Chicken wings and livers

[laralove]

I've been reading conflicting information online about feeding cats raw food. Is it safe to feed chicken wings and livers from the grocery store or does that risk bacteria or other health risks for him? He was feral in a commercial area for his first four months (approximately), and he's six to seven months old now.

 

[peaches08]

All of my cats' meats/organs come from the grocery store. I do not buy ground meats from the grocery store because I don't know the cleanliness of their grinder. I know the cleanliness of my grinder! Ground meats from the grocery store are intended to be cooked.

 

[laralove]

Okay, that makes sense. So he would only be able to eat them if they were grinded? He wouldn't be able to just rip into them whole? Sorry if that's a silly question. Never had a cat before!

 

[ldg]

No, they do not need to be ground. But a diet of gizzards and liver is not nutritionally balanced. Liver should be fed in proper proportions to the rest of the diet.

There are different types of raw feeding options.

In the U.S., there are many commercial frozen raw diets that can be purchased from local holistic pet stores or ordered online. Most of these are already complete and balanced; many cost less to feed than many canned food options, because cats tend to eat less raw food than canned food (the theory is that the nutrition is more bioavailable - the cat gets more nutrition from the food).

There is prey model raw, where you use meats, bones and organs to "model" a mouse. It's not complicated, it just takes a little work to make sure you properly balance it.

You can buy just meat and use a pre-mix to make it complete and balanced.

There is a supplement that can be used to make meat and liver (in the right proportions) complete and balanced. You can either grind the food or not, and just sprinkle the supplement on.

You can also buy a grinder, and use one of several recipes that are nutritionally balanced.

We have excellent resources, you may want to browse through some of the information:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/263955/helpful-resources-raw-home-cooked-cat-food-forum

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/264154/raw-feeding-resources

 

[laralove]

Ok, great. I am not planning to go fully raw (at least not right now), but I thought it would be a good thing to give him now and then in addition to the Fancy Feast Classic that he gets.

 

[ldg]

The gizzards are a great treat! The liver too, if you keep it to a very small amount. The total amount of raw "treats" you can feed are 15% or less of your kitty's total diet before you have to worry about balancing it.

 

[laralove]

Awesome. My boyfriend likes chicken livers, so he's planning to get some for himself in the next day or so. We'll see if Oliver likes a little of it!