What would you feed your cat?

[Dilbertian]

If you couldn't get any catfood, what would you feed your cat?

I give MrFattyCat the occasional egg, fish skin or chicken skin - all raw. He loves them.

That’s actually quite dangerous for them.

The risks. The biggest risk to cats who eat raw chicken is parasites and intestinal infections. Raw chicken can bring “the potential for parasites such as salmonella, E. coli, listeria and campylobacter,”

Raw meat and raw fish, like raw eggs, can contain bacteria that cause food poisoning. In addition, an enzyme in raw fish destroys thiamine, which is an essential B vitamin for your cat. A lack of thiamine can cause serious neurological problems and lead to convulsions and coma

My last cat lived to a grand age of 18, and loved chicken wings. Up until he got old and fussy he ate anything and everything.

I have no idea what I'd feed current cat, as a former stray semi-feral I didn't expect her to be fussy but she only eats one type of dry and only licks the gravy off one type of wet food.

If no cat food, tuna, corned beef, ham, cooked fish, cooked chicken. I would see none of my cats went hungry. Plus I have 5 boxes of crunchies in under stair cupboard for emergencies. I have 3 cats now.

Tin of salmon or tuna
Cooked chicken
Scrambled eggs
Cheese

.... or (they'd think all their Christmases had come!) simply empty the whole of a jumbo bag of Dreamies into their bowl.

She likes salmon and chicken so I’d be very poor.

Mine loves a tin of tuna!

@MeetMeAtOurSpot

That’s actually quite dangerous for them.

The risks. The biggest risk to cats who eat raw chicken is parasites and intestinal infections. Raw chicken can bring “the potential for parasites such as salmonella, E. coli, listeria and campylobacter,”

Raw meat and raw fish, like raw eggs, can contain bacteria that cause food poisoning. In addition, an enzyme in raw fish destroys thiamine, which is an essential B vitamin for your cat. A lack of thiamine can cause serious neurological problems and lead to convulsions and coma

This never makes any sense to me. They catch and eat mice, rats, birds - none of which are cooked or germ-free!

Ours will eat pretty much anything if you leave it unattended.

I left a piece of French bread on the table at lunchtime for 30 seconds and when I turned back the little sod was licking the butter off it. 5 minutes later and DH, who was WFH today, was feeding him a small piece of Roquefort cheese (the stupid bugger) which the cat couldn’t get enough of.

I’m now starting to seriously consider banning the cat from the kitchen altogether.

@MeetMeAtOurSpot

That’s actually quite dangerous for them.

The risks. The biggest risk to cats who eat raw chicken is parasites and intestinal infections. Raw chicken can bring “the potential for parasites such as salmonella, E. coli, listeria and campylobacter,”

Raw meat and raw fish, like raw eggs, can contain bacteria that cause food poisoning. In addition, an enzyme in raw fish destroys thiamine, which is an essential B vitamin for your cat. A lack of thiamine can cause serious neurological problems and lead to convulsions and coma

Cats catch and eat "raw" food all the time, and there's a huge industry around feeding your pets a raw diet.

Millions of dogs and cats are fed raw meat, raw fish and raw eggs and they're all absolutely fine.

What do you think feral cats and dogs survive off?

Cats eat freshly caught things naturally. There’s a huge difference between fresh caught and meat we slaughtered, mixed in with a load of other animals, kept chilled and processed because all the time bacteria & fungi are landing on the meat.

There was a problem earlier in the year with pets going down with illnesses from raw food diets. I think it was tb.

If you want to eat raw/undercooked meat in the uk you have to use a butcher specially licensed to produce it. There was a craze in London a few years ago for burgers raw in the middle & R4 made a program about it, restaurants were coming under pressure from some customers & the dr they had on said it’s like crossing the road without looking, you might be ok a hundred times & then get hit by a lorry.

Tuna/salmon/poached chicken all with a few peas mixed in.

My previous cat loved peas

Cats eat freshly caught things naturally. There’s a huge difference between fresh caught and meat we slaughtered, mixed in with a load of other animals, kept chilled and processed because all the time bacteria & fungi are landing on the meat.

You can just freeze the meet for a good period before thawing and feeding if you're overly concerned about bacteria - some animals will even eat it frozen.

I know it's currently popular to hate on raw food diets but millions of animals thrive on them just fine

I'm not a raw feeder by the way as mine wasn't keen on it but I know loads of dogs absolutely love it and do very well on it without ever getting ill.

A batch of raw food causing illness in cats doesn't mean that all raw food is bad. Lots of packaged food gets withdrawn all the time due to faults or potential issues.

Tuna and ham. Yep mine are spoilt. 😂

One of mine even eats cakes!

@jaundicedoutlook

Ours will eat pretty much anything if you leave it unattended.

I left a piece of French bread on the table at lunchtime for 30 seconds and when I turned back the little sod was licking the butter off it. 5 minutes later and DH, who was WFH today, was feeding him a small piece of Roquefort cheese (the stupid bugger) which the cat couldn’t get enough of.

I’m now starting to seriously consider banning the cat from the kitchen altogether.

I once had a cat who would only eat posh cheese

My housemate tried to feed him Iceland own-brand cheddar and he pushed it on the floor in disgust

He loved Stilton though!

They'd have to fend for selves a lot. Judging from the number of rodent bodies littering our patio most days, there's not shortage of local fare.

Cheddar says she'd be happy with bread and pasta. Magic likes baked beans, steak and pork

@jaundicedoutlook

Ours will eat pretty much anything if you leave it unattended.

I left a piece of French bread on the table at lunchtime for 30 seconds and when I turned back the little sod was licking the butter off it. 5 minutes later and DH, who was WFH today, was feeding him a small piece of Roquefort cheese (the stupid bugger) which the cat couldn’t get enough of.

I’m now starting to seriously consider banning the cat from the kitchen altogether.

Off topic but I want to go to your house for lunch!

We had a cat who ate absolutely anything, he was like a dustbin. He used to stick his prickles into tomatoes one by one (I assume he liked the sensation of piercing them) and then eat them. We also had to fully open packets of crisps unless we were absolutely sure they wouldn't be left unattended because he would eat them and get his head stuck in the bag. Loved Chinese takeaway too, he would steal anything.

cooked chicken, tinned sardines/tuna, fresh tuna or mackerel.

Raw chicken - absolutely fine unless immunosuppressed or some underlying issue. Raw bones are great for cleaning teeth!

My last cat was obsessed with raw spinach... would steal it off your plate.

My cat loves avocado and cucumber

Mine likes M&S chargrilled chicken or posh ham. Or a tiny bit of strong cheddar. Won't touch cheap stuff. Should send him out to work to pay for it 😹

Tuna from a tin, or cooked chicken.

Dcat loves egg yolk but only from a 5 min boiled egg and licked off my finger