A Tasty Morsel For Your Cat - Boiled Chicken Feet.

Chicken feet are cheap and require little effort to make into a nutritious food to offer your cat for a change. Typically used to make stock and in Chinese cuisine with spices, browned in oil and then pressure cooked; all this is unnecessary if you just boil them. Their nutrition is natural, wholesome and preparing them my way means they get all the goodness of the finely ground bones and marrow as well as tendon, ligaments, chondroitin of the cartilage of the joints and the collagen and elastin of the skin.

I get a large bag, put them in a stout plastic bag ( stout to stop their frozen toes sticking through) and freeze them.

After defrosting say seven or so, rinse them and then I check the pads and trim off any discoloured patches with sharp scissors. Then using the same scissors I cut the toes off at angle above the toe, just cover them with boiling water and simmer for twenty minutes. I add a little soy, Bragg's Aminos or a pinch of Lo Salt (this is a low sodium, high potassium salt)  to bolster the flavour though you will know the flavour as it pervades your kitchen.

After they are cool, keep the cooking liquid and put aside. With a small aperture disc in place I grind them, bones and all and collect the mash into a seal-able container and add the liquid that was put aside. I think it is important not to add the detritus in the grinder as this sometimes has shards of bone that might catch.

Try them on your puss in the usual amount. My cat goes berserk for them and its only my marbles tray that slows her down. Keep them in the coldest part of the fridge with the lid on tight - they have a very strong chickeny smell.

Sootie uses her hand a lot to feed herself

                   I find this action quite captivating - like having a monkey in some respects.

Car feeder ii

I got Sootie when she was around three years old and destined for a cat rescue centre.

By all accounts she had originally been only taken on only reluctantly as an accompaniment to the real choice of her previous owner, her tabby sister. That reluctance to accept her and that the tabby wouldn't let her eat her share meant Sootie came to me, although in good nutrition, with issues over food and bonding where she would be comfortable on one's lap. Food put in her bowl was gulped and almost always followed with vomiting.

The addition of some glass or ceramic marbles to the feeding bowl and ensuring the food was deep amongst those marbles meant she had to forage. The bowl itself should be deepish with walls ideally around 5 cms and  more or less vertical to prevent puss from flicking them onto the floor. The following clip shows this:-

The size of the glass balls, 3/4" or just under 2cms, and their weight means they cannot be confused with food or even be lifted for ingestion. Their shiny glass surface and absence of any corners makes them very easy to clean and safe for your cat's tongue which is used a great deal in retrieving food from this dish.

Does your cat eat too fast and get sick

Love your cat, hate her throwing up after eating? Here’s my solution. Simple and cheap! Watch this.

Get your balls – these are glass marbles 2 cms in diameter. I bought mine from a two dollar shop!   I had her bowl already.

There should be enough to cover all the bottom of the feeding bowl.

The food should be placed on top of the balls and with an equal amount of hot water added. Use a teaspoon to mix and be sure the food sinks amongst the balls.

Watch you puss gain weight.