Fish broth for cats

November 18, 2019 7:15 AM

Our cat needs to drink more water. While I am adopting diverse strategies, I am particularly hoping that I can make delicious home made fish broth. Do you do this? Do you have recommendations?
posted by Frowner to Pets & Animals (13 answers total)

For ease and convenience, I would get sardines packed in water, drain them thoroughly then dilute the liquid with some ~15 parts tap water. Doesn't take much to make it fishily delicious, and you'll need to be wary of total salt intake. This is mostly useful if you will eat the sardines yourself (and of course you can share some with the cat). I like Brunswick brand, they come in spring water with no salt added.

If you want to make up bigger batches and freeze it, ask at your local fishmonger if they can give/sell you some heads and bones, then just boil those in plenty of water for 4-6 hours, just like any other stock.
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:26 AM on November 18, 2019 [1 favorite]

Do you eat fish, or would it only be for your cat? If you eat fish, I'd buy anything that looks good whole, filet it yourself and cook the filets as human food, and then simmer the head/tail/bones in water starting from cold for an hour or so. For a cat, I think that'd be enough cookery: I don't think fussing with the seasoning for the broth would make much of a difference that the cat would care about.

If you don't eat fish yourself, I'd do the same thing, but just with the cheapest whole fish you can find.
posted by LizardBreath at 7:29 AM on November 18, 2019

Shrimp shells make a stock super fast, and they're an otherwise wasted material. Just simmer cleaned shells in water for about fifteen minutes and it'll turn orange and pungent. You can freeze raw shells to build up a bunch over time.

Where I am I can go to my giant Asian supermarket and get fish heads and trimmings for very cheap. The type of fish varies of course but that seems like the cheapest option especially if you're not going to eat fish yourself. If you are of course you can ask any good fishmonger to fillet a whole fish and also give you the trimmings separately. When I've made fish stock for human consumption I've only simmered it for about twenty minutes or so, and seasoned afterwards. It doesn't take long to extract the flavor like it might with chicken or beef. And of course I don't think you should be seasoning anything for a cat.

You could also look for dried anchovies and make stock from those. This is typically a Korean ingredient so again, scope your Asian supermarket if you've got one. I would personally be a little wary about this one just because it's a processed product and you won't be sure about any preservatives and salts and such used in the drying process that might not be the best for your cat, but I bet it sure will smell enticing.
posted by Mizu at 7:45 AM on November 18, 2019

Mod note: The question is quite specific, folks, please stick to it. Thanks.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 7:49 AM on November 18, 2019

My Nonna always made fish stock from either a split fish head or cod bones (Two pounds of meaty fish bones is about equivalent to a split fish head from something like a cod or halibut). 8-10 cups of water and aromatics (bay leaf, peppercorns, thyme), simmered for no more than 20 minutes. You really don't need to simmer fish stock for long.

But my cats hate the aromatics and surprisingly reject fish stock, preferring the water drained from a can of tuna. I've never tried making fish stock without the aromatics and season after simmering as Mizu suggests but if you're meaning to share, you could try that. IME fish stock freezes okay, but it's so easy to make, I've never bothered.
posted by crush at 8:05 AM on November 18, 2019

Crab. Just try it. Cooking crab is also a good way to summon distant cats.
posted by amtho at 8:19 AM on November 18, 2019

I freeze the tuna in water liquid as icecubes and add it to the water bowls when it's hot/I don't feel that they are drinking enough, generally one or two per cat/water bowl. It generally works well, although since getting them a filtered fountain with different heights, they are now regular visitors to that (it's in my living room due to plug requirements so I see them from the sofa) and I'm easing back on freezing the liquid as a result. I think they also drank more from the bowls when I let the water get "stale" in a jug for a couple hours, probably because we have quite chlorinated water and that allowed it to settle.

You do need to clean the bowls daily if doing the tuna water thing as there's always a little bit of tuna solids and it can get grim fast.

They are also recently on a dry food only diet so I am monitoring water intake quite closely at the moment.
posted by halcyonday at 8:21 AM on November 18, 2019

I don't make fish stock for cats, but I do make fish stock for myself. Check with grocery stores to see if they will sell you fish bones. I go to a co-op that has packages of fish bones in one of the freezers near the chicken backs (also great for stock). Stock freezes well for long periods and can be defrosted in the fridge. I freeze mine in canning jars.

If you don't mind off-the-cuff cooking, add bones to the pot and cover with water. If you prefer some precision, the typical ratio for stock is 3 parts water to 2 parts bones. So for every two pounds of fish bones, use 3 pounds (or 46 ounces) of water. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Do not allow to a boil. Strain through a sieve (optional: line with cheese cloth/butter muslin). Let cool in fridge. De-fat if desired (fat will float to the top and form a hard layer for easy removal).

If you're pressed for space in the fridge or freezer, you can then simmer the strained stock uncovered on the stove to make a concentrated stock, though I've only done this with stock made from chicken or red meat. You'll then have a stronger stock that you can reconstitute with more liquid. The concentrated stock can also be frozen.

You could also try chicken stock -- same ratio, but it cooks for much longer. I do mine in a pressure cooker for 30 minutes using backs, necks, and wings from the grocery store. Don't use trimmings/leftover bones from your own meals unless you know it does not contain salt or any other ingredients not suitable for cat consumption.
posted by carrioncomfort at 9:19 AM on November 18, 2019

Dried bonito flakes are cheap if you get them at the grocery store instead of at the pet store. When I had a cat, I bought a big bag thinking I'd get double duty out of it: homemade dashi broth for me, fish treats for the cat. Well, the dashi never happened and the cat got to have the whole bag, but I think plain bonito broth would work well for your situation. The flakes keep forever and are easier than stewing fresh fish parts. I think occasionally I just sprinkled the flakes directly on his food or in his water too.
posted by yeahlikethat at 9:44 AM on November 18, 2019 [3 favorites]

Delicious to you and delicious and safe for a cat are probably going to be two different things, I think I would stick to more frequently making small batches of basically poaching water rather than having to deal with freezing and thawing larger batches of stock. Poaching small amounts of salmon and either removing the fish or mashing/blending it into the water gets you all the good stuff with a lot of flavor. You could buy one decent-sized filet, cut into 1" squares, and freeze that to break off and cook 1-2 squares at a time for a day or two's worth of water.

It's getting really hard to find wild-caught canned salmon with skin and bones anymore (once canned, the bones are occasionally visible but in no way "bony") because it freaks people out, but that would be a shortcut to making fish-water with all the nutrients and smells still on board. Freeze the remainder of the can, spread out pretty flat in a zip lock, so you can break off portions to cook fresh batches.
posted by Lyn Never at 11:48 AM on November 18, 2019

Full disclosure: I have not tried this process personally, but I know people who have with varying degrees of success. Here are some recipes that might give you a jumping off point: 1, 2, 3

Hard un-recommend to canned fish or tuna water processed for human consumption. They contain unhealthy levels of sodium, and can also include poisonous aromatics like onion, garlic, shallots, or chives.

Good luck! Also, your cat is adorably squishy!
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 12:19 PM on November 18, 2019 [1 favorite]

I hope this isn't straying from the brief too much, and maybe it's obvious, but if you feed canned/wet cat food, try rinsing out the leftover bits from the can with a small amount of water and putting the rinse-water in a bowl alongside the food for your cat. I cat-sat a cat whom I fed in this manner (not knowing any better, just wanting him to get all the goodness instead of rinsing it down the drain) and he lapped it right up. He loved it so much that his owners continued to give him a "soup course" after they got back--apparently he needed to drink more water, too.
posted by spelunkingplato at 3:41 PM on November 18, 2019 [3 favorites]

Shrimp or crab shell stock made in the pressure cooker makes a good splash to add to water. But my cats' water consumption has drastically increased by the addition of multiple small water bowls scattered throughout the house. Many cats prefer not to drink water that is right next to their food.
posted by 2soxy4mypuppet at 3:56 PM on November 18, 2019 [1 favorite]