by Randi J Task

Created on: July 21, 2008

I have a 5kg old white cat that is extremely fussy. The problem was it was fed on fairly expensive cat food and refuses to eat any decent food which is standard cat chow. My aim is to keep the cat well fed and happy, and the proof of the pudding is when it eats up all the food, ideally in one sitting.

If you have a young cat please consider brushing your cat's teeth (yes it may be tricky but you can find out how). As they get older, rich cat chow can encourage teeth to rot and the first victims may be those precious canines. Toothless cats have lips that curl to form interesting expressions as the mouth doesn't lock, but toothy cats are a lot more preferable. Apart from helping to prevent teeth loss, it may save you a lot of money on veterinary dental bills. My cat is sadly a bit toothless, and yes it does have an interesting mouth sometimes.

I have now trained my cat not to beg for food unless the plate is empty. It seems to understand and most of the time, the plate is empty before I feed it once again. You have to feed your cat anything between 200-400g of food per day, less in summer, more in winter. You could work out the best brands your cat will enjoy. I've had to experiment quite a lot before settling on luxury or semi luxury canned and pouched food. There are three bowls. One for water. One for wet chow that the cat has to finish and the third has some good quality cat biscuits; this bowl is one the cat dips into between meals and it remains reasonably topped up. Cats can live on dry food as long as there is enough water for them to drink. I try to give my cat a varied diet including treats and snacks such as fried pork rind which it seems to beg me, when I'm eating it.

In my search for the ultimate cat food, that is tasty and cheap I created a cheap fish chow (written about elsewhere in Helium) but now propose an even more optimal solution. Amongst the cheapest meat you can get is pigs liver. Pigs liver is not in high demand by certain groups of people - and it is one of those magical dishes that my cat finishes in one sitting. Pigs liver is his favourite cat food. Other types of liver such as lamb or even chicken will do, but pork liver is the cheapest. OK - yes you could try kidneys. I also tried frozen minced lamb that was cheap and fit for humans, but my cat did not eat it - poultry does not seem to go down well either.

Get yourself some (pig) liver, fresh or frozen from the butcher. Cut it up into smallish pieces, and while you're at it, you can offer your cat some of the blood to lick. Place in a microwaveable bowl - say 1kg maximum, and cook on half power (400W) for two to three minutes. Stir, and repeat. You may have to do this three to four times until the liver is hot and has turned pink or brown compared to the original, shiny maroon color. Half cooking the liver is fine. When the liver is more rubbery than slippery, you could consider it done.

Get some baby food containers with lids that can hold about 100g of food - about 10 will do. Stuff each with the cooked liver and a portion of the juice and seal. Allow your containers to cool (you may have been feeding your cat during preparation - I give it the chopping board to lick) and freeze. Next time you need some liver, take out the container the night before and come morning it will have defrosted, ready to feed your cat.

During times of financial hardship, liver is the finest food for my cat and it prefers it to the most expensive brands. Liver is easy to handle and cook and very cheap and nutritious. I'd love to know if other people have cats that love liver as much as mine.

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