Please advise me on cooking chicken for my kittens and cat.

vik61

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
524
Purraise
1
I have a sick kitten who I am trying to get to eat more than a few bits of dry food.

It worked.

I cooked him a little chicken tender in chicken broth and chopped it up and fed it to him slightly warm and he just loved it--he went nuts over it. This is a little guy who will not eat anything else I put out for him, warm, cold, wet, packaged, nothing. He won't even eat the fish flavored liquid diet I got from the vet.

The other cats loved it too.

It's white meat chicken tenders boiled in swanson broth, cooked all through, not raw at all. (I am currently researching raw food diets for them.)

My questions are will this be a nutritious food to feed on a regular basis, or will I need to add vitamins/supplements?

Or maybe just feed once a day? And give wet food the other two feedings? (I feed the kits three times a day and was planning on doing this until they are about six months at which time I'll feed twice a day.)

I'm figuring Peek will eat it mixed in with his wet food but Boo probably wont. I think I just found something he likes and he's going to be one of those really finicky eaters....Of course he WAS hungry. He hasn't eaten for days except a little dry food pellets. This he chowed right down and it looked like he could've eaten two more at least.

I have another post about him being sick; I am worried about him. But I am hoping to get some advice on whether this is an okay idea for feeding kittens/cats? Please give me any advice you have. If Boo doesn't throw up I am planning on feeding him more of this later tonight.

The other question is how to prepare it. I am thinking I would like to cook the tenders up as I feed them, rather than cooking the whole package then refrigerating it. Or maybe do both. Keep some already cooked on ice then cooking it so I can serve it room temp per meal. Do I have any bacteria issues to consider since I am cooking this meat? And, how long will raw chicken be okay in the fridge? Thanks so much!~
 

vanillasugar

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Feb 27, 2005
Messages
567
Purraise
1
Location
Ontario, Canada
Plain answer, NO. Chicken muscle meat on its own is lacking in all kinds of nutrients and your kitties would not benefit from this making up their whole diet.

If you're going to cook for them, or feed them raw, I really encourage you to do some serious reading and research before brancing out. Any homemade diet must be properly formulated to ensure you're not depriving your cats of anything they need!

But at least you've found something they like! Keep heading in that direction, just educate yourself
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

vik61

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
524
Purraise
1
Yes, I realize that to do raw feeding they will need to get ALL their nutrients in each and every feeding, with the exception of a treat or two along the way. I do get that.

I also now think I get that feeding cooked chicken meat once a day of their three meals will not really be good because the chicken will not have enough nutrients in that one meal and the other two feedings of wet food would need to make up for that?

Right now I am just glad they are happy. I fed all of them, three of them recovering sick kittens some of this chicken tonight with their regular meal and they really relished it--YUM they said.

And, uh oh, the broth had no garlic but onion was about four from the end on the list of ingredients! I am kicking myself over that, mammakat thank you. I could probably use plain water to poach it instead.

I was able to add in the liquid food (fish flavored) in the second treat feeding tonight, to see if they would eat it and they all did. I guess the stuff has got all the nutrients a cat who couldn't eat would need but then on a regular basis I would need to make sure they got enough of these nutrients, so that's not going to work.

I'm looking forward to my raw food learning. I gathered a bunch of web sites to read from this forum earlier today. I am dealing with kittens and a seven year old cat so that may throw a wrench into the works--we shall see.
 

gizmocat

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 14, 2006
Messages
1,396
Purraise
13
Location
Ontario, Canada
There are food additives that you can give the cats that provide the taurine, etc. that your cooked diet won't give them, but it is not recommended that you feed your cat human food.

Here's a good analogy. When a child will only eat ice cream and refuses its vegetables, do you feed it only ice cream? No, you tell it that it can have the ice cream as a treat AFTER it eats the vegetables.

The kittens will eat cat food, be sure of that. You have only to find the right one.
I recommend looking at some of the high end canned foods. Merrick's Grammy's Pot Pie is supposedly very like a 'human' pot pie, with the kitty's nutrients added. They also sell a Turducken and many other varieties. It's an excellent food.
You might warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds before serving. But please, please do not feed your cat exclusively on muscle meat. It could lead to blindness, heart failure and early death.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6

vik61

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
524
Purraise
1
Okay, I will NOT follow this line of inquiry further. I just love you people, thanks so much.

Gizmo I have a ton of the Merrick's food since my local feed store has it at over half price off but is planning to discontinue it. My picky eater is Boo, one of two kittens and he won't touch it. Pixel and the kitten Peeka WILL eat it but they often leave the chunks, so I just go over and mash them up.

Since Boo is sick and not eating I have two things going on right now. Getting food into him and finding a feeding plan for three felines! So I appreciate all the help I can get.

I can use this chicken as food treats though, so last night I poached some up in water and chilled it. Before bedtime I sliced a tenderloin up into very small slices/pieces and tossed pieces around for them to "hunt" and it also got all three interacting with each other, which is needed.

I got the idea of food treats from someone suggesting I use it for the feral kittens I have in my foster room and today I will place pieces of chicken on my body and around the room, etc.

Thanks again for the help!
 

solaritybengals

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Oct 31, 2005
Messages
2,359
Purraise
5
Location
Raleigh, NC
Chicken as a treat is great. My vet (doing raw diet) has me supplement 2 meals a week with raw chunked beef. I guess there are some nutrients in the beef I don't usually get in my standard chicken/salmon. The reason she dosen't want me going more than that is, this is grocery store meat so does not have the bone included. Without the bone they won't get proper calcium, this is the same in your inquiry. Plus the cooking process destroys several amino acids and probably does not have much taurine. I guess the major advantage to chunking raw beef is that they will chew on it a bit which is good for the gums.

My kitties do get some leftover chicken once and a while though and it is great for a cat you are just trying to get to eat more.
 

yosemite

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 26, 2001
Messages
23,313
Purraise
81
Location
Ingersoll, ON
Originally Posted by Vik61

Gizmo I have a ton of the Merrick's food since my local feed store has it at over half price off but is planning to discontinue it. My picky eater is Boo, one of two kittens and he won't touch it. Pixel and the kitten Peeka WILL eat it but they often leave the chunks, so I just go over and mash them up.
Man I wished I lived close to you. I'm paying $1.69 plus 15% tax on Merrick food (Granny's Pot Pie and Thanksgiving Day Dinner) for our babies.
 

vanillasugar

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Feb 27, 2005
Messages
567
Purraise
1
Location
Ontario, Canada
Originally Posted by Yosemite

Man I wished I lived close to you. I'm paying $1.69 plus 15% tax on Merrick food (Granny's Pot Pie and Thanksgiving Day Dinner) for our babies.
It's only 14% tax now!
So a teensy weensy discount! lol What a joke that was!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #10

vik61

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
524
Purraise
1
Oh man I thought TX sales tax was off the wall.

Not to be mean but .69 for the five ounce cans!

2 Dozen 3 oz cans for 9.48 (buy one get one free deal), or .40 each.

Normally they sell for $12 a case ($1 each) for those little cans, so yes, I got a great deal and now that I am thinking of it I should go back and buy the rest even if just for the foster kittens as a donation.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #11

vik61

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
524
Purraise
1
Originally Posted by SolarityBengals

Chicken as a treat is great. My vet (doing raw diet) has me supplement 2 meals a week with raw chunked beef. I guess there are some nutrients in the beef I don't usually get in my standard chicken/salmon. The reason she dosen't want me going more than that is, this is grocery store meat so does not have the bone included. Without the bone they won't get proper calcium, this is the same in your inquiry. Plus the cooking process destroys several amino acids and probably does not have much taurine. I guess the major advantage to chunking raw beef is that they will chew on it a bit which is good for the gums.

My kitties do get some leftover chicken once and a while though and it is great for a cat you are just trying to get to eat more.
After doing some research today and yesterday I guess I now have some questions about the raw diet. But I do want to do it and start soon while the two kits are still kittens.

I mean, I just now fed the kittens some Merrick's food, room temp and they are starting to leave food and walk away from it. Maybe I'm giving them too much but they just don't have the famished approach they do with some of the other cheaper foods. Or the cooked chicken. That they love so much they become little demons with each other.
 

yosemite

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 26, 2001
Messages
23,313
Purraise
81
Location
Ingersoll, ON
Originally Posted by Vik61

After doing some research today and yesterday I guess I now have some questions about the raw diet. But I do want to do it and start soon while the two kits are still kittens.

I mean, I just now fed the kittens some Merrick's food, room temp and they are starting to leave food and walk away from it. Maybe I'm giving them too much but they just don't have the famished approach they do with some of the other cheaper foods. Or the cooked chicken. That they love so much they become little demons with each other.
When you are changing foods for most cats, you need to do it gradually, i.e., add a little of the new to what they usually eat, increasing the new amount daily. Over a period of about 2 weeks, they should be eating all new food and enjoying it.
 

yosemite

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 26, 2001
Messages
23,313
Purraise
81
Location
Ingersoll, ON
Originally Posted by Vik61

Oh man I thought TX sales tax was off the wall.

Not to be mean but .69 for the five ounce cans!

2 Dozen 3 oz cans for 9.48 (buy one get one free deal), or .40 each.

Normally they sell for $12 a case ($1 each) for those little cans, so yes, I got a great deal and now that I am thinking of it I should go back and buy the rest even if just for the foster kittens as a donation.
You're not mean - you're lucky!
 

cheylink

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 31, 2005
Messages
8,259
Purraise
102
Location
queens, new york
I do not know if you are still reading your thread, but atleast one temporary nutritional food they normally love would be tuna, chunk light, in water only! This actually is a great treat in general for cats giving a softer shiney coat, it gives them a bit of the natural fish oils we hear about. This is not to be fed constantly, but can be a temporary feeding if they respond positive to it during illness or other.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #16

vik61

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
524
Purraise
1
Interesting I thought the tuna was not so good. Prior to my getting the kittens and coming to this forum on a regular basis I was feeding Pixel just dry food and a sardine each day, which she LOVES.

I learned that's not so good so now I have her eating the wet food with the kittens.

And I know Yosemite I should give them time. I have four different brands of cat foods in my closet right now, and lots of varieties. They ate their friskies sliced chicken today like they were starving. Even the chunks. Last time they left the chunks...
 

solaritybengals

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Oct 31, 2005
Messages
2,359
Purraise
5
Location
Raleigh, NC
You can get light tuna, or low sodium, or natural. These are not as bad if you look at the sodium content. They are usually pricier though and if eaten to quickly can cause tummy upset (cats get way to excited over fish
). I think its great as an occasional treat if you can find low sodium. Tuna and mackerel have a bigger mercury risk though. All the larger longer lived fish have this risk. Salmon is on the low end of mercury risk because they are short lived in cleaner waters. I don't think tuna or mackerel are that bad once and a while though.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #19

vik61

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
524
Purraise
1
I'm thinking of taking Boo off all fish foods...just to see if he does better. I tend to buy the fish type recipes but maybe I will go for the turkey and chicken. And meat.
 

cloud_shade

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 19, 2004
Messages
2,807
Purraise
17
Location
Oregon
Originally Posted by SolarityBengals

You can get light tuna, or low sodium, or natural. These are not as bad if you look at the sodium content. They are usually pricier though and if eaten to quickly can cause tummy upset (cats get way to excited over fish
). I think its great as an occasional treat if you can find low sodium. Tuna and mackerel have a bigger mercury risk though. All the larger longer lived fish have this risk. Salmon is on the low end of mercury risk because they are short lived in cleaner waters. I don't think tuna or mackerel are that bad once and a while though.
I actually prefer to get Solid Gold tuna, since it is a balanced cat food with all the nutrition the cats need. My fish lover thinks it's great.
 
Top