Just watched the latest u tube video from John Baker and his theme was doing things differently and he was talking about using cat biscuits , he was grinding them up adding a bit of red factor and whey , nothing new i know but once you start looking at the protein content as well as all the other additions it looks quite a decent mix , 47% protein + some other goodies, bit of a faff grinding down the biscuits but the range of flavours is quite large , food for thought

In reply to Post #1
If you look at the ingredients of all the common cat biscuits now they're almost entirely cerial, not like years ago.

In reply to Post #1
I've burnt out a couple of coffee grinders back in the day, on cat food . If your going to make the effort today. Use dreamies or the equivalent . My stray adopted cat is addicted to them. Add ground down to your mix, especially groundbait. But it floats so not too much and soak well.Cats are well known for being more discerning than dogs when it comes to food.

Cat biscuits trump dog biscuits as floaters by a mile. Just have to try and find some bigger ones or spomb them out.

In reply to Post #4
Why do you think cat are better than dog biscuits as floating bait?

Cat biscuits have been used in boilie recipes for years. Rod Hutchinson Seafood blend used ground up Purina Sea Snips at the time. Probably the first commercial fish meal bait.😀

In reply to Post #5
Personal experience of watching carp mop them up much quicker and more greedily. Maybe it’s the shape and sizes or the fishy flavours and additives.

In reply to Post #1
Another good video from Mr Baker.

I bet the recipe is mentioned in Carp Fever by Maddocks.

I've had a spell using a basemix based around cat biscuits and found that by adding a bit of fishmeal, pdfm and garlic with nampla and salmon oil I caught really well. I actually used Aldi or Lidl biscuits as they were pretty consistent. Grinding wise I used a hand grain mill with the handle removed and a drill attached, could grind 500g in about 1 minute

A mention of the make up of Hutchys Seafood blend on here

@ 02:24:30
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I would assume they're would have been a powdered crab extract in there as well thou.

I think it would be interesting to see the list of ingredients on cat biscuits back then, as mentioned a lot of animal feeds are bulked out with more veg and cereals now.
The only cat biscuits ive seen that would seem to fit the ' perceived' criteria as in fish and meat content ( although the carp will be the judge ) cost about £8+ a k and would make you think twice. Although im sure if i look harder they'll be some better prices.
i.e....
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In reply to Post #8
You want one of these, same as Mr Baker has 😎

In reply to Post #9
It would appear that the closest cat biscuit that resemble the original Purina Sea Snips in the Seafood Blend recipe are Purina Friskies Dry Cat Food Seafood Sensations With Salmon, Tuna, and Shrimp Flavors.
In John Bakers video he says he uses 50% ground cat biscuits, 10% birdfood, and 5% WPC 80. What would add/adjust to make it up to 100% (1kg mix)?

Haven't used them for years but around 1990 a few of us made a lovely bird food, semolina & Liver Brekkies bait.

A friend couldn't even be bothered with that so just mixed equal amounts of Semolina & Fish flavoured ones with some RH Monster Crab.

The baits were excellent.

Two of my most succesful baits in the mid 80's was based on "Go Cat" ground down and then mixed with Wheat Gluten and then flavoured with Rod Hutchinsons "Sea Food" flavour for 3 seasons of the year, and when Winter came, just add a teaspoon of curry powder to it without the flavour. With Cod liver oil added, tench loved it, with Capelin oil, carp loved it, I used have a friend who worked in a factory that produced fish oils, he worked in the Labs testing it, then would give me all the samples in big bottles. one of the best oils was numbered, No 8, but that was just the sample number and he could not remember what it was, but, whatever it was, the Carp loved it.

But, my first Boilies I ever made, when they first appeared on the scene, was based on what I had been using since the 60's, and into the '80's, "KiteKat".

I just mixed it up with flour, rolled it out into balls and boiled it, that was the easiest bit, the hard bit was constantly "Retching and baulking" as you boiled them., nothing in my life has smelt as bad as "KiteKat" being boiled, apart from dog and cat poo, I don't know what they put in it, probably Whale Blubber, but it is disgusting. Yet when they cool down, they just smell like "KiteKat".

My Father used go barmy at the smell as the whole house stunk and would ask me if I was boiling Cat S**t it was that bad. It was probably one of the the best baits I have ever used....but, I just had to stop making it as I could not put up with all the bauking and retching every time I made a batch.

Sadly these days, for a good few years now, I find cat foods do not seem so good, I do wonder if it has anything to do with all the "Vegetables" etc they stick in them

In reply to Post #10
Is this the 800 gram capacity model or 2500 gram
Please?

In reply to Post #14
I can't see a model number on it but it looks the same size as the 1500g models on ebay.
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BTW, if using one of these always be sure to lock the lid down, its a proper scary beast...
it would take bone down to powder...

Thanks Baitman.

In reply to Post #15
Looks good, bought one...
I can get rid of my countless tubs of 10 year old pop ups now...mixed into spomb mix at a small ratio to try and get some up'n'down happening over the spot.

In reply to Post #17
Will mill down anything, wild bird food, unsoaked tigers, and any stray fingers 👉🏻 👋🏻

In reply to Post #17
I can get rid of my countless tubs of 10 year old pop ups now...mixed into spomb mix at a small ratio to try and get some up'n'down happening over the spot
Also good in solid bags

In reply to Post #18
How do you find these for getting a consistent fine flour Baitman?

I've been eyeing up a grain/flour mill with the roller grinders over the last year or so, but they are pretty expensive compared to these blade machines. Mainly thinking about producing own birdfood/seed flours fresh.

In reply to Post #20
Very good.

If you want it more coarse its a case of just doing smaller batches and short bursts.

For a birdy you could mill maybe 75% and just blip 25% to retain some coarse texture within the finer flour.

In reply to Post #20
Not sure I'd use a roller mill over a blades if there's any hint of moisture/oil.
Only issue with blades is potential heat build up, easily avoided with pulsing/stop starting etc.

A roller mill is a beast with dry ingredients though and more consistent size wise.
I have a upgraded Crankanstein 3d (or 320..can't rem) belt driven with a 1/3 hp motor from my homebrewing days!

In reply to Post #21
I've got one, and rate it highly, after sieving 2 x 5 kilo bags of different fishmeals, the remaining 'larger bits' get a wizz through again, re-sieved, until none is wasted. great for fining down anything coarse for throwing stick work, to gain a tighter, firmer bait.

In reply to Post #21
Top man, thanks for that - looks the one in that pic.

Yeah, different batches for coarsness grades should work with this.

In reply to Post #15
This looks like just what I need for grinding down my Aller Aqua pellets, that will form the base for next years boilies.
Nice one Dave. 😎

In reply to Post #25
It does pellets with ease.
Only half fill, and the tilt makes it easy to ensure all the corners get a blitz too.
VERY powerful and scary when you first use it, so never turn on with top open, make sure the top is secure, and keep one hand on the handle.
A 2" soft paintbrush is good to dust out the last crumbs.

In reply to Post #26
Mine arrived yesterday afternoon whilst I was sat at lake. Looking forward to throwing some 'stuff' in it when I get home.