Homemade cat food
Sardine & Spinach Iron Mash
A soft, savoury mash of tinned-in-water sardines and a whisper of cooked spinach, served as a small, iron-and-omega-rich topper over your cat’s usual food.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time
- 10 min
- Makes
- 2 days
🧺 Ingredients
- 1 small tin of sardines in spring water (no salt, no oil, no brine), drained
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped, plain cooked spinach
- 1 tablespoon plain cooked, mashed potato or a little of your cat’s wet food, to bind
- A splash of unsalted water if needed
👩🍳 Method
- Drain the sardines well and check them over carefully for any larger bones, mashing the soft edible bones into the flesh.
- Steam or boil a little spinach plainly until soft, then chop very finely — you need only a teaspoon.
- Mash the sardines, spinach and binder together into a soft, spoonable paste, loosening with a splash of water if needed.
- Serve a small spoonful as a topper over your cat’s normal complete food.
- Refrigerate the rest in a sealed tub and use within two days.
Nutrition: Sardines are rich in the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA for skin, coat and joint health, and their soft, mashable bones add a little natural calcium, while a small amount of spinach contributes iron and a touch of fibre.
📝 Notes
Use only sardines tinned in spring water, never in brine, oil or sauce, which are far too salty for cats. Spinach should be a tiny garnish, not a main ingredient — it is offered in only a teaspoon here because larger amounts contain oxalates that are best avoided, particularly in cats prone to urinary crystals or kidney problems (skip the spinach entirely for those cats and serve the sardine mash plain). Treat this as an occasional topper, not a meal replacement.
⚕️ Before you cook for your cat
- Homemade food must be balanced. Cats need taurine, and deficiency causes heart and eye disease.
- Treat recipes are supplements to a complete diet, not a replacement for it.
- Check any new ingredient against the toxic-foods list, and ask your vet before switching diets.