Author Topic: Does any company make LARGER jars of all-meat baby food?  (Read 2549 times)

wenchsenior

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Does any company make LARGER jars of all-meat baby food?
« on: February 19, 2018, 10:27:25 AM »
So we have an ancient cat, who has become less and less interested in eating or drinking (though otherwise shockingly healthy at almost 20).  I have been experimenting with trying different soft cat foods, with water added for moisture, but she just doesn't like them all that much. 

However,  she loves Gerber all-meat baby food.  NOT the meat and veggies/meat and rice combos, which come in larger sizes, but the TINY ROUND ANNOYING EXPENSIVE jars that contain only meat and gravy, which you can't even reach into effectively to fully scrape out the paste.

It is an astonishing rip off, even for people feeding human babies, let alone at 1$/inefficient tiny jar for a cat.

Are there any companies that produce decent sized jars of baby food meat products?


Papa bear

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Re: Does any company make LARGER jars of all-meat baby food?
« Reply #1 on: February 19, 2018, 11:00:01 AM »
Why not try and make your own?  It's just "baby food" which is just puréed stuff. Stick some cooked meat in a blender with a liquid. 


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wenchsenior

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Re: Does any company make LARGER jars of all-meat baby food?
« Reply #2 on: February 19, 2018, 11:35:16 AM »
I might have to.  I don't really like cooking, and I especially don't like cooking meat.  But I suspect even pureeing canned precooked meat would be cheaper than the Gerber ripoff.

CalBal

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Re: Does any company make LARGER jars of all-meat baby food?
« Reply #3 on: February 19, 2018, 12:08:29 PM »
If you try to make your own I would start with a small amount. My cat liked Gerber (but not Beechnut) but wouldn't eat the homemade. All that's in the Gerber (and the Beechnut!) is meat and some juices I think, so... maybe my cat was just a butt. YMMV...

ETA: She would eat shredded home cooked chicken (poached in water) just fine. You could try that too.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2018, 12:10:55 PM by CalBal »

wenchsenior

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Re: Does any company make LARGER jars of all-meat baby food?
« Reply #4 on: February 19, 2018, 02:44:32 PM »
If you try to make your own I would start with a small amount. My cat liked Gerber (but not Beechnut) but wouldn't eat the homemade. All that's in the Gerber (and the Beechnut!) is meat and some juices I think, so... maybe my cat was just a butt. YMMV...

ETA: She would eat shredded home cooked chicken (poached in water) just fine. You could try that too.

Yeah, she's weird about food.  She likes pouched tuna and canned chicken/turkey/spam etc, but the issue is getting enough moisture in there.  I realized I really have to have whatever it is pureed though, because if I put tuna in her dish and pour a little water on it, she will like the water, but then she can't smell the meat and won't eat it.  And if the meat is left in the dish with no water, she can't smell it because it is apparently too dry.  She doesn't really drink much on her own (we've tried different types and heights of dishes and cat fountains) unless she finds a grungy puddle when she is escorted into our backyard. 

So pureed, fairly runny meat is apparently where it's at, along with an occasional piece of real meat (from our dinner), when she shows interest in the smell of it.

She's been a great cat, but the food thing has been challenging the past couple of years.

Jaayse

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Re: Does any company make LARGER jars of all-meat baby food?
« Reply #5 on: February 19, 2018, 03:08:12 PM »
Try adding the water to the meat and then heating it up a little in the microwave, it will intensify the smell of the meat.  Also gravy instead of water could work.

wenchsenior

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Re: Does any company make LARGER jars of all-meat baby food?
« Reply #6 on: February 19, 2018, 03:16:10 PM »
Try adding the water to the meat and then heating it up a little in the microwave, it will intensify the smell of the meat.  Also gravy instead of water could work.

We've never owned a microwave, and she eats mainly at night so I would have to get myself woken up enough to heat things on the stove during a pee break 3 times per night, which seems  1) risky and 2) like I will be too woken up to go back to sleep.

I should buy some gravy though, maybe just leave a small amount covered on the counter so it is room temp, and drop a dollop on top of the food.  That's an idea I had not thought of.

CalBal

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Re: Does any company make LARGER jars of all-meat baby food?
« Reply #7 on: February 20, 2018, 08:25:20 AM »
Yeah it's really tough, they really rely on their sense of smell to eat and when that starts to go (or if they get cancer in the nasal passage) I think there isn't a lot to do.

I always regretted that I couldn't find just cat "gravy" - you know, like the liquid "gravy" that comes in some canned food. Mine would eat that before anything else. The pouches of "broths" just didn't do it. Jaayse is right about the microwave, but I didn't have one either. I would take some very hot water (like boiling) and mix a small amount into the canned food, which I would leave out (covered) for up to 24 hours so it wasn't fridge cold. I also, when I made chicken for her, would save the poaching water and reduce it way down so it was concentrated and used that instead of water if I had it available. She seemed to like that (and it added flavor and more odor than just water when mixed in). She would drink tuna water too, but lap the water up and often leave the actual tuna (or only eat a small amount). Maybe you could use people gravy, I bet the fat content would make it more appealing... just make sure there's no onion or garlic in it.

Good luck...

ETA: I don't eat meat either so cooking it is... meh. I would poach one chicken breast at a time in a small saucepan. Super easy and takes about 20 minutes. Also, my cat was more likely to eat it when it was very warm (again, the smell I guess).
« Last Edit: February 20, 2018, 08:27:04 AM by CalBal »

 

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