Can Boiled Egg Yolks be Used in Home Made Cat Food?

[michaelm101]

We always have a basket of hardboiled eggs in the fridge for our own consumption, but always dump the yolk golf ball in the refuse basket.

I don't like the concept of waste so, may I add this to my home-made cat food?

 

[daftcat75]

Sure you can. Many people use egg yolk powder for natural hairball management. It can really clean a cat out though. You'll want to start small and see how well your cats tolerate it.

For more information about egg yolks and hairballs:
How Best to Manage Hairballs

 

[sophie1]

Curious about why you don't eat the egg yolk yourself? It's nutritionally the best part of the egg.

 

[allisonburd]

Sure you can. Many people use egg yolk powder for natural hairball management. It can really clean a cat out though. You'll want to start small and see how well your cats tolerate it.

For more information about egg yolks and hairballs:
How Best to Manage Hairballs

Hi would egg yolk possibly help constipation?

 

[daftcat75]

Hi would egg yolk possibly help constipation?

It could. However, Miralax or pumpkin is probably better for that.

Egg yolk works two ways: the choline stimulates peristaltic contractions that would help empty the hairball from the stomach and squish it along its way. The egg yolk lecithin will help fat dissolve into solution rather than clump inside and around ingested hair. This second action is what can give the runs to cats fed egg yolk. If you have ever had the misfortune of eating foods with that fake fat, Olestra, that's the same kind of action. That's not quite the same thing as relieving constipation, though.

With constipation however, this likely needs moisture to move. And that's what Miralax or pumpkin will do. They bind up water in their structure and carry it along all the way through instead of having it resorbed in the colon. Stools that aren't moving like they should are often drier than they should be because the colon has been doing its job of resorbing as much fluid as it can. This is why I think you'd likely be better served with Miralax or pumpkin for constipation problems. The bound moisture will help soften the stools and get them moving again. Simply adding water to their food won't help with constipation as the kidneys will reclaim that extra moisture even before it reaches the colon.

 

[iPappy]

I've been giving my cats more egg yolks for the past year or so. Even the vet commented on their gorgeous, shiny coats. My dogs get eggs as well. They are so good for them.