Homemade cat food
Chicken & Pumpkin Lickable Purée
A smooth, squeezable purée in the style of the lickable treat tubes cats go mad for — brilliant for hiding medication, rewarding at the vet, or getting fluids into a cat that will not drink.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time
- 20 min
- Makes
- 6 portions
🧺 Ingredients
- 150g cooked chicken breast
- 50g cooked pumpkin
- 80ml unsalted chicken broth
- 1 tsp salmon oil
- 1 tsp plain full-fat yoghurt (optional)
👩🍳 Method
- Poach the chicken in unsalted water until fully cooked, then reserve a little of the cooking liquid.
- Steam the pumpkin until it falls apart under a fork.
- Put the chicken, pumpkin and broth into a blender and blitz for a full minute — the aim is a completely smooth purée with no fibres.
- Add more broth a tablespoon at a time until the mixture drops slowly off a spoon, roughly the thickness of double cream.
- Blend in the salmon oil and yoghurt if using.
- Spoon into a piping bag or small squeeze bottle, or portion into an ice cube tray.
- Serve a spoonful at a time — most cats prefer to lick it directly off a finger or a flat dish rather than eat it from a bowl.
Nutrition: The high moisture content does real work for urinary and kidney health, and the blended texture makes it digestible for cats recovering from illness or surgery, when appetite is low and the gut is sluggish.
📝 Notes
Refrigerate up to 3 days, or freeze in cubes for 2 months and thaw individual portions as needed. This is the single most useful preparation for medicating a difficult cat: a strongly-flavoured purée disguises crushed tablets far better than dry food, though you should always check with your vet that a particular medication can be given with food. Keep portions small — this is a treat, not a meal.
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⚕️ 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.