In this case I DON'T actually want chicken pudding

November 14, 2018 10:47 AM

My cat is old and sick and she really likes eating chicken paté blended up until smooth. Only thing is this comes out of the fridge like pudding and she doesn't like that as much. Do you think there's anyway of making and storing this in advance that will keep it liquid, or is it just what it is?

To make it I just put the paté in a tupperware with a little water and blend it with a stick blender.

posted by bleep to Pets & Animals (11 answers total)

Have you tried putting in the microwave for a few seconds? If that doesn't help soften it a bit, I would use the stick blender on it again without water, when you take it out of the fridge, and that should give it the consistency she likes.
posted by Everydayville at 10:51 AM on November 14, 2018 [5 favorites]

Best answer: The trouble is that saturated fats, like the chicken fat that you have in your pate (or like butter) are solid below a certain temperature. There isn't really any way that I know of to prevent this in a home kitchen while still observing food safety. A microwave would be a good option if you have that.
posted by epanalepsis at 10:52 AM on November 14, 2018 [2 favorites]

Best answer: This is a dumb question but is there a reason you can't just add more water? Increasing fluid intake is often good for older cats anyway. I used to mash my cat's wet food into a bunch of water to make kindof a soup which wasn't particularly appetizing-looking but she liked it.
posted by randomnity at 10:53 AM on November 14, 2018 [7 favorites]

Response by poster: I could do that, but I feel like if I have to do additional prep work on the leftovers I might as well just make a fresh batch. If that's what the queen wants that's what the queen gets.
posted by bleep at 10:57 AM on November 14, 2018 [3 favorites]

Part of the issue may be the serving temperature -- most cats like food to be at least room-temp and preferably closer to body-temp, and they can smell warm food more easily, which is particularly an issue for older cats. It might be worth seeing if a quick heat-up pleases her (and why yes I do warm all of my cat's meals in a bain-marie because of course I do).
posted by halation at 10:59 AM on November 14, 2018 [17 favorites]

Sorry, I meant when making it originally. I didn't store mine but I imagine that with enough water it wouldn't completely solidify, though I'm not really sure how much water you'd need to get to that point.
posted by randomnity at 10:59 AM on November 14, 2018 [1 favorite]

As mentioned above, those fats solidify when cold. You can drop the sealed tupperware it in a bowl of hot or warm tap water for a few minutes to bring it to room temp (I do that with homemade vinaigrette). That might be easier than trying to achieve a good temperature in the microwave.
posted by thejanna at 11:09 AM on November 14, 2018 [3 favorites]

Throwing money at the problem: get a baby food warmer.
posted by seanmpuckett at 11:22 AM on November 14, 2018 [7 favorites]

Maybe purchase a small electric kettle, that would make this very easy and you can also make tea :-)
posted by catspajammies at 11:55 AM on November 14, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Just mix it with a splash of hot tap water & let it sit for a minute or so. It's what I do for my old dog that has gotten fussy as his sense of smell fades. Microwave works but it can get hot spots so mix well.
posted by wwax at 1:02 PM on November 14, 2018 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Turns out mixing a little hot water is agreeable to both of us, thanks!
posted by bleep at 9:24 AM on November 16, 2018 [1 favorite]