The Benefits of Bone Broth for Pets (And Recipe)

Bone broth has a long health history—the clichés about chicken soup’s healing powers stem from its aid in reducing cold symptoms and preventing cell inflammation. Since the Victorian era, the British have sipped ‘beef tea,’ and Chinese medicine still relies on bone broth to help kidney strength.

Bone broth has many phenomenal benefits. Bone broth has been traditionally used to treat leaky gut and digestive issues, while also supporting good joint health. Bone broth can also benefit pets with allergies and food sensitives, as it is a phenomenal immune system booster. For healthy dogs and cats, a cup of bone broth once a day with a meal is an excellent whole food multivitamin to provide a boost of nutrition to a balanced diet.

Bone broth is rich in many nutrients, especially amino acids such as arginine, glycine, glutamine and proline. Bone broth also acts as a superior joint supplement, as it contains gelatin (the breakdown of collagen), glucosamine, chondroitin and other nutrients that support good joint health.

Protein rich bone broth also contains vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin K, iron, thiamin, potassium, calcium, silicon, sulfur, magnesium, phosphorus, and trace minerals.

Benefits of Bone Broth for Dogs and Cats

There are many benefits to reap from feeding your pet bone broth. The broth offers a boost for the overall health of your dog or cat.

Joint Health

Your pet’s bone health is dependent on the health of the collagen found in the tendons and ligaments of the bones. Bone broth is loaded with amazing compounds such as hyaluronic acid, chondroitin, and glucosamine which allow for protection of joints.  The broth’s easily-absorbed minerals, including magnesium and glucosamine can help in treating osteoarthritis and other joint issues.

Digestive Advantage

Toxic parasite treatment, over vaccination and inappropriate diet could cause a leaky gut in your pet. This is a condition in which the tiny holes found in the lining of the intestines to allow digested nutrients enter the body cause an enlarged and increase in number of the holes. Bone broth can be used in treating this condition.

Immune System Boost

Bone broth is rich in many nutrients that your pet can benefit from. It acts as a supplement for the joints since it contains gelatin. It is also high in vitamins C, D and K, potassium, calcium, magnesium, silicon among other minerals. Bone marrow carries oxygen to the body’s cells, bolstering the immune system’s ability to battle illnesses.

Additionally, it is an excellent meal for sick pets and elderly ones that cannot consume whole foods. These all add up to boost the dog or cat’s immune system and keep your pet healthy.

Repairs Skin and Hair

Bone broth is an excellent meal for sick and old pets in many ways. It helps in maintaining a healthy coat and hair. Additionally, it will help keep the pet well hydrated. All these contribute to the overall health of the skin and coat.

Detoxing

Bone broth contains amino acids that can help in cleaning up the kidneys and liver. Bone broth delivers lots of glycine, the amino acid needed by the liver to clear out all the toxins present in food, water and even pest treatments. By getting out toxins lodged within the body, these organs are protected and can carry out their functions.

Keeping Bones Healthy

Bone broth is rich in calcium and phosphorus, which is crucial for maintaining and healing bones and teeth, and for generating energy.

Boosting Nutrition, Helping Poor Appetites

For dogs or cats with food sensitivities, or pets whose appetites lag because of illness, bone broth’s taste and ease of digestion invites them to chow down.

HOW TO MAKE BONE BROTH

Making bone broth is extremely easy and inexpensive. All you need is water, a splash of apple cider vinegar, a stock pot, and enough raw or cooked bones to cover the bottom of the pot.

While you can use any cooked bones, RAW bones produce the best results. Raw turkey necks, beef marrow bones, chicken frames and similar bones are ideal for broths. Including joints and chicken feet will increase the amount of collagen, minerals, and glycosaminoglycan in the broth.

If you do not have any apple cider vinegar, you can substitute it with regular vinegar or lemon juice. The acid helps draw the nutrients (amino acid-rich gelatin) out of the bones and into the broth. The longer you let your broth simmer, the more nutrients will be extracted into the broth.

INGREDIENTS

Water

Vegetables (celery, carrots) chopped
Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
Raw Bones (Raw bones are preferred but cooked bones can be used) Organic, grass fed bones will be the best and they can be chicken, beef, pork, venison, etc.

DIRECTIONS

**(If you use an Instant Pot, add water until the bones are covered). If you have time, let the pot sit for 30 minutes so the apple cider vinegar can begin to pull minerals out of the bones.  Select the ‘Soup’ button and set the pressure to “low” while increasing the cook time time to 120 minutes, or set for 90 minutes on medium. When cook time is reached, allow the Instant Pot to depressurize naturally.

Cover the bottom of the pot with vegetables and top with a layer of raw bones

Cover the veggies and bones with filtered water
Add a splash of apple cider vinegar (About 1-2 tablespoons)
Bring to a boil
Once at a boil, reduce heat to lowest setting, cover and let simmer for anywhere between 16 – 24 hours (See Instant Pot instructions above. It will only take about 2 hours if you use this kitchen wonder.)

Optional ingredients like parsley, turmeric, kelp, and raw liver can be added to the pot to increase flavor and additional nutrient value. Make sure any ingredients you use are SAFE for dogs to consume. Do NOT use onion or garlic in bone broth, as these two foods are known for potentially making dogs sick.

Once your bone broth is done, remove the bones from the pot. You can pick the tender meat off the bones before discarding them and either feed the cooked meat with their meals, put it back into the broth, or feed it as treats. Dispose of the bones, as they should not be fed to your pet.

After the broth has cooled, skim the hardened fat off the top and discard it.

You will also need to remove the fat once the broth is cooled in the refrigerator. This is done by skimming the top layer (solid and white) and disposing of it. Underneath the fat, your bone broth should now look like jelly … the jelly means you’ve got lots of gelatin in there, and that’s what helps with your pet’s joints and the leaky gut that can cause allergies and digestive upset. That gelatin plugs the holes in leaky gut that can cause allergy symptoms, so the more jelly-like, the better.

Excess bone broth can be poured into mason jars and stored in the refrigerator for about five days to a week.  After it has cooled, the broth can also be frozen in plastic containers or in an ice cube tray. This way it can be used on demand for a number of months.  (Do not put glass jars in the freezer, as they will break.)

Serving Size

The serving size for each pet depends on a number of factors. The weight and size of your pet is important to take into consideration. Where offering the broth as a multivitamin, it is recommended that you give a cup of the soup for large breed dogs, half a cup for medium sized breeds and quarter a cup for smaller breed dogs or for cats.

Where the bone broth is being used as an end of life care meal or as a meal for pets with cancer, pancreatitis or those recovering from other illness and cannot eat, the bone broth serving sizes can be doubled.

In addition to serving it separately as a vitamin/health nutrient, you can spoon bone broth over canned or dry food like gravy, or offer a bone broth cube as a savory “popsicle” on a hot day for a special treat.  One thing is most certainly true, your pet will definitely enjoy bone broth!