# do cats digest bones?



## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

I wrote about my raw meat & bones experiment here: http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=15106, and I'm wondering if the bones a cat swallows are digested or just passed. obviously they swallow prey bones in the wild, but they're much smaller bones than a chicken thigh bone. :roll: 

what do you think, am I worrying unnecessarily, or should I panic and call a vet?


----------



## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

Tim, I would just keep my eyes open. I never allow my cats to eat chicken bones ( or any other kind). They can be quite sharp. The only kind of bones I gave any animal was a large ham bone for the dog. I am a bit hyper about this, however. If you see any signs of digestive problems or pain, see what the vet suggests. I wish you the best.


----------



## Gudewife (Jun 27, 2004)

A chicken thigh bone is awfully big and hard, usually they suggest chicken necks, body carcasses, and wingtips as RMB's for cats because the bones are smaller, softer, and can more easily be broken/crushed and digested (like the bones of small prey). If it was me, I would probably call my vet just to ask her opinion because of the size and hardness of the bones. I know Dr. Jean recommends against feeding bones, and I'm rather on the fence about it myself. 

Hopefully one of the experienced raw feeders will have a better answer on bone size and digestibility.


----------



## emma_pen (Nov 2, 2004)

Has your cat swallowed a large peice of bone whole? If the iece of bone is huge, yes it could cause a blockage. I give my cats larger bones sometimes, but they tend to chew and gnaw at them. If the cat has chewed/broken up the bone, there is no more real chance of a blockage than there is from dry kibble.

I've seen a cat completely blocked with dry food, I've also seen a dog who choked to death on a piece of kibble, and I know of dogs (and cats) who have suffered from salmonella as a result of commercial pet food. So, its all about weighing up risks. Most vets don't agree with raw/bone feeding.

Just keep a close eye on your cat, and monitor vomiting, diarrhoea and signs of pain. Otherwise, I'm sure it will be fine.

Ems


----------



## Sol (Feb 20, 2003)

Like I wrote in the other thread, there should be no problem for your cat to digest the bones. My cats eat allt the bones from chicken carcasses and they've never had any problems with digesting them.


----------



## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

Thanks, guys. He did break up the bone, but I don't know how small the pieces were. I finally did end up calling the vet, and basically their advice was the same...wait and watch.

The other two cats didn't break up and swallow the bone. I'm wondering if that's because Rocket was a stray and knew what to do having had the experience of catching and eating prey.

I guess I should do better research next time before jumping in to something new.  The stuff I read online corresponds with what you say here.

Thanks for your reassurance, Sol. I'm not sweating it too much, now. But will keep fingers crossed for a couple days, anyway.


----------



## Gudewife (Jun 27, 2004)

timskitties said:


> The other two cats didn't break up and swallow the bone. I'm wondering if that's because Rocket was a stray and knew what to do having had the experience of catching and eating prey.


I don't know about that, Tim...Assumpta was a stray (I can date her appearance in our immediate area to at least 12 weeks before she was finally picked up), and she is one of the best mousers I've ever seen (though she always brings her prey to me instead of eating it herself), but if I hand her a piece of raw meat, she just looks at me as if to say I'm completely insane, please go deep-fry it and get back to her when it's properly prepared. :lol: But if I fry chicken, she is rolling around on the floor, crawling up my leg, chewing on my ankles, and just generally a pain in the butt. I don't know how she survived as a stray without Spaghetti-O's. :roll: 

I was also glad to see Sol's advice; my concern was because of the size and hardness of the bone, but since I don't feed bones (and even if I did, Assumpta would probably just give me _that look_), I wasn't sure. Glad you called the vet, as well...mine keeps telling me "questions are always free of charge" and "we'd rather have you call for something that's not important than wait for a crisis," so I just call. 

(then again, the last time Assumpta had problems, I went in with three pages of notes, a log of litterbox use, food/water consumption, and list of symptoms, one of which was "She is blinking in a funny way," so my vet is used to bizarre reports from me...in my defense, the cat was sick, and even the vet agreed that she was blinking oddly and did an extensive eye check...but I still felt like a weenie bringing it up :lol: )


----------



## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

Gudewife said:


> I don't know how she survived as a stray without Spaghetti-O's.


that's hilarious!! :lol: :lol: :lol: 


Gudewife said:


> I went in with three pages of notes


I only had 2 pages last time, but actually the vet commended me for writing it all down. 8)


----------



## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

I'm glad I'm not the only one who writes notes. You don't want to forget anything important!  

Gudewife, you mean Spagettios weren't made for cats? Blueberry thinks they are a gourmet meal--but only if someone is eating them. If I fis them for him, he just walks away.


----------



## OsnobunnieO (Jun 28, 2004)

We had a client come in a while ago and one of the techs came out of the room and said "she actually keeps a journal of her cat's litter box use!" and while everyone else was laughing, I was thinking "hm... that could come in really handy one day!"

Figures... I'm fitting in around here more and more each day


----------



## AddFran (Jul 10, 2004)

I write notes too! For my son and my animals each time they go to the doctor...otherwise I always kick myself for forgetting to mention something really pertinent!


----------



## Kishkumen (Jan 14, 2005)

In the wild, cats have to digest or pass small bones. They don't have silverware so they just crunch everything up.

One of my cats dragged a groundhog indoors and ate every part of it. She crunched up the ribcage, crushed the skull, and finished off the little feet. 

There was nothing left behind, so the ribs, vertebrae, limbs, skull, jawbone, and various internal organs had to be digested or passed through, just like cats have done for thousands of years.


----------

