Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Can cats live on plain cooked meat?

29 replies

1984isnow · 21/08/2019 18:35

My cats are notoriously picky eaters. The one food they eat most regularly is gourmet pate, but still go through phases of refusing and lots goes to waste. I have tried loads of different ones in the past.

They will go mad for plain cooked chicken though, so I do sometimes boil some separately when I'm doing a chicken based dish. I am now wondering if I should just start to feed them chicken (and turkey/beef etc) only?

I am struggling to find on google whether this is ok, a lot of results just say they can eat it but not whether it would be considered 'complete'. I know there are raw food brands in cat food, but not sure if there is anything that makes them a complete pet food or are they just meat? I see some brands with lots of added stuff that cats don't actually need (I'm sure I've seen green tea and seaweed in some brands), so it's hard to separate the necessary.

I know they need taurine, which
is found in meat anyway, but I could buy an dadd taurine to homecooked food too. Would this be ok?

They are just so picky with food, and tbh the pate they eat isn't the best anyway.

I haven't asked my vet yet as they only ever recommend dry food like Hills etc, which they won't eat plus I know 100% dry isn't the best option for all cats.

OP posts:
Fluffycloudland77 · 21/08/2019 19:00

How would you add the taurine? Is it a paste?.

Original poster
1984isnow · 21/08/2019 19:46

You can get supplements that you sprinkle into food. One I looked at says to be added to pure meat and not complete foods.

They'll also eat the flaky food (applaws I think) but they're not complete so perhaps I could just buy them and add taurine. I'm assuming that would be the same result as home made food though.

OP posts:
Soubriquet · 21/08/2019 19:48

I’m pretty sure you can’t

It’s not a complete diet so will be missing a lot of nutrients not just taurine

YesQueen · 21/08/2019 19:49

You can if you use Felini which is a complete supplement

Original poster
1984isnow · 21/08/2019 19:57

Thanks yes I was looking at that brand, but just the taurine one. Didn't spot that one.

Our vets practice has a 'diet consultant' (sales person) so I will still speak to them for more advice before making any changes, but I'd liked to be armed with some info as they just steer me in the direction of the food that they sell.

OP posts:
YesQueen · 21/08/2019 20:26

Have you tried any raw or high meat stuff? Like nature's menu pouches or actual raw meat
Might be worth a go. Mine loves raw chicken wings and turkey mince
I had to put him on kitten food for weight gain but he will still happily chomp (he has one tooth!) on heart or raw bones

SingingMyOwnSpecialSong · 21/08/2019 20:30

I think they need offal and bones (uncooked I think, can never remember) to get all the nutrients they need. I read up recently as I was thinking about it for mine as a way to reduce packaging waste and buy more ethically sourced meat for him, but gave up on the idea as it actually seems quite complicated and I am too squeamish to do raw/offal.

Takingabreakagain · 21/08/2019 20:32

There's a Facebook page called Raw feeding uk. It's mainly dogs but people on there are really knowledgeable about feeding raw to cats. There's several files of info too which might be useful to you.

Original poster
1984isnow · 21/08/2019 20:56

he has one tooth! 😻 pleeease can I see this one tooth??

I have tried them on raw in the past, gradually introduced it but they didn't go for it. I can't remember the brand I tried, but it came in tubes iirc. They have had the normal natures menu too, and went off it now won't touch it. I so wish they would eat that one, as it seems to be one of the best.

I have offered actual raw mince in the past, but they just did that thing where they tap it and jump backwards 😂

One thing with raw food though, is I'm not sure I'd want to leave it out during the day when I'm at work. They don't seem to have a routine in the morning especially, sometimes they will get up to eat before I leave other times they will just huff and go back to sleep. So I leave food out so they have it when they want it. It would be fine after work when I can keep an eye on it, though not sure if you should mix cooked/shop bought and raw?

There are a couple of other reasons, in addition to pickiness, one cat has started having a funny tum and stinking up the place farting. Vet said it would be worth trying different foods with him, little did she know they've tried nearly everythin. And I really want them to have a good diet so thought this might be a good idea.

singing thanks for that, I didn't realise about the offal. Could you point me in the direction of where you found this info? You seem to have found more than I could, and I don't want to end up looking at the wrong sites. I had read that bones need to be raw, as cooked are too soft and can damage their stomach or along those lines.

Thanks taking not on fb, but i will have a look as sometimes you can see those pages without logging in.

OP posts:
Original poster
1984isnow · 21/08/2019 21:00

What I meant by wrong sites is I keep coming across sites like ' 7 foods your cat can eat', that sort of thing, rather than how to feed them solely on 'human' food

OP posts:
YesQueen · 21/08/2019 21:03

One toothed idiot

Can cats live on plain cooked meat?
YesQueen · 21/08/2019 21:05

This is a really good raw feeding guide
http://catcentric.org/nutrition-and-food/raw-feeding/

Papergirl1968 · 21/08/2019 21:11

We had a Siameseoo ourgfGg

viccat · 21/08/2019 21:32

They might like a brand like Blink or Thrive that is very close to just cooked, premium meat but with all the essential minerals/vitamins added.

Papergirl1968 · 21/08/2019 22:04

Sorry, phone was playing up. Years ago we had a Siamese who flatly refused to eat any cat food and had chicken, steak, occasionally a bit of ham, or tinned salmon or something.

EachandEveryone · 22/08/2019 06:33

Can you give them complete dry as well? Or Thrive or Sainsbury’s finest which is just like cooked chicken you can buy an individual one to try

Original poster
1984isnow · 22/08/2019 08:49

yes ahhh look at him showing of his little fang, he looks very scary 😁

Thanks all so much for the links, I will be reading up on all of the info later.

Paper, interesting about your cat, did you give any supplements or anything else?

They have had the Sainsbury's fish and chicken flakes. It's a strange one, they will eat the 'complementary' brands but they don't like the Sainsbury's pouches. I assumed it would taste the sameConfused

I have only just spotted online actually that Sainsbury's do the chicken and fish in tins too, I wonder if they will be any good.

I'd not heard of Blink, but Thrive I'd only heard of recently and haven't wanted to try it incase they don't go for it. But whats another few more quid wasted, so I might try those and the sains tins too.

They're not too keen on dry, I always have it out so they have the option but the bowls are always left more or less full. In warm weather in particular, when they want to stay out all day, I keep dry food and water outside, but they just wait next to it until the butler (me) brings out some wet food.

I haven't tried a variety of dry brands though, so that's another thing to consider, and I could add it to the complementary brands they do like. If not, I can atleast try the Felini linked earlier.

I wish they could just have the ability to speak for five minutes so I can ask them what they want!

(Sorry for not replying to all individually, when I try to scroll up for the names, I keep clicking the bloody ads by accident )

OP posts:
YesQueen · 22/08/2019 09:33

Thrive is v much plain meat shredded in broth
Mine likes blink a lot and the Sainsbury's chicken selection in the black box

YesQueen · 22/08/2019 09:35

Oh and for dry food, wild freedom is like crack to mine. He actually sticks his head in the bag and purrs Hmm

Babdoc · 22/08/2019 09:44

If your cats have free access to the great outdoors, they may be rejecting commercial cat food simply because they are full of mice, voles and birds!
My own cat is an excellent mouser- my DDs call her the Verminator - and is often so stuffed that she turns her nose up at dinner. She eats well only if the hunting has been poor that day.
Cats get fibre, vitamins and minerals from the vegetarian gut contents of their small prey. Just feeding them meat won’t supply that. Discussing it with your vet practice is a good idea. But as a general rule, as long as a cat is healthy, it will eat when it’s hungry enough.

Branleuse · 22/08/2019 09:50

it might not be best most complete nutrition, but at least no added crap fillers in it either and theres a lot to be said for feeding a fussy animal whatever it will actually eat.

Papergirl1968 · 22/08/2019 12:06

No, we didn’t give any supplements, 1984, it was in the days before the Internet so they’d hVe been hard to get hold of.
He did die aged 10 though of kidney failure, but whether that was in any way related to his food, or him being a pedigree, or just simple bad luck, I don’t know.
He was this undersized little thing when we had him as a kitten though as he’d been refusing kitten food, so it shows how strong willed cats can be. As he grew up we continued to offer it occasionally but he tried to scratch it over like it was offensive to him. If cats don’t want to eat something, they won’t and nothing will persuade them to!

Papergirl1968 · 23/08/2019 20:48

Matt chillaxing on the last day of holiday.
He’s in for a shock when he gets home and finds Socks the kitten - who went home on Tuesday - already installed in his house.
It will be who’s been eating my food, who’s been sitting in my chair, and who’s been sleeping in my bed, like a feline version of Goldilocks 😹

Can cats live on plain cooked meat?