Before I start this post, let me point out that I am neither a vet nor a dog nutritionist, if that’s a thing, which it likely is because where I live, we have not one but two dog ophthalmologists (that I know of).
I don’t have a dog. I had hoped my cat Bootsy might eat this but doubted he would (I was right) so I didn’t take many pics of the process. You don’t need many instructions though.
When I make my daughter chicken, I store the bones in my freezer in jars. After I have amassed enough of them, I take them out and make bone broth. I wrote a post on that here. The basic steps are:
- Place bones in a slow cooker
- Cover with water
- Add a tablespoon or so of vinegar
- Cook on low for 24 hours
- Strain out the bones
I had been composting the clean bones but for this last batch, after they had cooked nearly a day, I cut off the ends of the bones with my kitchen scissors—they get that soft—to expose the marrow. I then let the bones simmer several hours longer. At that point, I could squish the bones between my thumb and forefinger.
I strained the broth, puréed the bones, added back a tiny bit of broth to thin out the purée and tried to ply Bootsy with this homemade delicacy.
I failed to impress.
But then I happened to run into my friend Victoria and her dog, Sasha!
This dog has a better wardrobe and hair than I do… Maybe she’d be too highfalutin for my humble peasant dog treat.
I gave her a tiny bit…
She ran to me and gobbled it up!
I gave her a little bit more—not too much though. I didn’t want her to gorge herself and besides, she watches what she eats.
OMG I love this little dog. She can come over any time for my bone purée.
I love that Sasha eats off a Fiesta Ware plate! Love that!
She has eclectic tastes 😉
Me too!
Sasha! Reminds me of my deceased Schnauzer-mix, Chops. Personality plus, and so cute! Thanks for your articles, tips, and e-mails, I really enjoy them, as well as your good-natured sense of humor. Happy Holidays!
Hi Jane, Sorry I’m so slow at responding your comment on here…I just noticed the comments now! I just love this little dog. Schnauzer’s are SO cute. And she’s so well behaved. I’m sorry about your Chops. I’ll be heartbroken when my little Bootsy dies. Happy New Year 🙂 ~ Anne Marie
We have same issue. Our dog loves the scrunched up stock bones while the cat looks at us as if we had deliberately offended her. She’s more likely to eat it if we mix some pumpkin in it because she’s weird like that…
I was so disappointed with by my cat’s reaction. I thought I had made a wonderful treat for him. I have some pumpkin purée in the freezer. I’ll add some of that to it next time. Thanks for the great idea. I hope Bootsy likes it.
What a great idea for a dog in SMALL amounts. Anytime my dogs (two big floofers) have had a bone, well, I need to be around for regular walks. But maybe a little mixed with some pb in a kong would be such a nice treat. Such a good idea!
Thank you Jeanne! Yes, I have been giving Sasha small amounts only when she visits. It has agreed with her. She would probably love it with peanut butter too. ~ Anne Marie
I’ve been reading your blog for a couple of months now and I love it! This has nothing to do with bone purée ( genius by the way!) but I’m curious how you handle your litter box situation? My husband just brought home a cat (while I was out of town, he was bored apparently) and I’m trying to figure out zero/low waste cat care. I haven’t had a cat since I was 8 years old and when we did have one it was dump the cat waste in a plastic bag and throw it away. Just curious what you do.
Hi Bethany. My cat was almost feral when I adopted him. He had a home but he wan’t allowed in it and lived outside. So he still goes outside. Someone on Instagram (or maybe it was Facebook) told me they bought a bokashi bucket and can put cat poop and certain types of litter in there. I found a post about it here: https://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/home/womans-mission-get-everyone-composting-dog-poop I haven’t tried this myself and had heard of composting dog poop but thought cat poop was a no-no. I hope this helps. Enjoy your new kitty =^..^= Anne Marie
Cole, who is keenly interested in nutrition b/c he is super fit, was just days ago extolling the virtues of bone broth. So that’s pretty cool to find a post on your blog about it.
I made potato leek soup last night with the broth I made from these bones. It was delicious!
I have been doing this for my Yorkies (5 of them) now for awhile. It all started when I became very ill with fybro and started making bone broth from farm raised organic chicken feet…I know it sounds gross but ohh my it’s my fav treat of the day. I hated the thought of wasting all of that amazing collegian and bone marrow after I made the broth, so I decided to see how well it would purée for the furbabies. I am VERY picky with everything that I give them and do not buy treats and chew bones unless I am 💯 positive they have the best ingredients in them. I lost a 2lb precious furbaby last April due to a dog food I thought was high quality💔💔. Anyway my babies love the puréed concoction. It slices up so perfectly after refrigeration And almost has the consistency of canned treat I stumbled across this blog because a friend of mine works as a vet tech and argued that cooked bones, even puréed were bad for dogs. I know bones are bad especially cooked, but I couldn’t get her to understand that the cooked were bad because they splinter in the intestines one they eat them….there is nothing left to splinter once the bones have been cooked for days, then puréed down to absolute liquid. I am thinking of adding organic veggies to the mixture this time along with a multi vitamin and using this as their food daily. Especially for the one I think is pregnant 🥰.
Have you dared try the chicken feet broth? If so I would love to know what you think. I have discovered sooooo many possibilities in using the bones and the broth. And my pain has decreased by atleast50% ! I spent countless hours researching the benefits of it. And let me say most of them are true. This stuff is liquid gold in my house!!! People think I am crazy when they open my freezer and it’s packed with chicken feet!! And right now it’s PACKED. (Buying a deep freezer soon, before the season picks up again) I bought over 1000 this year at one time, when the processing season ended, I purchase locally from a poultry farm, and know that they never get ANY antibiotics or steroids. Nothing but good farm grass and bugs. I had bought a few feet here and there for the babies as busy bones, and they still get the occasional few each a week, I never dreamed they would become my most treasured treat also!! Yuck. NEVER! Boy was I wrong! My husband even joked with the lady we buy off of. He said I bet you think when we leave “what idiots, they just boyght$200 of feet!!!” She laughed and said she never dreamed she would be selling that many in her lifetime!! I am currently trying to go gluten free to see if my pain will completely subside, and I made a quinoa cooked in the broth and added chicken, spices and eggs purchased from the poultry farm. It was delicious. Any tips on simple gluten free recipes would be greatly appreciated as I fear this is going to be a long hard journey to finish the road to recovery. I need to find something fairly easy to prepare, although my pain has substantially decreased, I still have a really hard time standing or using my hands much. I am really trying to focus on healthy organic eating and it is so hard when most healthy meals require a lot of prep work.
I take all the chicken meat that no one wants to eat – the skin, the necks, the ribs, the wing tips, the bone ends, the giblets, the small bones … EVERYTHING. Boil it to reduce all the fat and soften the bones. I let it cool, then put it in the fridge to cool it some more. The fat rises to the top and hardens making it easy to lift off. What’s left is well-cooked meat and softened bones, and a nice protein rich gelatin at the bottom. I throw it in a blender and puree it, bones and all, until it looks like soft icecream. I throw in some raw carrot and apple, as well as a chopped-up banana peel (for added fiber). I pour the whole thing into tall yogurt containers and cool it in the fridge. It settles out into a nice gelatinous meaty mixture that you can cut into slices with a knife. My Labrador retriever loves it, and he’s healthy as a horse. I put a chunk of it in his bowl, mix it up with some of his kibble, warm it about 30 seconds in the microwave to soften it. Stir it some more (just to make sure there are no “hot-spots”) and by then it makes a nice thick, meaty kibble-stew that he just loves.
Thank you for this recipe, Darville. Your dog is very lucky to have you as his cook and companion 🙂
~ Anne Marie