Chicken is an excellent source of protein that could power a cat from head to toe. Chicken has low fat and calorie content; is it ok to feed my cat chicken everyday?.
In this article, we will thoroughly examine the benefits of feeding chicken to your cats, potential risks, and the best way to prepare chicken for your cat.
Is It OK to Feed My Cat Chicken Everyday?
The name “chicken” brings delight to me, each time I hear it. I think of multiple ways I could indulge, ketchup, barbecue sauce, roasting the chicken, or making it crispy like KFC’s. I have a beautiful cat that loves to share beautiful food moments with me. As a result of my high appetite for chicken, I and my cat get to eat chicken more often.
It is okay for your cat to eat chicken every day. However, you should understand that; chicken alone cannot give your cat all the nutrients it needs. You need to give the cat his regular kibble and wet foods and use chicken as a treat.
Taurine is an essential amino acid needed in a cat’s diet, cats cannot produce this nutrient for themselves, this is why they need you to provide it for them. An only chicken diet every day cannot provide the taurine needed for your cat, except you’re providing the part of the chicken that has taurine.
Taurine is found in higher quantities, in parts of chicken/turkey that are subjected to so much work, like the heart(since it works all the days of its life). Taurine can be gotten from beef, the leg, thigh, and gizzard of a turkey contains great amounts of taurine, even more than that in beef.
You should also have a proper understanding of when, and how you should feed chicken to your cat, because feeding your cat cooked bones will only lead to bleeding gums and other internal complications which we will detail in subsequent subheadings.
Can a cat survive only on chicken?
An only chicken diet is a NO NO for your cat, only chicken cannot provide the balanced nutrients your cat needs to develop and function properly, most cat owners fail to take charge of how things come along with the cat, from his food, nutrients, care, and will end up being trained by the cat to feed them an only fish or chicken diet. As backed by Dr. Rebecca Remillard.
Your cat requires proteins, fat, carbohydrate, minerals, vitamin, and water. Fluffy has an essential need for protein as they are obligate carnivores who need more meat than your other household pets. Dietary protein develops and maintains the fur, tendon, muscles, ligament, hormones, antibodies, and more.
Your cat also needs fat with omega-3 and 6 fatty acids as a priority. They are important for wound healing, healthy coat and skin, inflammation, and the general health of your kitten. Salmon and chicken are great sources.
Vitamins that are needed by the cat can not be provided by chicken only. For cats who are eating both wet and dried foods, vets would still advise you to get some supplements–how much more, when you place the cat on a chicken-only diet?
How Much Chicken Should I Feed My Cat?
In deciding how much chicken you should feed your cat every day, you need to know the daily calorie needs of the cat and then decide how much chicken you can give the cat. Also, if you’ll be feeding the chicken with canned or dry kibble, you need to measure the calorie per serving, this will help you know the amount of chicken to use and supplement the cat’s food.
Let me give you an example, my ragdoll who is 7yrs weighs 6kg, he requires 40 calories per kg of his body weight, 40 x 6= 240. A chicken thigh contains 109 calories which means that 2 and a half thighs of chicken will be sufficient for my cat. This is how you can calculate how much chicken you should feed your cat.
Is it OK to feed cats chicken breast?
Yes, it’s okay to feed your cat chicken breasts, but as a treat. The chicken breast doesn’t contain enough nutrients required for your cat. Although, it’s pleasant to a senior cat’s stomach. Chicken breast is a great source of protein, but protein alone won’t do for your kitty.
What is the Best part of Chicken for Cats
The best part of a chicken for cats is the heart of the chicken. It contains taurine, which means; that if you feed cats enough hearts, you may not need to use a supplement. The necks of chickens are also instrumental in cleaning the teeth of a cat that doesn’t want to be brushed.
The best part of a chicken depends on the use you need it for: to complete the calorie intake of your cat, the thighs and breast will suffice, to supplement taurine intake, the heart and gizzard will do, to clean up the teeth, the neck will do just fine.
Can cats eat chicken skin?
Yes, but in moderate quantities. Chicken skin contains over 78% of the fats found in a hen’s body, which is quite massive. You don’t want to stuff your cat with that much fat. Feeding your cat chicken skin regularly will lead to high cholesterol, heart disease, and obesity.
Chicken skin in a moderate quantity will do some good for your pet–if you must boil the skin, ensure you don’t add spice, since some spices such as cayenne pepper are terrible for your cat.
Our kittens have a more unique digestive system than we humans or dogs, their digestive tracts are shorter and their stomachs are acidic; this means they will have no issues digesting the chicken’s skin. A cat with a weakened immune system may battle bacteria found on meat skins.
How to prepare raw chicken for cats
The way you should prepare raw chicken for your cat depends on the purpose you want the meat to serve for you.
Serving raw meat: the thigh is usually a cat favorite, although, they don’t instantly transition from their regular kibble to a raw diet. Feeding your cat a raw chicken requires you to ensure the chicken is fresh! Stale chicken could harbor salmonella and e-coli which can disrupt the cat’s digestive system.
Some cats jump right on the raw diet, while some will require you to introduce it to them gradually-place the raw food close to their food bowl, and let them sniff the raw food as they eat their regular food. Repeat this process for two days, then place the raw chicken directly under their main meal, within two days, they should start eating.
Frying the chicken is a bad option, you’ll be making the cat consume more unnecessary fat and oil. You should bake the chicken to kill any present bacteria on it, baking also helps to dry out oil from the meat.
There are numerous ways of preparing chicken for a cat, I love to grease my baking pan with coconut oil, then place the chicken in and cook, after which I cool down the chicken in the fridge, then I cut the thighs into bits and mix in the broth from the pan–yummy!
What Are the Benefits of Chicken for Cats?
A kitten can eat chicken from as young as 3 weeks. The chicken will provide your cat with lots of benefits; proteins to build and maintain its muscles, l-tryptophan to improve mood, and omega-6 to retain the beauty of its fur.
Chicken contains mood-boosting properties
LL tryptophan found in chicken is an amino acid that boosts the level of serotonin in your cat’s brain– this neurochemical induces the “feel good” mood in cats. It is very handy in resolving aggression related to anxiety and stress, while also helping to regulate your cat’s sleep. This neurochemical makes it easy to brush a cat that doesn’t want you to brush her.
Provision of vitamin B12 and choline
Dark and white chicken meat provides choline and vitamin B12 for your cat. Choline is a vital vitamin for the cat’s liver health, cognitive function, and nerve transmission. Cats provide choline naturally, but chicken is a great way of supplementing choline.
Since cats are usually susceptible to digestive problems at a senior age, or junior age as a result of what they let into their mouths. Vitamin b12 is a great way to strengthen the cat’s digestive, and nervous systems, it also boosts the cat’s immune system – all these benefits are gotten from chicken.
Dietary protein in chicken will build your cats muscle
As little as 30gram of dietary protein per meal can help build your cat’s muscles. Also, dietary protein help with your cat’s bone health.
Chicken provides numerous benefits to your cat’s heart, fur, coat, and general well-being.
What Are the Potential Risks of Feeding Chicken to Cats?
Bacteria such as salmonella habits in the chicken can cause issues in the cat’s digestive tract, leading to diarrhea and other related symptoms.
Feeding a cat an only chicken diet can lead to malnutrition, you’ll end up having a cat that doesn’t have either his bones, coat, organs, or brain developing properly. Chicken doesn’t have enough amino acids in form of taurine–that are necessary for cats.
A cooked chicken bone is brittle and it splinters easily, it could lead to injuries to your cat’s gum and it could also lacerate the cat’s through or even cause injuries to the cat’s intestines.
Should I Cook the Chicken Before Feeding It to My Cat?
It is not mandatory to cook the chicken before serving it to your cat. You can serve them raw, raw chicken, especially with the neck bone, which helps to clean up the cat’s mouth.
If you want to cook the chicken before feeding to your cat every day, ensure you don’t add any spice that will irritate the data intestines–neither should you add garlic or onions.
Are There Any Other Considerations I Should Keep in Mind When Feeding Chicken to My Cat?
In feeding chicken to your cat every day, ensure you’re supplementing other nutrients that are not supplied by the chicken.
Don’t give your cat bones, except the neck bone that helps to clean up the cat’s mouth. Cooked bones bruise and take a huge toll on your cat.
Don’t stop your cat’s normal food abruptly, gradually introduce the raw diet.
Is boiled chicken good for cats with diarrhea
Yes, boiled chicken is very effective for stopping diarrhea in cats. Once a cat’s diarrhea starts, discontinue his normal food for 12 – 24 hours, then feed him cooked chicken breast and skin + rice. Make it a ratio of 50:50, rice 50% cooked chicken 50%, this will help form stool after a short while. Get to your vet if blood is seen in the cat’s stool.
Final thoughts
Is it safe to feed chicken to your cats every day? Yes, but chicken alone will not provide all nutrients needed by the cats. Chicken could suffice as a great treat for fluffy, but if you must use as food, you need a supplement to close the vitamin gap.
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