Conference misery::feline_v1

I know you're not supposed to give poultry bones to dogs (although Jess,
our German Shepherd dearly loves poultry) because they can splinter and catch
in the animal's throat. She goes through beef bones like they were mush.
I've never thought of giving Gray (our mock Russian Blue mongrel) anything
on a bone - she normally insists that we produce suitably small morsels for
her to eat with dignity.

Given what cats do to birds and mice that they catch and eat, I would think
your Schmedley is save enough; I'll follow other replies to this note with
interest....the mental image of a cat eating a chicken leg, bone and all,
is delightful.

/Harry

What I have heard on the topic is that raw poultry bones do not splinter,
but when they're cooked they can splinter up and catch in an animal's
throat.  We have tried to keep poultry bones away from the cats, although
we open them up and give the cats the marrow (or at least Jim does this,
when he feels like pampering them).  They like to gnaw on steak bones and
pork-chop bones much as dogs would.  They don't care for meat as much as
they do chicken and fish, except for the bones.

From what I've heard, you don't give poultry bones to a cat. I think the 
splintering and catching in the throat etc. is the problem.

	/s/	Bob

re .0,.2:

Cooked bones are niot good, period.  Raw bones may be okay, because
they haven't been made brittle; but cats "eat the whole thing" because
in the wild, they have little choice, in the way of a survival mechanism.
Merlin, my half-Manx=half-Siamese cat is a genius in most things, but he
never got the hang of how to eat a mouse he kills: he starets from the
nose and works downward (often he quits about halfway and I found tghge
back-half of a mouse in one odd place or another); however, he usually
throws then up anyway [this makes my job as surrogate father just that
much more interesting].  I guess if they knew more, they'd separate
the meat from the bones.

Also, if your cats are like mine, if you throwe then a little deboned
rawe chicken at room tempoerature, they might act verr fierce, as if
they made the "kill" themselves.  Morgan, Nianinne, and Angelica all did,
sounding for all the world like a den of mini-lions.

Steve Kallis, Jr.

I agree with the caution about cooked poultry bones.  I don't hesitate 
to give my two (Richard and Harold) steak bones, though, and they have a 
really good time, both gnawing the meat off and using the bone as a toy 
afterwards.  Also, they have a good time making incredibly fierce growls 
at one another over ownership of the bone (but take turns anyway).

Tom

I guess I shouldn't give him bones anymore.  Too bad, Schmedley was so cute
since he would take a bone in his mouth like a dog and run off to a hiding
spot to chew on it.

-Mike

My cat dearly loves chicken bones and will tear through trash bags
to find them.  As a compromise, I now cook the bones long enough
to soften them, and she is now content to just knaw the ends off
the bones.  Other than finding knawed bones in various places
around the house, (real fun when company comes over), she seems
happy with the compromise.  (At least she isn't pawing through
the trash anymore.)

dennis

My veternarian claims that it is dangerous to feed your cats chicken bones
for the splintering reason.  One of my cats was taking them out of the 
garbage, so I just cook an extra peice of chicken, cut the meat off and
give the meat to the cats.  They are then content enough to not bother
with the garbage.

EM

    This is a very late reply, but...
    
    Out vet RECOMMENDED raw chicken necks for our two boys, and they
    have one each for breakfast most mornings. The necks look obscene,
    but the cats really love them, and they eat the whole things, bones
    and all, accompanied by lots of growling. They have been having
    them for two years now, with no problems.
    
    Kimi (the Abyssinian), being very clever, if he ever gets anything
    stuck in his throat he simply reaches both front paws into his mouth
    and pulls the offending object out. Quite an amazing sight.
     

It's the *cooked* chicken bones you have to watch out for.  The *raw* ones 
don't splinter like the cooked ones do.

Ray

    My parents had an outdoor cat when I was a kid, and all it ever
    ate was raw chicken necks.  Didn't like cat food much and it caught
    whatever else it ate.
    \sjm
    

    I have never given my cats any chicken bones but I do cook up a
    kitty stew out of the gizzards, heart, liver, neck and anything
    else I can find.  I add celery, a little salt (to encourage them
    to drink more water), a little onion and maybe some left-over veggies.
    After this has simmered for a few hours, I let it cool and then
    remove the neck meat from the bones and chop everything into little
    pieces.  The cats get this on top of their regular food as a treat.
    If they are sick, I use this stew to tempt them into eating.  They
    can't resist it.  The ole chicken soup theory proved again.
    
    One way to prevent your cats from tearing up your garbage to get
    at chicken bones is to freeze them before tossing them in the garbage.
    Be sure to put them in plastic bags or wrap first.
    
    Jo Ann
    
    

    Freezing the bones before throwing them out is a great solution!
     Whenever I cooked chicken, Punkin would head directly for the trash
    and wait for me to throw out the bones.  He would sit in the bottom
    of the barrel to eat them entirely.  Now that I freeze them he doesn't
    notice them.
    
    Thanks again.
    

    I WILL NOT give my cat bones of any kind, splintering or not.  
    
    WHY?  Because the last time I did that, the chicken bone got caught
    vertically in the back of his mouth, like this: ( | ) holding his
    mouth open, and almost causing him to choke.  Luckily I was there to
    get the bone out after hearing him making funny noises.
       
    It's true that when outside they eat the bones of mice and birds, but
    I wouldn't want to be to blame if something happened because of
    my giving the cat bones.
    
    I recommend you don't take the chance!

    We had a dog who got a chicken bone caught horizontally in his mouth
    towards the throat.  Like this (---------).  Both ends were deeply
    embedded in the flesh and we had an awful time removing it.  What
    if it went further down where we couldn't get it.  Also I hear bone
    for cats or dogs can cause severe constipation to the point of having
    to have surgery.  Don't chance it.  It's not worth it.  It's like
    giving alchol to an alcholic because he likes it or sugar to a diabetic.