Raw Food

"Kelly Greene" wrote in message
...

"Jofirey" wrote in message
...

I always give our dogs the knuckle off the end of cooked chicken
drumsticks and thighs. Don't trust the cats with their teeth that
close to my fingers.


Put them in a bowl. Lower to floor. Problem solved. ;-)
--

Won't work. Dog is the only one with the teeth and jaw strength to
bite those knuckles off the cooked chicken legs and thighs. Much as
I try to talk her into them sharing with the cats, she isn't buying
it.

(I hold the long part of the bone in my closed fist so she can't get
to the splintery part)

Jo

wrote

| Pat, are you saying that chicken bones are fundamentally different
| from the bones of smaller birds, and that raw chicken bones are
| dangerous to a cat, while the bones of a small bird would not be
| dangerous, obviously, since cats kill and eat small birds, including
| bones?

What I'm saying is, next time you have a whole chicken to play with, crack
one of the ribs (raw) and see how sharp the broken ends are, then think
about whether you want to risk your kitty's delicate esophagus.

I'm saying that the bones of a small bird are much softer and smaller and
the kitty - provided it has most of its teeth - can chew them up fine enough
to not be a danger. The bigger the bird, the more difficult it is. BUT the
kitty will TRY IT anyway....

"Kelly Greene" wrote

| How are you getting calcium/phosphorus into your cat?

I pressure-cook bones until they're soft, mash them and add them to the
meat.

"Pat" wrote in message
et...

"Kelly Greene" wrote

| I'm hoping my 2 girls start to eat the raw poultry bones.

Raw poultry bones are as dangerous as cooked ones, for both cats and dogs.
Please don't offer them. What you can do is pressure cook the bones for
about 3 hours then smash them to mush and add that back into the food.

That used to be the case until intensively reared broiler chickens came
along which is what is mainly avaiable in the supermarkets. They are killed
at around 8 weeks old/2 kg in weight, so their bones are still quite soft
and safe to eat.
If you have an older chicken, your advice is quite correct. I used to
pressure cook chicken carcases for my dogs, not for three hours, about 1 and
a half hours, by then I could crush the bones with my fingers. Wonderful
source of calcium and very good for the bowels ;-)

Tweed

On Dec 26, 12:11*am, "Pat" wrote:

Raw poultry bones are as dangerous as cooked ones, for both cats and dogs..
Please don't offer them.

We once had a fried chicken place open near us and Dave tried their
chicken and chips and pronouced it "awful" so after a couple of bites
he threw it in the bin. The next morning the box with just a couple
of chips was in the middle of the floor, the Fabulous Furballs were
both suspiciously not interested in their breakfast and rather more
rounded looking than usual (although they were giving me "It wasn't
us" looks). I was worried they might have eaten the bones and indeed
we never did find the bones so they must have done- didn't do them any
harm but I wouldn't chance feeding them raw or cooked bones. The
nearest they get is if we have lamb or beef with a big solid bone in
it then I leave enough meat on it for them to find it worth their
while and let them have it, they play "Lions of the Serengeti" with it
but I watch them and dispose of it before going to bed.

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

"Christina Websell" wrote

| "Pat" wrote

| "Kelly Greene" wrote
|
| | I'm hoping my 2 girls start to eat the raw poultry bones.
|
| Raw poultry bones are as dangerous as cooked ones, for both cats and
dogs.
| Please don't offer them. What you can do is pressure cook the bones for
| about 3 hours then smash them to mush and add that back into the food.
|
| That used to be the case until intensively reared broiler chickens came
| along which is what is mainly avaiable in the supermarkets. They are
killed
| at around 8 weeks old/2 kg in weight, so their bones are still quite soft
| and safe to eat.

Well that explains a lot. I do not buy supermarket chickens; I get older
ones that have led natural lives. So, I never knew this about supermarket
chickens.

"Marina" wrote in message
...
Pat wrote:
"Kelly Greene" wrote

| I'm hoping my 2 girls start to eat the raw poultry bones.

Raw poultry bones are as dangerous as cooked ones, for both cats and
dogs. Please don't offer them. What you can do is pressure cook the bones
for about 3 hours then smash them to mush and add that back into the
food.

Why would raw poulty bone be dangerous? Cats don't debone the birds they
eat in the wild.

They aren't dangerous, at least the bones we get from supermarket chickens
who die at 8 weeks old, their bones are soft in the raw state and completely
OK for cats/dogs to eat. Cooked is different.
Cats are designed to eat birds raw.
Tweed

"Pat" wrote in message
news

"Kelly Greene" wrote

| How are you getting calcium/phosphorus into your cat?

I pressure-cook bones until they're soft, mash them and add them to the
meat.


So you de-bone all the chicken? I'm unable to do that. I'm not a butcher.

Kelly Greene wrote:

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote in message
m...


jmcquown wrote:
"Kelly Greene" wrote in message
...
The girls like raw chicken. It's about 25% of their diet now.
Gizzards and hearts. I couldn't find livers.

I'm certainly no expert but according to everything I've read you
need to make sure the diet contains taurine.

Jill

But isn't it only "manufactured" food that lacks it? If a cat is
allowed to hunt for itself, their prey contains all that good stuff.
(Even though we may gag at the idea of eating a complete critter,
"innards", fur/feathers and all.)

From what I've read online, all canned and dry cat food has taurine
added. My girls will be getting plenty of raw foods so I seriously doubt
they'd suffer a deficiency of this important nutrient. Tonight I found
chicken livers at WalMart, but not hearts. It used to be all kinds of
animal organs were available in the grocery stores - no more!

Depends upon the grocery store. I wanted turkey thighs for my Christmas
dinner, and certainly Walmart didn't have them (had to settle on a
Cornish game hen, instead) but I assumed that was just Walmart - that
other stores, especially those with a "live" butcher, would have them.
I certainly never had trouble finding them before, unless that's just
another odd quirk of Arizona. (Mincemeat pies appear to be scarce here,
too - no one in Walmart's bakery department seemed to know what I was
talking about!)

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote in message
m...


Kelly Greene wrote:
It used to be all kinds of
animal organs were available in the grocery stores - no more!

Depends upon the grocery store. I wanted turkey thighs for my Christmas
dinner, and certainly Walmart didn't have them (had to settle on a Cornish
game hen, instead) but I assumed that was just Walmart - that other
stores, especially those with a "live" butcher, would have them. I
certainly never had trouble finding them before, unless that's just
another odd quirk of Arizona. (Mincemeat pies appear to be scarce here,
too - no one in Walmart's bakery department seemed to know what I was
talking about!)

In TN cities there are neighborhood stores with ethnic foods but none near
me. There was a good Asian store that sold all kinds of seafood cats would
love but they closed with this rotten economy. I heard in some areas of
Nashville animal organ meat is still commonly sold. But I'm not near the
city. I did find liver last night but remember when beef and pork livers,
brains, lungs, kidneys, sweetbreads etc could be found almost everywhere.

I'm originally from a big city and don't know what mincemeat is. :-)