# Need Something to Separate Hard Pieces from Pureed Food



## KateH21 (Jun 2, 2021)

I've been meaning to ask this for a long time, but I always forget. I remembered today.

I'm not sure what tool I need to accomplish what I'm trying to do. On the rare occasion my pets get sick and need to be syringe fed, I usually puree their wet/canned food in my mini food processor. This works great except for one problem: some pieces don't get pureed. I'm thinking they must be pieces of bone, it's hard to tell. They don't pass through the tip of the syringe and they constantly cause problems.

So I'm thinking I need to pour the pureed food through some sort of sieve to separate the hard pieces out of it. But I'm afraid the pureed food will be too thick to pass through the sieve.

 Any suggestions on what I can do or what type of tool I would need?


I think I remember trying to use a mesh strainer many years ago and it didn't work.


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## WhateverYouWant (Jun 2, 2021)

Can you measure the diameter of the tip of your syringe?


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## KateH21 (Jun 2, 2021)

I would estimate between 1/8"and 1/16". I would say it's closer to 1/16" than to 1/8". It's hard to measure.

I originally tried using a blender, but that was bad, so bad. Too much splatter and difficult to get all the food out. The mini food processor is so much better.

I've thought about cutting the tip of the syringe, but then too much food would come out. Plus, I'd rather remove those little hard pieces because if it's a cat I'm feeding, they seem bothered by the pieces and spit them out. 



I'm not sure if it matters, but I'm going for a consistency similar to that of baby food. It's been a long time since I've done this for dogs so I don't remember any brands. For cats, the Sheba pate purees the best. But I'd prefer to use Friskies or 9 Lives pate and they both are problems. I don't recall trying any other brands.


For whatever reason, I cannot get the Friskies or 9 Lives to come out smooth like the Sheba. The problem is more than those little hard pieces of bone or whatever that is. There's something else going on that makes it impossible to get it smooth. If you have any recommendations, I'd love to hear them.


I tried asking the vet about this and they don't know. They use some expensive prescription food meant for syringe feeding. It's too expensive for me.


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## jennyema (Jun 2, 2021)

A strainer over a bowl, using a rubber scraper to push it through


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## GotGarlic (Jun 2, 2021)

KateH21 said:


> I've been meaning to ask this for a long time, but I always forget. I remembered today.
> 
> I'm not sure what tool I need to accomplish what I'm trying to do. On the rare occasion my pets get sick and need to be syringe fed, I usually puree their wet/canned food in my mini food processor. This works great except for one problem: some pieces don't get pureed. I'm thinking they must be pieces of bone, it's hard to tell. They don't pass through the tip of the syringe and they constantly cause problems.
> 
> ...


There are several sizes of strainer openings available. You just need to find one that is smaller than the pieces you want to strain out.


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Jun 2, 2021)

The Cleenblend blender will easily make it the consistency of baby food.  It is more powerful than a Vitamix, and less pricey.  It handles so many cooking chores that it's worth the price.

https://www.amazon.com/Blender-Cleanblend-Smoothie-Commercial-Stainless/dp/B0094B94BM

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the /north


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## pepperhead212 (Jun 2, 2021)

A food mill is even easier than pressing through a strainer, and most are fine enough to take out tomato seeds.  And thick purées would press through most food mills.  This would be a lot cheaper than an expensive blender, if you don't use it very often, though I wouldn't be without my Vitamix.


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## medtran49 (Jun 2, 2021)

I was going to suggest a food mill as well.


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## Aunt Bea (Jun 4, 2021)

I agree with a Foley food mill.  An old-fashioned handheld potato ricer or an aluminum chinois strainer might work.

I would try to process a large batch of food at one time and refrigerate/freeze it in meal-sized portions.

Good luck!


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