How to thicken up blended wet food.

[Madison P. McGuire's mom]

Hi cat moms and dads
I can't seem to find the answer anywhere online. I put my cat's food in the blender so she can eat it better. She is sick right now and I do this so it is easier for her to eat. The food is too liquidity for her. I want to know what would be a safe thing to add to thicken it up. She eats from a plate but I have to hold it up for her so it gets messy. I just want to add something to make it a little thicker so she can be able to lick it up better.

 

[Cat McCannon]

I don't know of anything safe to thicken cat food with. Are you just putting wet food in a blender? Or, are you adding water before blending? If it's wet food, see if just mashing it up with a fork will work.

 

[Madison P. McGuire's mom]

I put it in the blender and I don't add water. I do this because pate is too grainy for her. She prefers it blended so the consistency is smooth.

 

[Madison P. McGuire's mom]

I used to use forza10 wet food and it was thicker but we switched due to finding plastic in the food and also because we think it might have bern causing bacterial infections.

 

[Madison P. McGuire's mom]

What do people who make raw wet food use to thicken it up?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. You might try adding some unflavored gelatin to the food and see if your cat will eat it that way. It does thicken up the blended food, but for some reason Feeby doesn't like the 'taste' of the gelatin (LOL), or the texture just doesn't go over well - not sure which. Also, I have heard of mixing part of a raw egg yolk (no white) as a thickener. That is what I am going to try next. I think how much to use is a bit of an experiment, but for a 3 oz can of food you probably only need a teaspoon or two, certainly not a whole egg.

 

[Madison P. McGuire's mom]

Hmmm, the gelatin might work. I never thought of that. Can I just put a little of the powder gelatin in or should I mix it with water? Thank you. I am scared to use raw eggs since she has been having issues for the past year. Feeby sounds like Madison they are such unique and picky creatures.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Can I just put a little of the powder gelatin in or should I mix it with water?

I tried it both ways, and it seemed to work about the same with each approach. I even strained most of the 'juice' off the cat food, blended the 'meat', then mixed some gelatin with the 'juice' and gradually added it back to the blended food. Again, pretty much the same result.

My issue is with running out of pates that Feeby will eat, so I was trying more 'chunky' foods in attempt to 'mimic' pate - never quite got there - at least not from her perspective! So, for what you are trying to accomplish, maybe you will have better luck!!

 

[Madison P. McGuire's mom]

Thank you so much. I really appreciate this. Have you tried using a coffee/nut grinder? We tried that at first when we started blender her food a year ago but it was more like a pate consistency. She didn't like that at all. She is a recovering dry food addict. I never knew how bad dry food was for cats until she got sick. I wish I knew back then what I know now. I really hope you find something to help Feeby.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Have you tried using a coffee/nut grinder? We tried that at first when we started blender her food a year ago but it was more like a pate consistency.

No, the only blender I have tried so far is the Magic Bullet and it turns the food into 'soupy mousse', which is a huge no go. Then, I added gelatin, which turned into a thicker mousse - still a no go.

 

[Madison P. McGuire's mom]

Yeah we use a nutribullet pro and a regular blender now. That sounds like the perfect consistency we are looking for. How much should I use for 6 oz of food? What brand of gelatin did you use?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Guilty of never actually measuring it out (sorry) I sprinkled just a bit in the blended food (or the juice), mixed it, let it set for a minute or so, and then added a bit more to get beyond soupy. That was for a 3 oz can of cat food. Knox Original Gelatine Unflavored - the only one I found in my grocery store actually! If you are looking for soupy, you won't need much!

 

[Madison P. McGuire's mom]

It's okay. I understand usually when I cook for myself or other I never measure ingredients.

 

[maggie101]

I have the same problem. Refrigerating it even before it's opened helps

 

[Madison P. McGuire's mom]

Thanks Maggie. We do refidgerate the food after it is made to try to get is more solid but for some reason the minute it gets warm it starts to turn into liquid. I don't like to give her the food too cold because she gets chilly fast.

 

[LTS3]

What brand of food is it? Some pates may be quite liquidy at room temperature

Could you blend cold canned food for less time? That might help with the consistency issue. Try one second spurts until it's just smooth but not liquid.

Is mashing with a fork not getting the result you want even with a little water? Will a shallow bowl help contain food or is your cat a strict plate only cat?

What do people who make raw wet food use to thicken it up?

Nothing as far as I know. I've never seen any homemade raw food with a thickener added. Those who use pre-mixes with chunked meat find that the pre-mix powder itself will thicken up the mixture some.

 

[Madison P. McGuire's mom]

Right now she is eating Halo. However I had this issue with Blue Buffalo Carnivora Woodland Blend
too. I did stop that brand of wet food due to carrageenan. She was having the forza 10 blended for almost a year but due to issues with that product and her no longer liking it I did have to change it. Also the surf in the forza was causing her to have to pee a lot which was causing a dehydrated issue. Prior to doing the forza 10 she was having nutro and taste of the wild wet food. She likes the food to be very smooth otherwise she will not eat. She doesn't like the consistency of pate even with water or broth. Mashing it with a fork doesn't work. It did two years ago however now she has had her food blended she doesn't like it any other way.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Very smooth foods to try might be Tiki Cat Mousse. Wellness pates are also really smooth. Wellness Tiny Tasters - ditto. I have also found the kitten pates to be smoother than the adult versions in almost any brand. As an occasional change, Blue Wilderness pates seem to be smoother too. Even Merrick pates are smoother than some of the others.

 

[Madison P. McGuire's mom]

We did try tiki cat mousse. I am trying to stay away from carrageenan and it seems to be in most of the foods that Blue offers. Wellness I haven't been able to find in any of the pet stores lately. I know years ago she used to love wellness core duo but they discontinued it. We used to have a list of other foods to use but over the years they become discontinued. We tried kitten food but it seems that even with that soft pate she doesn't want it. We trid a bunch of other foods too. A few brands with kitten food. We did try a couple of tiki cat pate. She likes baby food when she is being picky but I rarely give it to her because I know it isn't a proper diet for her. She was also eating bff wet food and wellness skipjack not blended but then she stop liking that. She has always been a light and picky eater. Sometimes it takes all day to get her to eat all her food.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Baby food meat can be supplemented to make a complete cat food, btw. See attached article.