Eating chicken wings, raw?

Hi Everyone,

Forgive me if this is a newbie question:

Can I give my cat a raw chicken wing (mini, about 4 inches long), as is, with skin and bones? I gave Nora a wing the other day because I've been introducing raw to her and she loves chicken breast! When she started to crunch into the bones, I was getting nervous that she would choke. I then held the wing in between my fingers so she could finish ripping the meat off the bones.

Is it safe to offer the whole wing, and let her crunch and swallow the bones?

(I've searched google and resulted in mixed responses. I really trust this site, so thought I'd check here )

With bones, there is always the danger of a chicken bone splintering and puncturing the esophagus--even when cooked.  So any vet I know of would say no.  You can always cut the meat off the bones.

Now having said that, I had a cat that adored Thanksgiving and Christmas because he knew he would be getting part of the turkey neck bone, which we boiled to make the liquid for the dressing.  He had no problems, and lived  to be 18.  He also adored raw hamburger.  Have you tried that yet?  None of the cats I've had since have been remotely interested in either item.

Welcome to the forum!   

I'm new to raw feeding myself, and currently only use freeze dried commercial raw in combination with high quality, biologically appropriate wet food. My understanding is that appropriate sized raw bones are safe, because they are still flexible and so far less likely to splinter. Cooked bones of any type are a definite no go area, as the cooking process makes them highly likely to shatter and cause all kinds of problems.

These articles may help answer your question:-

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/raw-feeding-cats-calcium-and-bones
http://www.thecatsite.com/a/feeding-raw-to-cats-safety-concerns
http://www.thecatsite.com/a/prey-model-raw-just-the-basics

Just remember that if you are going to go exclusively raw, include liver, kidneys, and gizzards so the cat can get the enzyme taurine for their eyes.  Here is a pet health article I found:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+2244&aid=2575

Thank you for the comments and links! I'll take a look.

I won't be feeding only raw, just as a meal here and there.

Raw chicken bones don't usually splinter like cooked bones. The primal risk is cats choking on meaty bones.

I think it depends on cats how safely they handle chicken wings. Some cats never have any problems eating them. Others have to learn how to properly chew bones. They may gag on bony parts at first when they try to swallow whole. After gagging on such parts, most cats are said to learn to chew before swallowing. For some cats it may take longer to learn.

To minimize the choking risk, do not cut the wings! If you give the whole wing, your cat can never swallow it whole, so she is forced to chew before swallowing. If you cut the wing into smaller pieces, there is a larger choking risk because your cat thinks she can gulp it whole.

I've been giving raw chicken wings for some time now. My cat has gagged on the wing when I cut it into smaller parts (my mistake) and when he stripped the skin off the wing and tried to swallow it whole 

I also give my cat chicken necks. The bone in the chicken neck isn't made of one long bone, but rather many small bones loosely attached to each other. So chicken necks are easier for cats to crunch apart. My cat never gagged on chicken necks, though I know there are some cats that do better on wings.

If you're not comfortable with giving your cat meaty bones, you can either grind them, use bone meal instead, or add supplements to make up for bones. But if you feed bony parts only as a treat, you can use another meat that doesn't include bones in it.

I agree with Haycat- cats do learn to eat bones. I was scared at first when feeding bones, but a few months ago I gave her a rib go gnaw on (She loves to gnaw on big bones- for her mind and the teeth) - a few minutes later the whole bone was gone! The only problem I´ve experienced with feeding whole bones is that sometimes they get stuck in her teeth- she then uses her paws to solve it herself. If the cat needs help you can hold the bone while they "unstuck" themselves. Don´t pull- it might hurt the teeth. 

Raw chicken bones don´t splinter. Cooked bones do. Try to bend a raw chicken bone- it is flexible!

Thanks for the reassurance! I figured it would be ok, I've done some reading on raw feeding and knew about bone content. My momma instincts kicked in when she started to crunch through the bones! I'll give her the whole thing again, but supervise I think to be on the safe side, I'll give more of the breast, than the wing.

AngelinaCat said:

Just remember that if you are going to go exclusively raw, include liver, kidneys, and gizzards so the cat can get the enzyme taurine for their eyes.  Here is a pet health article I found:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+2244&aid=2575

Click to expand...

angelinacat This style of feeding is called Prey Model Raw, and to make it balanced, there are specific ratios. Our Raw Resources thread provides links to further information and sites with PMR guides.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/264154/raw-feeding-resources