Chicken Necks For Dental Health

[Ori&Mia]

Hello! This is my first post on here. I was just wondering how often it is recommended to feed chicken necks for dental health. My 1 year old kitty is showing signs of tartar and gingivitis. Unfortunately he won't let me near him with a toothbrush, but I am going to be giving a topical gel called "MaxiGuard OraZn" and a supplement for gum health called "1TDC". I'm hoping that these treatments along with the chicken necks will help cure his teeth issues.
I just want to make sure I'm not messing with the nutrient balance... Can I give him a chicken neck every day, or is that too much? Thanks!!

 

[Azazel]

I don't do chicken necks, but I alternate between a turkey/chicken heart and a turkey/chicken gizzard every day.

 

[Ori&Mia]

Thanks Azazel! I'm able to get chicken hearts as well, so I'll probably alternate between the hearts and neck. I'm also looking into frozen feeder mice and now going down the rabbit hole of prey model feeding.

 

[Azazel]

Sometimes if the size of the heart or gizzard is kind of big I will cut them in half too. The rule of thumb is that no more than 10% of a day's meal should consist of treats.

Also, raw meals in general are better for teeth too. If you're not already feeding raw, you might try making at least one meal a day some kind of raw food (either commercial or homemade). Raw food contains natural enzymes that kill bad bacteria and keep teeth clean.

 

[dhammagirl]

Raw feeder mice are great! They’re a complete, balanced natural cat meal that are great for helping keep the teeth, gums and jaw muscles in good shape.
Chicken necks are a lot of bone.

I’d go with a whole mouse twice weekly. If chicken neck, I’d limit to once a week, mainly because of the high bone content.

 

[Azazel]

Yeah, good point about the bone. You probably don't want to give chicken necks too often because they can cause constipation in some cats. I would monitor your cat's poops.

 

[Ori&Mia]

Thanks you guys! I really appreciate the advice. Yes I fed raw for a little while. I transitioning my cats after I adopted them but one of them (the same cat that is now having dental issues) started to have digestive issues and loose and bloody stool... which may or may not be due to the food I was feeding but it still scared me so I had to get them on canned for a while. They are currently on feline natural and rawz brands. I've had the intention to try raw again but I will do it differently this time. The bone content in the commercial raw food I was feeding was too high and not ground fine enough. I'm considering making my own semi-cooked chicken recipe similar to the Dr. Lisa Pierson recipe but with alnutrin and eggshell powder instead of bone, and see if that will work better for him..

Good point about there being enzymes in raw food and it attributing to dental health. I didn't know that but it makes sense... And I certainly don't want to overdo the chicken necks if there is too much bone... I'm leaning towards the feeder mice moreso than chicken necks now. I've also found a local reptile feed supplier and they have other whole prey that I may be able to feed them. Very excited to see if this will help my kitty, I have a feeling it will

 

[Ori&Mia]

dhammagirl I'm assuming you have or are currently feeding mice to your kitties? If so just wondering if you could help me with this... Would you have to follow the protocol of freezing the mice for a period of time to get rid of possible pathogens before feeding? I'm assuming if you buy them from a reputable company that sells to to the reptile pet market the mice are pathogen free and healthy so it wouldn't be necessary...

 

[1 bruce 1]

Our cats treat chicken necks like a dog might treat a big bone from the butcher. It's something they chew on but don't always consume, they do like stripping the meat off the bone and if you can deal with finding a neck bone laying in their bowl, this will help their dental health.
Gizzards are really tough, really chewy and fibrous and most cats really like gnawing on them.
I think Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow sells whole mice, and whole quail.

 

[Ori&Mia]

1 bruce 1 Thanks for the input (nice avatar pic)!!! Yeah I just tried feeding them a neck each the other day. One of them went to town on it right away and the other stared at it and after some time he learned pretty quickly what to do after watching his sister. I'm gonna see if my local grocery store has gizzards too... I live in a rural area in Canada so hare today won't work for me but found a supplier very close to me that also sells frozen quail, day old chicks, rats and rabbit... I'll start with the mice, maybe quail if I can stomach it.

 

[beesto]

I don't do chicken necks, but I alternate between a turkey/chicken heart and a turkey/chicken gizzard every day.

Do you do this while feeding a regular wet can diet?

 

[1 bruce 1]

Do you do this while feeding a regular wet can diet?

I'm not A Azazel but we have a cat on a canned food diet who likes chicken hearts, livers, and fish oil and once in awhile, tripe (it stinks, beware ) added to his food a few times a week. We don't add much, but just a little topper and he thinks it's great

 

[beesto]

Sometimes if the size of the heart or gizzard is kind of big I will cut them in half too. The rule of thumb is that no more than 10% of a day's meal should consist of treats.

Also, raw meals in general are better for teeth too. If you're not already feeding raw, you might try making at least one meal a day some kind of raw food (either commercial or homemade). Raw food contains natural enzymes that kill bad bacteria and keep teeth clean.

I would like to feed raw once or twice a week, but I wasn't sure if it was ok to mix feeding raw with canned wet. I feed Ziwi wet and Ziwi airdried. My cats have eaten raw as of once month earlier but I now have tendenitis and could not continue full raw. I don't want to cause stomach issues with balanced raw sometimes and canned wet Ziwi and Ziwi airdried. If I should just upload this question in my own post... let me know. Thank you either way.

 

[Azazel]

Do you do this while feeding a regular wet can diet?

I feed mostly raw but some canned too. It’s completely fine to mix raw and canned food.