My Cat Eats Chicken Drumsticks - Bones and All!

tangoking

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I've been feeding him chicken parts since he was a kitten (mostly because it's only $0.49/lb) and he loves drumsticks.

He's got his drumstick-eating-technique down. He starts at the base end (the end a human would hold) and methodically crunches his way from there to the meaty end, eating every shred of bone, cartilage, and meat.

He's the healthiest cat in the world! His coat is lustrous, he purrs like crazy, has tons of energy, and is a pleasure to have around.

He did get a bone stuck in his throat once, before he was a year old, but he coughed it up. I guess he learned his lesson, because it never happened again.

Anyway, this is my first post, so hello cat forum peoples!
 

turks rule!

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Hi and welcome to the site

Wow i hope that my ten month old cat will get to that stage! We are one month into the raw feeding - just one meal a day at the moment. So far he loves rabbit, steak, pork and tonight for the first time chicken gizzards. The thing he is not keen on? Chicken.... I have to cover it in fortiflora for him to eat it. I have some wings in the freezer. I think i might try him on one tomorrow. He has only tried one before and he didnt really know what to do with it. I wish your cat was around to give him some tips!!!!
 
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tangoking

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This cat was feral; we were feeding his mother chicken parts even before he was born. He was weaned off his mother's milk onto chicken parts.

Until this cat came into my life I was a dog person, but he's converted me. He follows me around the house, everywhere I go. He's an indoor/outdoor cat, so we put him out every night, but he's always there waiting around and comes when I call him.

Unbelievable.
 

gardenandcats

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Just a suggestion if you are going to let him outside..Being out day and in at night is alot safer..Less predators around in the daytime..
 

runnerup

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How in the world?

Westley will eat chunks of chicken so I gave him a wing the other day and he just licked it. He couldn't figure out how to eat it and eventually gave up. I grabbed it and tried to pull the meat off it... and failed. If I can't manually rip off the meat, how is my cat supposed to do it?

Shana and Lana'thel won't eat raw chicken. At all. In an ideal world, they would all (eventually) eat meaty bones, but I can't even get them to sample a tiny morsel. Any suggestions?
 

saitenyo

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Cats not used to chewing stuff like that sometimes have to start slowly. I started by offering mine pieces of chicken meat cut up very small, so they could essentially just swallow them whole. I gradually increased the chunk size until they seemed to have a handle on eating large pieces.

When introducing bone, I had to hold it for them at first. They approached it very cautiously, licked it and pawed at it for a while, and timidly tried to bite it eventually. It took them a while to figure it out.

I also recommend if they've never had any bone, start with very small, fragile bones, like the skinny part of a chicken wing. They sometimes have to be experienced pros at bone to eat larger stuff, like tangoking's kitten who has clearly had lots of practice! Mine are still just on small chicken wings.

And don't worry, your cats teeth are much sharper than your hands, so just because you can't pull the meat off doesn't mean they can't eventually figure it out.
They just have to work up the jaw muscle strength (especially if they're not used to having to chew and tear their food) and figure out the methods.
 

otiscat

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I've given Otis raw steak before. He didn't go as crazy for it as I would have thought. He does love canned tuna though. I think one day I'll get him some raw fish and see what he does. Im not entirely comfortable giving him chicken. Too much of a stigma with raw chicken and bacteria. Blah who needs that.
 

auntie crazy

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Originally Posted by tangoking

This cat was feral; we were feeding his mother chicken parts even before he was born. He was weaned off his mother's milk onto chicken parts.

Until this cat came into my life I was a dog person, but he's converted me. He follows me around the house, everywhere I go. He's an indoor/outdoor cat, so we put him out every night, but he's always there waiting around and comes when I call him.

Unbelievable.
Welcome to TCS, Tangoking! Your kitty sounds totally adorable.
Not to mention, very talented to be eating chicken drumsticks, bones and all!


Like Gardenandcats, I would like to encourage you to look into the indoor/outdoor debate a bit, if you haven't already. There are so many sad stories about the fate of cats allowed to roam outdoors, even here on TCS.


Of course, if you're already aware of the dangers and knowingly made this choice, then just ignore me.


Keep posting about your kitty!

Best regards.

Originally Posted by OtisCat

I've given Otis raw steak before. He didn't go as crazy for it as I would have thought. He does love canned tuna though. I think one day I'll get him some raw fish and see what he does. Im not entirely comfortable giving him chicken. Too much of a stigma with raw chicken and bacteria. Blah who needs that.
Canned tuna and other fishy foods aren't really the best options for feline diets, Otis (see eight-strikes-against-fishy-feeding-for-cats), but don't give up on chicken just yet! Even if the chicken is loaded with bacteria (and "meant for human consumption" chicken usually isn't) cats evolved to handle bacteria, and can actually eat foods with bacterial loads far in excess of what could possibly be found even in the wild. In fact, feral cats bury their breakfast leftovers and dig 'em up to eat for dinner. Icky for us, fine for them.

Hope this eases your fears a bit!

AC
 

def kitty

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Wow, congratulations to your cat, I actually tried to smash the end of drumstick (where humans hold it) with a hammer and couldn't do it! But maybe my cat will be able to eat it eventually, for now he can eat the thigh bone and drumstick right up to that thicker part where it ends. But only if there's enough meat on it, he's just not interested in eating bare bones!
 

amberthe bobcat

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Originally Posted by OtisCat

I've given Otis raw steak before. He didn't go as crazy for it as I would have thought. He does love canned tuna though. I think one day I'll get him some raw fish and see what he does. Im not entirely comfortable giving him chicken. Too much of a stigma with raw chicken and bacteria. Blah who needs that.
A fish diet is not good for cats and raw chicken will not do any harm. (the bacteria) Giving fish as a treat once in a while is ok, but not as the main diet.
 

siddymeowmy

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our cats can knock down a drumstick bone in a matter of minutes... even the eight-month-old kittens lol i can't ever take away the bones that don't get eaten right away after mealtime, cuz if i reach down in the direction of their foods, someone WILL come tearing in and run off with a bone lol they'll chomp on them anywhere and any time like a dog with its bone lol
 
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