Can I give my cat a ham hock bone I've got in the pot?

[Fluffycloudland77]

He's already nicked a load of discarded skin and fat off the worktop so I assuming he likes ham hock.

I took it off him

[cozietoesie]

Go for it fluffy! I gave cozieseniorboy a chicken drumstick this evening. (With thin bone removed.) He's had great fun with it. Ate nowt apart from some skin (he has pretty well no teeth left) but he enjoyed knocking it around. I'll have to mop the floor tomorrow but luckily I have polished floorboards.

[BeatTheClock]

I would if he's keen and it's going spare.

He can pretend he hunted it himself

[Fluffycloudland77]

It's cooked, does that change things?

I'll have to wait for dh to go to work, he disapproves of this kind of thing.

[BeatTheClock]

I've given our two a lamb shoulder bone to chew before now (Sunday roast). They dragged it round the garden like Longleat lions but I noticed that having made an enormous fuss to have it they didn't actually eat much in the end. I don't think they really knew what to do with it.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Hmm ham bones are very high fat and have been know to cause pancreatitis I would steer clesr

[Fluffycloudland77]

Oh well, what he's not had he won't miss!

Any bones I can give him safely?

[monsterchild]

I think a ham hock is fine. It's not likely he can fracture it. Cats mostly lick the meat off. Constant high fat can be bad for kitties, but as a one off, I think if it will make him happy and you laugh, why not?

[oopslateagain]

Oh do give it to him, he won't be able to eat it but you need a video of him trying to drag the thing around!

I gave my kitten a lamb bone and she looked like a miniature lioness sitting there growling at us over her massive 'kill'! ('Twas a leg of lamb, not a chop! )

[imperialstateknickers]

If it's a nice big solid bone that a cat can't crunch, I let Knickerscat have it. She takes it behind the sofa and growls happily . It's those little thin bones in eg. chicken that you need to watch out for.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Lonecats a vet.

She knows her cats.

He had roast beef on Sunday, he's not deprived (he tells me he is though )

[cozietoesie]

Cooked meat has no (or much less depending on cooking method) taurine so shouldn't really be a staple food. What the Heck for some fun and enjoyment for him on the odd occasion though?

[Lonecatwithkitten]

If you want to use bones get some nice raw ones from the butcher. Single high fat meal is definitely implicated in pancreatitis and it cats it is a really bad disease I wouldn't risk it. Personally my cats munch on nice fresh rat to get their bone hit. Though not tonight as it is too rainy for either of them.

[cozietoesie]

Well that's kind of chancy isn't it, Lonecat? They might run out of supply!

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Their supply never seems to run low always a tasty rat to be found if you look hard enough. The last one was over a kilo in weight which when you consider the tail less wonder who dragged home only weighs 3kg is a pretty mean feat.

[Autumn12]

Please NEVER feed your Cat (or Dog) any cooked bones! They can splinter and cause severe internal injuries.

Raw bones are ok.

[BeatTheClock]

Oh no Duly noted Autumn. I didn't realise..thanks for the heads up.

[Autumn12]

Lots of people don't realise. DH's family Alsation was fed cooked bones once and it splintered and badly cut the inside of his mouth. Luckily he hadn't actually ingested any or I dread to think what damage he would have done to himself.