Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat General => General Cat Chat => Topic started by: Desley (booktigger) on April 03, 2007, 22:53:57 PM
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Do normal butchers (small, local ones rather than supermarkets) sell chicken necks in small portions, or would I have to buy a load of them in one go? Am going to start introducing more raw food into the cats diet, Tiger had a lot of tartar so had a scale and polish, and would like to get them chewing on meat more to help with them - Molly's are just a bit opaque. The other things I was going to buy was heart and liver, they liked it before, but I had to chop it into small pieces cos of Ginger, they cna have a couple of decent size chunks a day this time round.
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:sick: :sick: I honestly dont know des...round here butchers dont sell too much poultry really altho they have some obviously..never seen chicken necks though.
remember i think we talked before and said that chicken wings are meant to be good for their teeth, i think you'd have more luck getting that than the chicken necks but i could be wrong.
(my neighbours cockerals getting bad again, you are more than welcome to come and "pick your own" :rofl:)
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Not sure about chicken necks but if you have a reptile shop nearby chicks and mice are good and crunchy for them and you can buy them in small amounts or bulk buy.
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You are braver people than me, I could not touch liver, heart, chicken bits if my life depended on it. I remember at College once I had to fillet a Place, I
held tried to hold it with a pallet knife and greaseproof paper (Until it fell on the floor that is).
I cannot buy a whole chicken as I don't like the legs, wings and carcass so always but chicken breasts even for the cats.
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Never heard of a reptile shop!!
Ela - I hate things like that, but my Ginger loved raw meat, and he deserved it with teh life he had had, so I did it for him, and now I want something to help the cats teeth - will try and ask for chicken wings instead of necks. I was nearly sick by the time I had cut up the hearts and liver, and couldnt deal with the kidneys!!
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so Des, you just give them raw to chew on for their teeth? I wouldn't mind getting them if I thought it would do some good
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I was always told that you shouldn't give chicken bones to animals as they splinter - maybe a myth?
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is that only cooked ones?
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I was always told that you shouldn't give chicken bones to animals as they splinter - maybe a myth?
If you look on the net some sites say it is OK others say absolutely not. I also hear of cases where there have been problems of bones stuck horizontally in the throat and others where there have caused problem in the gut. I think everyone does what they think is in their cats interest, I personally would not give chicken bones, however, I know many people do.
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many bones from a chicken are quite dangerous whether cooked or not but things like chicken necks and chicken wings are apparently quite good as these bones are softer and have cartilage and cats can apparently chew them very well and the nawing action is good for the teeth. I said before that i watched a program about a cat rescue place in america and they give chicken wings (raw only) all the time purely for teeth cleaning action.
A reptile shop des is just a specialised (supposedly) pet shop that sells all sorts of reptiles, they keep the frozen reptile fodder and i know of atleast one other person besides lottie who sometimes gives defrosted chicks to her cats.
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I know it happens all the time but I personally could not do it if my life depended on it. I remember being at Chester Zoo (think we are going there next Tuesday, depends on weather) and I think it was the owls or something that were being fed dead baby chicks it was horrible.
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I keep meaning to try my 2 with chicken wings but am not sure how they'd take to it. They both love raw meat but Mosi can only cope with small pieces although Jaffa can now manage a piece about 2" square. Eating chunks of raw meat is good for their teeth too as they have to tear it apart and that cleans the teeth a bit, so I might just stick to pieces of chicken breast and beef chunks. I also don't have anywhere outside to feed them so don't want to give them anything too messy indoors!
I remember when they started feeding the big cats at chester zoo whole carcasses - caused an uproar with the public despite the fact that it was better for them.
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I also don't have anywhere outside to feed them so don't want to give them anything too messy indoors!
I feed them it in the bath as it's wipe clean lol. My dad hit the roof when he found out I'd been feeding the cats mice in his bath on Sunday night and that he'd had mice in his freezer all weekend.
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PMSL at the bath story, i wash my trays in the bath but shoosh my dad doesnt know.
Desley i reckon you could buy a couple of necks at a time, they will probably be glad to get rid as they wont have much demand for them.
Iv not braved the offal yet, i will be getting the butcher to dice it for me though!
I had gotten a bit lazy with my wing offerings and Lolas teeth had got tartar building up at the back, i gave a wing and checked again and it was nearly all gone :wow:
Milly has a scale & polish tomorrow and im trying to get her chew a wing asap, a delicate nibbler is my Milly :Luv:
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Aren't there brands of dry food specifically designed to clean teeth? I'm not sure which ones, but I'm sure I've seen them advertised.
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Aren't there brands of dry food specifically designed to clean teeth? I'm not sure which ones, but I'm sure I've seen them advertised.
There are dental foods, eg hills t/d but when I bought a bag of that I wasn't impressed with the quality of the food, and don't like dry food per se anyway, so would not want to use that for teeth cleaning. Jaffa just swallows those kibbles whole anyway.
lol at feeding them in the bath! I don't actually have a bath, but Jaffa likes to take anything big off to his special corner behind the cat tree in the lounge anyway.
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I tried giving mine a chicken wing (had been and bought them nice organic free range ones specially) and they were decidely unimpressed at the lack of fur or feathers lol so I'll be sticking to chicks and mice.
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eg hills t/d but when I bought a bag of that I wasn't impressed with the quality of the food,
I expect cats are like people,e.g some people love sprouts others abhor them. Someone put some dental food in the bin in Sainsburys and all the 6 I have here couldn't get enough, they loved it.
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eg hills t/d but when I bought a bag of that I wasn't impressed with the quality of the food,
I expect cats are like people,e.g some people love sprouts others abhor them. Someone put some dental food in the bin in Sainsburys and all the 6 I have here couldn't get enough, they loved it.
I didn't say they didn't like it - I thought the ingredients were poor and won't let them have it
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Also its grain that produces plaque & tartar and t/d is probably 80% grain :-:
Milly would probably eat t/d , she was a biscuit girl before i got her, she didnt know how to eat tuna either.
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I thought the ingredients were poor and won't let them have it
Sorry I missed the I bit. To tell the truth I didn't read the ingredients. perhaps smacked legs are in order.
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Will have a wander to the butchers (5 min walk from the house) on Sat, actually there are 2 in walking distance, so will go to both and see what they can do - if not, they will have to stick to heart and liver, but bigger chunks than last time - Tiger has had to have a scale and polish this year, and she is the younger of the two.
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humph the chicks fair enough if some want to give them (not for me however) but my hubby would chuck an absolute mentler if i went and bought frozen mice when we are always trying to erradcate them from the loft :rofl:
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Desley, Anglian Meat Products do frozen poultry necks, its quite a large bag though! Thats the only place I've been able to get them from. I asked at all my local butchers, coz I'd prefer to buy fresh, but they all looked at me as if I was mad :Crazy: and said they don't have the chicken necks - well where are they all then??!!! These were all traditional type butchers that sell whole chickens etc - but minus the necks - who's got 'em thats what I want to know! Oh - I do know - AMP buys them all up!
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and i know of atleast one other person besides lottie who sometimes gives defrosted chicks to her cats.
Wonder who that could be Lynn?!!! ;D - not always defrosted either, as Gypsy is not against stealing the defrosting ones if I've left them too handy!
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I know it happens all the time but I personally could not do it if my life depended on it. I remember being at Chester Zoo (think we are going there next Tuesday, depends on weather) and I think it was the owls or something that were being fed dead baby chicks it was horrible.
i went to singapore with family when i was about 14, theres a bird zoo next to a reptile zoo so we went to both the same day, birds first. and they had hundreds of baby chicks in an enclosure at the start and you could handle them, needless to say i found one i fell in love with and just stayed with him/her while family went round the rest of the zoo.... then we went to the reptile zoo and every tank had 2/3 LIVE chicks hudled in a corner. :sick: and that's when i became a veggie, but my bridge baby got fresh meat frequently and so will lucifer. i regard it as a labour of love and they get told with every second im preparing it that its proof of how much i love them lol
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Desley, Anglian Meat Products do frozen poultry necks, its quite a large bag though! Thats the only place I've been able to get them from. I asked at all my local butchers, coz I'd prefer to buy fresh, but they all looked at me as if I was mad :Crazy: and said they don't have the chicken necks - well where are they all then??!!! These were all traditional type butchers that sell whole chickens etc - but minus the necks - who's got 'em thats what I want to know! Oh - I do know - AMP buys them all up!
I'm sure Whiskas, Felix et al buy a lot up. Along with beaks, feet etc :evillaugh:
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I'm sure Whiskas, Felix et al buy a lot up. Along with beaks, feet etc :evillaugh:
Probably right Mark :evillaugh:
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I saw the title of this thread and realised I'd unconsciously moved my hand up to touch my own neck :rofl:
Must go and get some moisturiser :evillaugh:.
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LOL yes gillian i was thinking of you, i only knew from your fabby pic you had on the other week though ;D
have to admit i always think of that pic now everytime i think of a persian :rofl:
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So shall I !! :evillaugh:
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I was reminded of this thread when I went to my mums last night - they have hens, ducks etc on their allotment, and they have hand reared some again this year, so i went into their greenhouse to see 2 week old ducklings - couldn't give the cats chicks after that.
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couldn't give the cats chicks after that.
I know what you mean. The reason I stopped eating Lamb was after were were riding on the bike through the Lake District and being that bit higher I could see more and I saw hundreds and hundreds of lambs many obviously new born and loads of little black ones, I said to myself thats it I will never eat lamb again and I haven't. it must be over 10 yrs now. Perhaps it would be a good idea if I saw loads of calf's (although I don't eat veal) and piglets.
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i just had a terrible thought (sorry warped sense of humour)
gillian/lottie etc will you be treating your feline friends to an easter chick then ;)
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Lynn that is mean! :evillaugh:
What pic was that?
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i know millys mum..couldnt help myself :evillaugh:
the pic we are talking about is one of gillians, her persians are partialled to a chick and she has an excellent photo which isnt one you'd expect from a persian cat. (taken before any gruesome stage i might add)
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What pic was that?
At the risk of making everyone feel :sick: - this is the pic! Look away now!
[attachment deleted by admin]
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i just had a terrible thought (sorry warped sense of humour)
gillian/lottie etc will you be treating your feline friends to an easter chick then ;)
Hmmmm! - good idea, yes - must just pop and get some out the freezer!! Funny - I used to be vegetarian, and what was it that got me started eating meat again? - chicken :) After 10 yrs of not eating meat chicken was my downfall :evillaugh:
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i do love that piccy for some reason.
funny chicken turned you, normally i believe the biggest turner of veges is bacon.
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Lol Gillian, you can see the concentration!
I got a pigeon from the butcher and have a pic of Lola with a leg in her mouth, i will see if i can find it.
Im a vege/attempted vegan, the thought of eating meat is :sick: but i can handle it for the cats :-:
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I'm also a veggie and don't eat fish or shellfish. Strangely, the only thing I ever crave is cockles and mussles!
The cats eat Whiskas, the impish little carnivores! :fish: :feed:
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This has reminded me to wander round to the local butchers later - hate going in there, it is worse than the meat aisle of the supermarket.
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Hope you had fun at the butchers :rofl:
Did they hand over any chicken necks?!
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couldn't give the cats chicks after that.
I know what you mean. The reason I stopped eating Lamb was after were were riding on the bike through the Lake District and being that bit higher I could see more and I saw hundreds and hundreds of lambs many obviously new born and loads of little black ones, I said to myself thats it I will never eat lamb again and I haven't. it must be over 10 yrs now. Perhaps it would be a good idea if I saw loads of calf's (although I don't eat veal) and piglets.
I had a similar experience. I was in Dorset around 1993 and we were in a firld surrounded by lambs and I decided never to eat lamb again. I haven't missed it at all even when I was vege, all I craved was bacon & chicken.
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Well, day didn't quite go as planned - had a viewing on Shabba at dinner, nipped to my mum's to give her some chicken for the dog, and ended up stroking 3 day old chicks and cuddling a week old duckling with a deformed leg, so the butcher was shut by the time I finished there and got to the pet shop!! Will have to go on Tues instead.
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I've been thinking this meat to clean teeth with sounds like a good idea. I'm currntly changing their wet food over to ones with more than 4% meat! So some real meat might be good. Fed them some nice pink beef left over from a function at work a couple of weeks back and Bacardi went mad for it! But as for raw meat, can I ask a few questions?
For liver, heart, kidney, etc. what size chunks would you cut them into? Given the high salt content of kidney, would that be okay for them (not sure its that salty but it always tastes it)? Would any form of kidney be okay - my butcher normally has kidney from several animals so I know I can get that?
For wings - would you give them whole or have the butcher cut them into smaller pieces? Same question for necks but I have no idea how large they are?
I'm fine with all the raw meat, including cutting it, but don't think I could manage the chicks/mice. Odd, but thats me.
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Not sure what size chunks, as I had to cut it smaller for my toothless cat. You do have to make sure not too feed too much heart, liver and kidney I think, maybe only once or twice a week - i bought kidney for them, but couldn't cut it!! So they had heart, liver and raw chicken, alternated over a week. I assume that if it is from a butcher, any kind will do, but you might find they are fussy over what animals it comes from
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For liver, heart, kidney, etc. what size chunks would you cut them into? Given the high salt content of kidney, would that be okay for them (not sure its that salty but it always tastes it)? Would any form of kidney be okay - my butcher normally has kidney from several animals so I know I can get that?
For wings - would you give them whole or have the butcher cut them into smaller pieces? Same question for necks but I have no idea how large they are?
I would start off with smallish chunks, some cats don't like the texture of offal initially, so you could slip a few bits into their regular food to start with! Kidneys are fine - mine prefer lamb kidneys, but they will eat pig kidney. Kidney and liver can be fed a very small amount at each meal, (think of the size of a mouse!) or a larger amount 1 or 2 times a week, the ideal is for it to make up only a small proportion of a raw diet, around 5-10%.The rest of the diet should be made up of meat and a small amount of bone. You might find it easier to cut liver and kidney with scissors, rather than cutting with a knife. Heart can be fed as a muscle meat - mine love lamb hearts again, and not so keen on ox heart. Have a look at this site http://www.rawfedcats.org/ - its really helpful.
Chicken wings can be cut into 3 pieces - if you get a meat cleaver and cut through the 3 natural joints - you have 3 nice pieces then. Like in this pic below. The necks that I get from AMP are mixed poultry necks so some of the larger ones can be chopped.
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Thanks for the tips Gillian, explains why I couldnt' cut the kidneys, I was using a knife!!
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The other thing to make sure of Gemma is that the meat is fresh, and if you can afford it free range or organic is best.
I read on one site that some offal eg liver can have toxins in it (talking about intensively reared animals) so i will buy organic offal for my lot. The stuff they pump into chickens now adays i wouldnt want them eating it :censored:
I always snip stuff with scissors as my knife "skills" are more than terrible!
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I actually know someone who feeds raw and wont touch organic meat, will see if I Can find what she said about it.
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here are her words: FYI Organic meats turn up with MORE bacteria ... reason the fertilizers used... I am using grass feed no antibiotic meats NOT organic
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I have heard that said before.
This article is rather out of date now but explains why organic chickens can have more bacteria than non organic. I don't know whether anything has changed since that article was written. Or whether the campylobacter (sp?) mentioned is a threat to cats.
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn1364
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susanne i havent read your link yet but that bacteria you mention is a "natural" gut bacteria found in us normally and our cats. That was what fraser had an "overgrowth" of initially on top of the chronic gastritis when that was all diagnosed and needed a course of antibiotics to get it back under control.
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The risk of Campylobacter bothers me alot less than the antibiotics, growth hormones and other chemicals that are fed to intensively reared animals :shify: