Chicken necks

[Hippykitty]

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.

[Millys Mum]

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   
Milly has a scale & polish tomorrow and im trying to get her chew a wing asap, a delicate nibbler is my Milly   

[Team Svartalfheims]

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.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

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.

[Ela]

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.

[CurlyCatz]

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.

[Ela]

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.

[Dawn F]

is that only cooked ones?

[Mark]

I was always told that you shouldn't give chicken bones to animals as they splinter - maybe a myth?

[Dawn F]

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

[Desley (booktigger)]

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!!

[Ela]

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.

[Team Svartalfheims]

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.

[CurlyCatz]

  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"  )

[Desley (booktigger)]

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.