Have you eaten cat food? Seriously.

[Fermion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calico I am so sorry to hear this. I remember when those terrible stories came out. My condolences.

Thanks,

They paid to put down both cats (total kidney failure) but no other costs. I think they included a $10 coupon for IAMS cat food.

OP, I would never eat cat food (or feed it to a cat)

[tmm99]

Thank you for your comment Fermion. What happened to your cats is just so tragic.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

[Texas Proud]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fermion IAMS murdered both of our cats due to melamine which was added to fool sensors into thinking more protein was in the food. So, no, I wouldn't eat cat food.

Sorry to hear about this... it is terrible when a pet dies early...


I never had heard this.... and IAMS has been recommended to us by a few people...


Looked at a Wiki and IAMS was not listed... are you sure they were part of the problem?


Edit to add... seems it was also put into the human food chain....

[mamadogmamacat]

Very sorry, Fermion.


As i recall, and i have five cats now and have rescued, rehabilitated, and trained as therapy animals several cats, and a couple dogs, over the past 25 yrs, that every major cat food manufacturer was affected by the powdered melamine scandal. The common source was a company in China that packaged the stuff as cheap protein powder. I was extremely fortunate in that since my cats at the time ate only dry food (some dry products had it too but not nearly as many lines as the wet food lines) none were affected. I do know Petco has pledged to stock only foods with North American sourced ingredients ever since this happened. A yr or so after the pet food scandal, there were some deaths of human babies in China as the stuff got put in baby formula there too. After that, an executive from some co there was executed, and have not seen any more melamine stories since.

[FrankiesGirl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbmrtn I buy canned tuna fish when it is on sale for 50cents/can. It's cheaper than the canned cat food.

Non-catfood tuna is really awful to feed cats as anything more than an occasional treat. Besides the fact that it is lacking in essential nutrients, it can cause serious health issues:

Tuna doesn’t have adequate amounts of vitamin E and this may lead to a condition called steatitis (also known as yellow fat disease). Tuna has a very strong taste and smell so many cats can become addicted to it. Veterinarians refer to them as “tuna junkies.” The problem can be serious because these tuna junkies may refuse to eat anything else. The other problem with a steady diet of tuna is that there’s a risk of mercury poisoning.

But as far as the OP's question, I ate dry catfood when I was 6 years old. I remember thinking my cat was crazy because it tasted really gross.

[Marita40]

Cats need taurine and don't get it (or enough) in human canned tuna. It is good for an occasional treat but not on a regular basis. My cats can only eat a tiny amount or they barf it up. I think regular tuna is just too rich for them, or they love it so much they gobble it down.

[splitwdw]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 38Chevy454 However, I am sure the pet food is not made from the prime cuts, it is all the leftovers and organs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Car-Guy I thought that's what they used to make hot dogs.

Nope, scrapple, yum!

Not a cat owner but have fed friend's kitties when they are away. I'm wondering what wet cat food the OP is feeding their cats because the stuff my friend feeds their cats stinks.

[tmm99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by splitwdw Nope, scrapple, yum! Not a cat owner but have fed friend's kitties when they are away. I'm wondering what wet cat food the OP is feeding their cats because the stuff my friend feeds their cats stinks.

Just a cheapo Purina (Friskies) or Cat Feast stuff. To me it kind of smells like mixture of fish and liver.... I am from Japan and to me, dried squid stinks (You might even vomit smelling that if you aren't used to it...)

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRG I never see adds for kitty spices or marinades, so it's likely bland food from icky sources.

Cats have very few taste buds compared to humans.

[tmm99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister Cats have very few taste buds compared to humans.

I heard they cannot taste sweet. That is utterly tragic.

[Amethyst]

Then, why were mine so crazy about ice cream? They were just OK about milk, so the answer wasn't "because ice cream has milk in it."

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmm99 I heard they cannot taste sweet. That is utterly tragic.

[tmm99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amethyst Then, why were mine so crazy about ice cream? They were just OK about milk, so the answer wasn't "because ice cream has milk in it."

Interesting...I have no idea why your cats are crazy about ice cream while not crazy about milk. I was watching Cats from Hell and they give quizzes and one of them was about what taste cats cannot taste and the answer was sweet (if I remember it correctly.)

I just google it to make sure and there are lots of articles about cats having no sweet taste buds.

Quote:

It has been known for a while (2005) that all cat species lack a functional Tas1R2 protein, one part of the sweet receptor (other part is Tas1R3). Cats happen to be obligate carnivores – they only eat meat – so they don’t need to crave carbohydrates – they get enough from metabolizing the compounds in the meat.

[Sasset]

I interviewed at Hills Science Diet plant years ago. They had a taste panel set-up that they said they tested everyday for quality, so I guess that brand is ok for humans?

I never worked there, so never tried it

[tmm99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sasset I interviewed at Hills Science Diet plant years ago. They had a taste panel set-up that they said they tested everyday for quality..

WOW. Really? A human taste panel?

[mpeirce]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmm99 I just google it to make sure and there are lots of articles about cats having no sweet taste buds.

It makes sense. Think about what cats eat in the wild - not much in the way of sweet there. So why bother with sweet taste buds.

[Texas Proud]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrankiesGirl Non-catfood tuna is really awful to feed cats as anything more than an occasional treat. Besides the fact that it is lacking in essential nutrients, it can cause serious health issues: Tuna doesn’t have adequate amounts of vitamin E and this may lead to a condition called steatitis (also known as yellow fat disease). Tuna has a very strong taste and smell so many cats can become addicted to it. Veterinarians refer to them as “tuna junkies.” The problem can be serious because these tuna junkies may refuse to eat anything else. The other problem with a steady diet of tuna is that there’s a risk of mercury poisoning. But as far as the OP's question, I ate dry catfood when I was 6 years old. I remember thinking my cat was crazy because it tasted really gross.

It is interesting that one of my cats will NOT eat any human tuna at all...

The other one might eat a small amount, but what she wants is the water it is packed with....

[zedd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 38Chevy454 I doubt you would get sick. However, I am sure the pet food is not made from the prime cuts, it is all the leftovers and organs. Not so appetizing to me.

<shrug> Sounds like the recipe for bologna

[Fermion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texas Proud Looked at a Wiki and IAMS was not listed... are you sure they were part of the problem?

Yes, it was the IAMS wet food in the little foil pouches that was contaminated with the melamine. We also fed them IAMS dry food (which was not contaminated to my knowledge). My wife was even more upset because she felt she had personally poisoned our cats (2 and 4 years old) by feeding them the wet food even as they were starting to seem ill (she thought it would cheer them up).

Didn't mean to divert the original topic. It has been a long time now but we have not been able to have cats since.

[redduck]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan I tried a taste of it once, and now know why cats lick their genitals. It's to take away the taste of the cat food.

And, you know this how?

[misshathaway]

All the major American companies use human tasters. I read this book on animal behavior "Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach Us About Health and the Science of Healing", which was really interesting. They test the food on expert human tasters so the tasters can identify little taste nuances with the ingredients they put in to get them. The animals can only tell the company in general whether they will eat it or not, but not WHAT makes it tasty. Also the smell and look of the food is for the human feeder, not the pet. The smell --- LOL --- I hold my nose every day when I spoon that stuff out.

The book said the same thing about cats not tasting sweet.