Homemade cat food
Bison & Pumpkin Novel-Protein Mince
Lean bison is a genuinely novel protein for cats who react to chicken, beef or fish — cooked plain and folded through soft pumpkin for an easy elimination-diet topper.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time
- 25 min
- Makes
- 3–4 small servings
🧺 Ingredients
- 100 g lean ground bison
- 1 tablespoon plain cooked pumpkin purée (100% pumpkin, not pie filling)
- A little plain water to loosen
👩🍳 Method
- Dry-fry or gently poach the ground bison in a clean pan with no oil, salt or seasoning until fully cooked through with no pink remaining.
- Tip the meat into a sieve and drain off any fat, then let it cool to lukewarm.
- Break the cooked bison up finely with a fork so there are no large lumps.
- Fold the plain pumpkin purée through the minced meat.
- Loosen to a soft, spoonable mash with a little plain water.
- Serve a small portion at room temperature; refrigerate the rest and use within two days.
Nutrition: Bison is a lean red meat rich in protein, iron and B vitamins, and because few commercial cat foods use it, it can be a valuable option for cats sensitive to the more common proteins.
📝 Notes
Bison only counts as a 'novel' protein if your cat has never eaten it before, so it is most useful for cats on a vet-guided elimination diet for suspected food allergies. Cook it plainly with no onion, garlic, salt or seasoning, and offer it as an occasional topper rather than a complete meal.
⚕️ Before you cook for your cat
- Homemade food must be balanced. Cats need taurine, and deficiency causes heart and eye disease.
- Treat recipes are supplements to a complete diet, not a replacement for it.
- Check any new ingredient against the toxic-foods list, and ask your vet before switching diets.