“Can cats eat chicken?” You’re probably asking this question if you want to share a taste of your freshly cooked poultry with your kitty, or maybe you just want to add something special to your cat’s food.
If you’ve ever looked at your cat’s daily diet, you’ll know that it mostly consists of meat and protein. Instead of just feeding your feline cans of chicken-based cat food or chicken-flavored kibble, can you skip a step and feed them actual chicken?
The short answer is a resounding yes, you can feed your cat chicken. However, as with all foods, you must ask your vet first and follow a few guidelines. Read on to discover some of the safety considerations involved when feeding chicken to a domestic cat.
What Should I Consider When Feeding Chicken To A Cat?
Feeding your cat cooked chicken can be a great addition to their diet. It provides the protein an obligate carnivore like a cat requires.
Always make sure you’re sticking to your cat’s recommended number of calories per day. The exact number can vary depending on factors like your cat’s ideal size, breed, and age, so ask your vet next time you schedule a wellness visit.
Just be sure that the chicken wasn’t marinated in anything that a kitty might be allergic to, particularly spicy ingredients. Avoid any ingredients that might be toxic to cats, as well.
Also, it’s best practice to serve only the chicken’s meat and not the chicken skin, which might contain excess salt, garlic, and spices. The skin is also fattier, which could contribute to an obesity problem.
Finally, avoid feeding your cat chicken on the bone, as this could cause a choking issue. Cooked bones can also splinter and cause internal damage.
What About Raw Chicken?
Opinion is split on whether raw chicken is okay for a cat.
Hypothetically, it can be, but remember that commercial chicken sold as part of a pet’s raw food diet has usually been flash frozen to eliminate bacteria and disease. This is different from cutting a slab of raw chicken and feeding it directly to your cat.
Basically, if you wouldn’t serve the food to your family, you probably shouldn’t give it to your cat. However, this is a matter you should absolutely discuss with your veterinarian before you attempt to feed your cat raw chicken.
Even if you decide to feed homemade, raw food, you need to learn how to properly prepare it and minimize the risk of contamination or disease.
Does your cat love chicken? How often do you give them a chicken treat? Let us know how you feed chicken to your kitty in the comments section below!
