Feral cats eat small prey whole, including the bones. So yes, cats can eat bones! As long as we feed smaller, appropriately sized bones. Chicken wings and all quail bones are the best places to start if you want to feed your cat bones.
Only feed raw meaty bones and never feed cooked bones because they can splinter and cause harm.
Also make sure the bones you feed fit into a balanced raw diet. Bones are great for cats! But too much or too little can throw other nutrients off. And you could potentially have constipation if you feed too much.
Raw meaty bones provide many benefits for cats such as mental stimulation from chewing, essential minerals, and natural teeth cleaning.
When I first switched Jericho to raw, I was feeding ground raw food only.
I saw a lot of excellent benefits. Increased energy, no bathroom issues, and a soft, silky coat.
But I took too long to introduce raw meaty bones into his diet.
And he developed dental disease with painful resorptive lesions. Jericho had to have a dental and multiple extractions.
Thankfully, he recovered well, and heās on a whole prey diet now.
But I could have avoided this painful (and very expensive mistake) if I started feeding raw meaty bones sooner!

What kind of bones can a cat eat?
Cats can eat small, softer bones that are close to the size of their natural prey. Think mice, rats, smaller birds, and rabbits.
Bones cats can eat include:
- All quail bones
- Chicken wings
- Duck wing tips
- Chicken feet
- Duck paws
- Chicken necks
- Small rabbit front legs
Some of these bones may be too large for some cats. So youāll have to adjust the bones you feed based on your catās individual needs and eating habits.
Sometimes cats get really excited and end up swallowing pieces whole.
So, if youāre worried about that, the perfect way to feed whole bones is to feed whole prey!

Jericho eats 50/50 whole prey and ground raw.
That way, he gets the benefits of feeding bones. But I donāt have to worry about the bones being too large and causing a choking hazard.
Is it safe for cats to chew on bones?
Itās safe for cats to chew on bones as long as you feed small, appropriate bones, your cat knows how to eat them, bones are fed as part of a balanced diet, and if your cat does not have dental issues.
I tried to save Jerichoās teeth with raw meaty bones. But unfortunately, he couldnāt chew on his right side where the resorptive lesions were.
So he ended up almost getting an intestinal blockage. Because he had a piece of chicken neck that went undigested.
They extracted Jerichoās lower molars.
And I donāt want to repeat that almost intestinal blockage. So to play it safe, Jericho eats whole prey instead of raw meaty bones.

How to balance bones in a raw diet
We want to mimic our catās natural prey as best as we can. Mice and rats have about 5% bones while rabbits and quail have about 10%.
The general consensus is to feed 7-10% of your catās overall diet. But of course you will have to adjust this based on your catās individual needs.
My favorite way to do this is to formulate recipes myself! Itās the best way to take complete control of your catās diet.
I know exactly what Jericho needs and how much! Plus I can tweak ingredients easily based on Jerichoās needs whenever I need to.
But I understand not everyone can/wants to do this. So I’m working on my recipe library. And I have a full guide on how to make DIY raw cat food!

