When you feed you cat chicken do you give it broth too?

Question

Ok I found this cat a few weeks ago starving, took him to the vet who said other than being way too thin, and missing his tail and a toe, seems to be in good condition. Hes slowly becoming a picky eater, but today went nuts when I made chicken and dumpling soup. I ate the dumplings and carrots out of it and gave the rest to him. He ate it like a maniac.

I had heard that it is safe to give a cat chicken as a treat (hey if it gets the poor guy some weight), but just wanted to make sure the broth was ok for them too.

His pickiness went from eating anything I put in front of him, to poo pooing the wet food, and then stopped eating much of the dry food. Still drinking plenty of water. I don't plan on letting him just eat chicken though don't worry, I can't afford that!

Answer 1

Meat is good for cats. As long as the only thing in the broth is veggies and water, go for it. Cats need all the water they can get, too. DO NOT make the broth with onions or garlic which are toxic to cats. Enoy! Both of you! :-)

Answer 2

Hi
Wet food is much better for your cat then dry food and chicken or any other type of meat is fine for a snack. Adding the broth is totally fine too and you were smart not feeding the dumplings.

"Still drinking plenty of water'

This concerns me a bit. To check for dehydration, pick up the loose skin and let it driop. It should bounce back to it's original condition and not take it's time getting there.
If your cat is also peeing alot, please buy some ketodiastic reagent strips from the pharmacy to check the urine and see if sugar is spilling in. This would basically be a diabetes check.
Oh and thank you for saving this cat and being the good person that you are!

Answer 3

I have a feeling that you're going to get a lot of mixed answers for this question and I'm not sure if there is a right or wrong answer.

Take dogs for example- Some poeple think its bad for dogs to get any kind of human scraps. Then there are some people who will give there dogs anything even chocolate.

When it cones to cats I have three and they all have there favorite human food. My youngest Gracie loves turkey sandwhiches. My middle one Karson loves alfreado pasta sauce. My oldest Sammy loves popcycles. My opinion on treats is they are great.

My oppinion on giving human food is mixed. My dog get human food in moderation. My cats will get some only every once in a while un less they find there way to it before I do.

However, keep this in mind, every pet is different. My dad has two dog and back in the day every time they got wet food as a treat they wouldn't touch their dry food for days after.

When I first got my dog he hatted dry food. I threw in a few treats and he downs it at every meal now. My youngest cat Gracie didn't even like treats when I first got her but she loves them now.

Here is my advise after all that being said. The theory with dog are they react to smells. They love food that smells good. have you ever noticed that most dry food has no sent. A lot of times if you mix something that smell good in with the dry they will have no problem. My theory is cats are the same. When it comes to figuring out what is ok and not thats up to you- Every vet it going to have their oppinion just like everyone on here. Is it chicken? Maybe in moderation. Is it the broth? Personaly I would say no to the broth if it's processed. I'd even say no to the chicken if it came in a can or something.

I'm sure you're smart unless you wouldn't care what you were feeding your cat. In that since feel it out, keep things in mind and you'll find what works for you and your cat. Good luck-

Answer 4

The chicken is great, but the broth has too much sodium/salt in it for a cat.

If he's a good candidate for raw food, you can look for those tubes of ground turkey for 89 cents or $1 at the grocery store and thaw it, microwave it till it's just warm (not cooked) and offer that to him as part of his meal. Our guys love that. I'd gotten it to make chili but they ended up eating it all and we've got them on a regular 'breakfast' with it every day. They do get dry food as their main meal, and some wet also.

If you want to cook it, don't use salt or pepper, just cook it in a little bit of oil and add some water to it for it's own broth. Crumble it up when done, let cool, and let him eat that for part of his meals.

Luncheon meats have too many nitrates so don't give those or ham, they're not good for cats.

Answer 5

I adopted two boy kittens in the middle of the poisoned pet food panic this year. For a while there was a question of whether or not they had eaten some of the contaminated food at the pound and I watched them and worried. And because of that I will never feed them wet food. I cook organic chicken and chop it up really fine and feed them that.

They are happy and healthy and I see nothing wrong with giving them chicken and broth. When they were really little I would wet their dry food with chicken broth so it was easier for them to eat.

It's awesomely sweet that you adopted your kitty. I bet he turns out to be a great cat for you.

Answer 6

I would call your vet about feeding the cat chicken. Typically vets say it is unhealthy to feed cats handouts.

Since he needs to gain weight, try getting him a high calorie canned cat food and feeding it to him a few times a day. If he is dehydrated, you could also try diluting it with water. My cat was a stray and she also turned up her nose at any dry food or regular canned food, but she happily lapped up the canned food the vet gave me. I kept her on it for the first month or so and then switched her to dry food (healthier for the teeth and does not cause weight gain). She was 3 pounds when I found her at 3 months of age and by the time she turned a year old she weighed 8!

Good luck! :)

Answer 7

yeah it would be fine as long as it's just broth from chicken, dumplings, and veggies like carrots, but as the first poster said, avoid onions & garlic... they don't agree with kitties (the amount in broth would probably give him a bad tummy ache at most though. unless it was loaded with onions or something!)

oh! and you may want to worry about the salt content, but, as you said, it's just a treat so it shouldn't be a problem. i give my kitties the water i drain from canned tuna when i make tuna salad (i know they aren't allergic like a lot of cats are!). beware though--he may start thinking he's entitled! my cats come running & meowing when they hear me use the can opener now!! lol.

Answer 8

put chicken in dry food so the cat gets used to it. That way its healthy for the cat, yet its not a treat. Plus, the cats likes it, loves it!!!!!!!! Give it a try