February 4, 2025 •
Cats
Have you ever looked at the ingredients on your cat’s food and thought, “Maybe I could make something healthier at home?” I know I have. The idea of cooking for our cats is appealing – we get full control over ingredients, and it feels like an expression of love. But cats have very specific nutritional needs, and making a balanced homemade diet is both an art and a science. In this guide, I’ll share what I’ve learned as a dedicated cat parent about homemade cat food: the nutrients cats must have, the benefits and risks of DIY diets, and some tips (plus a simple recipe idea) for those who want to give home cooking a try.Understanding Feline Nutritional NeedsCats are obligate carnivores, which means they must eat animal-based proteins to survive. In the wild, a cat’s diet is mostly meat (muscle, organs) with maybe a tiny bit of pre-digested plant matter from their prey’s stomach. This translates into some non-negotiable nutritional requirements for domestic cats:High Protein Requirement: Cats need a lot of protein, specifically animal protein. Amino acids like taurine and arginine found in meat are essential. Taurine is a big one – cats cannot make taurine themselves and must get it from diet (primarily from heart and muscle meat). A cat needs around 250–500 mg of taurine per day. Without enough taurine, cats can develop serious issues like heart disease (dilated cardiomyopathy) or vision problems. This is why any homemade diet must include taurine-rich foods (e.g., taurine supplements, or taurine-rich organs like heart). Arginine is another critical amino acid; even one arginine-deficient meal can make a cat sick. Good news is meat is rich in arginine, so a meat-based diet naturally supplies it.Moderate Fat (including Essential Fatty Acids): Fat is a great energy source for cats and also provides essential fatty acids like arachidonic acid and linoleic acid. Cats also need Omega-3 fatty acids (like DHA/EPA) for skin, coat, and overall health. In the wild, they might get these from fish or the fat of prey. In homemade food, you’d include fats through ingredients like chicken fat, salmon or fish oil, etc.Minimal Carbohydrates: Cats have no dietary requirement for carbs. They can digest some carbs, but their metabolism is geared towards protein and fat. Homemade diets don’t need grains or starches from a nutritional standpoint, although a small amount of fiber (from say, pumpkin or psyllium) can help with digestion and stool quality. Many successful homemade recipes are very low-carb, focusing on meat, organs, and supplements. Remember: “Cats can’t make a cake without flour” – to paraphrase a vet, meaning kibble needs carbs to bind it, but homemade doesn’t. Cats do fine on high-protein, high-moisture diets with few carbs.Vitamins and Minerals: This is where it gets tricky in DIY. Cats have specific requirements for vitamins (A, B’s, D, E, K) and minerals (calcium, phosphorus, potassium, etc.). For example, cats need preformed vitamin A from animal sources (they can’t convert beta-carotene from veggies to A like some animals do). They also require vitamin D from diet if they aren’t getting it from the sun (they don’t synthesize D in their skin efficiently). Calcium and phosphorus balance is extremely important – cats need calcium for bone health and proper metabolism. In the wild, they get calcium by consuming bones. In a homemade diet, if you feed only meat without bone or another calcium source, your cat will be deficient in calcium and have an excess of phosphorus (meat is high in phosphorus). Over time that causes skeletal problems and other issues. Never feed just plain meat without balancing the minerals! Always include a calcium source (like bone meal, crushed eggshell, or a calcium supplement) in the right ratio. Generally, recipes aim for a calcium:phosphorus ratio around 1.1 or 1.2 : 1.Taurine (again, because it’s THAT important): I’m repeating taurine because it’s critical. It’s found in high amounts in heart and also in tongue and dark poultry meat. Cooking can reduce taurine, so often recipes will supplement it. Most homemade diet guidelines suggest adding taurine powder to be safe, even if your recipe has taurine-rich ingredients, just to ensure there’s enough. Taurine deficiency is a common pitfall of poorly designed homemade diets and can lead to blindness and heart failure – so we must be vigilant.Water: Not a nutrient per se, but cats on homemade food (especially if it’s raw or cooked meat) will get lots of moisture from it, which is great. A properly formulated homemade diet is typically wet (either served raw with moisture or cooked stew-like), which helps hydration.In summary, a balanced homemade cat food must have meat for protein, including organ meats for vitamins and taurine, a calcium source, added vitamins/minerals as needed, and ideally some fatty acids and fiber. It’s a bit of a chemistry project, but once you understand the roles of each component, it makes sense.
