How Many Chicken Gizzards Are Okay?

cat servant

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How many chicken gizzards would be good for my cat each day?  Right now I feed canned food and supplement with raw sometimes, usually chicken gizzards and hearts, sometimes a chicken neck.  I would love to go full raw but cant afford too much right now and chicken breast, etc. is too expensive to use a lot of.  How much chicken gizzard would be okay in proportion to plain muscle?

Thanks.
 

silverpersian

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The amount of raw that you feed (assuming that it is just gizzards or muscle meat, with no supplementation) should not exceed 15% of your cat's overall diet. Gizzards actually count as muscle meat (as opposed to secreting organ) in raw diets, so you can feed all or part gizzards, as long as you keep it within 15% of your cat's food.
 
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cat servant

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Thanks.  Right now I just supplement her canned food with raw sometimes.  I would love to switch her over but I'm not sure if I could make it work affordably.  If gizzards could be a significant part of her diet it might work, since I can get them really cheap.  I can also get chicken heart and necks.  Chicken breast is higher.  Still got some more studying to do.  :)
 

silverpersian

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How much are you paying for gizzards? Bone-in thighs are the best part to use for raw food. I have found them for as little as 99 cents/lb. Gizzards cost at least twice as much where I live.

Gizzards are actually good for oral health, because they are chewy and give the jaws a workout.
 

chevs

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About half of my cats' muscle meat portion is gizzards. I also get them really cheap. My cats love gizzards, barely tolerate chicken thighs which are more expensive anyway so it works well for all of us
 
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cat servant

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How much are you paying for gizzards? Bone-in thighs are the best part to use for raw food. I have found them for as little as 99 cents/lb. Gizzards cost at least twice as much where I live.

Gizzards are actually good for oral health, because they are chewy and give the jaws a workout.
I can get gizzards for 74 cents/lb.  Not sure about bone-in thighs, but do they need to be ground? 
 

silverpersian

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If you have a grinder, you can grind them. catinfo.org and catnutrition.org have pictures of the process.

If you don't have a grinder, you can remove the bones from the thighs, cut the meat into chunks (the bigger the better) and use eggshell or wingtips/necks as a source of calcium. The wingtips and necks can be fed whole.

Either way, it is really important to maintain a balanced diet. Some people do that through supplementation (with vitamins, minerals, and especially taurine). Others do it by providing secreting organs.

As long as the amount of raw you are feeding is less than 15% of the diet, you don't have to worry about balancing the raw portion.
 
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cat servant

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If you have a grinder, you can grind them. catinfo.org and catnutrition.org have pictures of the process.

If you don't have a grinder, you can remove the bones from the thighs, cut the meat into chunks (the bigger the better) and use eggshell or wingtips/necks as a source of calcium. The wingtips and necks can be fed whole.

Either way, it is really important to maintain a balanced diet. Some people do that through supplementation (with vitamins, minerals, and especially taurine). Others do it by providing secreting organs.

As long as the amount of raw you are feeding is less than 15% of the diet, you don't have to worry about balancing the raw portion.
Thanks.  I don't have a grinder.  I'll check on the thighs and see what I can do.  I totally agree with you about balancing it--do it right or don't do it.  I'll see if I can make this work  Thanks for the answers, everybody.
 
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