Affiliate disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Please see full disclosure.
Instant Pot bone broth for dogs is insanely easy and only takes a few hours to cook. Unlike human bone broth recipes, there’s no need to roast the bones off first. But, if you use human-grade animal bones, this dog bone broth is perfect for humans (and cats) too.
You can make this bone broth with chicken bones, beef, quail, turkey – whatever you can get your hands on. This particular version uses duck wings, duck feet, and rabbit backs. My slow cooker bone broth for dogs recipe uses beef marrow bones and pig’s feet. And, in fact, you can switch these recipes and cooking methods. Homemade bone broth is insanely versatile, and if you follow the ridiculously simple method, you can’t go wrong.
- Is Pressure Cooker Bone Broth for Dogs as Good as Slow Cooker Broth?
- What are the Benefits of Bone Broth for Dogs?
- Important Notes About Using Bone Broth for Dogs
- Is This Bone Broth Safe for Humans?
- Can I Give This Bone Broth to My Cats?
- What Bones are Best for Bone Broth for Dogs?
- Wait, Is Garlic Really Safe for Dogs? And Cats?
- Is Garlic Safe for Cats?
- FAQs
- You might also like…
Is Pressure Cooker Bone Broth for Dogs as Good as Slow Cooker Broth?
Yes! Pressure cooker bone broth is just as good as slow cooker bone broth. Which one I make really depends on what else I’ve got going on that day and what else I’m cooking.
If I’m using the pressure cooker (or, in my case, a Ninja Foodi) to make the humans a beautifully rich, flavorsome curry or I know I want to use the air fryer function later to make some delicious breaded chicken fingers, or I’m super busy in the garden or running errands all day, then I make the broth in the slow cooker.On the flip side, if I’m using the slow cooker to infuse willow water, make soap, make jam, or cook a lovely tagine, then I use the pressure cooker setting on my Foodi.
There’s really no difference. The dogs love it just as much either way. The broth gels just as well. The color, smell, and taste is exactly the same, and the Instant Pot pulls just as many nutrients from the bones into the broth as the slow cooker does.
What are the Benefits of Bone Broth for Dogs?
I cover the health benefits of bone broth for dogs extensively in my other bone broth recipe for dogs where I use the slow cooker instead of the pressure cooker, but here’s a quick summary:
- Promotes good joint health
- Aids healthy digestion
- Contains all the nutrients to support sick and recovering dogs
- Great for encouraging picky eaters
- Boosts the immune system
- Easily digestible
- Conditions the coat
- Helps to relieve itching and dry skin
- Encourages good hydration
RELATED ARTICLE: What Kind of Bone Broth is Best for Dogs?
Important Notes About Using Bone Broth for Dogs
Start Small
Don’t go overboard and give your Chihuahua a whole cup of broth and be surprised when he gets diarrhea. Bone broth is rich because it contains all of that lovely connective tissue, marrow, and nutrients. So, if you give too much when your dog isn’t used to it, you can cause tummy upsets.
Start by offering just a tablespoon per day or incorporating it into other recipes, such as my easy fish dog treats recipe.
RELATED POST: How Much Bone Broth Can I Give My Dog?
Not a Meal Replacement
While nutritious bone broth is a great addition to your dog’s diet, and can be a great boost for sick dogs, those in recovery, or a picky dog, bone broth is not a meal replacement. Bone broths are great for hiding supplements and for adding to dog food or for encouraging a picky eater.
I feed my dogs a balanced, species appropriate raw diet, and adding a little bone broth makes their meal a little more interesting, plus adds essential amino acids, vitamins, minerals, collagen and more. If you feed a commercial dry dog food, pouring a little bone broth over your dog’s kibble will greatly boost its flavor and nutritional value. But on its own, bone broth is not a long-term meal replacement.
Don’t Use the Cooked Bones!
While there are very few rules for cooking bone broth, the most important is that you don’t feed your dog the cooked bones. Even after pressure cooking, when the bones essentially soften and turn “mushy”, they’re not safe to feed.
Cooking bones changes them at a cellular level. You dog can’t digest them. Whole bones can splinter, and the soft bones you get after making your own bone broth can cause an impaction. Both of these situations can be life threatening for your dogs.
Plus, think about it. You make broth this way to pull all the minerals, vitamins, and other beneficial substances out of the bones, so once the bone broth is cooked, the bones have nothing of value left to offer your dog. So please, once you’ve got your broth, discard the bones.
If you want to feed your dogs bones, only give them raw bones. Raw meaty bones from a non-weight-bearing part of the animal are great for dogs to clean their teeth, practice soothing, chewing behavior, exercise their natural instincts, and to get vital nutrients.
With raw bones from larger animals like deer and cattle, avoid weight bearing bones like legs, because these are far too dense and can damage your dog’s teeth. Save these bones for making your own bone broth in the Instant Pot. Instead, offer ribs and neck bones. For bird bones and smaller animals like rabbits, you can offer any part of the bird animal, including the whole carcass.
One of my dogs is a small 20-pound terrier mix who adores getting a whole (plucked) quail to chow down on. And my whippet adores a rabbit carcass. Just remember to balance it out. Of course, my guys get their raw meaty bones as part of a balanced diet. Remember not to overfeed bone, whatever diet your dogs eat, as you can cause painful constipation.
Is This Bone Broth Safe for Humans?
Yes! As long as you use human-grade animal bones, this bone broth is safe for humans as well as dogs. Just head to your local butcher or the meat department of your nearest grocery store and ask what bones they’ve got.
Go for turkey carcass, chicken bones, beef bones, rabbit carcass, duck, turkey, or chicken wings, feet, and necks, pig feet and beef and pork marrow bones. All of these are cheap and safe for humans, dogs, and cats when used in broth.
Can I Give This Bone Broth to My Cats?
Yes! This pressure cooker bone broth is safe for cats, too. Just like my slow cooker recipe, unlike many store bought bone broth products, this one is safe for cats, dogs, and humans.
As with dogs, when you first introduce bone broth to your cats, start slowly, only offering a teaspoon at a time until they get used to it. (I had to reshoot some of the photos and the videos in this recipe a couple of times because one of my pesky kitties kept photo-bombing because she was desperate for a taste of the broth!)
What Bones are Best for Bone Broth for Dogs?
The best bones are those with plenty of marrow and connective tissue, and bones from the animals your dog can tolerate. Oscar, my totally adorable problem child, is sensitive to chicken, turkey, beef, pork, and goat. So we avoid those proteins. Instead, as I’ve done in this cone broth recipe, I tend to use rabbit backs, duck wings, and duck feet. I’ll also use venison legs for their marrow. I also use quail carcasses when I can get them at a decent price.
There’s really very few restrictions. But remember that if you want it to be okay for humans, you need to use human-grade animal bones and use animals that the humans like the taste of. Chicken bone broth, for example, is pretty bland, even if you roast the bones first, unless you season it heavily, but you can spice it up with pet-safe herbs and spices or mix it with other bones to get a deeper flavor profile.
Aside from bones filled with marrow, you want to choose bones with plenty of connective tissue, as this is so incredibly good for the joints of your pets. So, use chicken feet, duck feet, turkey necks, wings, pig feet – whatever you can get your hands on.
Don’t limit yourself to plain old chicken broth. Consider all the health benefits you get from a variety of proteins. Plus, the type of broth you make partly depends on why you’re making it.
If you’re making bone broth to help ease or prevent joint pain or to improve skin and coat condition, go with bones rich in collagen, like beef and deer bones, and get cuts with plenty of connective tissue, like duck wings, turkey necks, and chicken feet.
If you’re making bone broth for general health, rehydration and remineralization, use poultry bones and rabbit bones, as they contain more hydrating electrolytes and essential minerals like potassium, magnesium, and phosphorous.
Wait, Is Garlic Really Safe for Dogs? And Cats?
Yes, garlic is safe for dogs at therapeutic levels. As I discuss in my main bone broth post, garlic is actually fantastic for dogs! To cause harm, you’d have to feed even a small dog a huge number of whole bulbs every day. At therapeutic levels, garlic has an array of benefits, including:
- Heart health
- Digestive health
- Immunity booster
- Parasite prevention (worms, fleas, and ticks)
- Anti-inflammatory
- Prevents blood clots
- Can relieve pain
- It’s antiseptic, antibiotic, antifungal, and antimicrobial
- Fights bacteria
- Lowers bad cholesterol
Here are the safe therapeutic doses of garlic for dogs, according to Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats. Notice that the therapeutic dose is pretty big, so there’ll be no problem with the small amount of garlic in this bone broth recipe.
| 10 – 15 pounds | 1/2 clove |
| 20 – 40 pounds | 1 clove |
| 45 – 70 pounds | 2 cloves |
| 75 – 90 pounds | 2.5 cloves |
| 100 + pounds | 3 coves |
Seriously, my dogs get garlic every single day. And they never get ticks, fleas, or worms. They’re fit and healthy. And many natural pet product companies actually sell garlic supplements for dogs (and cats).
I would never recommend a product or supplement that I couldn’t use for my own dogs. Please, don’t let a tired, poorly conducted study from over 30 years ago (that’s been debunked again and again and again) put you off giving your dogs something so beneficial to their wellbeing.
Is Garlic Safe for Cats?
Yes, garlic is safe for cats, although the therapeutic dose is generally lower than that for dogs. While some herbalists still recommend the same dosage for for cats as dogs, in 2008, the Innovative Veterinary Care Journal published a report from the National Research Council that takes a more conservative approach to dosing.
This report recommends a daily dose of 0.004 ounces, or around 1/25 of an average clove for a 15-pound cat. Still, that’s way less than your cats will get if they drink this Instant Pot bone broth.
FAQs
Does it matter if my bone broth doesn’t set?
Nope! It’s perfectly okay if your bone broth doesn’t gel – your dog really won’t mind! And if you really want to get the jiggly jelly effect, you can always stiffen the broth up with good old powdered gelatin. Plus, if you’re freezing it in portions, once it’s frozen, it really won’t matter if it’s gelled or not. Also, whether my bone broth gels or not, the dogs (and cats) go crazy for it.
Can I freeze bone broth?
Yes, you can freeze this simple Instant Pot bone broth recipe. I freeze mine in portions in cute little paw print and bone molds. It’s also a great way of hiding supplements or medication that doesn’t taste good. For example, at the time of writing this post and shooting these photos and videos, my dogs were both about to start a course of grapefruit seed extract (GSE) to treat a giardia infection. And they hate it because it’s bitter. So I pour the correct dosage into the bottom of each mold, fill each space with bone broth, and freeze. Then my naughty munchkins gobble up their “tasty treat” every time! I keep bone broth in the fridge for up to five days. When I make a batch, I separate out enough in a little jug to last me four or five days, which I put in the refrigerator, and I freeze the rest in portions.
Can I use a Foodi to make bone broth?
It really doesn’t matter if you use a traditional pressure cooker, a Foodi, or an Instant Pot for this bone broth for dogs. Use whatever you’ve got. Over the years, I’ve used all three, and they all work. I made this batch in my Foodi, but you can use whichever appliance you have already. Or, you can follow my other recipe and use a slow cooker instead.
Do you need to add apple cider vinegar to bone broth?
Yes, you need to add ACV (apple cider vinegar) to bone broth. That’s because it helps to break down the connective tissue for collagen and draws minerals from the bones. Without ACV, your broth won’t be as nutritious or beneficial, and you’ll need to cook it for longer, too.
Do you have to use beef marrow bones to make bone broth?
No, you don’t have to use beef marrow bones for Instant Pot bone broth. Beef bones are a great choice because they have a lot of marrow and connective tissue, but there are plenty of other options for making broth in an Instant Pot. Including deer bones, lamb bones, turkey bones, chicken bones, duck carcasses, rabbit backs, buffalo bones, quail carcasses, or whatever other bones from herbivores or birds that your dog can tolerate.
Pressure Cooker Bone Broth Recipe for Dogs
This Instant Pot bone broth recipe for dogs, cats, and humans is super easy, requires minimal prep, and only takes a few hours to cook. Plus, your dogs will think you're the best pet parent ever!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 pound of raw bones (this recipe uses duck wings, duck feet, and rabbit backs, but, as discussed above, you can use whatever bones you want)
- 4 cloves garlic
- 4 sticks celery
- 2 large carrots (you can also add beets, parsnips, spinach, kale, or whatever other vegetables your dog enjoys)
- 1 cup butternut squash (or pumpkin or sweet potato)
- 1 red pepper (optional - I add it for the extra nutrients)
- 1/4 cup parsley
- 1/3 cup organic apple cider vinegar with the mother
- Enough water to just cover the bones
Instructions
1. Roughly chop all your veg and herbs and add to the pot.
2. Add the bones to the pot.
3. Pour over boiling water until the bones are just covered.
4. Add the apple cider vinegar, pouring it right over the bones.
5. Set your pressure cooker, Instant Pot, or Foodi to high pressure and, after the heating/pressure building is complete, cook for 3 to 4 hours.
6. TTurn off the pressure cooker and, unless it has an automatic steam release, open the manual vent and let the steam naturally dissipate. Remember, steam is really dangerous and can cause extremely painful scalds, so keep all body parts away from the vent while the stem releases.
7. Once the pressure has equalized and the steam has gone, open the pressure cooker and leave the broth to cool.
8. Once cool, strain the bone broth through a sieve or mesh strainer to remove all the bones, including the tiny fragments.
9. If you have the time and patience, you can now strip the bones of any bits of meat or connective tissue still clinging to them and add those to your dog's food as a tasty treat. Just make sure you don't get any little pieces of bone in there.
10. Store bone broth in the fridge for up to 5 days or place in ice cube trays in the freezer for up to a year.
You might also like…
How to Make Bone Broth for Dogs (Easy, Cheap, and Healthy Recipe)
12 astonishing facts about your dog’s tail every owner should know
Delicious, Easy Ginger Dog Treats Recipe (with blueberries and coconut)