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- Jun 13, 2018
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I have a couple feral cats who visit my back porch about 2-3X a week for the past couple years. I've been feeding them almost exclusively cheap hot dogs and some occasional meat scraps of whatever I ate the night before. They are not finicky felines and seem to eat the cheapo hot dogs with zeal, even though none of the kitties looks famished.
However, I'm starting to worry about the high sodium & nitrate content of the hot dogs. I've read that cats are only supposed to get about 50mg of sodium per day but one hot dog can contain up to 600mg !! All that salt and nitrates can really burn up a kitty's kidneys and might even be fatal in the long term. I don't want to harm these cats with bad nutrition.
I've discovered that grocery stores sell chicken gizzards and "chicken leg quarters" that are very cheap. The leg quarters are actually cheaper per pound than hot dogs, and they contain very little sodium and no nitrates. The only downside is I will have to dice up the quarters since they are almost as big as the cats! Is it safe for cats to eat raw chicken? I don't want to have to cook all this chicken meat every day for cats that I don't even own as pets!
However, I'm starting to worry about the high sodium & nitrate content of the hot dogs. I've read that cats are only supposed to get about 50mg of sodium per day but one hot dog can contain up to 600mg !! All that salt and nitrates can really burn up a kitty's kidneys and might even be fatal in the long term. I don't want to harm these cats with bad nutrition.
I've discovered that grocery stores sell chicken gizzards and "chicken leg quarters" that are very cheap. The leg quarters are actually cheaper per pound than hot dogs, and they contain very little sodium and no nitrates. The only downside is I will have to dice up the quarters since they are almost as big as the cats! Is it safe for cats to eat raw chicken? I don't want to have to cook all this chicken meat every day for cats that I don't even own as pets!