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Christie Keith: Most of you know me as PHChristy, and I'm the director of community services and editor of the whole PetHobbyist.com family of websites

gonzilly: ?

Christie Keith: I'm also a journalist who has been writing about animal health since 1991

Christie Keith: I have worked for the Veterinary Information Network, America Online's Pet Care Forum, and am currently a contributing editor for Universal Press Syndicate's Pet Connection

Christie Keith: a newspaper feature on pets that appears in over 75 newspapers nationwide

Christie Keith: and which maintains at blog at petconnection.com, where we have been covering the pet food recall since the night it broke

Christie Keith: I have also been feeding a homemade diet to my cats and d*gs since 1986

Christie Keith: more than 21 years

Christie Keith: I'm glad to see so many of you are interested not just in feeding homemade diets to your cats, but in DOING IT RIGHT!

Christie Keith: I'm sure you'll agree that cats are special. While it's not that hard to feed an adult dog a homemade diet, cats are a different story.

Christie Keith: That's because cats are a species with very precise nutritional needs. Their requirements are both more specific than those of dogs or humans, but the optimum ranges of certain crucial ratios, such as calcium to phosphorus, are much narrower for cats.

Christie Keith: Cats also have a requirement for certain nutrients, such as a preformed source of vitamin A and the amino acid taurine, and these requirements must be met by the diet.

Christie Keith: I don't know how many of you remember back in the 70s, when research found that commercial cat foods were deficient in taurine - which resulted in blindness and heart disease in cats until this deficiency was identified.

Christie Keith: This research led to the re-formulation of commercial cat foods, and saved many cats' lives and eyesight.

Christie Keith: While we're all frightened and confused by the series of pet food recalls, and understandably considering preparing our cats' food in our own kitchens, at least for a while, it's important that we don't leap out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Christie Keith: Nutritional deficiency diseases can kill and harm cats, too. So if you decide to do this for your cats, forever or just for now, please do it with care.

Christie Keith: I know that most of you would like me to give you some recipes that are tested and balanced and easy to make. I'm not going to do that.

Christie Keith: That's because I don't know your cat, I don't know you, and I don't know what will work for your individual situation. Your cat may have special needs, your lifestyle may be more suited to one form of home-feeding more than another.

Christie Keith: What I am going to do is give you four places to find balanced, texted, trusted recipes for homemade cat food.

Christie Keith: I'm also going to tell you my personal history with feeding my cats a homemade diet, and then I'll answer any questions you have about the general concepts. But please don't ask me for a recipe.

Christie Keith: Back in 1985, I had a cat named Chuck who had severe flea allergies. This was in the days before topical flea prevenatives, so it was quite hard to keep him flea-free.

Christie Keith: He spent several months a year itching, with scabs all over his body, and suffered severe hair loss. He was on ever-increasing doses of prednisone, and they weren't working anymore.

Christie Keith: He had also developed some disturbing symptoms such as tumors in his ears, poor dental health, and a bad smell.

Christie Keith: His vet was not optimistic, and when he was ten years old, it was suggested the kindest thing might be to put him down.

Christie Keith: I went on a trip, and while in a book store, picked up a copy of the 1983 edition of Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats. I took it home and put Chuck on one of Dr. Pitcairn's diets.

Christie Keith: Three days later, he had completely stopped itching.

Christie Keith: A few days later, I noticed he had no more scabs.

Christie Keith: His coat grew back.

Christie Keith: He stopped stinking.

Christie Keith: His eyes were clear, his ear tumors went away, and when his coat grew back in, it was shiny.

Christie Keith: He never itched again.

Christie Keith: I switched all my cats to this diet - cats I believed were already healthy and in good condition - and suddenly their coats were like glass, the tartar vanished from their teeth, their litterboxes stopped smelling, and their eyes were clearer than they'd ever been.

Christie Keith: I've never turned back.

Christie Keith: So, my first suggestion is that you all rush right out, if you haven't already, and buy Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats by Richard Pitcairn DVM PhD. Dr. Pitcairn's PhD is in immunology, by the way. The book is now in its third edition.

PHAbymom: It is featured on the CatHobbyist bookstore main page tonite.

Christie Keith: It has many recipes for cats in all life stages and a few for cats with special needs.

Christie Keith: That's great, Aby!

Christie Keith: Another book that is full of useful and interesting information about canine and feline nutrition is Home-Prepared Dog and Cat Diets: The Healthful Alternative by Donald Strombeck DVM PhD.

Christie Keith: He has a lot of recipes for cats, including cats with special needs, and including some grain-free diets, which I really like for cats.

Christie Keith: There are two websites where board certified veterinary nutritionists will formulate recipes for your cats for a fee. One is www.petdiets.com, and the other is www.balanceit.com. balanceit.com will give you one free recipe right now if you use product codes HOMEMADE or Wal-mart. Their recipes usually cost around $20.

Christie Keith: I'm going to open this up to your questions now. I'll also answer the ones I was sent in advance as we go along.

Christie Keith: ga

PHCatByte: gonzilly, you have a question for christie?

gonzilly: are you using a raw or cooked diet for your cats? you answered my other question...

Christie Keith: gonzilly, personally I have always fed raw diets to my cats, however

realmjit_nr: ?

Christie Keith: many people have concerns about food safety and prefer to cook.

Christie Keith: the recipes in both books can be served raw OR cooked

gonzilly: ty

Christie Keith: at least, the meat... the veggies or grains must be cooked

Christie Keith: although Dr. Strombeck has recipes that have neither veggies nor grains

Christie Keith: and those could be served completely raw

Christie Keith: ga

PHCatByte: mjit, your question?

Christie Keith: Maybe I should take one of the pre-sent questions while we ait for mjit?>

Christie Keith: This was sent to me: what other supplements do cats need in addition to taurine? is there a multi-supplement that will provide the correct percentages of all needed items?

realmjit_nr: I've been giving my eldest scraps for years -- a bite or two from a third of my meals. How much should I trust my cat to avoid stuff he can't digest?

staffordmom: ?

Christie Keith: I am not aware of a multi-supplement that will provide all the correct percentages of all needed items, but yes, cats do need a number of nutrients in addition to taurine. Which those are depend on entirely on the composition of the diet - and this is why we need to rely on tested, balanced recipes.

Christie Keith: realmijit, well, some cats will avoid things that are bad for them, some will avoid things that are good for them, and some are unpredictable. What do you mean by "cant' digest"?

Christie Keith: just adding to my previous answer about supplements, the balanceit.com website sells a supplement meant to balance their recipes, but it only works if you are feeding their exact recipes.

Christie Keith: realmijit, could you explain what you mean by "can't digest" in your question?

realmjit_nr: I notice he loves dairy and some veggies, but I've been told these will upset his digestion. should I just watch for trouble or avoid giving him these foods?

Christie Keith: just watch for trouble.

realmjit_nr: thank you

Christie Keith: dairy and some veggies should be fine

NYC_NYIfan: ?

Christie Keith: ga

PHCatByte: staff, your turn!

staffordmom: I have a 16 yr old cat that I've tried giving homemade food to and she won't touch it. Any ideas on how to coax her to eat it?

Christie Keith: staffordmom, cats can be very hard to switch from one food to another

Christie Keith: as a species, they imprint during their kittenhood on the shapes, smells, and textures of "food" and "non-food"

Christie Keith: this is a survival benefit for the species

Christie Keith: if a kitten is exposed to a lot of variety, she or he will grow up to be less finicky than a kitten who is exposed to a limited number of foods

Christie Keith: some cats are so imprinted that you LITERALLY CANNOT SWITCH THEM

Christie Keith: others just need a little coaxing

Christie Keith: others will switch easily

staffordmom: ok

staffordmom: thank you

Christie Keith: The usual way is to mix a tiny bit of the new food with the old until it's mostly the new food

Christie Keith: and eventually, all the new food

staffordmom: thanks

Christie Keith: this works well with many cats, but most owners try to rush too fast

Christie Keith: a number of people who have been feeding recalled foods cant' do that

Christie Keith: and have had to switch their cats "cold turkey"

Christie Keith: also, some cats are more stubborn than others

Christie Keith: for them, things like warming the food slightly, adding grated parmesan, melted butter, tuna juice, or soy sauce will usually do the trick

Christie Keith: never starve a cat into eating a few food

staffordmom: thanks Christie

Christie Keith: that works fine with a dog, but cats can get a condition called hepatic lipidosis which can be fatal

Christie Keith: sure, ga!

PHCatByte: nyc, your question for christie?

NYC_NYIfan: Do regular blood panels provide any warning signs of dietary shortcomings before they become significant, or do they only show the problems after permanent damage has occurred?

Christie Keith: NYC, blood panels are useless in determining nutritional status

Christie Keith: a cat could have advanced nutritional problems and still have normal bloodwork

Christie Keith: it's just completely without benefit

Christie Keith: nutritionally

NYC_NYIfan: How can you be sure you're feeding correctly?

Christie Keith: NYC, the same way you do with commercial foods.

Christie Keith: First, use a recipe that has been tested and from a trusted, reliable source.

Christie Keith: Second, follow it carefully.

Christie Keith: Third, watch your cat, just as you would with a commercial food.

NYC_NYIfan: thanks, g/a

Christie Keith: Is her coat good, not smelly or itchy?

Christie Keith: Eyes clear, good energy level, etc?

Christie Keith: If you are a breeder, does your cat get pregnant easily and whelp normally, and are her kittens healthy, and does she get a lot of milk?

Christie Keith: These are all the things you want to see in your cats, regardless of diet.

Christie Keith: However, if you're taking chances, using a diet you aren't sure of, those things ALONE won't tell you the diet is fine.

Christie Keith: There can be hidden nutritional problems.

Christie Keith: Although reproduction is usually the "canary in the coalmine" of nutritional problems

Christie Keith: of course, most of us don't breed our cats

Christie Keith: did you have any additional questions about that?

Pyewacket: ?

Christie Keith: Let me do another pre-sent question

Christie Keith: Then we'll go to Pyewacket

Christie Keith: I got this one: supplement(s) get added to the food during cooking or after it's cooled?

Christie Keith: Good question.

Christie Keith: Some supplments are fine with heat, such as calcium.

Christie Keith: Others are heat sensitive... fish oil, cod liver oil, vitamin E, possibly taurine.

Christie Keith: So in general, do not heat or cook the supplements, and add after they cool

Christie Keith: also, they can taint the taste of the food, and this will happen less if added to cool food

Christie Keith: ga

PHCatByte: pyewacket, you're up!

Pyewacket: What is your opinion of products like Feline Future and Sojourner Farms, that are supposed to be complete and all you have to add is raw meat?

Christie Keith: I tried Feline Future and my cats did very badly on it. This was about four years ago.

Christie Keith: I don't personally know anyone who has used it longterm, although it's certainly possible some people have.

Christie Keith: It sounds wonderful and easy. But it wasn't right for my cats.

disablednproud77: ?

Christie Keith: I'm not familiar with Sojourner Farms.

Christie Keith: I think the idea is fantastic.

Christie Keith: I believe Honest Kitchen makes a product like that for dogs

Pyewacket: do you think it's ok for the ingredients to be sitting around like that for your don't know how long?

Christie Keith: I'd be very glad to find something like that I could recommend, but at the moment I don't know enough.

Pyewacket: you*

Christie Keith: Pyewacket, no

Christie Keith: I like to feed my pets fresh food

Christie Keith: Of course, supplements can usually be safely stored for a while, depending on what they are and how you store them

Christie Keith: but I prefer fresh

Christie Keith: ga

PHCatByte: proud, your question?

disablednproud77: What is your opinion of pre-made frozen raw diets such as Nature's Variety, etc. where they are supposed to be complete and all you do is thaw it?

Pyewacket: thank you

Christie Keith: disabled, I personally have a bias towards completely fresh diets

Christie Keith: I would rather see someone feed a fresh cooked diet than a commercially available raw diet

Christie Keith: I feel that when you start commercially processing these raw foods, you lose a certain amount of quality control. HOWEVER... you may also, depending on the company, gain a certain amount of testing

disablednproud77: is that because they're more balanced, more nutritious or...?

PHTessie: ?

PHAbymom: ?

Christie Keith: disabled, because you have control

disablednproud77: ok. thanks!

Christie Keith: when we go to the market and buy food for our animals, and fix it for them

Christie Keith: we are not paying for a company's shipping costs and overhead and packaging and advertising

Christie Keith: we have no considerations beyond what's best for our pet

Christie Keith: and everything is entirely in OUR control

disablednproud77: true. thank you!!

Christie Keith: when we buy prepacked raw foods, or dry foods, or canned foods... we are dependent on companies, either huge corporations or small "boutique" companies

PHCatByte: tessie, your question!

Christie Keith: ga

Christie Keith: tessie, ga

PHTessie: what about freezing what we prepare ourselves, so we can make enough for a week at a tome

PHTessie: time

Christie Keith: Tessie, I do that all the time

PHTessie: okay, great

Christie Keith: I think that's a great timesaver and a good idea, especially if you're short on time or have multiple pets

Christie Keith: ga

Midask9: ?

PHCatByte: abymom, your turn!

PHTessie: yup thats my problem

PHAbymom: Skip me, Tessie asked the question I was going to ask

PHCatByte: okay, midas, you're up!

NEMESIS1IM: ?

PHritters: ?

Christie Keith: I'll quickly do this pre-sent, it's short... should broth be added? what about the sodium in broths?

Midask9: Ingredient wise, I have some concern about human foods as well as pet foods (ecoli, etc) - do you have any suggestions to minimalize risks - organic, co-op, farmers market foods, etC?

Christie Keith: Broth is fine, but yes, you have to include the sodium (if any) in your nutritional calculations. Best to add salt free broth.

Christie Keith: Midas, great question.

Christie Keith: I personally have been feeding my dogs and cats raw meat, dairy, and eggs for over 21 years

Christie Keith: I have NEVER had an incident of food borne illness in a pet

Christie Keith: BUT... that could change tomorrow

Christie Keith: To minimize risk, I'm very picky about the meat, dairy, and eggs I use

Christie Keith: The raw dairy from which I buy my milk tests EVERY batch of milk

Christie Keith: and has bacterial counts, which they post daily on their website, lower than pasteurized milk

Christie Keith: so I trust them

Christie Keith: I buy meat from grass fed, humanely raised, on-site slaughtered cattle

Christie Keith: from farmers who are known to me

Christie Keith: it has been demonstrated that grass fed cattle have virtually NO pathogenic e coli in their intestines

Christie Keith: that is a product of grain-feeding

Christie Keith: so I feel this meat is safer as well as nutritionally better and more humane

Christie Keith: it's also extremely hard to find and very expensive

Christie Keith: I belong to a raw feeding co-op , www.sfraw.com

Christie Keith: and I buy it through there.

Christie Keith: I buy eggs that are from free-ranging hens, who also have lower bacterial counts

Christie Keith: there is of course still some risk

Christie Keith: but i feel it's quite minimal

Midask9: ty

Christie Keith: many of the contaminants in commercially raised meats

Christie Keith: are not inactivated by heat

Christie Keith: antibiotic residies, hormone residues, pesticide residues

Christie Keith: prions, which cause BSE (or "mad cow disease"), are also not destroyed by heat

Christie Keith: so cooking is not the answer to every problem

Christie Keith: however, it will kill bacterial and parasites

Christie Keith: so cooking meat, pasteurizing dairy, and cooking eggs will reduce risk, especially if you can't get extremely clean foods

Christie Keith: we do the best we can with what we have :)

Christie Keith: and the meat you are buying at the store is certainly higher quality than the meat products going into commercial pet foods

Christie Keith: even if it IS commercially raised

Christie Keith: ga

PHCatByte: phritters, your question?

PHritters: are there certain foods that work for senior cats that are vary "hard-keepers"?

Christie Keith: PHritters, by that do you mean they are finicky or they tend to be thin?

Christie Keith: in dogs a hard keeper is a thin dog, I just want to clarify

PHritters: very much on the thin side

PHritters: my senior is about 2 lbs underweight and i can't seem to get any more wieght on him

Christie Keith: and I'm assuming you've done all the medical tests?

PHritters: yes, the only thing they found was that he needed to have 5 teeth removed

PHritters: good appitite, just cant gain weight

Christie Keith: have they been removed?

PHritters: yes

Christie Keith: Okay, first of all... cats need fat and do great on very high fat diets. Cut the carbs, replace with fat and protein. Still of course, feeding a balanced diet. Dr. Strombeck has some.

Christie Keith: what are you feeding now?

PHritters: friskies canned

Christie Keith: do you want to switch him to homemade?

PHritters: (he decided that his loss of teeth was a great excuse to demand canned only)

PHritters: yes

Christie Keith: Canned is much, much better for cats than dry food.

Christie Keith: Of course homemade is best of all. :)

Christie Keith: I would use one of the grain-free recipes in Strombeck

Christie Keith: I suspect he'll do great on one of those.

PHritters: i have dry down 27/7 but suppliment with canned twice daily for all

fireladie: ?

Christie Keith: dry food is really bad for cats

rrrustee: =";"=

PHritters: ok, thank you - i will check that one out

PHritters: ga

Christie Keith: it messes up their teeth, contributes to feline diabetes, and keeps them in a dehydrated state

Christie Keith: if you don't want to do homemade, do canned. Lose the dry.

Christie Keith: ga

PHCatByte: fireladie, you've got a question for christie?

fireladie: what can you do for "treats"... i know there was a scare on some of the pounce treats, and I do train my cat LOL with small bits of food, but any resource for cat treats?

Christie Keith: The Pounce Treats have been recalled!!

Christie Keith: dehydrated bits of meat and fish are the best treats for cats

fireladie: uh huh

rrrustee: mice make great treats

fireladie: oh she gets pinkies on occassion

Christie Keith: you train your cat.... I suspect that's not a REAL cat, then.

Christie Keith: you mean, she trains you, right?

fireladie: lol

Christie Keith: you can get all kinds of little dried meat and fish treats at pet stores, they're very common

fireladie: pounce chicken and turkey treats

Christie Keith: you don't need all that chemical crap

fireladie: the recalled ones, and yep christy

Christie Keith: the ingredients on a treat should be: salmon

Christie Keith: that's an ingredient list you can like

Christie Keith: I have some more pre-sent questions

fireladie: oh Pounce Chicken & Turkey Cat Treats. 4.5 oz. pkg. 79100-55970

fireladie: for those who dont know

Christie Keith: One is: Special diets for very young kittens

Christie Keith: Okay, this is definitely something you MUST get from a qualified source...

Christie Keith: all cats are special, but kittens are the most special of all

Christie Keith: you can mess them up for LIFE with an improper weaning diet

Christie Keith: or, if they are orphans, with an imbalanced formula

MaryNY: ?

Christie Keith: so please, go to one of the sites I suggested, ask your vet to refer you to a nutritionist, or VERY PRECISELY FOLLOW a recipe in one of the books

Christie Keith: take it seriously

Christie Keith: ga

PHCatByte: mary, your question?

MaryNY: the books you recommended earlier have sections on feeding the very young kits?

MaryNY: I foster them

Christie Keith: Mary, I know Pitcairn does for sure

Christie Keith: and i"m pretty sure STrombeck does as well

MaryNY: thank you

Christie Keith: including orphans

Christie Keith: Okay, the last question I was pre-sent is a good one

Christie Keith: and leads me into a story

Christie Keith: The question is about feeding homemade diets to cats with special health needs

Christie Keith: I adopted an abandoned cat when he was 15 years old

Christie Keith: he had what the vet called "ten years of deferred dental problems"

Christie Keith: he had advanced kidney disease

Christie Keith: he'd been on kibble all his life

Christie Keith: (he was abandoned by someone I knew, so I knew his history)

Christie Keith: I adopted him

Christie Keith: had his dental work done, which entailed removing most of his teeth

Christie Keith: I gave him subQ fluids for a while

Christie Keith: and put him on a raw, homemade diet

Christie Keith: NOT a low protein diet

Christie Keith: just the same diet I fed my healthy cat

Christie Keith: They told me I'd be lucky to get a year from him

Christie Keith: He died at 19 and a half

Christie Keith: his kidney values all improved and I discontinued the subQ fluids very soon after starting, as he hated them

Christie Keith: Abymom has seen him, and she can attest that he looked very healthy

Christie Keith: fluffy coat, happy kitty

PHAbymom: Yes, a very lustrus coat... and a love...

Christie Keith: a correctly formulated homemade diet can really turn around many health problems

Christie Keith: but it's very important to work with a vet who supports what you're doing

Christie Keith: because many health problems require al ot of monitoring

Christie Keith: and tweaking of the diet if what you try first doesnt' work

Christie Keith: both the books I recommended have MANY diets for pets with special health problems

Christie Keith: Strombeck's more than Pitcairn's

Christie Keith: but both of them do

Christie Keith: and of course, a veterinary nutritionist can formulate such a diet for you for a fee

PHritters: ?

Christie Keith: that was my last pre-sent question, we have two minutes left, did anyone have a quick last one?

Christie Keith: ga

disablednproud77: ?

PHCatByte: phritters, quick!

PHritters: are their sites to find vet nutritionists?

Christie Keith: www.petdiets.com and www.balanceit.com are two I recommend

PHritters: ty

Christie Keith: or any vet school will have them

Christie Keith: disabled, ga

disablednproud77: I am about to adopt a 5 month old cat who's been in a shelter virtually all his life. Would you recommend switching right from what he's on now directly to homemade or should I work my way up - go to high-quality dry, then canned, then homemade? I don't want to send his digestive system into shock. mol

disablednproud77: oh, and he has CH (the 5 month old)

Christie Keith: I always switch immediately esp with kitties

Christie Keith: kittens I mean

disablednproud77: ok. thanks.

Christie Keith: if he balks, slow down

Christie Keith: good luck!

disablednproud77: ok. thanks!! :)

Christie Keith: thank you, everyone! I'll try to have this transcipt ready after the weekend!

Christie Keith: goodnight and have a wonderful weekend! best of luck with your cats and their diets!