Can I feed my cat fresh fruit?

Question

And I've been checking out sites on cat care. From what I gather, I should be giving him bones. Wouldnt he choke on it??!

I do feed my cat meat 3 times a day. I was just wondering if he could have banana's or mushy apples as a treat. Alot of websites say's I should...as well as green leafy veg.

Answer 1

Cats are obligatory carnivores, meaning they have to eat meat in order to survive. They cannot survive on a diet of meat veggies and fruit like a dog can. Bones are good for cats but never ever give them cooked chicken bones. Chicken bones that are cooked are easily splintered and can easily get lodge in their throats. Carefully prepared, complete fresh frozen meat diets such as Feline’s Pride diets (www.felinepride.com) are the most convenient complete and balanced foods “right out of the container.” Such foods combine the quality and freshness of the individual ingredients with the convenience of a “ready-to-feed” carnivore-specific food. Although Feline’s Pride is not the least costly of the alternatives for proper feline nutrition, it is easy for the cat owner and very palatable for most cats, and comes in several poultry types. These foods can be ordered from anywhere in the US directly from the website or through local retailers in some areas. The Felines Pride formula can be prepared at home from individual ingredients using the formula at www.catnutrition.org. Unsupplemented ground meats with bone offered by companies such as Omas Pride (www.omaspride.com) can be combined with high quality, economical and complete supplements such as Platinum Performance Feline Wellness(www.platinumperformance.com). I recommend ground chicken with bone, ground turkey with bone and/or ground rabbit with bone, to which a half tsp of Platinum Performance is added per 4 ounces of thawed meat. Omas Pride also offers ground turkey organ and beef organ meats, which can be added to the muscle meat in a 25-30% organ meat to muscle meat ratio, for a very natural and complete meat diet. While organ meat is not imperative, it is economical and its addition approximates the natural prey diet of the cat in the wild setting. Do not add vegetables or grains to this diet. The cat does not need such ingredients, and their addition only decreases the quality and digestibility of the meat-based formula. Owners with heavy duty grinders can purchase chicken, turkey or rabbit parts or whole carcasses and grind them at home, leaving the bone in the meat during grinding. Chicken or turkey organs can be chopped and added or fed whole along with the home-ground muscle meat as well. Add the supplement to the home-ground meats before feeding as described above, and do not add vegetables or grains of any kind. Handle the meats you intend to feed to your cat as carefully as you would handle them for feeding to your own family. Do not keep thawed meats in the refrigerator longer than 3 days before feeding. Many owners feed their cats raw meat and bone that is not ground before feeding. Many cats enjoy eating whole chicken pieces or pieces of other types of meat and there is no reason not to feed such items as treats to those cats that enjoy them. A note of caution: muscle meats without bone, or without some added mineral supplement (such as Animal Essentials Sea Source Calcium, www.animalessentials.com), are not a complete diet for the cat. Organ meats, by themselves, are also not complete and balanced, and cannot be fed as an exclusive diet. It is absolutely imperative that homemade diets be properly formulated so that they contain all of the essential nutrients for the cat. The options above are all very easy, practical solutions to the question of how to feed the cat a food that will support the very best health for 20 years or more. You can do it, as thousands of other concerned cat lovers are already proving!
-EDIT-
Cats do not need fruits and vegetables to survive and hoenstly they shouldnt eat them. Cats bodies cannot break down plant fibers and sugars like a persons or a dogs can. Cats only need meat to survive, nothing else added in. Check out this website with a lot more information on this topic. http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/fruit+vegetables.php
http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/fruit+vegetables.php

Answer 2

No. Cats are obligate carnivores and need animal protein for survival. MEAT! Some fruits are toxic to cats so just stick with the cat food and treat with a bite of chicken.

Answer 3

I would not do that, Cats usually won't eat things that are not good for them but check first with your Vet, Dogs should never ever eat grapes, Chocolate, or spicy foods. So the same may apply to cats. I have had them all my life and I'm up there. and I have never fed or seen a Cat eat fruit. However my Maine Coon eats dog food.

Answer 4

Bones contain zinc and a few other trace minerals- most of the informant ion I have looked at with regards to cat diets are called "species appropriate". That means that they have what is natural for them to have- something that commercial foods don't give them. This is generally a raw, high protein diet. Cats are obligate carnivores so they require the nutrients from a raw meat diet. Anita Fraser DVM gave a great recipe for raw cat food in her book- bones should be ground up with the meat if you are going to go that route. Do not give them cooked bones cause they splinter. Research the raw cat food diet.

Answer 5

Cats do like melons (honeydew and watermelon) but they've got an awful lot of sugar in them so only one small 1" cube is enough.

I've never known a cat to eat an apple or banana! There was one of ours who took a bite out of some tomatoes, but fruits aren't what cats eat, they're carnivores. No fruit, very few veggies, mostly just meat sources.

And no bones, they can break a tooth on them, or swallow pieces (we had one choke on chicken bones he pulled out of the garbage, it was scary but we got the bone out). They're not able to eat cooked bones, just small bones in natural prey which are very thin and weak.