Homemade cat food
Turkey & Flaxseed Senior Mobility Mash
A soft, warm mash designed for older cats — tender turkey and pumpkin loosened with broth so tired teeth barely have to work, finished with a whisper of ground flaxseed for coat and skin.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time
- 20 min
- Makes
- 4 meals
🧺 Ingredients
- 150g cooked turkey breast, finely shredded
- 2 tbsp plain cooked pumpkin purée
- 1/2 tsp finely ground flaxseed
- 4–5 tbsp warm unsalted bone broth or water
👩🍳 Method
- Finely shred or mince the cooked turkey so there are no chewy strands — senior cats swallow small, soft pieces most easily.
- Mash the turkey together with the pumpkin purée.
- Sprinkle in the ground flaxseed and stir through.
- Loosen with warm broth a spoonful at a time until you have a soft, scoopable mash.
- Serve just warm, never hot, and refrigerate leftovers.
Nutrition: Lean turkey provides easily digestible protein to help maintain muscle in older cats, pumpkin adds gentle fibre, and ground flaxseed contributes a little plant omega-3 and lignans that support skin and coat.
📝 Notes
Grind the flaxseed fresh or buy it pre-ground — whole seeds pass straight through undigested. Keep the amount tiny: cats convert the omega-3 (ALA) in flax poorly, so treat it as a gentle coat-and-fibre boost rather than a substitute for the marine omega-3s in oily fish. Warming the mash lifts the aroma, which helps older cats with a fading sense of smell find their food. Store covered in the fridge for up to 2 days.
⚕️ 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.