How to boil chicken for cat with upset stomach

lisajane8482

Morning,

Got home last night to find one of the cats had brought up a hairball and left a little pile of browny coloured bile. I guessed it was Salem, the older of the two, since it had some dry food in it and that is what he mainly eats. Around 9.30 I went to do the last check of the litter tray before bed and he had left a mucus poop with a streak of blood through it. He seemed generally well in himself, still alert and affectionate so I left it until this morning to contact the vet.

They have said that it could be down to the hairball or him eating the kittens food (they eat different types of food as Salem is very fussy) and that it's probably upset his stomach a little. They also said it is not unusual to have a small amount of blood in his stools due to an upset stomach but to keep an eye on him and if it happens again or he seems unwell/changes his behaviour to ring them back.

They have said to starve him for 24 hours then to feed him boiled bonless chicken for 48 hours and then reintroduce his regular food slowly.

So on the way home from work I will pick up some boneless, skinless chicken breast but how do I boil it? This is probably the most stupid question ever but I have no idea what to do. Do I put the whole breast in or do I slice it first, how long do I boil it for, do I need to mash it, do I give him some of the juices? When they say boil is it more simmer?

Any advice please

peachyprice

Just pop the chicken in a pan of water and boil/simmer until it's cooked through, allow to cool before serving then shred into bite size pieces.

When they say boil they mean as opposed to roast or fried, so it doesn't matter whether you boil it or simmer it as long as it's cooked through.

lisajane8482

Thank you peachyprice, we give the kitten chicken breast but we oven cook it as he prefers it like that.

I'm not even sure if Salem will eat it as he is such a fussy eater and never bothers when we give Gizmo chicken.

rustyboy21

I used to have to boil chickens all the time, in order to go on top of Rusty's dinner, to disguise his medication.

It is dead easy. Just fill a large pan with water, pop the chicken in and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium heat and boil until cooked.
A whole chicken would take about 75 mins, doesn't matter if it overcooks. Shred it down and store in airtight box in fridge.

We used to do whole chicken, It will work out cheaper than the chicken breasts. We used to buy the 3 for £10 chickens from Tesco's for him.

When he passed away, there was 2 left in the freezer. OH decided to roast one for us, he went mad when I wouldn't eat it, as It was Rusty's chicken ! lol

There is a difference in boiling a chicken and roasting, With Rusty if he ate Boiled he was fine, if he ate Roast he would have the runs and his wind stunk terrible. Must have a chemical reaction with roasting.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

I steam fresh chicken, keeps it moist and not over cooked.

Sally_A

Steaming is the least messy, in fact you can even cut it into pieces so it steams quicker and you can check cooked through.

Slow cooker is another option, just bung it in for approx 4 hours.

paddypaws101

It is much better to boil a whole chicken or bone-in pieces than boneless breast meat as the resulting broth is anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory and contains nutrients which help build the integrity of the digestive tract. Proline and glycine in bone broth help regulate digestion and reduce inflammation.
feeding broth alongside the boiled meat (bones carefully removed) provides valuable rehydration and electrolytes which may be necessary after vomit or diarrhoea.
Boiling meat makes the protein easier to digest than any other cooking method.
personally I would never starve a cat even for 24 hours as this can lead to an overly acidic stomach which makes the cat feel nauseous and it will go off it's food even more. Cats can potentially develop a serious condition called Hepatic Lipidosis if they do not eat for a prolonged period

lisajane8482

I didn't end up starving him for 24 hours, in fact at 2:30 this morning I was sorting him some chicken breast out as he just wouldn't settle. He ate a little but not very much.

I read your post earlier so bought a whole chicken and boiled it. Gave him (and Gizmo cos he looked left out) some meat and broth and they both loved it. Might be their little treat every once on a while. Thanks for the advice paddypaws.

rustyboy21

lisajane8482 wrote: »

I didn't end up starving him for 24 hours, in fact at 2:30 this morning I was sorting him some chicken breast out as he just wouldn't settle. He ate a little but not very much.

I read your post earlier so bought a whole chicken and boiled it. Gave him (and Gizmo cos he looked left out) some meat and broth and they both loved it. Might be their little treat every once on a while. Thanks for the advice paddypaws.

Won't do them any ahrm whatsoever as long as you keep it for treats.

Maybe bag up small amounts and freeze it. Then you can bring a small bag out every now and again as a treat. We used to do 2 whole chickens and bag them up into 16 bags , freeze them and take them to the kennels, when we used to go abroad and left rusty there. At least I knew he was getting his medication.

Pick my new family member up tomorrow, Rescue centre did a home visit today and passed with flying colours. Tibsey the Tabby cat is going to be one spolit p*ssycat ! lol ( Won't allow me to put the U in !!! lol)

building_with_lego

FWIW I went to buy some chicken breasts from the butcher for this very purpose and he persuaded me to buy leg quarters instead. They cost me £1.90ish, compared to the £6ish breasts would have cost me.

I poached them gently in water for about 40 minutes, then stripped the meat from the bones. There was so much meat that I've taken to doing the same to feed the humins too!

paddypaws101

Glad the boiled broth went down well.
If I cook a roast chicken I will always boil up the carcass and left over bones.....you still get a good broth out of it and a surprising amount of meat too.