Can I feed my cat cooked meat?

You will discover the true benefit of feeding a homemade diet when feeding your cat meat RAW.

The nutrients in raw meat are not de-natured by harmful heat. Many vitamins don’t survive heating, but most importantly, molecular structure of proteins and fatty acids change when heated. Heat breaks molecular bonds, and a once essential long chain amino acid or fatty acids can be lost. Beyond that, one should consider that especially heated fats can be carcinogenetic.

HOWEVER, before you abandon the whole idea of homemade cat food altogether, I want to say, that making a homemade cat food using cooked meat is MUCH BETTER than not doing it at all. Our Instincts premix is well suited for adding to cooked meat, and we will discuss how in this article. Hesitation to feed meat raw is natural, as are concerns about germs. After feeding our cats with raw meat, and teaching people to do the same with their cats for the past 14 years, I can assure you, that there is no more risk to feeding cats raw meat than there is to feeding cats dry cat food!

If your cat has specific health concerns or YOU need a transitioning time from cooked to raw, here are our suggestions on how to prepare cat food using cooked meat.

Since using cooked meat adds an additional preparation step to your cat-food-making, make your life a little easier and purchase the meat of your choice already ground. If you are concerned about bacteria in ground meat, don’t be, because we are going to cook it!

Place the required amount of meat as outlined in your preparation instructions in a pot and add enough water to create a stew-like consistency once water and meat are thoroughly combined.

Place your pot on the stove top and turn the element to low heat. Put a lid on your pot and allow the meat to come to a boil gradually and allow to simmer for 30 – 45 minutes, depending on amount of meat being cooked.

This slow-cooking process on low heat will render the meat very tender and aromatic – almost like canned meat. Cats love it!

After the suggested cooking time on low heat, your meat will have formed a somewhat solid mass in the centre of the pot, surrounded by fluid.

Mix the fluid back into the meat and remove from heat. You can allow the mixture to cool in the pot, or transfer it into a storage container for later use.

It is IMORTANT, that you allow the meat to cool to at least body temperature before proceeding with blending the Instincts cat food premix with it according to instruction. The Instincts premix contains many essential, but fragile nutrients, which would possibly not survive if combined with hot meat.

Do not burn the meat. If you burn your meat, throw it out and start fresh. Unless you forget about the pot on your stove top, this method should not easily burn your meat.

Do not add oil to the meat or the pot to prevent it from sticking. We do not want to fry the meat!

Since cooked meats do not freeze as nicely as raw meats do, it is our suggestion to cut our preparation instructions in half and forgoing the freezing altogether. Cooked meat is more stable in the refrigerator than raw meat, and can be stored there for four days. If you are working with smaller batch sizes, our Instincts PLUS with liver will be easier to work with. If you are using our InstinctsTC and want to add your own liver, puree or grind your raw liver, and add it to your meat before cooking. The vitamin A (retinol) in liver is heat stable at normal cooking temperatures.

You can cook our “Do-it-Yourself” Cat Food Recipe in the same fashion, but we strongly suggest not to feed it long term this way, and to use it cooked only during a transition period or other short term. On that note, it is necessary to mention, that our research and feeding trials are entirely based on feeding meat raw, and that we possess no data on our premix or recipe being fed with cooked meat long term. If you see no other option but long term, choose to make cat food with cooked meat and one of our Instincts premixes over cooking the “Do-it-yourself” recipe. No … not because we want to make a sale, but because the Instincts premix contains all essential amino and fatty acids, as well as vitamins and minerals to complete meat, some of which will be lost entirely when cooking the “Do-it-yourself” recipe.