# Liver - how much is too much?



## Michelle L (Sep 4, 2008)

Hi all...

My kitties eat wet food, but I have one cat that just goes crazy over raw chicken liver. How often can I give it to him without it being harmful? He'd be happy to make a whole meal out of the stuff.

When I raw-fed my dog, I seem to recall that they should only have liver a couple of times per week. Is that true for cats too?


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## laurief (Jun 22, 2008)

I am by no means an expert, since I've only been raw feeding my dogs and cats for a few weeks. From what I've read, if you are feeding a completely raw diet, the liver content should be 5% of the total meal, and the total meal will generally be between 2-3% of the animal's ideal body weight. When I worked out the calculations with my cats' ideal weights, I came up with between .2-.3 oz of liver daily, which is a very small piece of liver. 

Since I'm new at raw feeding and am still developing my "eye" for portion sizes and food weights, I am weighing everything on a postal scale. I understand, though, that these recommended food proportions don't require daily compliance. They are guidelines for feeding "over time". So if you feed a little larger piece of liver one day, you can feed a little less the next day to even things out. Or if you only feed liver a couple of times a week, you can feed larger pieces equivalent to the size of three small, daily pieces.

Of course I have no idea how any of this relates to feeding raw liver to a cat who otherwise eats canned food.

Laurie


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## Michelle L (Sep 4, 2008)

Thanks, Laurie.

You're right about it all leveling out in the end. My Great Dane did great on raw and I never measured anything, I just tossed what I had that day in his bowl and made sure he got what he needed over time. 

I did want to make sure that if I gave my cat a piece of liver every day with his food that it wouldn't be too much. I've only done raw with dogs so I'm still shaky on the raw needs of cats.


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## Sol (Feb 20, 2003)

Absolutely not more than 10% of the total diet. If you don't wanna sit down an count I'd say it's safe to feed liver once a week. It's very rich in vitamin A and can be poisonous.


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## Michelle L (Sep 4, 2008)

Thank you, Sol!


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