chicken neck to adult cat?

solomonar

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Jan 13, 2017
Messages
938
Purraise
830
Location
Romania
Natural diet of cats includes bones and intestines. None is found in commercial food.
Is it raw chicken neck safe, as one neck every three days or so?
Thank you!
 

KarenKat

Kitty on the half shell, tortie power!
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Messages
2,960
Purraise
7,257
Location
Littleton, CO
I believe it’s pretty safe, I’ve fed raw necks and wings to my adult kitty, although she used to be outdoor and was used to eating bones. Cooked bones can be dangerous because they splinter.

I believe that many canned foods contain some bone, so I don’t think that they are deficient in nutrients. A complete and balanced food should be sufficient. I’ve heard there are benefits to feeding raw necks, especially to help fight tartar on teeth.
 

LTS3

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Aug 29, 2014
Messages
19,209
Purraise
19,695
Location
USA
Raw bones are fine to give as treats or dental health purposes. One neck every few days is fine.

Some canned foods and many commercial raw pet foods contain bone. The bone is ground up very finely so you might not see it in canned food.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

solomonar

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Jan 13, 2017
Messages
938
Purraise
830
Location
Romania
There is some tartar issues indeed- this is why I reckon chicken necks may help (cat does not eat special formula dry food).

I can only find 1 kg (2 lb) bags - far to much for my 3 kg cat who is on combined commercial wet-dry food.

Would be ok to freeze the necks?
 

LTS3

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Aug 29, 2014
Messages
19,209
Purraise
19,695
Location
USA
Yes it is fine to freeze the necks. I suggest wrapping each neck individually in plastic wrap or foil so it's easy to take one out as needed.
 

Willow's Mom

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Aug 28, 2019
Messages
601
Purraise
17
Location
inside of your imagination and/or smartphone app
That's what I do: buy the bag, thaw it, separate it into enough for one meal or one day's meal, and put it back in the freezer. The supermarket or generic brands of ziplocks aren't too pricey. I just toss the bags after one use for meat, because I'm not experienced with food safety issues around handling meat, but you might be able to wash them out and reuse them.

I use EZ Complete but I don't supplement chicken necks because she gets her calcium from the bone.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7

solomonar

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Jan 13, 2017
Messages
938
Purraise
830
Location
Romania
Thank you! I am going to buy some bags and pack the necks.

Unbelievably, here the necks must be ordered to the shops three days in advance. They cost near zero but they must be ordered!
:rolleyes:
 

jen

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 27, 2001
Messages
8,501
Purraise
3,009
Location
Hudson, OH
There is some tartar issues indeed- this is why I reckon chicken necks may help (cat does not eat special formula dry food).

I can only find 1 kg (2 lb) bags - far to much for my 3 kg cat who is on combined commercial wet-dry food.

Would be ok to freeze the necks?
Where do you find them? I checked a bunch of grocery stores and they don't have them anywhere.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #9

solomonar

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Jan 13, 2017
Messages
938
Purraise
830
Location
Romania
Very small ones. I talked to the seller. But is true that they dont have them all the time.
An alternative is turkey necks (to big for my cat, but my cat is very small).
 

Azazel

Time spent with cats is never wasted.
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 14, 2018
Messages
2,844
Purraise
3,465
Where do you find them? I checked a bunch of grocery stores and they don't have them anywhere.
You would have better luck asking a butcher to order them for you. If you have a raw pet food store close by they also usually sell them.

Another (and in my opinion safer) option to start off with are wing tips.

I don't know if I would use turkey necks, they are quite large.
 
  • Purraise
Reactions: jen
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #11

solomonar

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Jan 13, 2017
Messages
938
Purraise
830
Location
Romania
It depends on the turkey :flail:

And on the cat. :p
 

goingpostal

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Mar 11, 2011
Messages
852
Purraise
1,218
Location
MN
Necks are almost entirely bone fwiw and they can easily cause constipation or pukes as cats don't need a lot of bone content and wouldn't be used to so much of it at once. Feed sparingly or with some extra boneless chunks. You can really use any chunked meat or bone if teeth cleaning is your goal, you just want them to be larger pieces so the cat really has to work at chewing. Sometimes I'll just leave some meat on a steak or chop bone far too large for them to eat and let them work at it until it's clean.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #13

solomonar

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Jan 13, 2017
Messages
938
Purraise
830
Location
Romania
Then in fact, the larger, the better?
I mean, if bones are only to clean teeth (my case), there is no need to swallow them.
 

Willow's Mom

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Aug 28, 2019
Messages
601
Purraise
17
Location
inside of your imagination and/or smartphone app
My Chihuahuas love turkey necks! It's a lot of bone, though, so I haven't given them to Willow yet. The co-op had chicken feet this time. Would that be okay for a teenager instead of a neck? I'm not completely out of necks yet and we have plenty of EZComplete left and a decent stash of eggshell powder.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #15

solomonar

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Jan 13, 2017
Messages
938
Purraise
830
Location
Romania
Chicken feet have a specific fish scale-like skin, I do not know whether that is acceptable for cats.
 

Willow's Mom

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Aug 28, 2019
Messages
601
Purraise
17
Location
inside of your imagination and/or smartphone app
I duck duck went and all I could come up with is that they are marketed for cats and a tutorial on preparing them:


I'm probably too squeamish to try that this week, since I still have a few necks for her and a good half a bag of EZComplete left. I'll report back if she likes them, but Willow is a very strange cat. <3
 
Top