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Original poster

People eating pet food

88 replies

SammySawdust · 01/12/2022 11:37

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?

OP posts:
Pineapplemonkey · 01/12/2022 14:12

murasaki · 01/12/2022 13:04

I tried a cheese dreamie out of interest once. No thanks, the cats can have them all.

@murasaki so glad you tried this, I have a bag of these on my desk (for my cat when he loiters by my desk when I’m working) and I’ve found myself wondering at times lately what they taste like!

tabulahrasa · 01/12/2022 14:17

Zodiacsigns · 01/12/2022 13:44

Lots feel the same. Which is how come there's plenty pet food in the cupboard and not much else. If you've too much month left at the end of the money, do you eat it or starve? I knew someone who ran out before payday, she had a bus pass so went to her mum's to scrounge a loo roll, fed the cat steak because that was the only meat in the flat and ate the remaining food herself. Not sensible to feed a cat steak, it's expensive, but what do you do when there's nothing else? Can totally see it happening the other way around.

Same with the candles to heat food and head torches for light. It's not people going out to buy these things as an economy drive. It's running out of money, eating cold tinned food or warming it a bit with that candle from the back of the cupboard. No money left and only £1 left on the electric meter so saving it for the microwave and walking around with the head torches on.

Show quote history

I’ve lived like that, I grew up in poverty, I’ve lived payday to payday as an adult.

There’s no spare dog food, you buy just enough to last you, so yeah if you run out of money or food you go without.

In fact, if something happens unexpectedly so your money is late, you give your food to the dog to make sure it’s fed.

So no, I find it quite hard to believe eating pet food is actually a big thing, it’s not cheap to buy and what you have in is for your pet, you need it for that.

Vates · 01/12/2022 15:15

I find it very hard to believe that people are actually eating pet food. I know what it is like to budget to the last penny too and have experienced having no food (thankfully, I had people who could help me get some).

murasaki · 01/12/2022 17:16

@Pineapplemonkey not like the cheesy delights as advertised. Very chewy cardboard with a slight taste of feet. Why the cats adore them I will never know.

acornsarenottheonlyfruit · 01/12/2022 17:26

@carefulcalculator there is a lot of support for people who cannot afford food.

QuinkWashable · 01/12/2022 17:31

I have absent-mindedly licked the fork after serving the cats some lidl cat pate - and honestly, if it was served to me on crackers I don't think I'd notice.

I find it hard to believe people are doing it intentionally though - the meaty stuff that would be worth eating is more expensive (although the lidl stuff is actually not bad), and as others have said, if you open the cupboard, and all you have left is a tin of dog food, then the dog gets it, not you, because you are responsible for the dog, and can understand why you're hungry. The dog can't.

anyoneanyoneanyone · 01/12/2022 18:57

*Most people on here are missing the point. I know some people have said this, but it's worth saying it again.

People don't calculate the cost of something and then go out and buy it based on affordability. People sometimes eat stuff JUST BECAUSE IT'S THERE IN THE CUPBOARD. If you have enough money you can draw up nice lists of how to make the most of your money with optimum nutrition etc. etc. but being poor is not like that. A lot of the time you feel stressed and miserable and sometimes unwilling or unable to make sensible decisions because you are simply hungry

Also, yes it is cheaper to buy potatoes from Aldi. But you have to get to Aldi. You need a car or time and the bus fare. And then you need a saucepan, and a cooker and ,again, time and good enough mental health to make good decisions.

MN proves time and again how middle class it is.

Absolutely agree*

Yes. Me too.

Sick of the sanctimonious short sighted and narrow minded crap I read on here.

tabulahrasa · 01/12/2022 19:19

anyoneanyoneanyone · 01/12/2022 18:57

*Most people on here are missing the point. I know some people have said this, but it's worth saying it again.

People don't calculate the cost of something and then go out and buy it based on affordability. People sometimes eat stuff JUST BECAUSE IT'S THERE IN THE CUPBOARD. If you have enough money you can draw up nice lists of how to make the most of your money with optimum nutrition etc. etc. but being poor is not like that. A lot of the time you feel stressed and miserable and sometimes unwilling or unable to make sensible decisions because you are simply hungry

Also, yes it is cheaper to buy potatoes from Aldi. But you have to get to Aldi. You need a car or time and the bus fare. And then you need a saucepan, and a cooker and ,again, time and good enough mental health to make good decisions.

MN proves time and again how middle class it is.

Absolutely agree*

Yes. Me too.

Sick of the sanctimonious short sighted and narrow minded crap I read on here.

See, I think the opposite.

I think it’s sanctimonious and narrow minded to imagine “poor people” will eat pet food - when it literally makes no sense to. Pet food is expensive and you still need to feed the pet... so if there’s no food left, how are you doing that?

If you need to borrow, you’re better borrowing for cheaper people food.

People without money aren’t suddenly stupid - they can work out it’s a mistake to eat the pet food and then need both that and your own food.

peoplearepeople · 02/12/2022 12:19

Sadly I can easily believe it. I think what a lot of people don't understand either is that whilst it may seem on the surface that lots of help is available, accessing that help is not always easy. There is also the fact that many will not want to access that help through pride. Being that poor, even temporarily and through no fault of your own can be an utterly humiliating and isolating experience. Lots would rather not eat or eat some of their pets food than ask for help and tell others of the situation they are in.

tabulahrasa · 02/12/2022 12:42

People don’t eat, yes, but IME they wouldn’t eat pet food, because they still need to feed the pet.

When money’s that tight, you buy exactly the amount you need till you can buy more and no extra, there’s no spare time of dog food just sitting there.

Summersdreaming · 02/12/2022 13:14

Byfleet · 01/12/2022 13:17

Most people on here are missing the point. I know some people have said this, but it's worth saying it again.

People don't calculate the cost of something and then go out and buy it based on affordability. People sometimes eat stuff JUST BECAUSE IT'S THERE IN THE CUPBOARD. If you have enough money you can draw up nice lists of how to make the most of your money with optimum nutrition etc. etc. but being poor is not like that. A lot of the time you feel stressed and miserable and sometimes unwilling or unable to make sensible decisions because you are simply hungry

Also, yes it is cheaper to buy potatoes from Aldi. But you have to get to Aldi. You need a car or time and the bus fare. And then you need a saucepan, and a cooker and ,again, time and good enough mental health to make good decisions.

MN proves time and again how middle class it is.

Thanks for explaining what being poor means to us middle class folk, not a single one of us has been ever poor or working class.

XenoBitch · 02/12/2022 19:17

My dog's food is £1 a tin. You can get proper human food for a lot less than that.
I would never eat my dog's food (I have got some on my finger and licked it off before... it is not bad actually), as I would be depriving her if I was at that point... and CoL crisis or not, that is animal neglect.

Blondeshavemorefun · 02/12/2022 21:08

I find it hard to believe someone would eat /buy pet food when can buy a loaf of econmony bread 50p ish and 2 beans /spaghetti for a £1 or so

Notcontent · 03/12/2022 07:43

i don’t think many people would be doing this. Sure, you might find some people doing this - there are some people who have very little money but also lack the skills/ability to make manage and might do something like that.

it’s a bit like an article in the guardian a few weeks ago about hygiene poverty - they were talking about someone not having washed their hair for weeks because they couldn’t afford shampoo. I thought it was a bit bonkers because you can just use soap, which can be purchased for around 20 pence…

KiwiMum2023 · 03/12/2022 07:43

Not happening. Fake news like this just makes a mockery of the issue at hand.

Kerrybemmy · 03/12/2022 09:58

I suspect it's people eating what's left in the cupboards, and finding a few tins of cheap Pedigree Chum at the back. My dog used to eat tinned food mixed with dry food so if I was really starving I might not give the dog the tin and eat it myself. Is it possible the people described in the article are eating dry dog food? A 10 kilo bag costs about a fiver at my local pet shop, if these people have pets they might be eating the biscuits out of desperation.

Kerrybemmy · 03/12/2022 10:06

Yeah I read an article and it seems to be people eating dry dog food sold in kilo+ bags, sharing it with their dogs out of desperation when they run out of food. The article I read doesn't mention tinned food. It wouldn't make financial sense to buy tins when 10 kilo bags are way cheaper and can be shared with pet.

Mamette · 03/12/2022 10:12

Eleusa · 01/12/2022 11:42

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.

It has to be fit for human consumption in case it’s eaten accidentally (usually by a crawling baby discovering a dog bowl). Not because there is an expectation that humans will choose to eat it.

AdoraBell · 04/12/2022 23:17

I can’t imagine it but I saw it in the news, the story was from Wales. It must be desperation if the don’t have a kettle or pan they can’t heat water to instant noodles.

I’m sorry you were in that situation Chatty. I was seriously skint in my early 20’s but fortunately worked in a company that had a staff canteen- early 90’s- with subsidised food so I always had a good lunch.

Unforgettablefire · 05/12/2022 14:15

Chattycathydoll · 01/12/2022 12:58

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.

Reading that I had a horrible feeling you were going to say you ate your hamster! 😂😅😅

BeyondTheLetterOfTheLawTheLetter · 05/12/2022 14:20

On the plus side, I guess - at least they didn't have lizards or snakes.

I'd go through bins before the live insects or frozen rats looked appetising!

Spidey66 · 05/12/2022 14:26

@IncessantNameChanger

I know times are hard, but there's no reason to eat an area of SE London 😏

WhoppingBigBackside · 05/12/2022 14:35

@Spidey66 , Grin
Elephant and Castle or West Ham might be tastier

Spidey66 · 05/12/2022 14:42

@WhoppingBigBackside

With some PeckHam, LewisHam and TottenHam maybe? If you put it in a sandwich, make sure there's some Buttersea on the bread!!!

glasshole · 05/12/2022 14:45

I know people are saying this never happens but you are so far removed from reality that it's unreal. I live in one of the poorest towns in the uk. I'm surrounded by poverty but thankfully I can tuck along. Yesterday I had a sort out of my freezer after doing a big shop. My son recently went away to university so I had various bits left that he liked but none of us will touch. Somebody has put a can of fruit cider in the freezer during a bbq in the summer and it has exploded. Some bits where still sticky so I just bagged them up and put an advert on the free group I'm part of. Somebody commented but then it vanished. I asked for the person to message me.

She sent me a message apologising for wasting my time but she felt so ashamed at people knowing how desperate she was. I told her it was hers I'd she washed it and I couldn't stir it and it would start defrosting. Stew said she would be with me in 15 minutes. I had a quick look at her profile and lots of photos of two little kids. So I asked her and she's a parent carer for her two young ASD adults and she has two little ones on lower primary. So I got another bag and threw some biscuits in, a box of kids cereal, a bag of tree chocolates, some crumpets and jam and a box of those latte cafe things.

When she turned up I gave her the third bag as well and she actually burst into tears and dropped one of the bags. She just kept thanking me over and over again and I offered to take her him as she was in a right state but she wouldn't let me. It really shook me up that somebody could be SO in need that the relief of getting food for your kids means actual tears. And she was not in ANYWAY the sort of woman that I would have expected to be crying over three bags of second hand food. ( and I know that's judgy, I don't mean it to be). She was very eloquent, polite, and dressed well but the clothes had seen better days.