Is chicken or turkey for cooked humans okay for cats?

My cat is an extremely picky eater and had several teeth pulled recently. I've posted other threads about it. I've been on a quest to find some kind of food that she likes and gives her all the nutrition she needs. Whether that means I start making cat food or buy a special cat food none of my other cats are allowed to eat.

The problem is how insanely picky she is. She used to only eat dry food but can't now that all her teeth are gone. Now she won't eat anything but tuna (I know that's not okay).

She likes fully cooked chicken and turkey. Whenever we have a rotisserie chicken she wants some meat off it. She'll only eat what we hand feed her but that's okay.

Does that kind of meat prepared for humans have any nutritional value for a cat?

Could I buy some chicken or turkey and cook it up for her?

She also likes sandwich meat but I don't know if that has nutritional value.

If I can't find a cat food she will eat, I'm willing to settle on giving her whatever she likes (as long as it isn't bad for her) and giving her supplements to get the rest of the nutrition.

I already talked to the vet and they told me to keep trying until I find something she'll eat. If I can't find a food for her soon I'll go to the vet for appetite stimulants or supplements.

While cooked chicken and turkey are fine sources of protein, these items are not enough to constitute a balance diet for a cat. Number one requirement outside of protein is that cats need taurine, a certain amount of calcium and other minerals which are typically found in a commercial canned wet food. You could learn to make your own home-cooked food that contains cooked turkey or chicken if this is what they prefer, but you will need to incorporate supplements to round of the nutritional requirements.

I would not feed your cat luncheon meat as it very high in sodium and contains things like nitrates and other chemicals which are not good for cats. A bit of cold cut as a treat now and then is okay.

It sounds like your kitty needs to learn to eat again and its just going to take some time, patience and a little concerted effort on your part to get her to eat. Another suggestion is to add a small amount of shredded cooked chicken or turkey, along with some broth, to some wet canned and see if this can get something going. I have a little female who is not very food motivated. Some days it takes doing things a little differently and keeping on her until she eats, but she usually gets it done. 

One canned wet food you might want to look for and try is Nature's Variety Instinct. This comes in Chicken, Beef, Rabbit, Turkey and Lamb. I feed this to my cats, and everyone, including my fussy female, eats this. You might want to give this a shot. This is what you are looking for : http://www.naturesvariety.com/Instinct/cat/can/all

Alternatively, if you are interested in pursuing home-cooked food, you might want to post your situation in the Home-Cooked and Raw Feeding Forum, here : http://www.thecatsite.com/f/65/raw-home-cooked-cat-food.

oneandahalfcats gave some great advice. You can learn to supplement cooked meat if your cat does like it. As mentioned though, you need to be cautious of high sodium and spices like onion and garlic in already prepared foods.

Have you tried meat baby food to tempt her to eat again? Some cats really love it, and you can use it as topper for other foods, same for tuna. You want meat and broth only, no starch or spices.

Allow myself to amuse...myself. 

Please don't cook your humans   Your cat would likely eat it! 

On a more serious note, have you tried 'toppers'?  Anything really, bonita flakes, parmassan cheese sprinkled on top, tuna juice.  Maybe you can fool her long enough to eat that can of cat food. 

Marc999 said:

 
Allow myself to amuse...myself. 

Please don't cook your humans   Your cat would likely eat it! 

Click to expand...

You're baaad!