Budget Ketovore: Pet food Tips

by Kim Andersen
For all the dog parents: I don’t have a pup, but these tips will work for you for some of the meat components of their diet.
(They need some big-game meat as well.)
For all the cat parents: Transition their diet slowly, over a minimum 1-3 month period and serve only moist/not over-cooked to dryness, foods.

 

When I went Ketovore 5 years ago, I also put my cats on Carnivore. Magnus had gut issues. He had eczema, with extensive skin flaking and sensitivity, especially above his tail where most cats develop skin problems and he was fat (I think he was pre-diabetic). Saxon was old and had kidney problems. He should not have lived more than 6 months at the time and once on carnivore he improved and ended up living another 2 years. Magnus’ skin took about a year to completely clear-up, but now he is healthy with the most beautiful coat. His mood improved as well!

It took me a while to find fast methods for food storage and prep, but I have settled into a flexible system that is quick and easy to maintain. It does require effort, but everything of genuine value requires time and energy, plus you will need some freezer space.

Cats will only eat relatively fresh, moist food (refrigerated no longer than 2-3 days) and need a variety of small game animals and seafood. I try to offer them a little of both each day. They also need food available to them every 4 hours. Their digestive system delivers bile to the stomach on a regular basis and without food, at least every 4 hours, they will develop stomach problems and become nauseous. At first, I could only keep up, but overtime I have figured out how to always have fresh food down and provide a varied diet with moderate effort.

Basic Tips “Buy amounts are for 2 cats”

(I will be posting blogs on how to prepare the meats, in the upcoming weeks.)

  • Cooking Oils: Do not use vegetable or seed oils to cook animal meals. You can use bacon drippings, butter or pure beef/pork lard. Keep all your bacon and non-spicy fat drippings in a lidded jar in the fridge for handy use (I have a spicy drippings jar for myself in my fridge). Just pull the jar out of the fridge, pop open the lid and pour in whatever drippings you want to keep. Then, pop on the lid and back into the fridge it goes for future use. PS: Always pour all the drippings from their cooked meat onto the meat, when you are transferring it to a storage container. This will keep the meat moist in the fridge.
  • Canned Tuna in water: Have tuna on hand for breakfast, lunch and dinner, quick feeds, or when you run out of meat. Only 1 can a day! if you can manage it. I like to pour-out half the salty juice and add some warm water and mix together, making sure I really chop up the tuna until it is flakey. They need salt, but at a can a day it begins to be too much and you will notice, because your cat will get very thirsty. Oh, buy the chunk tuna. There is more meat in the can, versus flaked tuna. = Super Store offers cans for as low as $1.25 each. Buy 15-20 to keep on hand/month.
  • Canned Sardines in water: Same advice as above (except I don’t mix it with water), including Super Store. Cats can tire of sardines, so I give my 2 boys 1 can between them twice a week, on average. Buy 10 to keep on hand/month.
  • Frozen Scallops: Now this might sound fancy, but you can buy a lb bag at Super Store for as low as $6.99 and I get 2 meals for 2 big cats from 1 bag. That is cheaper than good quality canned cat food, and fast and easy too. Just put the portion you want in a bowl and fill with tap-hot water to thaw them (5 min). Drain and serve. A favorite of my new cat, Rollo. Buy 3-5 frozen bags/month.
  • Frozen 2 inch Prawns: This is definitely a super treat, but I will buy them a few bags just to spoil them. I will most times thaw 3 each and add to a tuna dinner to spice it up. = Super Store has 1lb bags for as low as $9.99. Buy 1 or 2/month.
  • Ground Turkey: Cook extra and keep a tuperware of the cooked turkey chunks in the fridge (will keep fresh 2 days). = Costco has turkey tubes that are a great price. Buy 1 tube/month. This is a favorite of my cats, so I buy 2 tubes. They have it almost every day. I will be posting a blog on how to store and prepare easily.
  • Bacon Drippings and Scrambled Eggs: Quick and extremely nutritious, with all their vitamins and minerals, this meal can be served as much as they want (I add a little chopped, cooked bacon in the scramble). This meal is very good for them, but doesn’t keep well in the fridge, so I do 1-2 eggs each. = Super Store and Costco have good prices on a flat of organic eggs. Buy 1 flat/month.
  • Pork Loin: At Costco you can get 5 loins for $25. I pop them into separate little bags and into the freezer they go. This way, I can just use 1 when it’s time to make some cat food. Again, you can store the leftovers in a tuperware in the fridge for easy serve. Pork loin stays nice for 3 days. Buy 1 bag/month. I will be posting a blog on how to store and prepare easily.
  • Fresh Chicken: As a treat I will buy them a chicken breast once a week, chop it into 1” chunks and fry it on med/low with bacon fat. Cats will not eat dry meat, so undercook a bit and let sit covered between dinner plates for 10 min, so it can finish cooking. Take off cover plate and let cool. Now, cut it into bite-size pieces and serve. Left-overs will keep fresh 2 days in tuperware in the fridge.
  • Fresh Catnip: Cats need grasses and leafy greens for digestion. I grow catnip in a number of places outside, but I also cut off about 1 TBSP/each of leaf each week for them to enjoy during the warm seasons and I give them dried during the winter.
  • Fresh Water: Always have fresh water down, but you may notice they are drinking much less. This is because they are getting their liquid now from their moist food, as they historically did and their need for water will lessen. Note: Over-drinking can be a matter of concern and related to kidney complications. Get this checked out.

I usually have some cooked turkey, pork or chicken in the fridge at any given time and I supplement with the quick easy seafoods. If you have meat always available in the fridge, its easy to give them food anytime and in any variety.

In the next weeks, I will be posting “cooking” blogs on how to prepare and store their food, so be sure to Follow Us on Facebook to get these follow-up tips.

Cheers, Kim 

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