Feeding the cat ham?

[PotassiumPermanganate]

The cat loves chicken and I always give him some when I make chicken for myself. Always plain roasted or boiled. Dh has noticed this and is now bringing in pre-packed cooked chicken from the shops, the kind that you would put in a sandwich etc and the cat doesn't seem too keen. At least when I checked the ingredients there's nothing too much to worry about, but now he's also putting out ham for him. I looked at the packet in the fridge and there are all kinds of additives, super processed stuff that I wouldn't be keen on eating myself. Do I insist in sticking to plain cooked chicken or fish, which he likes, or let dh carry on putting out ham?

My ginger boy will happily eat pretty much any human food, weirdly he hates actual cat treats (unlike his sibling)

I don't mind occasionally giving him processed meat like ham or corned beef as a treat, just not all the time ! I do have to explain to him that no...as nice as it smells kebab meat is not really a cat food it's (slightly more of 🤣) of a human food though!

For a little treat every now and then if he likes it, I don't see the problem. If he doesn't like it it's silly to encourage him to eat it.

How much / how regularly are we talking? My cat loves ham and I sometimes tear him off a little taste, like a coin sized bit, but it's not a regular thing (mine isn't allowed regular treats though because he has a tendency to put on weight).

I wouldn't give a cat a slice of ham per day, but a little bit every now and then fine.

I give both my cats spam.

But not loads, and not every day.

Mine will have a bite of ham if I’m having a ham sandwich, but I wouldn’t feed it to them like a meal

My late cat got a slice of ham just about every day, when DH was making his lunch. She knew the sound of the packet getting opened and was very persuasive until she got a bit. She also loved cheese, haddock from the fishmongers and the dregs of a mcflurry in the bottom of the pot. She lived to 18, when her health failed and she stopped eating even for the treats she loved we knew it was time. If I'd known before I would have got her a mcflurry all to herself but sadly even an appetite stimulant from the vet couldn't get her eating again.

Ham is terrible for any pet- dog or cat. Too salty fattening and bad for kidneys. It’s not great for humans either!

My cat also gets to taste tinned sardines, dried fish, bacon, pâte... all things that are too salty/fatty to be good for him. But tiny bits and not that often.

My childhood cat loved licking Marmite and butter off my knife once I'd finished making the toast. I'm sure that was terrible for him being almost entirely salt, but he loved it so much.

You have to be very careful of the salt content of ham I understand, and highly processed foods with lots of additives aren't really good for them in the long run as a general rule. If you look at the packaging on every type of ham or bacon, it always has the salt in the red "high" levels.

My boy adores chicken in about any form, but the girl can be a bit fussy. They both go crazy for the Asda extra tasty chicken slices, but I give them a max 1/3 of a slice between them each day in very small pieces. I'll give them a very small bit of ham if I'm actually eating some myself as it wouldn't be fair to enjoy myself with that lovely hammy smell floating around in the air torturing them! My old Boycat used to love sliced cooked beef, but again I'd be very careful about how much.

I give our boy a tiny bit of ham or bacon if we have - probably equivalent to the size of my little finger, once every couple of weeks. (He also gets the odd bit of cooked sausage, maybe the size of my thumbnail, with the skin off.)

I'm so sorry for your loss 😔

The weirdest thing my boy seems to love is eggs 😳 never known a cat who likes them so much!

I can't even look at a packet of ham without the cat running from her box / any room in the house / garden to sit next to me howling like she hasn't been fed in 3 months

It's advised not to give cats raw pork products as there is a disease that can be passed on from pigs. Cooked should be safe, but there's probably a reason why you don't tend to see pork-based cat food.

I use ham on occasion when my cat is feeling sick and not eating (kidney failure). It can get her going again as tasty which is all I need. Any pre-packaged meat is going to have salt etc in it, so to be healthy home cooked chicken is the best.

The ham contains a lot of salt that is not good for his kidneys. I would stick to the plain chicken.

It does, however when got renal failure cats eating is the most important thing. Then can get onto normal food again.

Ham is too salty imo, ours have sprats or fresh sardines/mackerel once or twice a month and some flaked cod once a week, they go mad for that.

A small bit now and again is fine.
Mine love it, one of them also loves mushrooms, fuzzy little weirdo.

I had a cat who loved pomegranate! Not something we had often so he didn't each much of it, but he'd be trying to get it off the plate and licking it afterwards. He lived to 19 so it didn't seem to harm him. Still miss him.

If your cat likes ham you could buy the tins of untamed cat food that are Chicken breast and ham as a treat?

We get the Almo Nature chicken and ham one for my piggy lover. He does get occasional home made boiled sliced ham or bacon.

My other one loves potatoes. He never gets them but will always beg if someone is having a spud.

Thsts very interesting- how do you cook the sardines or sprats? Or are they tinned?

My cat goes crazy for peshwari naan- buffeting plates aside in his frenzy to get at it. But I have not permitted it to him ☹️.

There are actually a few pork based cat foods out there - mostly European ones available online only, but they do exist. Same as with pork-based dog foods.

Mine love a bit of ham or pre-cooked roast chicken - - as well as a bit of cheddar, the stronger the better!

If you get tinned fish like Tuna or Sardines, always get the version in spring water.