It started with a trip to the vet to get my cats' teeth cleaned. No one else I know has ever gotten their cats' teeth cleaned, but mine had such wretchedly bad breath it became a necessity. And when my vet announced that February was "Dental Health Month" and included a discount, I made the appointments.

Several hundred dollars later (never let it be said that I don't care about my pets), my vet suggested that I try feeding these guys a raw diet to prevent further tooth problems, rather than feeding canned or dry pre-made stuff. I heartily agreed to this, because my cats' teeth were literally rotting in their mouths, and one of my cats hates the vet so much that he has to be anesthetized just to have a physical exam, and I'll be damned if I'll put them through that again anytime soon. Raw diet it is.

So I read a couple of books, bought a Cuisinart, found the chicken gizzards section at Food Lion, and went to work. Yesterday was my first attempt, and I learned several things:

1) Peas do not have to be blended very long to become green, bad-smelling pea paste.

2) Ditto for chicken livers.

3) Frozen pea paste does not smell any better than non-frozen pea paste.

4) Ditto for chicken livers.

5) Chicken giblets are very easy to chop finely, and will lure cats into the kitchen to see what you are doing.

6) Not so with the pea paste.

After mixing the chicken parts, paste, and ground beef together, the cats did eat it. Not a whole lot, which is normal for the first try according to the book. The cats are also not eating as much as they usually do, which according to the book is also normal. They did not immediately throw it up, which is also a good sign (according to me, not the book).

I tallied up the cost of the chicken parts and compared it with the cost of the cheap pre-made food I'd been feeding them, and the cost for the raw is a little less. Three dollars of chicken parts makes a heckuva lot more food than $3 of canned. So we'll see how well this works. I'm just thrilled that someone in my household actually ate something I cooked for them.

So if anyone out there has raw cat food recipes they'd like to share with me, drop me a note. I could use all the help I can get.