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Chicken Giblets For Cats Food?
QUESTION: Hi, I have seen something in the local shop called chicken giblets and wondered if they are any good for cat food?
Firstly, what exactly are chicken giblets? For those who have no idea, the word “giblets” is simply an all encompassing name for the edible inner parts of poultry. The name giblets typically includes the heart, the liver, the kidneys and the gizzard. And of course they can be from any type of poultry; ducks, chickens, geese etc.
Sometimes, they are included inside the bird. I remember as a child that they were always in there – wrapped up in a little package.
But with modern life, they seem to have become either unwanted or maybe even unsavory to many people? Most of the chickens from large chicken producers do not arrive with their giblets still inside, but they are often obtainable from smaller butchers or even local farmers.
 Chicken Giblets – Hearts |
 Chicken Gizzards |
It is worth seeing if you can find a source of chicken giblets for cats, because they are a great way of providing the vital “organ” part of a raw food diet for your cat. And of course they come in a really convenient size that is easy for your cat to eat, so there is very little preparation involved for the owner.
We all know what the heart, liver and kidneys are, but what on earth are the chickens’ gizzards? Well, the gizzard is the muscle that grinds up the bird’s food prior to it entering the digestive system, sort of like a second stomach.
My local shop actually sells chicken gizzards separately. Apparently they are quite a delicacy with some of the ethnic groups of people.
My Ragdoll Cats absolutely ADORE chicken gizzards. Tiffanie, who is normally a very genteel and composed cat, goes absolutely crazy when she gets them. I don’t know why, because it can take them up to half an hour to get through a large gizzard because they are so incredibly tough! I have absolutely no idea how people manage to eat them, they must have to cook them for hours and hours.
I do actually dice the gizzard up – just because they are incredibly rubbery that some of the cats give up on trying to eat them. Chicken gizzards are an exceptionally good raw food for cats, as is tripe for a dog.
Here are some photos of a couple of my Ragdoll girls eating some delightful raw organ meat:
Jemma on the left and Tiffanie on the right
Close up of the Chicken Gibblets Being Devoured!
An Easy Way To Introduce Raw Food to Cats
To my excitement, there is now a fantastic range of RAW cat food on the market – available in both frozen and freeze dried. How is that for convenience! It makes the handling part of feeding a raw diet to your cat easy to start off with – especially the organ part!
Take a look at some of the product range here – so very awesome …
Frozen Raw Pet FoodComplete Ground TurkeyRaw Chicken HeartsFreeze Dried Green Beef Tripe ChunksFreeze Dried Complete Beef Pet FoodFreeze Dried Complete Chicken Pet FoodFreeze Dried Chicken TreatsFreeze Dried Beef Liver Treats
Cool! I am always looking for more interesting thing to feed my cats. They are fed on a 100% raw diet and do so well on it. Great skin, great teeth, great health all round.
I feed this darling beautiful long haired cat everyday. I feed her 3 cans of fancy feast can food a day, also I give her Purina Dry too . However, I do like to give her a treat once a week. I bought chicken gizzards for her, but i’m not sure how much to give her for one meal. Should I cut the gizzards up for her or just give it to her as they are from the package? Is it alright to leave gizzard outside for a couple of hours or do they spoil quickly?
Would love any help you could give me.
Thank you so much,
Chicken gizzards are rather tough, so personally since it is your cat’s first time eating them – I would cut them into thin strips. That way she will get the taste without having to do too much work!
Any fresh meat spoils quickly, so I keep it in the refrigerator, or frozen, until I feed out. Some fussier cats prefer their food to be room temperature though.
Kirsty, the benefit of the gizzard being chewy and tough is to exercise Kitty’s jaws and help keep the teeth clean. I suggest that, in the future, don’t cut the gizzard too fine as this will defeat the purpose of it being chewy and tough. So glad your kitty likes this healthy food! 🙂
I just recently had a Savannah Hybrid Cat that was a stray roaming around my Apartment Complex come around, so i gave it a can of tuna! I noticed Tuna doesn’t have any nutrients, but Sardines do, as well as Livers, gizzards, and chicken, lamb, beef, rabbit! So a great place for raw sardines is at the bait shop, as well as chicken gizzards, and chicken livers too! All fish bait! Could be an interesting tale! I named her “Mythos” – she only answers to come inside!
Thanks!
Raw chicken livers are an excellent bait to use for catching catfish. Also used to catch crabs when put in a crab trap. The best way to use the raw livers to catch some fish is to let the liver sit out, preferably in the sun, for a few hours so they get nice and stinky. Fish DO have a sense of smell and they love a stinky chicken liver.