Grandma had it right; don’t toss those chicken bones or beef bones. Cook them into a tasty, healthy broth for your pet! Ok…Grandma used the bone broth as soup stock for people food, but I’m making bone broth for my pets. This is one easy way to provide your pet with a healthy, tasty snack.
Little did I know my Grandmothers cooking was so healthy. Recent research led me to some fantastic information regarding the health benefits of cooking broth. Of course, my first thoughts were how wonderful this broth could be for pets.
While some professional chefs consider a broth to be made from simmering meat and a stock to be made from simmering bones, I’m considering our preparation (cooking bones) a broth. When you toss some bones into a pan of water, preparing to make broth, what you get is far more than what you see. Your broth will eventually contain ingredients that are in the bone. The following are explanations of all the goodies provided to your pet from home cooked broth; all quotes from a fantastic detailed explanation of the benefits of broth titled “Traditional bone broth in modern health and disease.” Click Here to read full article.
While detailed and at points highly scientific, I think you’ll see the health potential of cooking bone broth for your pet.
“Basically then, broth will contain the ingredients that are in bone. Covering and adhering to the ends of bones to form a joint, is cartilage. Therefore broth will also contain the ingredients that are in cartilage. Bone and cartilage are both classified as connective tissue. Connective tissue is one of the four basic tissue types that exist in animals. It functions to bind or hold together and to support and strengthen the body. Since the cells are few, it is the valuable nutrients from the matrixes of bone and cartilage, which create the substance called broth.”
“Cartilage has enjoyed fame as a supplement for osteoarthritis in the form of shark cartilage. It has been studied for joint disease, and gastrointestinal disease. Prudden found that cartilage dramatically improved degenerative joint disease, including rheumatoid arthritis. He also found that it improved inflammatory bowel disease.”
“Cartilage has a poor blood supply. It actually produces chemicals known as antiangiogenesis factors (AAFs) that inhibit the growth of blood vessels into it. This seemingly unfortunate quality can actually be used to advantage in the fight against cancer. Cancer cells grow very rapidly. They achieve rapid proliferation by stimulating the growth of new blood vessels to support themselves. AAFs are now being used as a treatment to inhibit the growth of blood vessels into cancer cells. (10) As a medicine, AAFs are given in the form of cartilage.”
“Cartilage (broth) can be considered for use in the following conditions: arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis), cancer, decreased immune system states, and malnutrition.”
“One fourth of all the protein in the body is collagen. (15) It is the framework for the extra cellular matrix of bone, cartilage and skin. Another word for collagen is gelatin. Collagen is a scientific term for a particular protein in the body, while gelatin is a food term referring to extracted collagen.”
“Although it seems obscure today, gelatin has been studied and recommended, with great enthusiasm, by the medical community in the past. Gelatin was also reported to increase the digestibility of beans and meat (which gives credence to the practice of serving meat with gravy). It was also found that gelatin increased the utilization of the protein in wheat, oats and barley, all gluten containing grains.”
“Another recent study found that “gelatin as feed supplement protected against ethanol-induced mucosal damages in rats.” This directly supports the traditional thought that broth is healing and coating to the gastrointestinal lining, and gives a scientific explanation for broth’s ability to calm and soothe. Gelatin has also been found to improve body weight as well as bone mineral density in states of protein undernutrition.”
“Also if gelatin is extracted from bone, then marrow, where blood cells are produced is also extracted. Chinese studies have shown gelatin to increase red blood cell and hemoglobin count, increase serum calcium level, increase the absorption and utilization of calcium, and prevent and treat myotonia atrophica (muscle wasting).”
“To summarize, gelatin (broth) can be considered for use in the following conditions: food allergies, dairy maldigestion, colic, bean maldigestion, meat maldigestion, grain maldigestion, hypochlorhydria, hyperacidity (gastroesophageal reflux, gastritis, ulcer, hiatal hernia) inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis), irritable bowel syndrome, leaky gut syndrome, malnutrition, weight loss, muscle wasting, cancer, osteoporosis, calcium deficiency and anemia.”
“Minerals have three major functions in the body. First, they provide a structural base for connective tissue like bone. Second, they create electrical potentials allowing for conduction of nerve signals and movement across cell membranes. Third, they act as catalysts for enzymes in physiologic processes, and as Paul Bergner says in The Healing Power of Minerals, “transform the food and air we breathe into energy, vibrant health, and consciousness.”
“Bone contains calcium and phosphorus, and to a lesser degree, magnesium, sodium, potassium, sulfate and fluoride. Bone is an excellent source of minerals.”
“Deficiencies of minerals can be acquired, similar to vitamin deficiencies. Generally there are two ways this can happen, lack of intake in the diet, or lack of absorption in the intestines. Broth can be an excellent remedy for both of these causes of mineral deficiency because it provides easily absorbed extracted minerals, plus promotes healing of the intestinal tract.”
“It is reasonable to assume that previous to the development of pharmaceutical mineral supplements, bone broth was an important supply of minerals, especially in the winter when fresh fruit and vegetables are less available, and warm food is preferred.”
Amazing huh! Simply put, cooking a bone broth removes “the active chemical ingredients into the water by means of heat, time, and acid, making the nutrients immediately available to absorb.”
Ready to cook? Here’s your recipe…
Ingredients: Bones from poultry, fish, beef, lamb. Raw bones with or without skin and/or meat. (As example, I purchased a 3 pound package of chicken necks and chicken backs. $0.50 per pound. I did not remove the skin or fat, just dumped the contents into the pot. Later, after cooking, I removed the larger pieces with tongs, smaller pieces were removed via straining. Fat was skimmed off the top once the broth cooled.)
Add your choice of bones into a large pot or crock pot. Cover (just cover) the bones with cold water; or 2 cups of water per 1 pound of bones. Add 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar per 1 pound of bones Let stand for one hour.
Bring to a low boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 6 to 48 hours for chicken bones (bones will become soft when touched by a fork); 12 to 72 hours for beef bones. Strain broth through a colander or sieve lined with cheesecloth (or paper towel). Discard bones (do NOT feed these bones to your pet). You can also cook bone broth in a crock-pot. Low heat.
Broth can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or frozen for several months.
Feed your pet the broth at non-meal times at least 30 minutes prior to a meal or 1 hour after (prior to a meal is better, aids in digestion of the meal). It is not recommended to add the broth to a commercial pet food – home cooked or home prepared raw food is fine.
My first bone broth test was with chicken bones (chicken necks and chicken backs). I am thrilled to report there was an eating frenzy with all of my gang. Three cats (one is extremely picky) did not raise their heads until the bowl was dry. Two dogs didn’t raise their heads until the bowl was dry. And I felt fantastic for cooking them up such a healthy treat. Broth has become a daily treat in my household, the gang is thrilled!
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author, Buyer Beware
Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
PetsumerReport.com
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Mike L
October 26, 2014 at 8:13 pm
Hey now THIS is one very helpful article, thanks.
Umm ..not the other articles aren’t as helpful but I like to cook for Fang so this is going to happen at my humble abode. Very cool.
Martijn
April 2, 2015 at 6:23 am
Hi, Great and easy recipe! My cat has pancreatitis and has to have a fat free diet as much as possible. Is there any risk with this broth as it will contain natural fats or will skimming the fat be sufficient?
Thanks!
Pamela
October 12, 2015 at 1:52 pm
How much broth should be dispensed to pets by weight before each meal? I am finding a thousand different variations of recipes but no information about dosage. Thanks!
Kelly
April 26, 2016 at 6:08 am
How long would you cook a beef bone on low in a crock pot? It wasn’t mentioned so I tried doing the 12 hours on low and that doesn’t seem correct as now I have less of a quarter of a cup of liquid and it resembles oil.
Jess
July 2, 2016 at 9:53 pm
I love cooking bone broth for my dogs! I cook it on low in the crockpot for 3 days and crush the bones for added benefits. We have made a bunch of different combos. Currently I have bunker fish, Turkey drumstick, and chicken feet along with beans, lentils and carrots cooking right now.
Alisha
July 22, 2016 at 10:55 pm
Why do u say not to add broth to commercial food? Thx
Kellyo
September 28, 2017 at 3:04 am
Because they won’t eat it most likely. Cats will drink broth
Kellyo
September 28, 2017 at 3:03 am
I definitely believe in chicken broth. I had a cat who suddenly got sick out of the blue. Bloated tummy, not eating, not being herself. She ended up passing. Her sister got sick the same way she did and my mother force fed her homemade chicken broth non stop for 3 days. She survived.
Melanie
November 14, 2017 at 2:27 pm
I used to make broth, but it was so time consumeing. Now I buy a bone broth tea for cats and dogs from https://bustersbrew.net. My cats love it. I’ve also tried Oso and Honest Kittchen, but they really enjoy the busters stuff mixed in with their wet food
Lianne
March 1, 2018 at 12:04 pm
Thanks for the suggestion Melanie. I tried Busters and my pets love it. Would highly recommend it to anyone.
SoupForCats
January 31, 2018 at 5:56 am
A woman my mom knows had bone broth everyday and got a kidney problem.
I suppose it can be good for cats.
Lianne
January 31, 2018 at 1:13 pm
Thanks for the tip Melanie. I ordered that busters brew bone broth and my dog and cats love it. So far, it has agreed with them.
Mike Good
August 29, 2019 at 5:08 pm
How much for a cat that possibly has IBD (loose stool for months)?