Cats just love eating chicken! It can be a healthy part of any cat’s diet. But what about chicken bones? Cats out in the wild (or your little hunters at home) catch and eat birds—bones and all. The bones can be an excellent source of minerals, but there’s one significant difference between bones found in the wild and those from our leftovers—they’re raw. And cats can eat raw chicken bones.

Raw Chicken Bones vs. Cooked Chicken Bones

Cats come from an ancient line of hunters and are obligate carnivores. Meat and meat by-products are an absolute necessity for your little tiger. However, cats can’t eat cooked chicken bones. While they may find it to be a tasty treat, there are some serious health hazards associated with eating them.

Cooked Chicken Bones Are Brittle

After cooking chicken bones, they become soft and brittle, and this makes them dangerous for your cats to eat. Instead of the bone being naturally worn down, they snap into small shards. These shards can quickly become lodged in your cat’s throat and cause them to choke. And these shards can also cut into your cat’s mouth and esophageal lining.

Cooked Bones Can Be Covered in Toxic Ingredients

What’s delicious for us isn’t always great for your kitty. Most of the time, when we cook chicken, we season it to enhance its flavor. But some of the seasonings can be very toxic for cats. Garlic powder and onion powder are prime offenders, and they also happen to be some of the most common flavoring agents for chicken prepared for human consumption.

While sharing human food with your cat is not always safe, we have a solution that will keep you both smiling.

We've currently got a 40% discount to share on the HUMAN-GRADE premium cat food that ranked number #1 in our reviews! CLICK HERE & use code EXCITEDCATS2023 to SAVE 40% on Smalls cat food!

What to Do If Your Cat Eats a Cooked Chicken Bone

Cats are sneaky, and those who particularly crave chicken might be waiting for their chance to snatch a piece from you. So, what should you do if this happens? First, try to remove bone from the cat’s mouth gently. Hopefully, she hasn’t attempted to swallow it whole, or it hasn’t splintered yet. But you must be vigilant if your pet has gobbled down a few shards and pieces. Once the choking danger has passed, other problems can arise.

The first action you need to take is to call your vet. Let your veterinarian know the situation just in case complications do come up. The next few days after consuming the bone are critical. You need to keep a close eye on your cat to ensure that the bone shards aren’t causing harm as they work through your cat’s GI tract.

Here are some signs that you should watch for:

If you notice any of these signs, contact your veterinarian ASAP.

Benefits of Raw Chicken Bones

While cooked chicken bones can be a real and present danger for your cat, raw bones can be an excellent treat. Raw bones are full of calcium, which is an important part of a cat’s diet. Calcium deficiency can lead to arthritis, coat and skin problems, broken bones, weakness, heart arrhythmias, and worse. Feeding your cat raw bones on occasion can help with her calcium intake.

When feeding your cat raw bones, be sure to choose bones of an appropriate size for her to gnaw and chew on. Chicken wing bones are the perfect size. Not only will they fit comfortably in her mouth, but the chewing action will help strengthen and clean her teeth.

However, just be sure to keep a watchful eye on your cat while feeding her raw bones.

Another tactic you can use is to feed your kitty ground bone. You can get it at just about any butcher or meat department. Just ask for meat sawdust. It’s the dust that’s formed in the store’s bandsaw when cutting meat into specific cuts. It is made up of ground meat and bone, and it resembles pasty ground meat.

But like everything else, there can be too much of a good thing. Continue following your vet-approved diet and using the meat sawdust sparingly.

Learning about what your cat can and cannot eat is a crucial part of keeping them happy and healthy! Choosing a bowl to serve cat-friendly foods in is another important decision pet owners face. Satisfy the specific needs of your cat with the innovative design of the Hepper NomNom Cat Bowl. Learn why it’s our (and our cats!) favorite food and water dish here.

At Excited Cats, we’ve admired Hepper for many years and decided to take a controlling ownership interest so that we could benefit from the outstanding designs of this cool cat company!

What to Look Out for When Feeding Your Cat Raw Bones

Not every raw bone is the same. As mentioned above, you need to use appropriately sized bones for your cat. But that’s not the only criteria you should follow. You must ensure that the bones are fresh and the connecting meat has not gone rancid. A cat’s GI tract is short and designed for fast digestion. But even that can’t stop food-borne illnesses such as Salmonella.

Also, when feeding your cat raw bones, observe them for a few days afterward to ensure proper digestion. If you start seeing whole bones in their stool, bloating, excess gas, or any other GI-related issue, stop feeding them bones immediately and consult your vet.

Conclusion

So, can cats eat chicken bones? Yes, but only raw bones.

In fact, there are numerous health benefits to your cat doing so. Just be sure to limit and observe their intake. Bones should not become meal replacements. They should only be used sparingly as snacks or occasional treats.

See also:

• Can Cats Eat Pig Ears? Facts & FAQ
• Can Cats Eat BBQ Sauce? Vet-Reviewed Facts & FAQ

Featured Image Credit: achirathep, Pixabay