Question about bones

[Pixall]

Mmkay, so when I give the kitten drumsticks he will eat all the meat and gnaw on the bone without making any real progress so I am left with a nearly museum specimen quality bare bone. My question is what I can do with them. I have been putting them in a bag in the freezer with the intent of boiling to give the broth to the wild cats, but then I still waste the bone. Would it be okay to feed these bare raw bones to the dog with a side of boneless meat?

And before you worry, Tucker has plenty of bone in his diet. He eats chicken feet and whole prey no prob. In fact, with how quick his jaw strengthens, I imagine he will be eating these bones on his own soon.

[Muzby]

I would totally give them to the dogs to finish. I hate wasting too.

[Alpaca]

When you feed bones it should be raw meaty bones..meaning that some flesh should be surrounding it.

Although it'll be more expensive, perhaps you can consider switching to quail? It's smaller and my 8 pound cat crunches those like they're nothing. You can also opt for chicken wings. Since he has chicken feed and whole prey I assume it's just a personal preference with Tucker that he doesn't like the drumstick bone.

Or simply just take the drumstick out of his meal and give the whole thing, meat and bone, to your dog instead.

[Beth_Laubenthal]

I don't see a problem giving them to your dog unless your dog is a gulper. If your dog is a gulper, I would probably get a 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick slice of meat, wrap it around the bone and freeze it. Then offer it to the dog frozen (unless you have a small dog)

[akane]

Yep that's what we do with bones too big for cats that we want to give them meat from. Mine mostly finish wing bones. There's one couple inch shard of the thickest chunk left so that I usually throw away. However we raise rabbit of various sizes and sometimes I buy other chicken like thighs they can't eat the bones from. I scrape the meat off in slices for the cats, add extra egg shell for calcium to the rest of their diet to make up for the lack of bone, and freeze the stripped bones. Then the dogs get a treat when they are being bored and annoying. Not that it entertains my 80lb akita very long. *Crunch* *Crunch* "Where is the rest?"

[~Siameseifuplz~]

I wouldn't personally feel comfortable feeding a bone with no meat on it to my animals. I like the cushioning the meat provides on the way down.

[akane]

If you have a gulper it might be a problem but if they chew properly small raw bone is no issue. It's not sharp/hard enough to do damage and stomach acid fully digests it. Unlike cooked bone which is about like eating concrete that shatters.

[Auntie Crazy]

I would never offer bones without meat attached; there's little incentive for the cat to eat it, and the meat helps the bones slide down more easily.

Nor do I offer my cats any bones thicker than the first two pieces of a chicken wing, chicken ribs or small rabbit ribs. Think about the size of the bones they'd be eating naturally in birds and mice... It doesn't make sense to me to ask them to eat bones so much larger than they're built to handle! Sure, some can do it, but I just don't see the need to make 'em.

In fact, I wouldn't even feed chicken necks unless they're really small.

Since I don't have a dog and rarely cook, I do throw away the bones from turkey legs, chicken quarters, and chicken wing drummettes after I strip them.

AC

[Kittybob]

New Guy here
I was always told not to give my cat chicken bones because they splinter
and could hurt the cat.
Opinions please.

[Ritzpg]

Welcome new guy on the block.
COOKED bones (any bones, not just chicken) splinter and should not under any circumstances be fed to a cat.
Raw bones do not splinter.
Start with small bones and increase gradually depending on YOUR cat. Try bones from cornish hen, quail and rabbit because they are smaller than most bones from chicken. And has the benefit of introducing your cat to a different protein.