Raw beaten egg OK

[presto]

Hi, I posted this in the "Cat Health" section before I realized there was a deticated section to "Raw Feeding". The two responses I received seemed tentative. So I'm moving the post:

Just the other day I noticed that my 1 year old female likes to lap up my beaten eggs (before I cook them)! She is always very curious to watch me prepare things on the kitchen counter, but rarely tries to nibble anything. So, when I turned my back to grab a dish, I noticed she had sneaked up and was lapping up the beaten egg! Of course, I would never eat raw egg myself for fear of salmonella. But eggs are very inexpensive, and a great source of nutrition (protein, Omega-3, vitamine D), I would have no problem feeding her a beaten egg once in a while, or as a treat.

Does anyone know if there are safety concerns with a cat eating a raw egg? Does anyone actually feed their cat(s) raw eggs, as an occaisional treat, or mixed with food??

 

[auntie crazy]

Nothing is ever risk-free, but absolutely yes, eggs are a regular part of many raw feeder's menu items.

Since too much egg at one time has the potential to cause runny stools and I always buy "large" eggs, I only give my cats half an egg at a time. This is, in fact, their Friday night treat. (Saturday is crickets and Sunday is canned-packed-in-water-no-salt-added Sardines.)

I actually find it easier to separate the yolk from the egg than to scramble the two and try to divide the mix, so I rotate - one week, three cats get the yolks and the other three get the whites, the following week, I swap it.

I'm all about easy.

AC

 

[callista]

I've been told that the salmonella risk from raw eggs is only from the outside of the egg--the inside is quite safe. So, I guess if you were to break the eggs very cleanly or even to wash them before breaking them, you would nearly eliminate the risk. I didn't learn this in the context of cats, though--I was reading up on how safe it was to make home-made eggnog.

 

[auntie crazy]

Originally Posted by Callista

I've been told that the salmonella risk from raw eggs is only from the outside of the egg--the inside is quite safe. So, I guess if you were to break the eggs very cleanly or even to wash them before breaking them, you would nearly eliminate the risk. I didn't learn this in the context of cats, though--I was reading up on how safe it was to make home-made eggnog.

Yep, that's correct.

The salmonella is more of a risk to you than your kitty, though, since cats evolved to manage the presence of bacteria in their foods. With their bacteria-unfriendly acidic saliva and stomach, and their extremely short digestive tract, even heavy bacterial loads don't have a chance to make a healthy cat sick.

AC

 

[sharky]

I dont do raw eggs anymore unless it is fresh from the farm or friend( yes some have chickens for "pets") ... Samonella is not my main concern for me or the animals