Homemade cat food
Chicken Broth Summer Ice Pops
Frozen cubes of unsalted broth with a fleck of chicken suspended inside — part hydration, part hot-weather enrichment.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time
- 10 mins plus freezing
- Makes
- 12–14 cubes
🧺 Ingredients
- 300ml unsalted chicken bone broth, completely free of onion and garlic
- 40g cooked chicken breast, very finely shredded
- 1 tsp finely chopped cat grass or dried catnip (optional)
👩🍳 Method
- Check your broth carefully. Almost all shop-bought stock contains salt and very often onion or garlic powder, both of which are toxic to cats — use a broth made specifically for pets, or simmer your own from plain chicken and water with nothing added.
- Shred the cooked chicken as finely as you can, so that the pieces are small enough to release as the cube melts.
- Distribute the chicken between the compartments of an ice cube tray and add the catnip if using.
- Pour the cooled broth over the top and freeze for at least four hours.
- Serve one cube at a time in a shallow bowl or on a tile, on a hot day. Many cats prefer to bat it around and lick the melt rather than crunch it.
Nutrition: The point of this recipe is water. Cats evolved in a desert environment and have a weak thirst drive, taking in most of their moisture through prey rather than by drinking, which is why cats on dry-only diets are chronically at the low end of adequate hydration and why urinary tract disease is so common. Anything that makes water interesting is doing real work. A good bone broth also supplies glycine, proline and small amounts of collagen, and the strong smell makes it one of the more reliable ways to tempt a cat that is drinking too little.
📝 Notes
Offer one or two cubes a day at most, and always alongside fresh water rather than instead of it — these supplement hydration, they do not replace a water bowl or fountain. Never give ice to a cat that is showing signs of heatstroke; cool it gradually with damp towels and phone a vet immediately, as very cold water can cause blood vessels to constrict and slow cooling down. Cats with sensitive teeth may struggle with solid ice, in which case leave the cube to soften for a few minutes. Keep frozen for up to a month.
⚕️ 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.