When my little girl kitty, Mikan, was a kitten and was very sick with repeated high fevers, and not eating anything, I made a batch of chicken soup for the first time for the kitties.  When I put it in front of her, she smelled it, and immediately she put her head into the bowl – licked it up every single drop, and wanted more!  I am still ever thankful for the soup because it really saved Mikan’s life.

I started to incorporate the chicken soup to one of our cats’ regular variety of their meals and snacks.  It contains abundance of minerals from bones in an easily digestible liquid form for cats.  Both sick and healthy cats (and dogs) benefit from this broth.  I have given away many jars for my cat friends, and their kitties love it, too!  Here is the recipe to share.  Enjoy!

 Ingredients:

• 3-5 lb Chicken bones (any types of bones are good – a whole carcass, thigh bones, drumsticks, etc.)  You can use the bones only or you can buy fresh chicken and cook them with meat on.  5-7 lbs. with meat.  *I used pasture-raised, hormone/antibiotic free a whole chicken carcass from Richardson Farms ($7.50) at Sunset Valley Farmer’s Market this time.  

• 2 tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar *I use Braggs organic, raw, un-filtered apple cider vinegar.

Instructions:

1. Place the chicken bones (and meat) in a soup pot – you need a big pot. 
2. Add water to cover all the bones and meat completely.
3. Add 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar into the pot.
4. Put a cover on, bring the pot to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for a few hours, skimming the foam and extra fat (if too much) coming to the surface.
5. After meat falls off the bones, separate and reserve the meat in a dish to give to your cats with the soup later.  Make sure there are no bones in the meat.
6. Add more water if needed and another 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar to the pot with bones and continue cooking in low heat for another five to up to twenty-four hours.  The longer you cook the bones, more nutritious it gets.  I used to simmer only a few hours, but after I tried ten-hour cooking, I was blown away by the flavor and quality difference, so I cook more than ten hours these days.
   

   After 12 hours of cooking...

7. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh strainer to a big bowl to cool it down.  Make sure there is NO COOKED BONES in the soup.  It is dangerous to ingest.
8. Pour the broth into ice cube trays for easy freezing/defrosting, or pour it into glass jars and keep them in the fridge and the freezer.  It is best to use it up within a week in the fridge (I sometimes let it last for two weeks, but the flavor diminishes some.) It lasts a few months in the freezer. 

I also use this yummy broth for human meals like stir-fry dishes and cooking quinoa and brown rice.   But we all know it is really chicken soup for your kitty’s soul!