The Elixir of Cat Life for Raw Meat Homemade Cat Food

The elixir of cat life combined with good, quality raw meat is the key to making healthy homemade cat food. The ingredients are readily available at grocery or health food stores. Some are absolutely necessary but a few are optional depending on the meat you use. Here, we tell you what you need to make the elixir as well as what we use and where we get them.

We get all of our vitamins from Vitanet Online.com. (Clicking on the vitamin names will open a new window. To return here, simply close the window.)

Eggs - We use free range eggs. They tend to carry less risk of salmonella. Free range eggs can be purchased at most supermarkets. The yolk is used raw in the elixir. The whites are a good source of protein for cats but they must be cooked. Raw egg whites bind to biotin, a necessary B vitamin, and prevent its absorption. If you don't want to cook the egg whites just omit them.

Vitamin E - Dry E is the easiest to use in the elixir. Just open the capsules and dump them in the mix. We use Dry E powder capsules.

Vitamin B Complex - Like with the Vitamin E, capsules are easier. We use Vitamin B complex 100.

Raw Glandular Supplement - This provides additional needed proteins. We use ImmoPlex Glandular It comes in capsules so you can just open them and dump in the contents.

Taurine - This amino acid is vital. Cats can not make it themselves and must get it from the food they eat. You'll need to add extra if you can't get hearts for the cat food. Get this in capsules also. We use Mega Taurine Capsules.

Salmon Oil - Capsules are best. You can pierce the capsules and squeeze out the oil. This oil can spoil very quickly so avoid liquid salmon oil packaged in bottles. It will spoil before you use it all. We use Norwegian Salmon Oil in the elixir. It is regularly tested to insure the oil is free of contaminants like mercury and lead commonly found in fish.

Kelp - This helps support thyroid function. If you use organic meat with bones you don't need to add this. If you don't use organic meat or make your cat food without bones be sure to add this important ingredient. We use Kelp powder because the meat we use is not organic.

Dulse - This adds trace minerals but has less iodine than kelp and, as with the kelp, if you use organic meat and bones you don't need to add it. If you don't use organic meat or make your cat food without bones be sure to add this important ingredient. We use Dulse powder because even though we always use bones, the meat is not organically raised.

Vitamins A & D - These are needed if you can't get liver for your cat food. We always keep it around because we can't always get enough liver for all of the batches of cat food we make. If you are making the cat food with liver, you don't need to add them. We use Vitamin A & D 10,000 IU-400 IU combination in softgel form. The strength of each of the respective vitamins makes it easy to add the right amount for the elixir. We just pierce the softgels to squeeze out the liquid vitamins.

Bone Meal - You only need this if you make your cat food without bones. Be sure to get bone meal that is made for human consumption - NOT the kind made for gardening! We believe that the calcium and trace minerals found in real bones is the best, most natural source of calcium for our cats so we always make our cat food with bones. We have never made our homemade cat food elixir with bone meal.

Unflavored Gelatin - You only need this if you make your cat food without bones. It helps to make up for missing cartilage. Since we always make our cat food with bones, we have never used any of this.

Psyllium Whole Husks or Powder - This provides fiber. We recommend adding psyllium when first starting you cats on a raw meat diet. Watch for constipation. Some cats get constipated without the fiber and some cats get constipated with too much fiber. We still add the fiber as none of our cats have had any problems with constipation and the fiber helps with hairball elimination. Kittens don't need the fiber. It can irritate their intestinal tract and cause bloating. Many people who feed their cats a raw meat diet don't add the fiber. The decision to use fiber or not should be based on your individual cats. If you notice any cats straining to stool, decrease or omit the fiber. We use Psyllium Husk Powder in the elixir.

Water - Use good, quality water that you would drink yourself. Some people use bottled water. We use water from our tap because it comes from a local spring and is of very good quality. If you don't drink your own tap water, use bottled water in your elixir.

All of these ingredients, whisked together, form what is called the 'elixir of cat life'. It is what turns plain raw meat and bones into 'as close as you can get to a mouse' for your cats. Whatever brands you use, be sure to use quality products.

For us, it is easier to purchase our supplements over the internet. We are in a small town and the nearest health food store is a long drive away. Prices are usually cheaper on the internet, even with shipping, so it works out well for us in both convenience and cost. But we do have to plan ahead! VitaNet has been very reliable and usually have the items we need in stock. They are also less expensive than other online vitamin stores.

An option, if you do not want to purchase the individual ingredients and add them yourself, is to use

We have not used this ourselves but people who have say they are very pleased with it. Because we feed so many and have to make several batches of homemade cat food, it is cheaper for us to add the individual ingredients ourselves when making the 'elixir of cat life'.

Whatever you use, however you do it, be sure to make your homemade cat food with good, quality, fresh meat and the 'elixir of cat life'. Your cats will be healthy and happy - and you'll be happy too!