Have you eaten cat food? Seriously.

[tmm99]

OK, so my cat is quite eager to get to the wet cat food which I serve him for lunch.(The rest of the time he eats dry food.) He sits and waits around about 30 minutes before the wet food feeding time. I can see his anticipation, I can see his excitement, over just 3 TBS of the wet cat food. Once I start scooping it out, he starts meowing (I'm sure he is trying to say something.)

I have been wondering how it tastes.... It smells good and it looks like liver pate.

Anybody ever tried just a little bit of cat food? Would it make one sick? Is it supposed to be food grade for humans? It is canned so I'm sure it's pasteurized... Would it hurt to have a tiny little 1/2 teaspoon bite and spit it out?

I am asking this sincerely...(in other words, this is not a joke. But I'm sure I will hear plenty...)

 

[W2R]

Seriously, no.

There are reasons why canned cat food is labeled "not for human consumption". Or at least it was 50 years ago, the last time I had a cat.

I don't know what those reasons are but I'm not planning to be a test case.

 

[Marita40]

Interesting thread. My cat loves wet cat food; Fancy Feast is kitty crack. I've had cats my entire adult life so that means opening, feeding, and discarding multitudes of wet cat food over time. And never once have I been tempted to take a bite. No matter what they are called they all smell like stinky fish (not in a good way). Love it when my cats wake me up in the morning by putting their little faces on mine and breathing stinky fish breath.

 

[sanfanciscotreat]

FDA regs require that canned pet foods be free of pathogens; if not, there is a chance of accidental infection of humans who get the food on their hands and get infected directly or indirectly through cross contamination of other foods

 

[travelover]

FDA regs require that canned pet foods be free of pathogens; if not, there is a chance of accidental infection of humans who get the food on their hands and get infected directly or indirectly through cross contamination of other foods

Plus it would pretty much defeat the purpose of canning it in the first place if it had live bacteria in it.

 

[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.

 

[easysurfer]

No. But by accident, once I left the spoon out which I used for cat food, then mistakenly used that spoon to stir tea .

Of my two cats, one is very picky and the other is not at all. The not picky one when I open a can of wet food, he starts heading for the food dish or jumps on the dresser to sneak a taste. The picky one, I have to give her a whiff of the scent and she decides if he wants to head for the food dish or not.

 

[MichaelB]

I have eaten the same ingredients as those found in cat food, so mine would be a qualified "yes". It wouldn't surprise me to find that the cat food has more nutritional value than some canned or frozen food for humans.

 

[MRG]

You could try it and report back.

I don't think it will make you sick, but it may not taste as good to you as it does to the kitty.

Years ago I wrote to the folks who made Greenies (dog chew treats) asking if people could consume them as a joke. The owner/developer wrote back a lengthy explanation on how they couldn't be labeled for human consumption even though they were food grade and manufactured in a food grade facility. He went on to tell about chewing them during development, his dentist remarking on how his gums were improving.

 

[samclem]

While we joke about possibly having to eat cat food in retirement, from what I've seen in stores, it tends to higher in price than similar quantities of some human food.

Nope, I've never eaten it, and never been tempted to. Even in my starving student days (lots of ramen noodles, dinner made from whatever was cheap. I'm lucky to be alive). Closest I got to animal food: As a young kid I and a friend ate most of a box of dog treats. They were some kind of little "drops" that smelled like chocolate. Which is strange, because it's a big no-no to feed dogs chocolate. I wonder what they were.

And then there's the Purina diet.

 

[cyber888]

Please try it, and let us know. The ad on cat food seems like it's food also fit for humans and just as delicious. I haven't because I never had a cat. But it's probably true that some retired old cat lady who loves cats and has more than 5 cats share the cat food with her cats. Maybe CatWoman also eats catfood ? And she's a super-hero

 

[rbmrtn]

While we joke about possibly having to eat cat food in retirement, from what I've seen in stores, it tends to higher in price than similar quantities of some human food.

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

 

[Midpack]

I'd never eat cat food.

But I've nibbled on dog Milk Bones several times before giving them to our dogs, to tease them and irritate DW. Not surprisingly, they don't have much taste...

 

[AllDone]

I tried the dried stuff when I was a child. It needs salt.

 

[travelover]

......... He went on to tell about chewing them during development, his dentist remarking on how his gums were improving.

 

[audreyh1]

Too smelly!

 

[Sarah in SC]

I tried the dried stuff when I was a child. It needs salt.

But no, I've never been tempted. Never.

 

[Amethyst]

My family got our first cat when I was six. I sampled my new "sibling's" food, the tuna flavor (the liver and beef flavors smelled too nasty). Cat tunafish smelled and tasted like cheap, chunk dark tuna, which the family ate sometimes when money was tight. But the cat version was very gritty (probably from ground bone meal). I didn't care for it.

 

[Car-Guy]

However, I am sure the pet food is not made from the prime cuts, it is all the leftovers.

I thought that's what they used to make hot dogs.

 

[mpeirce]

But I've nibbled on dog Milk Bones several times before giving them to our dogs, to tease them and irritate DW. Not surprisingly, they don't have much taste...

When I was a kid, my brother fed his friends dog biscuits as a snack as a joke. They ate them up. After they found out they were mad at him for a while...

If I ever need to eat cat food (snowed in at a cabin for a while say) I would't have any problem doing so. It's not poison, just parts of the critters that we don't usually eat.

But then I've eat a far amount of odd things at sushi and other restaurants. I'll try almost anything once as along as it doesn't smell awful (bad smells often indicate bacteria).

 

[calmloki]

Had pickled herring on a cracker at Costco today. Not at all sure catfood is worse.

 

[Dawg52]

No cat so never had a need to buy it. I do have a dog, but never ate his food. He eats some of mine however and never got sick.

 

[growing_older]

If you really want to try it:

https://www.thehonestkitchen.com/human-grade-dog-and-cat-food

These are human food grade pet foods you can eat if you want.


http://blog.sfgate.com/nwzchik/2006/10/12/dick-eats-dog-food/

 

[Big_Hitter]

weren't there ads in 1983 about elderly folks eating cat food and the Social Security amendments or did I just dream that up?

 

[Amethyst]

The "Old People Having to Eat Dog Food" meme has been around since at least the 1970's, because I remember people making cracks about it. Of course now it's "seniors" instead of old people.

Amethyst

weren't there ads in 1983 about elderly folks eating cat food and the Social Security amendments or did I just dream that up?