Can felines eat liver? The response is somewhat blended on this one. In little dosages, liver is good for cats. Nevertheless, feed them too much liver and they can wind up with Vitamin A toxicity.
There are some extremely nasty side effects of this, which we explain in more detail listed below.
I systematically buy chicken livers and hearts, boil them and give them to cats and the yard dog. It is a good source of vitamins and generally healthy, natural food.
Reyus Mammadli, AetaPet.com blog owner
Can Cats Eat Liver – The Benefits
As meat-eating animals, cats used to obtain their main source of vitamin A from the liver within the victim that they ate. Cats can not produce it themselves, so this was an essential source for them.
Of course, domesticated cats no longer hunt prey for every meal, us people scoop food into a bowl for them. And while the odd little bit of liver we feed them will provide those important vitamin A nutrients, we do have to be careful not to give them excessive.
Liver is also high in elements such as copper, (good for the blood) and iron.
Other excellent nutrients to be discovered in liver consist of calcium, vitamins D, E, K, vitamins of the B group, and other minerals. It actually is a powerful, useful source of numerous necessary healthy diet components.
Recommended Cat Food Containing Liver
With the various health advantages of liver in your cat’s diet, it is no surprising that many leading feline food brand names use liver as in active ingredient in their items.
Can Cats Eat Liver – Any Precautions?
As we have said, cats have actually evolved to manage just a small amount of vitamin A. (Just consider the size of the livers they consumed after hunting: mouse liver, bird liver etc – not cows or pigs liver as we might feed them).
This indicates that it is possible to offer your feline an expensive a dosage of vitamin A by feeding an excess amount of liver. Vitamin A toxicity is an extremely serious condition.
Quite merely, if your feline consumes excessive liver over an extended time period, it could impact your cat’s bones. Symptoms include warped bones, painful bone growths happening on the elbows and spinal column, and osteoporosis.
In uncommon instances, liver induced Vitamin A toxicity has actually also resulted in death.
Such capacity for harm can put individuals off feeding their feline liver. The crucial problem to bear in mind however, is that it takes a lot of liver to cause these symptoms.
A small amount of liver, served in the right way will certainly benefit your cat. You simply have to take care.
Reducing the risk of Vitamin A toxicity
Of course restricting the quantity of liver your cat consumes is one way. Nevertheless, another is check the source of the liver meat. You want your feline to delight in the dietary benefits of this fantastic food, so it makes good sense that using the liver of animals raised on pasture without hormones and antibiotics is going to reduce the impact and any negative effects.
Livestock and poultry raised without drugs and pesticides going through their cells is the best way to make sure healthy liver pieces wind up in your cats bowl.
Whether you are buying the liver from the butchers and giving your cat a little, or you are buying pre-packaged cat food or treats containing liver, try to establish the source and the real quality of the meat you are feeding your family pet. This is the safest, most reputable method to keep them delighted and healthy.
Can I give my cat chicken liver?
A balanced diet ensures a long life and a high quality of life for the cat. If you do not consider the properties of a particular food when formulating your cat’s diet, this may cause allergies or lead to intestinal diseases.
Liver is one of these foods. Animals should not be fed it frequently. Excessive amounts of liver in a cat’s daily menu can cause damage to the pet’s intestines.
Why is liver in a cat’s diet:
- Liver is rich in vitamin A, which strengthens bones, and vitamin B, which is responsible for the development, vision and quality of an animal’s coat.
- It contains substances that fix the brightness of the coat color.
- It affects the activity of the gastrointestinal tract.
Let’s take a closer look at the liver’s ability to affect intestinal function. Untreated liver has a potent laxative effect on the cat’s stomach. Boiled, on the other hand, has a hardening effect. Therefore, frequent consumption by a cat of only raw or only boiled liver may provoke digestive problems. In addition, boiled liver can be fed to the cat if he has an intestinal disorder – diarrhea.
How to cook liver for a cat so as not to harm the pet
To get your cat to eat liver, make him a delicious and flavorful porridge of it, with the addition of chicken stomachs, fresh carrots and oatmeal.
Method of preparation:
- Cook the liver with the stomachs for 15 minutes. Grate the liver on a coarse grater, cut the stomachs. Grate raw carrots on a fine grater.
- Pour oatmeal flakes with boiling water, cover for 3-5 minutes.
- Then we mix everything together. It turns out delicious and flavorful, and most importantly – useful.
You can feed such porridge to your cat even every day. Just change the grits from time to time. It is much healthier and safer than feeding pureed liver.
With a prudent approach to the diet of your pet, you can safely give him everything he wants. The only thing you must remember is that in no case you can mix dry and natural food. This is fraught with gastrointestinal distress.
