Pressure Cooker Chicken Feet Broth for Cats and Dogs adds wonderful nutrients, chondroitin and calcium to your furry friend’s meal.
I’ve been feeding a raw food diet for my cats for 22 years, which has helped allow my cats to have a longer than average life. Yesterday, my Oliver, who was just a couple weeks shy of his 19th birthday, died while I was administering subq fluids. It was horrible.
He was in very good health for an old man. Oliver and I traveled all over California to CFA shows and he became a Grand Premier! Today is my Chester’s 18th birthday. Chester, along with Junie Moon, has my heart.
Chester has kidney failure now and he now gets daily fluids and special supplements. It’s bittersweet as I’m worried this might be his last year with me. [Update 2017, it was.]
The mineral mix I make has all kinds of important vitamins and minerals and since the cats were getting older, I wanted to add high quality glucosamine and chondroitin to their diet, so I started making Chicken Feet Bone Broth in my Pressure Cooker and adding it to their raw food.
This recipe is also wonderful for use in Chinese cooking, like soup, for example. If you are a bit squeamish about seeing the feet, please check out my Pressure Cooker Bone Broth/Chicken Stock recipe.
This RSVP Stainless Steel Basket works great for bone broth, as I can just remove it from the Pressure Cooker and I am left with just the broth.
Don’t add anything to the Pressure Cooker, but the Feet and fresh water. Most cats will develop kidney failure at some point in their life, usually at around 7-8 years old (especially if they are fed a dry diet) and I feel the raw food helps prolong the inevitable.
Two of my cats love to eat the toes, so I cut off the nails and give them some of the toes to nibble on, as a treat. I find the Kuhn Rikon Kitchen Shears do a great job of cutting through bones.
That’s Junie Moon and Pooie enjoying some raw toes.
There has been some controversy on the cook time for Bone Broth because of the glutamates, so because this is for animals, I prefer to only cook the Chicken Feet Bone Broth for 75 minutes in the Pressure Cooker. With the Salbree Steamer Basket, it’s easy to just lift out the used Chicken Feet Bones. Throw them away, do not give them to your pets.
This rich broth will be very gelatinous. After the broth cools, package it up and freeze and then pull out a container to defrost in the refrigerator when you need.
I like the Reditainer Extreme Freezer Containers and use Freezer Labels to mark the containers. Four pounds of chicken feet made five 24 ounce containers of Chicken Feet Bone Broth.
Here is the handy printable recipe:
Pressure Cooker Chicken Feet Broth for Cats & Dogs
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Instructions
- Place the chicken feet and water into Pressure Cooker cooking pot.
- Lock on the lid and close the Pressure Valve.
- Cook on High Pressure for 45 minutes.
- When Beep sounds, allow a full natural release.
- Pour into containers and freeze to use as needed.
Jenny L says
Hi, wanna know what will happen if cooking longer time with the glutamates? Thanks.
janezee says
I had to laugh at the title. I’d never waste good chicken foot broth on anyone but humans. It’s the secret ingredient in my chicken stock, along with a good glug of fish sauce. My mother, 91, can’t get enough of it. Her mother died at 96, of a broken hip, so the bone broth is for her health and safety.
I know you love your pets, but…
My other grandmother was the fantastic cook. She’s the one who taught me to use chicken feet and necks. I get them at teh Asian grocery store. I never cut off the toenails. I can’t see the use of that. My Chinese neighbor eats the feet after I’m done with them. They look too much like baby’s hands for me. lol
Tay says
I’m making this right now in my instant pot as I type. My cat LOVES fancy feast canned food but will only lick the liquid up and leave all the solid. So I’m excited to make this and just offer her broth for her usual morning feeding instead of the fancy feast. I pray that she will like it because she is somewhat of a food snob.
Jane says
I just made chicken feet broth a few days ago. I never even thought about feeding it to my dogs. We gobble it up too soon! I cut off the nails, cover with water, and add a bit if apple cider vinegar.
I am so sorry about Oliver.
Jill Selkowitz says
Thank you so much, Jane. Oliver is missed. We have lost several more since. It is never easy. Jill
Aronna says
What recipe do you use for cat food? I’m looking into starting making my own food.
madeline s thomas says
so sorry about your cat. I am sure he had a beautiful life with you. I’m going to try the chicken feet broth for the cats we have…9 rescues. one of the cats, jacko, was a baby when we got him. several young boys were trying to pull him apart by pulling his front paws and back paws. a neighbor came to his rescue…thank you for posting your recipe
Jill says
Thank you, Madeline. You are a good person to take on rescues. Jill
Morgan says
Hi Jill!!! What a wonderful idea!
Just one quick question- do i need to heat up the thawed broth before giving to my baby?
Jill says
Hi Morgan. I mix the cold broth in with the raw food, so that as they eat, they get their water too. Jill
Patricia Kerlin says
I’ve seen where the recipe calls for a whole 5# organic chicken. Other recipes say add chicken backs & necks. This is the 1st one i’ve Seen with chicken feet (sans toe nails). It’s all cooked in a crock pot for 4-6 hrs with meat on. Stop cooking to remove meat. Put skin & bone back in crock pot x 20 hrs on low. I do not have those others machines: pressure cooker or quick pot. I do agree with their expediency.
Anne Jackson says
The feet is full of bones which is why you want to use them…. the entire chicken makes good broth but again, because the feet have so many bones you’ll extract more minerals from those bones (glucosamine, chrondrotin)
Jan says
Hi Jill, Instant Pot newbie here, IP ultra mini for about a week+1/2. So basically have been lurking here quite a bit ? Thank you so very much for this recipe. I see chicken feet all the time at my grocery store & could not imagine what for…they kinda freak me out, so that puts me squarely on team squeamish.
I inherited my Mom’s elderly Pom & adopted stray cat, Gabby. Very interested in using this broth for them. I had no idea a dry cat food di et is an issue. Gabby, so named because she screamed 24-7 like a wild banshee when in heat, was quite the huntress when outdoors. First cat I’ve ever had who actually ate what she caught (except the feet for some reason), rather than bring dead little mangled gifts at my feet, lol! also the only cat who prefers dry. She is an indoor kittie now, but I will google the raw diet thing to augment dry, so thanks soooo very much for that info!
So sorry, but not sure how the affiliate link works. Do I just select the link & then shop on Amazon? Will you get credit for all items I buy during that session or do I need to come back here for the link for each item? Help please.
Making your broth recipe now, bones I can handle. I’ll just close my eyes when I do the feet ? Thanks so much for sharing your expertise & recipes. Really helps those just learning & so grateful for all your efforts to help others! Such a joy perusing here.
Jill says
Hi Jan. I am thrilled that you are looking into feeding a raw diet. It is so great for our sweet pets. Thank you for using my affiliate links. If you click through, you can shop for whatever you like for one session, so if you were to shop the next day, you would need to click through one of my links again. Thank you so much. Jill
Robbie says
Where do you buy your chicken feet. I’ve never seen such clean chicken feet. Or do you have a way of cleaning them yourself. I have arthritis and chicken feet broth is very good for me so I would love your source.
By the way I love your site!
Jill says
Hi Robbie. I buy them at the grocery store. Jill
Lori Y says
Walmart has them labeled as “chicken paws” in the regular chicken section.
Matthew Grant says
Why can’t give your dogs the chicken feet after? The chicken feet are so brittle the dogs can chew right through them.
norah stack says
Do I need to cut the toe nails off all the legs before cooking?
Jill says
Hi Norah. I cut off the nails, to expose more of the insides. Not sure if it is necessary, but I like to give some raw to the cats as a treat, so it is a habit. Jill
Lydia Copley says
Hi, thanks so much for for this info. Its been so helpful. Would love to get the strainer because I cannot lie…I’m squeamish. Would love to dump chicken feet instead of fishing them out of the broth. May I ask? How do you get the handles off of the strainer basket?
Jill says
Hi Lydia. The handles wiggle back and forth and pliers help. Jill
Cassy says
Do you use raw apple cider vinegar for the bone broth?
Ann k says
Tks for sharing, a good nutrition for the animals.
Jill says
Hi Ann~
Thanks so much. It is good nutrition for our fur babies!
Jill