# Can cats eat raw bones?



## TigerKat (Aug 29, 2008)

I am thinking about getting marrow bones for my dogs to help keep their teeth clean from tarter build up. Now that Tiger is eating wet food tarter build up is a concern since wet tend to stick to their teeth. 

Since i slack off brushing my dog's teeth i probably won't have the paitence to hold down a cat to brush their teeth lol. I am of course going to wait until the kitten is older, so i was wondering if raw bones are ok to give to cats?.


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## Casey76 (Jun 11, 2008)

The fact that dry food helps to clean cats' teeth is pretty much unsubstantiated. The dry kibble either fractures as the cat bites on it or the cat will swallow the kibble whole.

You can do a search on the net about feeding a "raw meaty bone" / "RMB" diet to cats. Things like chicken backs or turkey necks are great for cleaning teeth (or so I've read).


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## noludoru (Jun 19, 2008)

They are, but you want much smaller ones than you'd give to dogs... backs, necks, smaller wingbones.. that sort of thing. And chewing through chunks of meat is good, too.


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## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

Bones that are too large to crunch, chew and swallow are not recommended for cats. The meat chunks are a good idea, if your cat will eat them.

And if you've never fed meat-on-bone to your cat before, be very careful and watchfull the first time. Not all cats know how to chew bones. If they've been raised since birth in a domestic setting and eaten cat food since weaning, they've probably never had to eat prey, and bones are wholly unlike kibble. Be prepared to snatch it away if it appears your cat is going to try to swallow it without chewing. It nearly happened to me.


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