Can I feed my cat homemade chicken due to cost and nutrition?

I personally prefer giving a cat dry food, or a mixture of dry food and wet food. Cats have extremely specific dietary needs, which is very hard to achieve in a homemade diet. For example, cats cannot convert certain animo acids into essential ones they need to be healthy, and they therefore must be present in the diet for the cat to meet the important dietary requirement. There are four brands of food that have a veterinary nutritionist on staff to make sure the recipes for the food meet the cat's nutrition needs, and they are Royal Canin, Hill's Science diet, Purina ProPlan, and Iams. I recommend feeding your cat from those brands. If you really want to do to a homemade diet, I will put two websites below that have recipes for homemade balanced diets for cats. As for chicken and ham, chicken is fine as an occasional treat as long as it's boiled white meat chicken with no bones. I do not recommend ham because it's too fatty. I hope this helps! https://secure.balanceit.com https://www.petdiets.com

Home prepared diets can be successfully fed to cats but it is important to fully research in order to provide all of the necessary nutrients in appropriate amounts to prevent over or undersupply of nutritional needs. IT is important to consult a trained nutritionist such as the Tufts University clinic which provide a range of well balanced recipes for home prepared food. A complete and balanced prepared diet should be fed with occasional treats otherwise

I would recommend consulting a veterinary nutritionist or using a website like https://secure.balanceit.com/index.php which provides recipes for balanced diets for pets, as it can be difficult to provide balanced nutrition from homemade diets. This website provides recipes based on your pet's needs.

The problem with feeding cats a homemade diet is that it is very difficult to get the correct balance of nutrients cats need. They are obligate carnivores, meaning they have to eat meat in order to survive, and their diet has to provide essential amino acids as their body cannot make them on it's own. I can put links below to websites that provide recipes for homemade diets for cats, and I would check that out if you want to try making a homemade diet for Orieo. I hope this helps! https://secure.balanceit.com https://www.petdiets.com

Unfortunately I can't recommend feeding a diet such as you are suggesting. Kittens need minerals (among other things) for proper growth, especially calcium and phosphorus, and they need to receive them at a specific ratio. Commercial diets specifically prepared for growing cats are formulated properly, and I would urge you to feed one of these. Royal Canin is available in India, and they have an excellent diet for kittens. Here is a link to their dry product: https://www.royalcanin.com/products/royal-canin-feline-health-nutrition-kitten-dry-cat-food/2522 At 7 weeks of age you may want to also purchase the canned product (https://www.royalcanin.com/products/royal-canin-feline-health-nutrition-babycat-instinctive-canned-cat-food/4057) and mix the two together. You can certainly continue feeding a bit of chicken (preferably white meat/no bones) along with the commercial diet, but limit the amount you feed to only a tablespoon or so.

I hate to hear this is happening to Isabella. This situation can be both frustrating and scary. Cats can become finicky eaters for several reasons: https://www.petcoach.co/article/my-pet-is-a-finicky-eater/ Unfortunately, it's impossible to know if Isabella is sick and if this is the cause of the finicky eating without a veterinary exam. If she is sick, she may be selective about her foods. Think about when you don't feel well. Most people are more willing to eat a warm bowl of soup than a piece of plain dried toast. Pets can be the same way. If she is sick, there is not likely anything you can do to encourage her to eat other foods without addressing the underlying illness. Just like humans, pets can not feel well for many reasons and this could range from intestinal parasites to cancer. In my opinion, your best option is to have her examined by the veterinarian. I agree that the chicken and chicken franks is not nutritionally balanced but if she will not eat any cat food, you don't have any options other trying a homemade diet, canned cat food, freeze dried cat food or raw cat food. You can't force her eat dry cat food and if you can't try different foods, you really don't have any options unfortunately. I will caution you that feeding a home made diet and raw diet is not generally recommended. The vast majority of homemade diets are found to be unbalanced. Balanced homemade diets can be formulated but you will need the help of a veterinarian.Raw diets can contain harmful bacteria to both people and pets. These require special handling. You would want any raw or freeze dried diets to be formulated to meet AAFCO standards and it will say this on the bag. Cats especially need certain amino acids to maintain heart health. Here is some information regarding homemade diets: https://www.petcoach.co/article/homemade-diets/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/homemade-cat-food-recipes-lack-essential-nutrients-finds-new-stud/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/raw-and-homemade-diets-what-you-need-to-know/ If you want to feed a homemade diet, I recommend to connect with your local veterinary community for information regarding local resources. You are certainly welcome to try different types of kibble to see if you can find anything she will eat that is commercially available. Some cats like the food to be switched every few days. You may end up with a lot of cat food however than she will not eat but you don't know until you try. I hope this helps to provide some guidance. Please feel free to post any additional questions.

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I'm sorry to hear that Kaira isn't eating like you believe she should. Home-made diets are typically NOT recommended by veterinarians, as it is very difficult to ensure cats are getting the proper amounts and percentages of nutrients. Cats have very particular needs when it comes to food, and they can become sick if they are either missing certain nutrients or if they get too much of others. Unless you consult a board certified Veterinary Nutritionist who can come up with an appropriate homemade diet for Kaira, I recommend feeding her a commercial cat food formulated for adult cats. There is nothing wrong with feeding normal cat food, in fact, they are much safer and preferred over homemade diets. A significant amount of research goes into formulating cat foods and making sure they are complete and balanced. I hope this is helpful!