Raw Chicken for teeth and gum health.

[sevenwonders]

OK, I know a few folks (Laurie for example  

) will be glad to hear this.

I am strongly considering using raw chicken breast strips for my kitties to gnaw on

in hopes that it will help to keep their teeth and gums healthy.

I am also looking at the CET treats, but with 6 Indoor Kitties plus the Fosters,

that would get expensive pretty quickly. I am thinking that the Ferals already

eat enough mice and moles or voles that I don't have to worry about their teeth.

So, if I do this, I'd love to hear some suggestions.

Browsing the Raw Forum, I gather that I should freeze the chicken for 3 days first.

(No problem there - I buy when they are on sale, rinse, vac seal and freeze,

so I have plenty in stock.)

I am also considering quickly blanching the strips just to be extra safe.

Are there any other factors or cautions that I should consider?

What about the size of the strips?

I was thinking of starting with strips that are around 3/8" thick on each side

and maybe an inch and a half long?

Does that make any sense, or should I try a different size?  

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!  

Thanks!

 

[ldg]

:lol3: You don't really need to worry about balancing it if it's going to be 15% or less of their overall food intake, so that makes life easier!

Are you opposed to feeding them bone? I know I was scared of it at first, and fed raw for a while before I gave them the two smaller pieces of chicken wing to chomp on.

Have you ever seen your ferals down a mouse? When mine eat them, they grab them, snap the neck with a shake, then kind of toss them around so they're head first, give them a couple of chomps as they work them into their mouths and down their throats. Basically, they chomp a couple of times, but swallow them whole.

And even though mine were eating raw, when I first put out chicken wings, only two of the cats went at them. (Not even Billy, who was a 2 year old feral when we brought him inside LOL!). I had to cut them up into small pieces - I cut them in thirds for the bigger cats and quarters for the smaller cats. And they basically did the same thing! Pick up piece, shake head, wiggle piece into mouth - and here they deviated, because they chomp a lot more than the ferals do - but chomp, chomp, chomp, etc. then swallow. Fresh bones are REALLY pliable. The ones that ate the whole wing pieces basically chomped and chomped and chomped on them until the bones were all broken up inside the skin and meat, and then they swallowed them! The only difference between the inside kitties and the ferals was the amount of chomping they did. :lol3: But you can hear them breaking up the bones inside of the skin and meat. :nod: Not even Gary is nervous about them eating bone any longer.

So that's something to consider, because they definitely do a LOT more chomping when there's bone in there. When it's just the meat... it really depends on the cat. If they don't chew kibble, they most likely don't chew the meat either. Most of my cats eat 4.5 ounces of food a day (yeah, they eat less raw than canned). So meals are 1.5 ounces. I can give Bill his entire meal in one piece, and he'll just swallow it whole.

So while there will be some benefit to chewing raw meat, you'll want to consider tougher stuff than chicken breast. Gizzards are great. (And CHEAPER!!!!!).

But if you're going to start with the strips, I'd make them more like a finger - maybe thinner and longer, so they most likely have to (at least) try to chew bites off of them. ...but consider moving up to firmer meat, like turkey thigh (if you can find leg), or even pork loin, when I cut it up, seems to be not as soft as chicken breast.

If you're going to start with gizzards, I'd just cut off one gizzard each and see what they do with it. FYI, gizzards are one of my cat's favorite meals, and have been since I first fed them. Go figure. :dk:

OH! A note of caution - a LOT of meat is enhanced, and it's really hard to tell from reading the package. Even the "natural" stuff can be in a sodium solution. Turn the packages over and look at the nutritional content - they're all defined in 4oz servings. Make sure it's not more than 100mg of sodium per serving. The enhanced stuff can be up to 400mg or more per serving!! This applies especially to chicken and pork. :nod:

 

[peaches08]

Agreed with LDG, you don't have to buy the more expensive chicken breast cuts. Thighs, wings, necks, gizzards, hearts...all cheaper and great dental benefits!

Blanching would probably be fine. I very lightly sear chicken thighs at 550 F until the skin is barely pale yellow. Then I shock in ice water to stop the cooking process. Gizzards I just freeze first.

 

[harleydiva]

Do chicken gizzards have nutritional value, or is it just the teeth cleaning/chewing that makes them good?  I have introduced chicken hearts, but haven't tried gizzards.  With the hearts, I cut them into small pieces first, then gradually increased the size until I can throw a whole heart on top of the other food.  I'm thinking since they are used to the bigger chunks of heart, I might not have to do the gradual intro of gizzards if they like them.

 

[redvelvetone]

My cat gets some raw food for teeth health, as well as for nutrition, though he also gets wet canned food. Anyway, while he loved boneless raw meat from the get go, it took him a little time to work his way into eating bone. I had to start off giving him a chicken wing cut up into three pieces. Also something else you can try, which my cat also worked his way into, is chicken necks. Whenever I buy a whole chicken for roasting for dinner, I save the giblets for the cat (all the organs and the neck, and I'll usually cut off the wings for him as well as my husband and I don't normally eat these anyway). My cat also went after the organs and hearts no problem from the get go as well. Chicken necks are also good for chewing for teeth health, or so I hear.  I had to introduce the neck gradually at first as he wanted to eat it but wasn't sure how to chew it up. Now it's no problem for him and he chomps the whole thing down. I still cut the chicken wings in half when I give it to him as he sometimes needs help with a whole wing. Also what helped initally was thawing the wing and cutting a slice into the meat part so some of the juices came out and the cat would smell it and start licking at it and figure out the rest.

Also I recommend only buying organic meat if you can afford to, so that the meat has not been 'enhanced' any. 

But even with organic meat, chicken legs or wings or gizzards are usually not expensive.

 

[sevenwonders]

Thanks so much for the replies - lots of good tips, and many things to consider.

No, I never manage to see the Ferals eating their prey.

They tend to play with them for awhile after the kill, but I do get to see the little chunks they regurgitate - fur mainly. 

I did however have the "pleasure" of seeing one of my small feral girls take down a squirrel...

*** Content Advisory - if you are squeamish, skip the next 2 sentences ***

She proceeded to drag it over under my truck and started chewing on its throat...

I was amazed to hear his neck bones cracking... never realized just how strong Kitties' jaws are!    

I felt so bad for the squirrel that I buried him as soon as she left him alone for a minute...

I am quite sure that my Kitty was not very happy about that!  

I never realized that raw dark meat is tougher than raw white meat -

whenever I use cubes or strips, I buy something boneless just because it is easier and quicker.

As far as trying the less expensive options, since I already have the breasts in stock,

I'll likely try those first to see if they will even eat them. Don't want to spend money on something they won't eat.

However, if they will eat the raw chicken, I'd like to try the wings or necks.

I never mess with any meat with bones, so I don't even own a meat cleaver.

When folks mention cutting the wings or necks, would that require a cleaver?

What about "bone-in" chicken breasts (trimmed thinner of course) - would the ribs be good for them to chomp on?

By the way, I have never noticed gizzards, necks or hearts in Kroger or HT.

Is that something you usually have to ask for, or do I just need to look closer?

The good news is, most of my Kitties actually do chew when I give them kibble snacks,

particularly Jerry - he is BY FAR my most picky eater however, and also the Kitty

who prompted me to consider this raw approach - he has some inflammation on his gums.

But he even insists on chewing tiny pieces of cooked chicken breast,

which results in him taking 5 to 10 minutes to finish a bowl that takes most of the others a minute or less to consume.

I end up having to be his Security Officer while he eats,

otherwise the others will kick him out and devour whatever he didn't finish.  

 

[peaches08]

HT...Harris Teeter?

You'll find gizzards usually near the liver. Or game meats.

Playing security guard takes me back to when I first tried raw with my cats. First they were quite and thinking they were gettibg away with eating something I didn't intend on them eating. Then, purring while they ate. Then, growling. I yelled at them to hush and they did. Silence, then purring, then growling, rinse and repeat! Haven't fed canned since.

 

[ldg]

In my supermarket, the liver is in tubs at the VERY end of the section where the chicken is. And the gizzards are in packages, right next to it. They don't put out a lot of either, and I never noticed them before I started feeding raw.

As to the nutritional question re: gizzards, the answer is they don't have a lot. They're also very low calorie. BUT they do have a lot of glucosamine and chrondroitin, so they're getting stuff they would be if they were eating joints, which mine aren't.

And yes, chicken ribs would be good, but most likely they'll have to work up to it. Kitties that aren't used to chomping bone need a little jaw exercise first (usually). But if you can supervise, it's worth trying. They'll spit out anything they can't tackle - or they'll just try to chew around it, or get the meat off of it, and all of that is a really good work out for their teeth!

 

[harleydiva]

My guys had their first gizzards today.  I found a package of chicken hearts and gizzards in the poultry section at the store.  Their breakfast was some ground turkey with some tripe mixed in, topped with a chicken heart, and half a gizzard....all three ate everything.  They eat on their cat tree so the dogs can't get the food, but it appeared they were all chewing like crazy.  Looks like the gizzards are a hit.

 

[sevenwonders]

Glad the gizzards worked well for your kitties HD.  

Update: So I finally took the step.

I made some pork for dinner last night (I always buy Pork Loins on sale, then slice, vac & freeze them)

so I decided to try some strips for the Kitties (after I thawed out a package of 3 chops).

I cut them around 2" long and maybe 3/8" thick for this trial,

then blanched them for a few seconds and dipped them in ice water to stop the cooking.

Well, 5 of them went nuts - sniffed for a sec, then chomped away, but they were gone within about a minute.

Jerry (the kitty who has the gum irritation) had to lick it, and lick it, and lick it for a few minutes.

Finally, he figured it out, then (as is typical for him) he chewed and chewed and chewed...

probably took him 5 minutes to finish it!  

But, 5 minutes of chewing on raw pork surely will help his teeth and gums,

so I am definitely encouraged so far!  

I'll probably stick with this size for Jerry for now and make them a bit larger for the others.

Oh, no obvious signs of any stomach upset,

and the litter box was normal this morning.

 

[ldg]

Well, looks like you've got yourself some kitties that know they're carnivores! GREAT that they're doing so much chewing! :bigthumb:

 

[debviolet]

hi! I am considering adding raw, and I, if I understand correctly, see folks mention freezing  the meat, organs, etc. before feeding--please explain?  Thanks so much! Debviolet on behalf of Violet, Erazmus, Jetpuff, and Beowulf the standard poodle who insists on being included in anything cat....

 

[sevenwonders]

hi! I am considering adding raw, and I, if I understand correctly, see folks mention freezing  the meat, organs, etc. before feeding--please explain?  Thanks so much! Debviolet on behalf of Violet, Erazmus, Jetpuff, and Beowulf the standard poodle who insists on being included in anything cat....

Welcome to TCS! 

If I remember correctly, freezing for at least 3 days will kill parasites.

I rinse well before freezing to hopefully eliminate most bacteria,

then I quickly blanch the meat before serving to take care of any other bacteria.

Please look through the other threads for more details and info on supplementation

if you will feed more than a small % of raw.

 

[debviolet]

hi all!  my vet is very worried about not only abut bacteria but splintering of raw (not cooked) bone...my cats are genetically predisposed to dental issues so i'm thinking that is the more pressing concern....is blanching chicken necks risky do to the small bones so close to surface? do people wash and rinse? i have special soap for washing vegetables and fruits--anyone use that on meat?  thanks for sharing experiences!! debviolet

 

[peaches08]

Raw bones don't tend to splinter like cooked bone does. As far as blanching that is fine...you can stop the cooking process by placing them immediately in ice water until they cool.