Chicken broth for kitty

My kitty used to drink lots of water until I forgot to refill her bowls one day. After that day, she now drinks a lot less. My bad. :doh3: I've been worried about her reduced water intake for a while now, but am just finally doing something about it. Bad mummy to her!

I've tried dropping treats in water, but she just fishes them out. So I looked into buying chicken broth for her to drink, but they all have onion powder, so I bought some chicken drumsticks to make broth for her. She lapped up the chicken broth the first night although she just licked the drumstick meat without eating it, but I think I screwed up by serving her the broth hot the next night instead of waiting for it to cool. :doh3: She took a couple licks, then ignored it.

The broth looked funny anyway after it was refrigerated (jelly-like)...I added some water when reheating the third day and she flat out ignored it.

Today, I'm using a nice whole chicken from Trader Joe's, a bunch of celery and some carrots to make a huge pot of chicken broth goodness...for my cat. O_O Not for me.

I'm going to try adding some Fortiflora on top of the cooked meat (cooled) to entice her to eat some...

If you feed wet food, the easiest way to boost fluid intake is to add water to the food.

The broth will gel because of the gelatine from the bones. Nothing wrong with that as it is. The easiest way to turn it liquid is to warm it through - this will also make it smellier, and so more enticing.

When I make chicken water for my guys I just poach (or cover with water and bake) a few chicken breast fillets, then feed the resulting water as a drink. The meat gets cut up and fed separately. There's no reason why you couldn't use thigh fillets - its simply that my spoilt old boy won't eat any fresh cooked chicken except breast (like he won't eat steak unless its prime fillet.... :roll eyes: ).

Hope she likes her chicken soup....if not, at least you'll have something yummy to eat

Bonitababy said:

My kitty used to drink lots of water until I forgot to refill her bowls one day. After that day, she now drinks a lot less. My bad.

I've been worried about her reduced water intake for a while now, but am just finally doing something about it. Bad mummy to her!

I've tried dropping treats in water, but she just fishes them out. So I looked into buying chicken broth for her to drink, but they all have onion powder, so I bought some chicken drumsticks to make broth for her. She lapped up the chicken broth the first night although she just licked the drumstick meat without eating it, but I think I screwed up by serving her the broth hot the next night instead of waiting for it to cool.

She took a couple licks, then ignored it.

The broth looked funny anyway after it was refrigerated (jelly-like)...I added some water when reheating the third day and she flat out ignored it.

Today, I'm using a nice whole chicken from Trader Joe's, a bunch of celery and some carrots to make a huge pot of chicken broth goodness...for my cat. O_O Not for me.

I'm going to try adding some Fortiflora on top of the cooked meat (cooled) to entice her to eat some...

Click to expand...

I made my broth by putting a whole chicken in the crock pot with filtered water and a package of chicken hearts and gizzards. I let it cook overnight and then chopped up all the meat, divided it into small freezer bags to use as toppers and then saved the rich broth for them to enjoy with their regular foods or to drink. I didn't put veggies in it since they aren't fans of them. They will eat around them if they are in a canned food.

@Columbine   Lilith and Sophie prefer NY strip steak or T bone over a rib eye but they LOVE roast beef. Henry isn't picky and the dog will eat anything.

Columbine said:

If you feed wet food, the easiest way to boost fluid intake is to add water to the food.

The broth will gel because of the gelatine from the bones. Nothing wrong with that as it is. The easiest way to turn it liquid is to warm it through - this will also make it smellier, and so more enticing.

When I make chicken water for my guys I just poach (or cover with water and bake) a few chicken breast fillets, then feed the resulting water as a drink. The meat gets cut up and fed separately. There's no reason why you couldn't use thigh fillets - its simply that my spoilt old boy won't eat any fresh cooked chicken except breast (like he won't eat steak unless its prime fillet.... :roll eyes: ).

Hope she likes her chicken soup....if not, at least you'll have something yummy to eat

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reassurance about the gelatin-like broth! It did liquify nicely when I microwaved it. It was probably too hot for her so she didn't finish it because I didn't cool it.

Today's chicken broth is a hit! Yay! ^.^ I bought ice cube trays, so that if it's necessary I can freeze some of it and drop a cube into her bowl. ^.^

I think she might be a chicken breast type of gal like your cat. She has eaten plain, cubed chicken breast that I've given her from a store-bought salad and loved it. I want to buy a supplement mix like BalanceIT so that she gets her nutrients if I give her cooked chicken or turkey. I think my cat's allergic to beef and doesn't like seafood. I'm so glad I finally made her a nice, big pot of chicken broth!!! ^.^

Kat0121 said:

I made my broth by putting a whole chicken in the crock pot with filtered water and a package of chicken hearts and gizzards. I let it cook overnight and then chopped up all the meat, divided it into small freezer bags to use as toppers and then saved the rich broth for them to enjoy with their regular foods or to drink. I didn't put veggies in it since they aren't fans of them. They will eat around them if they are in a canned food.

@Columbine
  Lilith and Sophie prefer NY strip steak or T bone over a rib eye but they LOVE roast beef. Henry isn't picky and the dog will eat anything.

Click to expand...

I used filtered water too! I have the chicken heart and liver that came with the chicken. I'm going to cook it later and chop it up mixed with some chicken to see if she'll eat it. I hope so! I just added celery & carrots to help flavor the chicken broth. I don't think my cat will eat them. I was hoping she would like raw celery like another cat I saw on the Internet, but she didn't. As long as she drinks the broth to get more liquids, I'm happy! ^.^ I'm going to try to eat the chicken...

My girl has issues with digesting beef too...my old boy prefers poultry (and sadly, fish), but on the rare occasion that mum or dad does have a fillet steak he goes wild :lol3:

So happy to hear the new broth was a hit

@Columbine, Thanks!

I didn't realize how long it's been. I meant to come back on here to post that the chicken broth made just for my cat baby didn't work after all. She was interested at first for a sip or two, then didn't want any of it and wouldn't touch it. I had wanted to eat the plain, boiled chicken, but I overcooked it in the water, so I didn't end up eating any of it since it was so dried out. I should have followed the recipe and only boiled the chicken for one hour instead of two. Don't copy what I did if you come across my thread.

By the way, I bought two water cooler type of water containers for my cat when I was very worried about her hardly seeming to drink any water, but I haven't seen her drink from either. She either drinks when I'm not looking or the water is evaporating. What's worked again suddenly is filling one of my drinking glasses up to the top with water and putting it on my nightstand for her to reach over and lap from.

Also, I bought her a Catit water fountain for her to drink from, but she didn't like it at all. I think it is too high for her since she's petite. Also, maybe that blue in the middle Catit fountain would be good for a dog.

Do you feed wet though? If so then you really shouldnt worry much about her water intake. If you don't feed wet maybe just buy a drinking fountain, I read everywhere that cats love those. I want to buy one myself, but I need to do some more research because i need one is as silent as can be. Oooor try and mix in goat milk/kitty milk with a bit of water and warm I up a bit. Don't know if thats actually healthy but I like to give Elfie a bit as a treat or when she isn't eating much.

Elfilou said:

Do you feed wet though? If so then you really shouldnt worry much about her water intake. If you don't feed wet maybe just buy a drinking fountain, I read everywhere that cats love those. I want to buy one myself, but I need to do some more research because i need one is as silent as can be. Oooor try and mix in goat milk/kitty milk with a bit of water and warm I up a bit. Don't know if thats actually healthy but I like to give Elfie a bit as a treat or when she isn't eating much.

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This is the fountain that I have but I have 3 cats and a dog using it. You might not need one this big


I love this fountain. It is super quiet. They also make a smaller version called the raindrop


They also make both in ceramic if that's what you're into. I have the raindrop in black ceramic but that one doesn't get used as much. The Big Max is the go to. 

@Bonitababy  when I make chicken broth, I put a whole chicken in the crock pot, cover it with water and let it cook overnight on low. The broth comes out dark yellow and very rich.  The chicken stays very moist. I shred it up and freeze it in small freezer bags to use as toppers for the cats' food but you can certainly use it for yourself if you like. Sometimes I add a package of chicken heart and gizzards to the pot and I shred that up with the meat for them as well but that's optional of course. You can also use this broth for yourself in recipes as there's no added sodium and you can adjust it to your liking. You get a big pot of meat and broth for about $5

Kat0121 said:

 
This is the fountain that I have but I have 3 cats and a dog using it. You might not need one this big


I love this fountain. It is super quiet. They also make a smaller version called the raindrop


They also make both in ceramic if that's what you're into. I have the raindrop in black ceramic but that one doesn't get used as much. The Big Max is the go to. 

@Bonitababy  when I make chicken broth, I put a whole chicken in the crock pot, cover it with water and let it cook overnight on low. The broth comes out dark yellow and very rich.  The chicken stays very moist. I shred it up and freeze it in small freezer bags to use as toppers for the cats' food but you can certainly use it for yourself if you like. Sometimes I add a package of chicken heart and gizzards to the pot and I shred that up with the meat for them as well but that's optional of course. You can also use this broth for yourself in recipes as there's no added sodium and you can adjust it to your liking. You get a big pot of meat and broth for about $5

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Thanks so much for the suggestion! I'm definitely gonna look into it!

Hi, if you're looking into fountains, give Petmates Catmate fountain a try. It has three levels, adjustable flow power, and is so quiet, I sometimes have to check that it's working! Very easy to take apart and clean. My cat drinks from all the levels.

Kat0121 Thanks very much for your tips! There is a poached chicken recipe that I tried once that was perfect. The chicken was boiled for an hour and came out so moist. My parents loved it and I think I did eat all the chicken leftovers. The broth looked so delicious, but I was lazy and didn't use it or freeze it. If I can find it, I'll post it since I've really been wanting to make it again.

About the cat fountain, I did buy one of those early on, but the cheaper Pioneer raindrop fountain version. I even bought useless filter refills with it. Useless because my little cat just stared at it, then completely ignored it. I donated it along with the Catit water fountain.

Seriously, my best bet for getting my cat to drink water is to fill one of the water glasses I drink from up to the top and then leave it on my nightstand. She stands on the edge of my bed and leans over and either laps straight from the glass or she dips her paw in to drink. If I keep refilling it to the very top daily, she laps straight from it.

When she stopped drinking water, I think it was because I switched glasses to a narrower glass that she didn't like and I forgot to refill it for a week because she has the upside down water bottle containers I don't see her drinking from. It's like she's saying, "I'm going to drink my water out of the same glasses you use." Lol.