Homesteading: A Woman's Journey

Pantry Planning for Pets

Anyone with cats or dogs knows that there are ocassionally times when you run short on pet food.  Of course, if you live in the city it is easy to stop at a store to buy more.  Living in a rural area can make a simple trip to the store out of the question.  What do you do if you run out of pet food just before a payday?  What about winter storms or other situation when making a trip to the store is not possible?

If you are planning your pantry for winter, you should always try to plan ahead for your animals also.  Just as a winter storm can cause a hardship on us if our pantry is not well stocked, it can be devastating to pets. 

Our cats are all outdoor barn cats.  We never keep cats in our home.  For food, they hunt rodents which helps to keep the rodents from getting into the livestock feed and hay.  The added benefit being that because the cats hunt rodents, we have no large rodent-eating snakes around the house, barn or outbuildings.  Even though we only put out a small amount of food for the cats, mainly kitchen scraps that the sheep cannot eat, we still need to think ahead for winter.  During winter months, the rodent population is lower and there is much less for the cats to hunt.  This is where planning ahead can be a blessing.

Recently, I came across a couple of websites that have recipes for making homemade pet food.  The first is Pet Food Cookbook.  This site has many recipes for dogs, cats, and birds.  The second site is Healthy Recipes for Pets. Healthy Recipes for Pets has recipes for cats and dogs.  A special section for each also contains recipes for pets on special diets due to health issues.

I now have in my notebook a couple of recipes for cats.  I chose recipes that use items found in our pantry on a regular basis.  This will allow me to easily have the necessary ingredients on hand if the situation should ever arise that we need to make the homemade pet food.  We are planning to get dogs in the spring to start working with the sheep.  For that reason, I also have a couple of recipes for dogs. 

Here is a very simple basic recipe for cats that will work in a pinch.  Cook up some rice and lentils.  To this add some leftover vegetables and a can of tuna.  For cat food, you may want to have some tuna packed in oil.  The oil is good for them.  Mix this all together and let cool before feeding to your cats.  You can feed the same thing to dogs.  My husband remembers often feeding rice with leftovers mixed in to their dogs when he was growing up.

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02:14, Tuesday, October 7, 2008 .. Posted by gabbie427

I hadn't thought of this since we do not have any pets. But it is definately a good idea!!

God's Blessings,
Amy Jo

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02:19, Tuesday, October 7, 2008 .. Posted by oklamouse

One note: When we were making food for our dog a couple of years ago, we would often add garlic in the warm months. Garlic will naturally help prevent fleas and ticks.

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06:17, Friday, October 10, 2008 .. Posted by Mennobrarian

I'm glad to see someone posting on this. After all, until about sixty years ago, there was no such thing as pet food. Although we do buy food for our dogs, we are not adverse to feeding them rice and chicken. This post was a good reminder to keep some on hand for the winter in case of snow. Just a reminder though, that some foods we eat are toxic to animals, and responsible pet owners should take the time to learn what those foods are. ~Monica