DIY BARF Cat Food

I mentioned in the post BARF diet that I want to make my own raw meat mix to feed to Misty. The actual implementation was modified to better fit the reality.

Instead of following a complicated feeding schedule, we decided to put out a small bowl of dry food for her 24/7, and feed a cube of raw food every other night. We also feed commercial wet food (Science Diet, Kitten Real Chicken Dinner) and raw chicken neck alternately in between the nights.

The response from Misty has been great! She loves all the tasty raw food for dinner, and still enjoys the dry food during the day.

So, the first batch of raw food I prepared for her contains the following:
- one peeled banana mushed
- half an apple, grated
- half a carrot, grated
- 3/4 cup finely diced broccoli
- half a yam, baked and mushed
- 2 hard boiled eggs, mushed
- 130g white fish, boiled and mushed
- 250g lean beef mince
- 500g roo mince
- 100g organic yogurt
- 100g cheddar cheese grated



All the ingredients are prepared and added to a big metal bowl for mixing.



After everything is well mixed in, mixture is cubed in ice trays.



Leave the tray in freezer for half a day, then pop them out. Store them in a well sealed box.



Before feeding, leave the frozen cube in the fridge for an hour to defrost... then, leave out for 10-15 minutes to warm up to room temperature.

Then~ watch Misty chewing it down in the blink of an eye! ....
[Update] We just timed it... she wolves down one cube in about 1 min and 20 seconds.... :D



So, the ingredients used add up to about $10. There was enough to make a total of 84 meat cubes. In average, each cube is only about 12 cents. It's way cheaper than canned wet food, plus it's made of real and solid ingredients plus Love!!!

Success!! ^___^v

DIY cat dental chew toy

[period of obsession] 1.5 hours
[goal] effective and cheap cat dental cleaning aid
[item required]
- a natural vegetable sponge (loofah), $1 reject shop (preferably non-dyed)
- hot water
- steak knife for cutting
- scissor for trimming the edge

[idea] All natural loofah is safe for animals to chew on and is okay if loose fiber is accidentally ingested. (not chunks which might cause choking, so supervise the usage) According to websites, the tough loofah fiber cleans off cats' teeth while cats enjoy chewing on its unique texture.

[step 1] boil the loofah in pot for 20 min to soften the fiber and sterilize. I fail to find any non-dyed loofah, so I boiled mine for much longer in order to wash out the dye as much as I can.

[step 2] use the steak knife to slice off discs of loofah. I personally choose this shape because it seems to fit in cat's little mouth better. I imagine this can clean off the inner molars better. Also, any fiber which might come off is short. I am sure any shape works as long as it allows plenty of chewing surface area. Also, use a scissor to trim off obvious loose fiber along the edge.


[step 3] smudge a little treat on the loofah, stock treat crumbles in between the fiber, or even sprinkle catnip on it.... do whatever gets the interest of your cat to chew on it.


[step 4] I suggest supervision during the activity since swallowing a large chunk of loofah could cause choking/throat irritation. (same as no good to shallow anything too large) Also, after chewing is done, you can wash the loofah in warm water and dry it off easily . Or, even boil it again for further sanitation.

DIY cat toy box

[period of obsession] 20 min
[goal] DIY a peek-a-prize cat toy box, retail US$40


[items and tools]
- one empty cereal box (or any narrow cardboard box)
- some tape to seal ends, also to anchor the toy on the floor once finished
- blade to cut
- an empty toilet paper roll to draw shapes
- a pen to draw


[step 1] trace the shape on the box


[step 2] cut out the shapes


[step 3] drop cat toys into the box with holes


[done] It's my toy until Misty gets here! (cost - next to $0!) When given to cats, better to tape it down to the floor for better play. (Otherwise, the box is too light, it can fly across the room in one kick.)


[and...] thread a string through the circle cut-outs, and turned them into toys, too!