Balancing My Pet Carnivore Products for Cats (NRC)

My Pet Carnivore is a great raw feeder resource, but only offers ratio-style grinds at this time. These recipes are basic ways to balance these grinds to NRC standards, for those who prefer whole prey style feeding, or the ease and quality of MPC products. For recipes that better account for the balance of all nutrients, please check out available MPC recipes in the RFN store here.

Recipes updated on 6/8/2020 to include fiber.

DISCLAIMER: Detailed nutritional analysis is not provided for bone-in grinds from My Pet Carnivore. Nutritional estimates were created for bone-in items to create these recipes. These recipes were made for healthy adult cats only. Recipes are balanced only to NRC guidelines if fed according to the feeding chart. This is a general recipe and may not be ideal for your pet. Please use at your own risk.

Turkey Delight Recipe

Ground_Coarse_Wh_4ffc59939dd87

Uses 3 MPC products, 5 common grocery store products and 3 supplements.

This recipe uses a mix of Turkey Delight (different from the WHOLE turkey grind), and regular ground turkey, to lower the high bone content for cats. It also adds additional beef spleen for iron, canned sardines for essential fatty acids, tripe for manganese, and oysters for zinc and copper.

Makes 1b of food:

  • 4.7oz of ground turkey (8% fat)
  • 3.9oz of Turkey Delight
  • 3.2oz of Green Beef Tripe
  • 0.5oz of beef spleen
  • 0.5oz of canned Pacific oysters (boiled, not smoked)
  • 1 large chicken egg
  • 1.4oz canned pure pumpkin
  • 210mcg iodine supplement*
  • at least 40mg (61IU) Vitamin E supplement*
  • 1mg thiamin (B1) supplement**

Instructions

To mix and prep beforehand:

  1. Mix ground ingredients together.
  2. Chop oysters into small pieces, or grind. Add in egg and canned pumpkin. Add in powdered supplements (crush tablets with a spoon) and mix thoroughly. Mix in oyster + supplement mix into the grind.
  3. Distribute to containers.

* Iodine: The most commonly used source of iodine supplements is kelp powder. Iodine content in kelp can vary greatly, so make sure the company you are sourcing from tests each new lot produced.
– Recommended per 1lb recipe: 1.5 NOW Kelp 150mcg tablets.

* Vitamin E: Vitamin E is hard to source from natural ingredients, and should be increased as fat is increased in the recipe. Additional vitamin E can also be used as a preservative to keep fats from oxidizing when food is stored for more than a week.
– Recommended per 1lb recipe: 1/4 Now Dry E-400 capsule. Round up to 1/2 (see note below).

* Thiamin: Thiamin is abundantly found in pork, so if you alternate this recipe with a pork based recipe, you may not need to supplement this. Thiamin is water soluble, so excess will be excreted safely.
– Recommended per 1lb recipe: 1/4 Solgar B-50 Complex Capsule.

Rounding up and down regarding supplements: When you see a note about rounding up or down, it means you can choose to round for practical ease to preparing recipes, without unbalancing the recipe. Round after multiplying the recipe – for example, if you are making 10lbs of a recipe, multiply by 10 first, then round up or down as recommended.

Feeding Chart

Weight of CatCaloriesOunces to Feed
5lb1734.6
6lb1955.2
7lb2175.8
8lb2376.3
9lb2576.9
10lb2757.3
11lb2947.8
12lb3118.3
13lb3288.7
14lb3459.2
15lb3619.6
Minimum amounts to feed per day based on weight of the cat.

Dry Matter Basis: 63% protein, 24% fat, 7.5% ash, 1% fiber. Calories: 600kcal/lb as fed.

Whole Rabbit Recipe

rabbit-coarse-ground2

Uses 4 MPC products, 4 common grocery store products and 3-4 supplements.

This recipe uses a mix of the whole rabbit grind and regular ground beef, to decrease the high bone content for cats. It also adds additional beef spleen for iron, canned sardines for essential fatty acids, tripe for manganese, and oysters for zinc and copper.

Makes 1b of food:

  • 4.4oz of Whole Rabbit grind
  • 3.6oz of ground beef (10% fat)
  • 2oz of Green Beef Tripe
  • 0.5oz of beef spleen
  • 0.4oz of canned Pacific oysters (boiled, not smoked)
  • 0.2oz of Beef Organ Mix (or 0.1oz of beef liver)
  • 2 large chicken egg
  • 1.4oz canned pure pumpkin
  • 210mcg iodine supplement*
  • at least 28mg (42IU) Vitamin E supplement*
  • 1mg thiamin supplement*
  • 35mcg folate supplement*

Instructions

To mix and prep beforehand:

  1. Mix ground ingredients together.
  2. Chop oysters into small pieces, or grind. Add in egg and canned pumpkin. Add in powdered supplements (crush tablets with a spoon) and mix thoroughly. Mix in oyster + supplement mix into the grind.
  3. Distribute to containers.

* Iodine: The most commonly used source of iodine supplements is kelp powder. Iodine content in kelp can vary greatly, so make sure the company you are sourcing from tests each new lot produced.
– Recommended per 1lb recipe: 1.5 NOW Kelp 150mcg tablets.

* Vitamin E: Vitamin E is hard to source from natural ingredients, and should be increased as fat is increased in the recipe. Additional vitamin E can also be used as a preservative to keep fats from oxidizing when food is stored for more than a week.
– Recommended per 1lb recipe: 1/8 Now Dry E-400 capsule. Round up to 1/2 (see note below).

* Thiamin and Folate: Both these vitamins are water soluble, so excess will be excreted safely.
– Recommended per 1lb recipe: 1/4 Solgar B-50 Complex. Round up to 1/2 (see note below).

Rounding up and down regarding supplements: When you see a note about rounding up or down, it means you can choose to round for practical ease to preparing recipes, without unbalancing the recipe. Round after multiplying the recipe – for example, if you are making 10lbs of a recipe, multiply by 10 first, then round up or down as recommended.

Feeding Chart

Weight of CatCaloriesOunces to Feed
5lb1734.6
6lb1955.2
7lb2175.8
8lb2376.3
9lb2576.9
10lb2757.4
11lb2947.9
12lb3118.3
13lb3288.8
14lb3459.2
15lb3619.7
Minimum amounts to feed per day based on weight of the cat.

Dry Matter Basis: 62% protein, 26% fat, 5.5% ash, 1% fiber. Calories: 633kcal/lb as fed.

Dry Matter Basis: 50.5% protein, 37.5% fat, 5.5% ash, 1% fiber. Calories: 797cal/lb as fed.

Feeding Chart - Advanced Recipe

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Weight of CatCaloriesOunces to Feed
5lb1734.4
6lb1954.9
7lb2175.5
8lb2376.0
9lb2576.5
10lb2757.0
11lb2947.4
12lb3117.9
13lb3288.3
14lb3458.7
15lb3619.1
Minimum amounts to feed per day based on weight of the cat.

Dry Matter Basis: 62% protein, 26% fat, 5.5% ash, 1% fiber. Calories: 633kcal/lb as fed.

Dry Matter Basis: 62.5% protein, 27% fat, 4.7% ash, 1% fiber. Calories: 598kcal/lb as fed.

Lamb Supreme Recipe

Uses 2 MPC products, 4 common grocery store products and 4-6 supplements.

This recipe uses a mix of the lamb supreme grind and regular ground pork, to decrease the high bone content for cats. It also adds lamb spleen for iron, canned sardines for essential fatty acids, and extra eggs for choline.

This recipe is higher in fat, and I highly recommend rotating this with a lower fat recipe. This recipe also requires a little more supplementation for essential vitamins and minerals, due to the high fat content.

Makes 1b of food:

  • 7.4oz of Lamb Supreme grind
  • 2oz of ground pork (15-16% fat)
  • 0.8oz lamb spleen
  • 0.6oz canned sardines
  • 2 large chicken eggs
  • 1.7oz canned pure pumpkin
  • recommended 400mg calcium supplement*
  • 7mg zinc supplement*
  • 0.5mg manganese supplement*
  • 300mcg iodine supplement*
  • 0.5mg thiamin supplement*
  • 50mcg folate supplement*
  • at least 50mg (74IU) Vitamin E supplement*

Instructions

To mix and prep beforehand:

  1. Mix ground ingredients together.
  2. Mash canned sardines with a fork. Add in egg and canned pumpkin. Add in powdered supplements (crush tablets with a spoon) and mix thoroughly. Mix in sardine + supplement mix into the grind.
  3. Distribute to containers.

* Calcium: While this recipe has enough calcium to meet the requirement, the calcium to phosphorus ratio is low. To combat this, you can add a little calcium supplement to help make sure calcium is absorbed appropriately.
– Recommended per 1lb recipe: 1/4 tsp eggshell or 1.2g NOW Calcium carbonate. Bone meal powder is NOT recommended.

* Zinc: Zinc is found abundantly in lean beef cuts, goat, and oysters. To supplement zinc in this recipe, you can use a zinc picolinate or chelated zinc supplement.
– Recommended per 1lb recipe: 1/3 Solgar Zinc Piconlate (22mg) tablets. Round up to 1/2 (see note below).

* Manganese: Manganese is found abundantly in mussels, tripe, and some grains. Manganese can be safely supplemented higher than strictly required, and can be helpful for joint support.
– Recommended per 1lb recipe: 1/8 Solgar chelated Manganese (8mg) tablet. Round up to 1/4 (see note below).

* Iodine: The most commonly used source of iodine supplements is kelp powder. Iodine content in kelp can vary greatly, so make sure the company you are sourcing from tests each new lot produced.
– Recommended per 1lb recipe: 2 NOW Kelp 150mcg tablets.

* Thiamin and Folate: Both of these vitamins are water soluble, so excess will be safely secreted.
– Recommended per 1lb recipe: 1/4 caspule of Solgar B-50 Complex. Round up 1/2 (see note below).

-* Vitamin E: Vitamin E is hard to source from natural ingredients, and should be increased as fat is increased in the recipe. Additional vitamin E can also be used as a preservative to keep fats from oxidizing when food is stored for more than a week. Since this is a high fat recipe, it is highly recommended to add additional Vitamin E if storing for more than 2 weeks.
– Recommended 1lb recipe: 1/8 capsule of NOW Dry E-400. Round up 1/2 (see note below).

Rounding up and down regarding supplements: When you see a note about rounding up or down, it means you can choose to round for practical ease to preparing recipes, without unbalancing the recipe. Round after multiplying the recipe – for example, if you are making 10lbs of a recipe, multiply by 10 first, then round up or down as recommended.

Feeding Chart

Weight of CatCaloriesOunces to Feed
5lb1733.2
6lb1953.7
7lb2174.1
8lb2374.4
9lb2574.8
10lb2755.2
11lb2945.5
12lb3115.8
13lb3286.1
14lb3456.5
15lb3616.8
Minimum amounts to feed per day based on weight of the cat.

Dry Matter Basis: 44% protein, 46% fat, 4.2% ash, 1% fiber. Calories: 853kcal/lb as fed.

Whole Pork Recipe

ground-pork-20-576x576

Uses 2 MPC products, 5 common grocery store products and 3-4 supplements.

This recipe uses a mix of the whole pork grind and regular ground pork, to lower the high bone content for cats. It also adds additional beef spleen for iron, canned sardines for essential fatty acids, and oysters for zinc and copper. This recipe is high in fat. Please see the “advanced recipe” section for a lower fat version of this recipe.

Makes 1b of food:

  • 6.3oz of Whole Pork grind
  • 3.7oz of ground pork (15-16% fat)
  • 1oz of beef spleen
  • 1oz of canned Pacific oysters (boiled, not smoked)
  • 0.4oz of canned sardines
  • 1 large chicken egg
  • 1.8oz canned pure pumpkin
  • 0.5mg manganese supplement*
  • 275mcg iodine supplement*
  • 100mcg folate supplement*
  • at least 35mg (50IU) Vitamin E supplement*

Instructions

To mix and prep beforehand:

  1. Mix ground ingredients together.
  2. Mash canned sardines with a fork. Add in egg and canned pumpkin. Add in powdered supplements (crush tablets with a spoon) and mix thoroughly. Mix in sardine + supplement mix into the grind.
  3. Distribute to containers.

* Manganese: Manganese is found abundantly in mussels, tripe, and some grains. Manganese can be safely supplemented higher than strictly required, and can be helpful for joint support.
– Recommended per 1lb recipe: 1/8 Solgar chelated Manganese (8mg) tablet. Round up to 1/4 (see note below).

* Iodine: The most commonly used source of iodine supplements is kelp powder. Iodine content in kelp can vary greatly, so make sure the company you are sourcing from tests each new lot produced.
– Recommended per 1lb recipe: 2 NOW kelp 150mcg tablets.

* Folate: Folate is water soluble, so excess will be safely secreted.
– Recommended per 1lb recipe: 1/4 Jarrow Formulas Methyl Folate 400mcg capsule OR 1/4 caspule of Solgar B-50 Complex. Round up 1/2 (see note below).

* Vitamin E: Vitamin E is hard to source from natural ingredients, and should be increased as fat is increased in the recipe. Additional vitamin E can also be used as a preservative to keep fats from oxidizing when food is stored for more than a week.
– Recommended 1lb recipe: 1/8 capsule of NOW Dry E-400. Round up 1/2 (see note below).

Rounding up and down regarding supplements: When you see a note about rounding up or down, it means you can choose to round for practical ease to preparing recipes, without unbalancing the recipe. Round after multiplying the recipe – for example, if you are making 10lbs of a recipe, multiply by 10 first, then round up or down as recommended.

Advanced Recipe

This recipe is high in fat. This advanced recipe lowers the fat content to moderate levels:

Makes 1b of food:

  • 4.1oz of Whole Pork grind
  • 7oz of ground pork (4-5% fat)
  • 0.8oz of beef spleen
  • 0.9oz of canned Pacific oysters (boiled, not smoked)
  • 1 large chicken egg
  • 1.6oz canned pure pumpkin
  • 0.3mg manganese supplement*
  • 220mcg iodine supplement*
  • 75mcg folate supplement*
  • at least 23mg (34IU) Vitamin E supplement*

Feeding Chart - Basic Recipe

Weight of CatCaloriesOunces to Feed
5lb1733.5
6lb1953.9
7lb2174.4
8lb2374.8
9lb2575.2
10lb2755.5
11lb2945.9
12lb3116.2
13lb3286.6
14lb3456.9
15lb3617.2
Minimum amounts to feed per day based on weight of the cat

Dry Matter Basis: 50.5% protein, 37.5% fat, 5.5% ash, 1% fiber. Calories: 797cal/lb as fed.

Feeding Chart - Advanced Recipe

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Weight of CatCaloriesOunces to Feed
5lb1734.4
6lb1954.9
7lb2175.5
8lb2376.0
9lb2576.5
10lb2757.0
11lb2947.4
12lb3117.9
13lb3288.3
14lb3458.7
15lb3619.1
Minimum amounts to feed per day based on weight of the cat.

Dry Matter Basis: 62% protein, 26% fat, 5.5% ash, 1% fiber. Calories: 633kcal/lb as fed.