I have taken quotes out of several threads, so hope this isn't confusing. Just didn't want to post over and over...
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right now I'm have no control over what she eats. My boss feeds her what he has.
Well, that's different. Although you really should beat him over the head.
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dairy products are OK, on occasion and in small amounts.
Depends on the cat. You seem to be finding a lot of things saying stuff that isn't necessarily the norm. Not sure where you're finding some of this stuff. Like that thing about taurine not being a problem if you cook at low enough temperature or whatever you said. I can find plenty of info saying otherwise. And it's not worth taking the chance.
Some cats can have a little dairy here and there, yes. But it's not a blanket statement that it's "OK." Depends on the cat, and depends on what you call occasionally. I'd stay away from milk. Cats don't need it. I know people who let their cats lick the ice cream bowl sometimes and that sort of thing. But really, keep it very limited. It's more of an occasional snack cause you feel like being indulgent, not part of a diet.
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garlic doesn't hurt cats, as long as it's in reasonable amounts. The amounts I use work out to about 1/8-1/4 teaspoon or garlic powder per cup of food. I usually add the garlic for about 1-2 weeks, then skip a week.
Well... garlic and onion are in the same family. (Family may not be the proper scientific term, but you know what I mean.) Onion absolutely is bad for cats and from what I can tell it's been assumed that garlic is as well. However, I haven't seen the evidence that garlic is the same problem that onion is. Meaning I don't have a hissy if some food has just the teensiest bit of garlic in it. But then, I feed a variety of stuff for the very reason that I don't think any one company has everything perfect. So if a food had garlic, it would be like some teensy amount in one out of every 20 cans or something. And what you're giving is WAY more than the "teensiest" bit that might be in some cat food. What you're giving is more the equivalent of an entire clove of garlic!
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From a vet with more than 20 years of experience.
Referring to where you heard the thing about garlic... I've seen vets with 20 years of experience kill cats, so that means absolutely nothing to me. Cats have fallen behind the ranks in terms of research. They've been treated like small dogs for far too long. So most cat research is fairly recent and is nothing close to being up to par at this point. And many vets don't stay up to date. So a lot of what they do is based on old stuff. A young inexperienced vet can learn and may stay caught up. An older experienced vet may be way behind in everything and not care. (On the other hand, a young inexperienced vet once tried to kill one of my cats. Experience is certainly worth something, but it isn't any guarantee.)
I know I harp on vets a lot, but man, if you'd seen some of the stuff I have... (I love my own vet, BTW.)
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since I am on a limited budget, I'm hoping to be able to at least augment a dry food diet with items I can buy with food stamps. If I end up needing to buy some dry food, that's OK, but it would be better if I had at least one recipe for homemade cat food that I could make to fill out her diet.
I'm trying to figure this out. Homemade is certainly much more expensive than dry. I've never admitted to knowing the exact cost of homemade, especially since it will depend on recipe, but one of the links I gave you shows where one person worked out the approximate costs. I suspect it's more expensive than anything but one of the more expensive premium foods. (Which, again, you don't have to get, making homemade more expensive.)
So, you're not allowed to buy cat food on food stamps? So you're using what cash you actually have yourself to get the food, right?
I would say the homemade would still be more expensive and I don't see the point in that. (And I still think you have too much bad information.) You can buy both dry and canned and store some in case you need some supplement. Dry will become rancid after a period, but it'll last a while. Canned can last a good long while - look at the expiration dates and just try to find ones that are newer. You can also take the canned a bit after that expiration date.
I'm an accountant. There is nothing financially logical in your plan to me. Homemade would undoubtedly be more expensive for you. I'm very aware of the concept of cash flow as well. I don't see how making homemade and keeping it around is more financially sound than buying some extra dry/canned and keeping it around. You'd have to freeze the homemade and things can lose nutrients over time. (And then you'd have to add more taurine.) I just don't see the financial logic in that.
Just stock up on some dry/canned when you have the extra cash. Next time you have extra cash, use that up and replace it, just to keep your stash a little newer. If you really think it's going to be an issue, just do the dry. And that's coming from me, the food freak. A cat can "survive" on dry, assuming this cat doesn't have any special problems like IBD or tendency towards stones, etc. (That could be an issue, especially the way your boss likes to feed. I hope the cat is only 1yo cause she'll get over it more quickly.)
How did this thread suddenly get to 4 pages?
