Homemade cat food
Goose & Pumpkin Novel-Protein Mince
Goose is an unusual meat few cats have ever eaten, which makes it a useful novel protein for a cat being trialled on new foods — here simmered lean and folded through soft pumpkin.
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Time
- 35 min
- Makes
- 5 small servings
🧺 Ingredients
- 120 g skinless goose meat, all bone removed, trimmed of large fat
- 2 tbsp plain cooked pumpkin (fresh-steamed or plain tinned, not pie filling)
- A little plain water for simmering
👩🍳 Method
- Check the goose carefully for any splinters of bone and trim away the heaviest fat, as goose is a rich meat.
- Cut it into small pieces and simmer gently in a little plain water until fully cooked through, with no pink remaining.
- Drain, reserving a spoonful of the cooking liquid, and let the meat cool to lukewarm.
- Chop or briefly pulse the goose into small, cat-sized pieces.
- Fold through the plain pumpkin, loosening with a little reserved cooking water to a soft mince.
- Serve a small portion and refrigerate the rest in a sealed tub for up to two days, or freeze in single portions.
Nutrition: Goose is a rich source of protein and iron and, as a meat rarely found in cat food, works well as a novel protein for supervised food-sensitivity trials.
📝 Notes
Novel proteins — meats a cat has never eaten before, such as goose — are useful when a vet is helping you work out a suspected food sensitivity, because the immune system has not learned to react to them. This is a treat or trial topper, not a complete diet, and any elimination-diet trial should be done under veterinary guidance. Serve fully cooked and plain, with no salt, onion, garlic or seasoning, and keep goose occasional as it is a fatty meat.
⚕️ 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.