June 14, 2024, 2:16 pm | Read time: 7 minutes
The cupboard is empty? There was plenty of cat food in there yesterday, wasn’t there? If the cat food runs out, owners who have an understanding of cat nutrition will be able to prepare a replacement meal easily. The PETBOOK author and health consultant for cats (and dogs), Philine Ebert, explains the basics.
It’s Sunday or a public holiday, and you’ve run out of cat food, but your cat is so hungry! This has probably happened to every cat owner. But what can you offer your cat as an alternative to its usual food? PETBOOK gives some tips on what you can do with what you have in the kitchen when the cat food has run out.
Overview
- What is the basic diet of a cat?
- What should you keep in mind if you need to replace cat food that has run out?
- These types of meat and fish are suitable as the main ingredients in a cat meal
- How to enhance the improvised meal by incorporating vegetables, fruits, dairy products, and rice
- Oils and herbs are an ideal supplement if you run out of cat food
- Recipe for fish with potatoes and vegetables
What is the basic diet of a cat?
Cats are carnivores, meaning they are specialized meat-eaters with sharp canines and fangs. Cats also have a short intestine, which means that they need to eat easily digestible food. This should be high in protein and fat and contain very little fiber.
In the wild, cats feed on individual prey, such as mice or birds, which they eat whole. The ideal daily ration consists of a food volume of three to four percent of the cat’s own body weight. A cat can only reach this amount over several small portions. However, it will absorb all the essential nutrients and, above all, water, which is particularly important.
Due to their evolutionary history, our domestic cats still have the genes of a desert animal. This is why they are geared towards meeting their basic water requirements with their food. A prey animal consists of approximately 70 to 80 percent water, which is almost enough to cover a cat’s basic hydration requirements. Therefore, only small portions of water need to be drunk in addition.
Also interesting: How cats were domesticated
What should you keep in mind if you need to replace cat food that has run out?
Therefore, the basis of a cat’s diet is meat. In contrast to a dog’s diet, an optimal cat meal therefore consists of 95 percent animal content (muscle meat, offal, cartilage, and blood) and five percent plant content (vegetables, fruit, berries, herbs, contents from omasum, or green rumen). With this basic knowledge, you can prepare a balanced meal yourself.
If the cat food has run out, you can easily create a daily ration yourself from the meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, and dairy products available. The meal should not be spiced, sweetened, or too fatty. Artificial additives should generally be avoided.
If the cat is not used to raw food, the ingredients should always be cooked or steamed, as this makes them easier to digest. The digestive system can react sensitively to raw ingredients, and this can lead to gastrointestinal problems, which is why mixed feeding should be avoided. Some obvious advantages to making food on your own are:
- natural nutrition
- controlled use of good, high-quality products
- individual composition according to the pets’ taste
Also interesting: Are cats allowed to eat vegetables?
These types of meat and fish are suitable as the main ingredients in a cat meal
If the cat food has run out, various types of meat and fish are suitable. These include beef, horse, rabbit, and lamb, for example. Sheep or goat, as well as various types of poultry such as duck, chicken, goose, or turkey are also popular with cats. Game, pheasant, or hare are also suitable meat alternatives.
Any meat should be cooked for at least ten minutes at 80 degrees Celsius and only served once it has cooled down. The broth from the cooked meat can be offered as drinking water or mixed into the meal. However, be careful with pork! It is not suitable for cats (or dogs) as it can carry the life-threatening Aujeszky’s virus.
Most cats also love fish, especially tuna and salmon. However, cats also readily accept seafood like trout, pike, perch, mackerel, herring, and cod. Fish should be offered boneless. Cooked or boiled fish and seafood are a delicacy for cats. Classic canned tuna can also be used in a pinch, but it’s best to choose the variety packed “in its own juice”. Tuna in oil should only be fed if the oil is well drained.
Also interesting: Why do some cats drink water from the toilet?
How to enhance the improvised meal by incorporating vegetables, fruits, dairy products, and rice
If the cat food has run out and meat or fish has been provided, you can also offer steamed vegetables, ideally puréed. According to the rule of thumb, this proportion should not exceed five percent of the total ration. Suitable vegetables can be root vegetables, such as carrots, parsnips, root parsley, beets, black salsify, or Jerusalem artichokes. Broccoli, sweet potatoes, chard, or zucchini can also be offered. However, zucchini is only good if it is not bitter. Some cats also like pumpkin, celery, or cucumbers. Tomatoes can also be offered to cats as long as they are red and ripe – green tomatoes are poisonous to cats! Leafy greens like lamb’s lettuce, lollo rosso, and oak leaf lettuce are also digestible for cats, but vegetables like onions, cabbage, and leeks are not only indigestible but also poisonous to them.
If you want to refine your cat’s meal with some fruit, it can be grated or puréed as a topping to arouse their curiosity. Small amounts of fruit are also healthy: apple, pear, watermelon, and berry fruits, such as blueberries, raspberries, or strawberries. Some cats also find banana purée very exciting and tasty.
Conventional milk is not suitable for cats because of the lactose, but a spoonful of yogurt, cottage cheese, or low-fat quark is well tolerated and refreshing. A small amount of potato, rice, or oatmeal can also be added to the food for a change. However, always remember that a cat is primarily a carnivore.
Oils and herbs are an ideal supplement if you run out of cat food
Oils and herbs are important for the supply of valuable omega-3 fatty acids and minerals. A few drops of a good, high-quality oil are sufficient. Rapeseed oil, for example, is suitable as it has no taste of its own. But salmon oil, linseed oil, hemp oil, or coconut oil are also easily digestible.
Kitchen or garden herbs can also be tasty and healthy when finely chopped and added to food in small quantities. Nettle, dill, dandelion, marjoram, basil, chamomile, or rosemary are just a few examples. However, herbs are very aromatic. Therefore, always make sure that there is fresh drinking water available as well.
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Recipe for fish with potatoes and vegetables
If the cat food has run out, you can feed your pet for a day with the following recipe:
- Cook 150 grams of boneless fish fillet (examine it carefully!) in a solid dish in the oven in a bit of water at 180 degrees for approximately 20 minutes.
- Cook 20 to 40 grams of vegetables (carrots, broccoli, or zucchini) and half a potato in unsalted water until it is soft.
- Mix the fish and the puréed vegetables and stir in a tablespoon full of cottage cheese as well as four drops of oil.
- Let it cool down and separate it into two portions, which can be fed throughout one day.
- If your pet likes it, you can serve it garnished with a bit of chopped dill.
My conclusion
If your cat’s usual commercial food isn’t available, you can ensure they receive a balanced diet by cooking for them yourself. Not only does this alternative to regular cat food offer a tasty change of pace, but it might also be enjoyable to whip up a meal with your pet by your side in the kitchen. As the owner, you know exactly what is in the food, and you can put together the meal yourself using your pet’s favorite ingredients. The result: a satiated and happy cat.