RAW CHICKEN WINGS FOR CATS? I’m sure many cat owners out there have seen this, but I never gave it much thought. My cats sometimes get a little bit of raw chicken, deboned and cut up into chunks, as their evening meal. And if they’re not eating it fast enough, then any other cats that are around the house will finish it off for them!
But today somebody said to me that if you give your cat too much raw chicken, the bones can make its poo very hard – which can cause blockages in their intestinal tract…so should I stop giving them the odd bit of raw meat?
It might make sense for us humans to do so because we don’t always know what cats are putting in their mouths when given something new…but I doubt the occasional bit of raw chicken is going to harm them…
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated…
Thank you for your question regarding the feeding of raw chicken to cats.. The correct term for this is home‐prepared diets, or, more accurately, raw meat diets (RMBDs). These are not recommended by any veterinary body in any country as they can cause serious diseases in both animals and humans who handle them.
Some bacteria present in RMBDs include enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Clostridium spp., Campylobacter jejuni, Listeria monocytogenes, Yersinia enterocolitica, Vibrio cholera non‐O1, and Enterohemorrhagic E. coli such as the most common strain O157:H7. These food products can also contain parasites such as the Toxoplasma gondii parasite, roundworms (Toxocara cati), hookworms (Ancylostoma tubaeforme), and tapeworms (Taenia taeniaeformis).
Raw meat products can affect both cats and dogs, but they are most commonly associated with disease in dogs where problems may include infections transmitted by Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp. or Listeria monocytogenes, which cause gastrointestinal signs including vomiting, diarrhea, etc., other bacterial infections such as Clostridium spp.,
and Clostridium difficile enterotoxaemia, parasitic diseases such as giardiasis, coccidiosis, toxocariasis or dirofilariasis; protozoal diseases including toxoplasmosis and Sarcocystis; and viral infections such as those transmitted by Bordetella avium. Finally, these diets may contain elevated levels of vitamin D that can lead to renal disease.
What we advise is that you feed a balanced commercial diet to your cat. This will be formulated according to the best available evidence for what constitutes a healthy diet for cats so should not cause any problems with regard to their health or well‐being.
What happens if a cat eats raw chicken?
Cats may find the bones in raw chicken a little difficult to digest and this could possibly cause stomach upset.
What about feeding bones, cooked or uncooked?
Bones from meat should never be fed because our carnivore pets do not have a digestive system that can cope with them easily. In addition, they can become lodged in your pet’s throat or eating passageways and cause choking, which in some cases can be fatal.
Are chicken wings good for cats teeth?
Chicken wings are not a good food to feed to your cat. They contain little meat, but lots of bone and it is difficult for your pet to break them down. These bones can splinter easily and become lodged in the digestive tract where they can cause major problems.
It is far better to serve up a plate of raw chicken breast or, if you’re keen to serve them something more interesting, why not try feeding your cat a raw food diet? A variety of different meats and vegetables can be given, but you must pay particular attention to the calcium: phosphorus ratio. Indeed the ratios of all minerals should be considered as well as those for protein and fat.