People eating pet food

[SammySawdust]

According to the BBC some people are eating pet food due to the COL crisis. Really? Am I hopelessly out of touch? Why would anyone do that?

People have always done this- it’s why all pet food sold in the UK legally has to be fit for human consumption.

Im not surprised to hear it’s on the increase.

I thought pet food is more expensive than human food

Not long ago people were taking to SM upset at high price

‘Shoppers hit out at ‘disgusting’ price hikes on pet food in supermarkets. The price of some dog and cat food ranges has risen by as much as 35% within a month, new research shows’

Plus using candles to heat food apparently - doesn’t sound very efficient use of money

I find this weird and can only imagine it makes a good story, or someone genuinely likes pet food and would eat it anyway.

Food is still overall cheap in this country, you can buy a large potato, carrots, tin of tomatoes etc for a veg stew for 1.80 or less.

Four pieces of scrag end of neck for £1.83. I think it was middle neck actually. Good amount of meat on it. Waitrose. OTOH, needs long cooking.

You need to have a cooker, pans and electricity/gas credit to make a stew.

Pisses me off reading things like food is overall still cheap in this country when we know that many millions of people can't afford to eat.

Doesn't matter what the price is if you have no money.

A tin of baked beans is cheaper than a tin of cat food. Neither is a complete meal (for humans).

It’s the same price as tinned stew, so no clue why someone would pick dog food tbh and cat food costs more.

I don't think it's being suggested that eating pet food is a good way to save money, any more than it's a good idea to try to warm your food on a candle. It's more that people do extreme things when they are desperate, including harmful and pointless things sometimes.

It's probably more that's all they had left in the cupboards than people buying it to eat.

There's not much meat in that Irish stew, it's a not very cheap way to buy a bit of cooked veg.
We used to have a very fussy dog. The only actual dog food he'd eat was Hero. DH once bought him some tinned stew (a more meaty one) as a 'treat' ... the dog wouldn't touch it.

I wouldn't want to try it but maybe that's prejudice and 'yuk factor'.

If that’s the case pets are expensive. Having pets and pet food just in case for food is no great idea.

It's the smell that is off-putting with cat food. It probably tastes OK. I hope I don't have to find out.

I call bullshit. I would have thought better of the BBC.
Oh......wait

Seriously? I couldn't face it, the smell 🤢

I thought the same when i read an article about a man making his family use head torches instead of turning on the lights, unless you have a million high powered spotlights I think keeping headtorches supplied with batteries is going to cost more than turning on a standard lightbulb! Head torches go through batteries like water!!

Scrag end of neck stewed with carrots, onions and potatoes makes a lovely rich meal. I remember going to the butcher with my granny in the 60s and her asking for that.

I struggle to belive that people are regularly eating pet food to survive. I know uni mates who pet food occasionally but even then, it was desperation moment of madness. When you are desperately poor you eat instant mash and 30p instant noodles. You don't give a shit about "meatyness" at that point. Your sole intent is survival, not nutritional content. So onnthat basis I call BS. No one is buying u tins of Catford to eat a week. You have a kettle, you make instant noidles, instant mash. You dont heat dog food over a candle.

if you gave me a £1 a day for food id get more instant bulking food for less than a tin of pet food that requires no cooking.

I think it’s very sad.

But I can’t get my head around it because it’s very expensive per gram.

Maybe if it was at the end of the month and there was nothing in. But even then it would only be an option for someone if they had surplus cat / dog food.

Not sure what’s happening to the BBC but it seems to be more desperate to use these fake news stories for a reaction

This is ridiculous . Having been skint as a pp said you buy cheap beans or noodles. No one is popping down Tesco for a Tin of pedigree chum for their dinner, ffs.

Okay so. I don’t discuss much because it’s grim.
But when I was very very poor, and on the wait til my benefits were instated, I was very hungry. Had literally no money whatsoever. Was in my overdraft. No way to get a loan. No broadband in my house. No phone contract. The very last of my pay before losing my job and a bit of overdraft had covered my rent. I had a pet hamster and after not eating for a couple of days I ate some of his food. The biscuit things, and little treats. They weren’t that bad.

Then benefits came in. Was okay and got back on my feet after that. But I can well believe people would get that desperate, not as a routine thing but as a you’re starving and there’s nothing left thing. We didn’t have a food bank then though, they weren’t quite as common & there wasn’t one in the area.

IMO as a sign of poverty this is clearly BBC bollocks. Pet food is way more expensive than human food by weight.

Maybe these people identify as dogs or cats and that's why they are eating pet food 😂

A quick check of Tesco prices & a tin of soup & Heinz baked beans is much cheaper then Tesco' own brand pet food. Super noodles are cheaper (although pet food might be better for you).