I'd like to hear what other people say but 1) that bone was maybe too picky for her Your cat said 'nah too pointy' and chose not to eat it. Thats good, means you can trust your cat to 'feel' what shes eating instead of gorge. 2) If the cat swallowed a bone that could injure her, her stomach acid would probably deal with it before it got to her intestinal track, since it is still soft, raw bone. (thats one of cats safety mechanisms against parasites or contaminated food, they digest quickly and efficiently so nothing stays in their system too long).

Your vigilance is commendable! keep an eye on her anyway. And if you feel worried, continue picking out bone until you get more replies. Maybe from other folks who use the same food as you?

 

My cats eat ground mixes from Hare Today and they have the same type of shards you describe. They have been eating this for the last year with no problems, and before that, I have been feeding chicken wings, necks, quail, chicken ribs, etc....never had an issue.

The only issue of this nature I have ever had with one of my cats (and it was with something with no bone in it whatsoever) was with Sasha trying to eat a whole piece of turkey gizzard without chewing it properly. It got stuck in his throat and I had to give him CPR and Heimlich him....so scary. So now, I do cut all gizzards into bite size pieces because he still tries to scarf everything down without chewing all the way.

I would say if your cats are used to eating other larger bones, it shouldn't be an issue. But, having said that, at the end of the day it's what makes you feel comfortable. If you feel uneasy about the bone shards, only buy mixes in the future with no bone in them.

 

Ugh... hate the 5 minute rule.

Was going to finish off by stating that:

or you can go through it at each meal and just remove the larger pieces.

 

OK 5 minute thing...really annoying!!!

I do feel that their digestive system is not the same as ours and will break down those small bone fragments before they make it into the intestine. When I see what is in the litter box, it is compact and there are no chunks, shards, etc. It just does not make it that far before it's broken down.

This info came from the National Digestive Diseases Info Clearinghouse (it applies to humans, but you get the gist):

"Several factors affect emptying of the stomach, including the kind of food and the degree of muscle action of the emptying stomach and the small intestine. Carbohydrates, for example, spend the least amount of time in the stomach, while protein stays in the stomach longer, and fats the longest. As the food dissolves into the juices from the pancreas, liver, and intestine, the contents of the intestine are mixed and pushed forward to allow further digestion.


Finally, the digested nutrients are absorbed through the intestinal walls and transported throughout the body. The waste products of this process include undigested parts of the food, known as fiber, and older cells that have been shed from the mucosa. These materials are pushed into the colon, where they remain until the feces are expelled by a bowel movement."


By the time most nutrients would hit the intestines, it's mostly pulp, mush or juice. Ok, done now

 

Thank you guys for the replies :}

Things can seem pretty terrifying at 1 AM when the world is dark and no one else is awake... since my cat's last meal of the day is at 1 AM, I managed to work myself into a pretty big freak-out about the bone shards. I even put on some gloves and um... did a "break-down" (literally) of some of her poo.

But once daylight hit, I came back and read the replies. I feel much better now. I think I got a little too worried about the shards!

From now on, I'll pick through the portions until we've gotten through the stock that I have now. I'll leave the bone nublets, but if I find any sharp shards, they're out!

Hoofmaiden - yeah, I think I'll be skipping the bone-in grinds from the larger critters from now on. They seemed like a dream come true at the time I ordered them, since I know Win will happily eat ground raw meat, and I wanted a greater variety than what I was getting with Feline's Pride.

I'm still going to try transitioning Win to full frankenprey, but she's been terribly stubborn. She happily eats chunks of meat and organs, and she'll eat pinky mice if I chop them into segments. If I chop and skin 1-day-old quail or chicks, she'll eat SOME of them, and then leave the rest (which is amusing because her favorite grind "flavors" are fowl). She'll make an attempt at chicken necks or wings, but gives up once it gets too difficult.

She HATES rabbit meat, both in grind form and meat-chunks form. Sigh!

I know it's partially her age - 14 years of kibble and canned mush are hard habits to change.

I know I can get her entirely onto a form of frankenprey that includes chunks of meat and organ, but then I'd be relying entirely on the chicks, quail, and mice for the bone content, I guess...? I could always supplement with bone meal, but I hear that's not ideal, for several reasons.

I think I'll try some larger mice and rats on her next and see if I can get her to move on past this step.

Thank you guys again for the advice! :}

 

When push comes to shove, my oldest cat used to eat mice, rats, etc. that she had caught - never any digestive problems and definitely and removing of bones. Last week one of my two youngest cats took a raw bone off the dog (she knows her place in the pecking order, bless her) and nibbled off all the meat and no doyubt some of the bone - also no problem.

 

I can get her to eat maybe 3/4 of a chick or quail when I offer it to her. She'll put down 3 pinky mice in chopped form with no issues, but she never seems to want to finish an "entire" chick or quail. She also seems less enthusiastic about the taste. Maybe I should make a mince of pinky mice and spread it on the chick ;p

Arianwen - when Win was a young, spry cat, she used to hunt as well, and she would eat what she caught :} She never had problems back then, but the more "processed" ground bone worried me in a way that "whole prey" bones never did!