Is it ok to feed your cat with raw egg yolk?

[Monsterboy]

Is it ok to feed your cat with raw egg yolk ? What are the chances of catching salmonella? Are kittens more vulnerable? I was told that they have natural immunity , is that true ?

Is it preferable to have 2 or more kittens rather than one so that they can play with each other and not get bored ? Can a lone kitten grow up to be a normal adult ?

 

[Doug Huffman]

It is unusual for kittens to not come in a litter. It is my experienced (queens were $600, toms $300 bred true Manx, Burmese, Siamese, Frenchy manx-siamese cross) opinion that a kitten should remain in the litter until about six weeks for potty training, socialization and some personality development. If you can afford to have two, that would be good, ideally NOT litter mates.

One of our very most enjoyable kittens came as a runt lone survivor of a failed delivery. It was hand raised ab initio and nested in an arm sling. Neutered he was not well potty trained, was very neurotic but highly socialized.

The risk of salmonella is very low under any circumstance.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Can a lone kitten grow up to be a normal adult ?

http://www.catbehaviorassociates.com/adopting-a-kitten-make-it-a-double/
Lone kittens are more prone to emotional problems. There's an animal adoption agency here in San Diego that takes in feral litters and finds them homes, and they won't adopt out single kittens unless you already have a cat for them to be friends with.

 

[jack476]

The risk of salmonella infection is pretty low for even raw eggs, assuming they were properly stored. Cats are also a little bit more resistant to infections like salmonella, being evolved as scavengers. That said, I still wouldn't risk it if you can avoid it.

Cats are social animals, especially when they're young, contrary to popular belief. I volunteer a lot at an animal shelter where I sometimes help socialize the kittens (socialization of the kittens is going well, they currently are strongly in favor of the welfare state and are already beginning to consider the merits of wealth redistribution) and they turn out much better when they get a lot of contact with other kittens. Otherwise they grow up and they're more reserved around humans and territorial in general, and that can result in spraying problems and hostility to unfamiliar cats (such as if you ever want to get a new one or have a neighbor cat that likes to hunt in your yard). Having more than one cat makes them more inclined to use the litter boxes (since they cover feces instinctually as a territory thing) and generally results in them being more active, but they don't necessarily all need to be from the same litter.

 

[dipole]

There's nothing wrong with raw eggs. Eggs are sterile, and only become contaminated if handled improperly. The risk is extremely low even for humans of catching anything from a raw egg. In most parts of the world, eggs are not even refrigerated and have a shelf life of weeks.

We in the USA have a huge phobia of raw foods, which is mostly unfounded. If eggs were full of bacteria, do you really think chicken embryos would be able to develop? That's like thinking a woman's uterus is full of dangerous bacteria.

 

[zoobyshoe]

There's nothing wrong with raw eggs. Eggs are sterile, and only become contaminated if handled improperly. The risk is extremely low even for humans of catching anything from a raw egg. In most parts of the world, eggs are not even refrigerated and have a shelf life of weeks.

We in the USA have a huge phobia of raw foods, which is mostly unfounded. If eggs were full of bacteria, do you really think chicken embryos would be able to develop? That's like thinking a woman's uterus is full of dangerous bacteria.

It was once thought that inside of the chicken egg was sterile, the shell protecting the contents from any kind of contamination. Dr. St. Louis and colleagues discovered in the late 1980s that a bacteria, Salmonella Enteritidis (SE), could indeed get inside the egg through the hen's reproductive tract. Since this discovery, researchers, egg producers, and government agencies have worked hard to implement and maintain practices to ensure that the hen does not have the ability to shed SE in the egg.

http://www.incredibleegg.org/egg-facts/eggcyclopedia/s/salmonella