TCfeline Original Formula premix

TCfeline Original – the time tested, tried and true premix for making homemade cat food for cats of all ages

Ingredients: Canadian gelatin, New Zealand whey protein isolate, calcium carbonate (source of calcium), dicalcium phosphate (source of calcium and phosphorus), Canadian freeze-dried krill, taurine, Vitamin E succinate, Vitamin A palmitate, Vitamin D3, Potassium Iodide.

Congratulations on your commitment to feeding your cat or kitten the best food possible. TCfeline is the original premix or “completer” and has been in use with cat lovers around the world for 24 years. TCfeline Original is formulated to complete fresh, raw, boneless meat as a cat food, giving you complete control over the first ingredient in your cat’s diet, the meat. You are only truly in control over the quality of your cat’s food when you choose the meat yourself.

TCfeline Original requires addition of raw liver. Raw liver is the main source for many essential nutrients, mainly vitamins and trace minerals, and cats would naturally eat it every day as part of their prey. It is extremely difficult to substitute.

TCfeline Original, when prepared according with instructions, is a complete diet and does not require supplementation. It is all cats and kittens need, other than access to fresh drinking water at all times. If desired, it can be fed alternating with or as a complement to other complete foods, such as commercial frozen mice, canned cat food, or dry cat food.

When using TCfeline Original, the resulting cat food mimics the nutrient composition of a mouse, when prepared in accordance with the instructions. It is suitable and recommended as a staple diet for kittens, pregnant cats, lactating cats, and adult cats. That being said, adult cats 12 years old or older may benefit from a diet reduced in Phosphorus to help maintain healthy kidney function. For that, use TCfeline Special Formula. Cats already experiencing kidney disease should definitely be switched to TCfeline Special Formula. Cats experiencing bladder stones, although their causes are varied, may also benefit from a switch to Special Formula to lower their overall intake of Calcium, Phosphorus, and Magnesium.

The meat

Fresh meats intended for human consumption from the grocery store, butcher, farm gate purchases or meats from hunting are the best choices for use with TCfeline Original. Do not buy meats that contain bone, because TCfeline Original already contains sources of calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium.

Cats have evolved to eat a mainstay of mammal prey, like mice. We can replicate this by choosing red meats. Above all, cats love dark red game meats like venison. A close second is meats from goats and sheep, followed by bison and grass-fed beef. These can be expensive choices if you have no option but to buy retail. Blending expensive red meats with extra lean pork, which cats also love, is a good option to lessen cost. Beef can be problematic for some cats, because even lean beef is often still too fatty, and has been “aged”.

Poultry is a popular choice but carries a risk of Salmonella. There are very few pathogens harmful to cats that can be transmitted from store-bought raw meats to your cat, but Salmonella remains a risk. Poultry may be best kept off the menu or fed only cooked. Cats are resistant to E-Coli, and it is not a concern. E-Coli is part of the natural gut flora of cats and is required by the cat to synthesize Vitamin K.

Cats’ natural prey diet is very lean. Therefore, the meats you choose for cat food should be lean to extra lean. Cats have not evolved to eat high amounts of fat, and a too much fat can cause problems for their pancreas and liver.

Although cats “chew” prey into smaller bits to swallow, it has proven beneficial to use ground meat for making cat food. Ground meat blends better with the premix and added water. It is easier to eat for most cats, because they have a tendency to want to lap food, and it is more digestible. Preparing the diet with little chunks of meat can result in the premix mixture being left behind in the dish or cats throwing up due to the chunks taking much longer to break down in the stomach. You can buy ground meats from the store to ease the chore, or buy cuts and grind it yourself for extra freshness. Do not grind meats with bone, like chicken or rabbit. TCfeline Original already contains sources of calcium, phosphorus and magnesium.

The inconvenience of raw liver and use of freeze-dried liver

The requirement to add raw liver can be made less of an inconvenience by buying raw liver in larger quantities, grinding it, and freezing it as 100 g (1/2) cup portions in advance for up to six months of cat food making. For a single cat that would be 18 such 100 g portions or 1.8 kg of liver. Grocery store meat department carry raw liver, but often only on certain days. Inquire about those days and buy in advance. There is no need to match the type of liver with the type of meat you are using, but keep in mind that poultry liver carries the same Salmonella risk as poultry meats.

If the necessity to add fresh liver is a make or break for using TCfeline Original, using freeze dried liver instead can be explored. This is an option for adult cats. It should not be used as a substitute for fresh liver when preparing food for kittens or pregnant or lactating cats. Freeze dried beef liver cubes are available from most pet stores and can be pulverised with the use of a designated coffee bean grinder and then added as a powder instead of fresh liver in the preparation process.

How much how often?

Cats evolved hunting small prey frequently throughout the day. Five mice per day, weighing 30 g each or 150 g total, meet the caloric need of an adult cat. Food made with TCfeline doesn’t contain “by-products” such as stomach, digestive tract and hair, and the daily portion of cat food made with TCfeline to meet the same caloric value as five mice is 130 g of food. The total portion should be divided into 2-3 servings given throughout the day. Two servings of 65 g (1/4) works well for most cats. The portion will have to be increased for pregnant and lactating cats and exceptionally active or large cats.

For growing kittens, who eat much more food in proportion to their body size to meet their larger caloric and nutrient needs, the daily portion should be divided into several meals throughout the day like this. Read more about Feeding Kittens HERE.

Storage

The following recipes can be multiplied or divided based on whatever is most convenient for you. The outlined recipes prepare 9- 10 days worth of food and have proven convenient, keeping prep time to a minimum, as well as space taken up in the freezer with frozen ready-to-eat cat food. 1/2 cup silicone cup cake forms, plastic freezer containers, or glass canning jars are all convenient and reusable for portioning the cat food and freezing it for storage. Before feeding, the food must be thawed, and it is easiest to pull the required daily portion out of the freezer to thaw the night before. For a multi-cat-household it may proof more convenient the only freeze the meat and liver and add the premix before serving. If you have five cats, for example, freeze portions of 450g meat with 50 g liver, thaw, and add 20g premix with 1/2 cup water for the cats’ food portion for the day.

Preparation instructions and options for using TCfeline Original.

Whenever possible, use a scale to measure ingredients by weight. A digital scale with a range of 1 – 2000g is ideal. Please note that when resorting to using volume measurement, the amounts can only be approximates.

Recipe #1

40 g (level 1/4 cup) TCfeline Original
250 ml (1 cup) water. Add more or less for desired consistency.
100 g ground raw liver
900 g lean ground raw meat (no bone and organs).

Yields 10 portions of approximately 130g each.

Recipe #2 with freeze dried liver

If the necessity to add fresh liver is a make or break for using TCfeline Original, using freeze dried liver instead can be explored. This is an option for adult cats. It should not be used as a substitute for fresh liver when preparing food for kittens. Freeze dried beef liver cubes are available from most pet stores and can be pulverised with the use of a designated coffee bean grinder and then added as powder instead of fresh liver in the preparation process.

40 g (level 1/4 cup) TCfeline Original
20 g (1/2 cup) freeze dried beef liver cubes, pulverized
250 ml (1 cup) water. Add more or less for desired consistency.
900 g lean ground raw meat (no bone and organs)

Yields 9 portions of approximately 130g each.

Recipe #3 with cooked meat

In some instances it is necessary to feed a cooked diet. Poultry meats are always saver when fed cooked. For the recipe below you can slow cook 900 g of raw, ground, boneless meat. In a saucepan, combine the raw meat with the 1 cup of water called for in the recipe, cover, and slow cook on low heat. Alternatively, buy or use 840 g already cooked meat, like meat stripped off a BBQ chicken from the grocery store deli. Do not combine raw meat with the premix first and then cook. The premix contains heat sensitive nutrients and should never be cooked. When using this recipe, use freeze dried liver instead of cooking raw liver. Vitamins are preserved during freeze drying, but are largely destroyed during cooking, especially the B vitamins

40 g (level 1/4 cup) TCfeline Original
20 g (1/2 cup) freeze dried beef liver cubes, pulverized
250 ml (1 cup) water. Add more or less for desired consistency.
cooked meat (read above)

Yields approximately 10 portions of approximately 130g each.