Cooked Chicken Breast.

Today is a special occasion and I want to give the cats a special treat with cooked chicken! However I'm getting a little confused with all the resources out there....

Which is better Chicken breast or Chicken thigh? Would it be better to mixed in the cooked meat with their regular canned food, or would it be alright to serve them just the meat (given that they like it...)

Thank you!

theroyals said:

 
Today is a special occasion and I want to give the cats a special treat with cooked chicken! However I'm getting a little confused with all the resources out there....

Which is better Chicken breast or Chicken thigh? Would it be better to mixed in the cooked meat with their regular canned food, or would it be alright to serve them just the meat (given that they like it...)

Thank you!

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As long as its cooked without seasoning and without bones. It should be fine. Mine prefer their chicken on a tray instead of mixed.  

When you're making your own cat food, you have to give a variety of parts of an animal to make sure the cat gets all of the nutrients it needs. However, if you're just feeding as a treat, any part of the chicken is fine! If you do serve the thigh, either remove the bone or serve raw, because cooked chicken bone can splinter and be dangerous. Raw bone is good for them, though! Although the thigh bone might be too big for them to eat.

Make sure you cook it in just plain boiling water with no seasoning or oil. You can also serve it raw, but they might be a little confused if they've never eaten raw before. And it doesn't matter if you give it with or without their normal food. I hope they like it!

Thank you very much for your feed back! Maybe I'll try topping their dinner with some shredded cooked chicken and see how they like it

As others have said, if it's cooked, just make sure the bones are removed.

If it's just a snack, It really doesn't matter which piece you use, thigh/breast are both great, thigh tends to be fattier.

Another thing to look out for, some grocery meats can be "enhanced," generally with added salt. Check that the nutrition label doesn't list too much sodium, again probably not a huge deal if this is a snack, more something to watch out for if you feed it often.

Do you think chicken breast with their regular canned food everyday 2 days is too much? Or would once a week be better?

theroyals said:

Do you think chicken breast with their regular canned food everyday 2 days is too much? Or would once a week be better?

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A very small amount of cooked meat (less than a teaspoon) added to canned food every few days is fine Some cats may get used to seeing a topper and may not eat at all unless it's on the food. So maybe once a week would be better.

ftmba said:

 
Another thing to look out for, some grocery meats can be "enhanced," generally with added salt. Check that the nutrition label doesn't list too much sodium, again probably not a huge deal if this is a snack, more something to watch out for if you feed it often.

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Or enhanced with broth (who knows if it contains garlic and / or onion) or flavorings. Always read the teeny tiny print on the package. Buy plain raw meat with nothing added.

Is this going to be a one-time/rare treat, or a regular addition to their diet?

If it's just an occasional treat, don't tie yourself up in knots about it - they'll be fine!  Do take care to avoid enhanced meats, though, and definitely do not feed them cooked bone.  My cats love fresh raw chicken pieces as treats.  Hearts and gizzards are good too, if you can find those at your grocery (you may need to ask).

If you're planning to feed them a meal of cooked chicken more often than once a week, you will need to supplement.  There is a cooked recipe thread with all the info you need to do that, or you can buy pre-mixed supplements like BalanceIT.  I've made cooked chicken food for my cats and it's really not hard.  I baked a mix of boneless thigh, heart and gizzard meat and liver in a covered pan, and chopped it all up.  I made a supplement mix based on the posted recipes using ground eggshell (bake in the oven then grind in a CLEAN coffee grinder), and added this to the food along with cooking juices.  It was a big hit.  I like doing this especially for hot summer days (I free feed my cats in chilled bowls).

BTW if you're making ground eggshell, try adding some to your coffee grounds next time you make drip-filtered coffee.  It takes away the bitterness.