 20 - 25 lbs.)
Ingredients:
- 20 lb chicken thighs with bones and skin
- 4 lb combined chicken hearts and gizzards
- 1 pint chicken livers
- 4 teaspoon Lite Salt with iodine
Directions:
Place the small grinding disk on your LEM grinder. You want to grind the bone as fine as possible. (NOTE: LEM only recommends to use LEM Big Bite Grinders #'s 12, 22 or 32 to grind bones. Using any other LEM meat grinder to grind bones WILL VOID your warranty.)<
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Take 15 lbs. of the packages of chicken thighs including the bones and skin and run through the grinder.
Take the 1 pint of chicken livers and run through the grinder.
Take 3 lbs. of the chicken hearts and gizzards and run through the grinder.
Cover the ground meat and place it in the refrigerator.
If you have the time - chunk up the remaining package of chicken thighs omitting the bone and skin also chunk up the remaining package of heart and gizzards. Do this to give your pet something to chew on as it is good for their teeth and gums. Take the chicken bones and skin and put it into a stockpot and cover it with 10 cups of water. Cook the bones and skin for about an hour to make a broth. Remove the broth from heat and strain and discard the bones and skin. Thoroughly cool the broth in the refrigerator preferably overnight.
If you don't have the time to do the chunked meat, go ahead and run it through your grinder after removing the thigh bone and skin to make the broth. You always want to remove about 25% of bone and skin from the finished product. (Too much calcium causes constipation.)
Take apart your grinder and remove and discard any hard pieces of the bone ends that remain in your grinder. Put a little bleach in your hot soapy water to disinfect and thoroughly clean all grinder parts. Let air dry.
Once you have all of the meat prepared and your chicken broth cold you are now ready to mix either by hand or with a LEM meat mixer. (The LEM meat mixer makes mixing a breeze.) Once well-mixed place into containers, date, and freeze.
Notes, References, and Additives:
Note: It is much easier to clean your LEM grinder right after grinding while everything is still wet. Otherwise, if you let the meat dry it is much harder to remove. Note: You have to feed the amount according to your pet, one size does not fit all. For the cats, I make this their main morning and night meal and feed each about a heaping soup spoon full at each serving. For the dog, I give her about 1/3 cup morning and night as she is small. I only give my cats dry food as a treat or when I have to be gone and cannot adhere to their feeding schedule. Some pets take to it readily, others you have to patiently feed along with their regular food until you can get them completely switched over.
Note: Most vets do not approve of a raw diet; however, most vets make money selling commercially prepared dog and cat food. So don't let them play the guilt game on you. You be the judge if this is right for you and your pets!
Note: When you feed this recipe you will notice that your pets' stool will be very small and firm with very little odor. This is quite normal as there are no added fillers such as grain and meat by-products. You know exactly what your pet is eating.
Additives: I add 1/2 cup of Dinovite for Show when I mix the meat before freezing as I have this on hand and want to use it up. Dinovite makes a formula for dogs and cats, but I can't tell you what the difference in the product is.
When I feed both the dog and the cats I add 1/8 tsp of powdered Taurine to their morning meal and 1 ml of liquid Feline Omega 3. These two additives are a must! Make sure to feed these to make a balanced diet. I also add a little warm water if I feel the food is too thick. I try to feed it at room temperature by warming it for a few seconds in the microwave, but not cooking it and stirring it very well to distribute the additives. Also, be diligent with cleaning your pets' dishes after each meal so bacterium does not have a chance to grow.
Some people include raw egg yolk in their meat mixtures. If you choose to do so add 4 yolks per 5-6 pounds of meat. The white of the egg must not be fed raw.
References:
www.iherb.com for Powdered Taurine supplement
www.thevitaminshoppe.com for Feline Omega 3 supplement
www.dinovite.com for Dinovite supplement for dogs or cats
www.tcfeline.com a very informative site for raw food feeders that I encourage you to visit!
www.lemproducts.com More information about the raw pet food diet and LEM Meat Grinders
Prepared by Cathy L. Cunningham
Take 15 lbs. of the packages of chicken thighs including the bones and skin and run through the grinder.
Take the 1 pint of chicken livers and run through the grinder.
Take 3 lbs. of the chicken hearts and gizzards and run through the grinder.
Cover the ground meat and place it in the refrigerator.
If you have the time - chunk up the remaining package of chicken thighs omitting the bone and skin also chunk up the remaining package of heart and gizzards. Do this to give your pet something to chew on as it is good for their teeth and gums. Take the chicken bones and skin and put it into a stockpot and cover it with 10 cups of water. Cook the bones and skin for about an hour to make a broth. Remove the broth from heat and strain and discard the bones and skin. Thoroughly cool the broth in the refrigerator preferably overnight.
If you don't have the time to do the chunked meat, go ahead and run it through your grinder after removing the thigh bone and skin to make the broth. You always want to remove about 25% of bone and skin from the finished product. (Too much calcium causes constipation.)
Take apart your grinder and remove and discard any hard pieces of the bone ends that remain in your grinder. Put a little bleach in your hot soapy water to disinfect and thoroughly clean all grinder parts. Let air dry.
Once you have all of the meat prepared and your chicken broth cold you are now ready to mix either by hand or with a LEM meat mixer. (The LEM meat mixer makes mixing a breeze.) Once well-mixed place into containers, date, and freeze.
Notes, References, and Additives:
Note: It is much easier to clean your LEM grinder right after grinding while everything is still wet. Otherwise, if you let the meat dry it is much harder to remove. Note: You have to feed the amount according to your pet, one size does not fit all. For the cats, I make this their main morning and night meal and feed each about a heaping soup spoon full at each serving. For the dog, I give her about 1/3 cup morning and night as she is small. I only give my cats dry food as a treat or when I have to be gone and cannot adhere to their feeding schedule. Some pets take to it readily, others you have to patiently feed along with their regular food until you can get them completely switched over.
Note: Most vets do not approve of a raw diet; however, most vets make money selling commercially prepared dog and cat food. So don't let them play the guilt game on you. You be the judge if this is right for you and your pets!
Note: When you feed this recipe you will notice that your pets' stool will be very small and firm with very little odor. This is quite normal as there are no added fillers such as grain and meat by-products. You know exactly what your pet is eating.
Additives: I add 1/2 cup of Dinovite for Show when I mix the meat before freezing as I have this on hand and want to use it up. Dinovite makes a formula for dogs and cats, but I can't tell you what the difference in the product is.
When I feed both the dog and the cats I add 1/8 tsp of powdered Taurine to their morning meal and 1 ml of liquid Feline Omega 3. These two additives are a must! Make sure to feed these to make a balanced diet. I also add a little warm water if I feel the food is too thick. I try to feed it at room temperature by warming it for a few seconds in the microwave, but not cooking it and stirring it very well to distribute the additives. Also, be diligent with cleaning your pets' dishes after each meal so bacterium does not have a chance to grow.
Some people include raw egg yolk in their meat mixtures. If you choose to do so add 4 yolks per 5-6 pounds of meat. The white of the egg must not be fed raw.
References:
www.iherb.com for Powdered Taurine supplement
www.thevitaminshoppe.com for Feline Omega 3 supplement
www.dinovite.com for Dinovite supplement for dogs or cats
www.tcfeline.com a very informative site for raw food feeders that I encourage you to visit!
www.lemproducts.com More information about the raw pet food diet and LEM Meat Grinders
Prepared by Cathy L. Cunningham
