After a long time lurking, I have finally decided to post here because of a dilemma I face. Let me preface my (probably rather long) story with describing my cats: they are a boy and a girl, both eight months old, fixed and vaccinated, and exclusively indoor.

When I adopted them, I didn't know much about cat nutrition. Some googling brought me to (among others) this forum, where I had ample opportunity to educate myself. So from mostly dry and some wet Whiskas my cats have now been fully transitioned to decent - quality grain-free wet that I order from Zooplus and some German online stores (Bozita, Animonda Carny, Grau Grainfree, Smilla, Catz, Granatapet,...) and just a little Orijen dry as a treat. Also as a treat, I give them raw chicken or turkey and once a week whole raw chicken wings. The boycat loves them and crunches bones like nobody's business, while girlcat prefers eating the meat only.

So it was all fine till a few days ago when girlcat got severe diarrhea with vomiting. Boycat (eating same food) was OK. Because it didn't let up, we took her to the vet. The vet gave her some shots, and was horrified to hear I fed them chicken bones and admonished me not to do that anymore because he'd seen cats die of chicken bones, even raw ones. He also sold us some Hills prescription diet food which appears to contain a lot of grain. I would not choose to feed this to my cat. Am I wrong about that? Is there something in the food, some medicine that Orijen or other good quality wet doesn't have?

Now I'm torn. Is he right about the chicken wings? Is he just mistaken? But I can't believe someone who genuinely cares about animals (as he seems to) would be scaring pet owners like that for a lark. Or maybe is there some other type of raw food with bone that I should feed my cats? I feed chicken wings because I read here that gnawing on bones is good for their teeth - or am I misremembering?

I guess this sounds as if I'm looking for validation. What I want to know is, can my cat really die because of the way I feed him? I am slightly upset about this, and unsure what to think. Thanks in advance for your advice.

**tiptoes into the cat section**

Just had to post when I heard what your vet had said. Can you ask him what the difference is between chicken bones and other bird bones that they'd naturally catch and eat

My vet has told me the same about my dogs, apparently I'm killing them by feeding raw chicken, and yet when recently doing an MoT for one of them, declared that she was incredibly fit and in great condition, especially her mouth.

Basically . . . . you are right and he is wrong!

Ignore him.


Vets do very little food nutrition for cats on their course and what they do do it sponsored by Hills and the such like. There is plenty of research to say what you are feeding is healthy and plenty to say what he want yo to feed isn't. Do your own research, make up your own mind and do what YOU feel is best.

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Hey Sansa, welcome to the pf and the world of posting and welcome SL to the cat section

Firstly, congrats Sansa on taking the time to make yourself more knowledgeable and feeding your cats a good diet.

Re the chicken bones - you know, I can understand where your vet is coming from. Vets are indeed the ones who mop up when things go wrong (though I wonder how his/her experience of chicken bones posing a problem compares with the likelihood of say - toys or the innocuous piece of string - posing a similar problem). Most things in life come with a risk; and so does feeding bones to cats.

S/he might have seen raw chicken bones causing a problem but I personally wonder whether that was because the cat had picked it up, and never having had chicken bones before, didn't crunch it properly. When s/he saw problems with chicken bones, was that in otherwise raw fed cats or was that just an odd/experimental feed? With so many possible scenarios it is hard to say what his/her experience with chicken bones -even raw ones - is based on.

SL - incidentally, I do think that chicken bones are quite an advanced bone for a cat - many of the birds that a cat would naturally catch would have much smaller bones I should imagine. Personally, I think that a quail is a good bird for a cat to eat; but it is very expensive.

So, Sansa, not sure what to say to soothe your anxiety. Vets who approve of raw feeding are far and few between - though luckily enough I have found one - though there are, by all accounts, more and more who are more open to the world of alternative feeding.

I used to have a really good radio programme on feeding bones to cats bookmarked; they addressed all sorts of issues in there. I will see whether I can find that one.


On a personal note, I would be inclined to continue feeding the bones - your alternative, which is something that you might want to do anyhow if you are feeding bones for dental health is to brush their teeth (a good habit to get into when they are still young - but even for older cats). It sounds as though your boy knows what he is doing.



Edit: Not quite the radio programme I was after but still a very good site with loads of info: http://feline-nutrition.org/ and bound to have something on bones.

I always thought that cooked bones were a problem as the splinter, but raw are OK.

Not my cats, but I had a dog that had dreadful stomach problems when he was tiny, so from a pup I fed him my own food... Many a vet would give me a hard time over it... But he lived a long and healthy life, and passed away age 16, he was playing like a pup until only a few weeks before he passed.

Then I had a cat that I adopted age 3 that would ONLY eat cheap cat food... Go cat dried and whiskers pouches, despite my best efforts to change his diet... He died prematurely of cancer aged 10 and I can't help but think his food was to blame.

My current rescue cats I am feeding on good quality dried, high meat wet, mixed with some fresh food (both raw and cooked). They are quite easy going when it comes to food, so will try and enjoy most things.

So I say, stick to your guns

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Debs

Lives with a wonderful husband, 2 adorable rescue kitties Harry and Sabrina, and a flock of pampered pet chickens.

I once read somewhere ( sorry Hobbs, no accurate reference! ) that there is indeed a SMALL chance that ingested bone could cause a problem for a cat, and a MUCH larger chance that if not fed bones that same cat would develop dental problems that would necessitate surgery with all the risks of anaesthesia.

My sister once had a cat who stole and demolished a whole rack of pork ribs, and those are BIG bones. She lived till she was 18!

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Nellie Paddy Mitzy Milo Peggy Murphy

Millie and Monty, the White Devils!

Welcome to the forum.

May I suggest you never take the advice of a vet when it comes to feeding. Cooked chicken bones can do damage to dogs (I don't know about cats) but raw ones are perfectly fine. And you say that sick cat doesn't eat the bones anyway?

Hills is rubbish. My daughter insisted on buying it for my retriever when he got old as his digestion was playing up. Specially formulated for senior dogs it was and made him very, very ill.

They recommend the stuff they sell, same as a pet shop.

My vet never tries to push his stock on to me, perhaps because he knows I wouldn't take any notice, but to be fair, he has never asked what I am feeding.

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It's a very sweeping statement for a vet to make, that he'd seen cats (pointedly plural) die from eating raw chicken bones. How many do you suppose? I'd have thought an experienced vet would have been privy to far more deaths from obesity or kidney problems or all manner of things not related to eating raw food.

As a related aside, I have obviously been very good all year and Santa kindly brought me a copy of Susan Little's book 'The Cat, Clinical Medicine and Management'. Whereas she doesn't come across as a huge fan of raw feeding her stance on the whole risk from bacteria is nothing to do with the cat. Any objections seem to centre on the associated risk to the human owners - something I will discuss at length with any vet who suggests a cat's digestive system can't cope with meat

Whew, I was hoping you'd show up. Please let me take the opportunity to mention how much I appreciate all your work with the cat food overviews (even if they are out of date) and all the advice you give - even if it wasn't directly to me, it was often pertinent for me.

A little reading on the link you provided above gives me the following quote:

Raw bones appropriate for cats include fresh chicken necks and wings, which the cat can completely consume. Never cook bones, even in the microwave, as cooking can make them more likely to splinter.

So I am inclined to continue with the wings. There seems to be a lot of good info on your link. I'll be off to read it carefully, and consider how I can add more raw food to my cats' diet.

That's right, the sick cat only eats the meat. I count it as a minor victory that I managed to get her to eat big chunks instead of just mince (she's a rescue kitten, and was raised on dry food only. It took a little time for her to get used to raw meat.). I don't cook the wings, and if I warm them up, I do it under warm water.

The poor cat doesn't seem to like it very much either. Unsurprisingly.

Thanks everyone for the kind welcome and advice. I am now feeling much more certain I'm not doing anything wrong.