Raw Giblets

Hi All

While I am not going to go full raw with my cat for various reasons ($$ being one of them), I was thinking of supplementing a meal once or MAYBE twice a week with some raw meat. Specifically, I was thinking I could give my 7-month-old kitten some Chicken giblets, including the chicken neck. Do I just defrost, wash off, and let him have at it? He won't choke on the bones in the chicken neck right? I know wild cats don't cook their own food or debone their own food so I assume it's OK but I just wanted to check first....

we also usually eat fish during the week a couple of times. I did give him some of this before, but cooked. (the fish is usually salmon or sometimes tilapia). Should I give him this uncooked but defrosted as well?

I'd stay away from fish for the most part, with the exception of sardines - they are among the safest, since they are wild-caught (often in a sustainable manner) and not likely to contain antibiotics. They grow to adult size quickly, live only a half dozen or so years, and eat mostly plants, all of which limits their exposure to PCBs, mercury and other heavy metals and toxins. And they are full of Omega 3 fatty acids, which makes them a valuable - if small! - contribution to a cat's diet.

My kitties each get their own packed-in-water-no-salt-added sardine once a week.

You can feed up to 15% of your cats' total diet in raw meaty chunks without having to worry about balance. I wouldn't, however, offer them bone-in meals, as the bone, combined with whatever is in the canned foods you feed as a bone / calcium replacement may be just a bit too much and could contribute to constipation issues.

So you can feed as much as three or three and a half meals per week (assuming you feed the recommended three times a day) of all raw meaty chunks!

AC

Ok so no chicken neck then, thanks!

And I will not let him have any more fish other than the sardines, unless it's just a bite (I fed him (cooked) salmon last night and he just tore into it). But I can def.pick up some sardines for him. (Do you mean the canned sardines - in water or oil?)

I don't think any of the grocery stores aroudn here sell sardines unless they are in a can.

Thanks for your help!

Oh, yeah, the sardines I buy are canned. I've heard they can also be bought frozen, but I've just been feeding the canned, packed-in-water-no-salt-added variety.

AC

Ok thanks Auntie