I've Been Admonished For Feeding My Cats Human Food

As many member know I enjoy my time in the kitchen, and cooking is a favorite hobby of mine. Anyone that knows me also realizes my cats are an integral part of my life and I love them very much. (I have three cats)

I cooked a nice roasted duck tonight and got a comment from a neighbour that I was "killing" my cats by giving them "human food".

My cats always have a bowl of kibble by the water bowl to eat from, and the water dispenser is changed twice a day. They also get a small can of soft food once a day for added variety, but what I eat, the cats eat.

None of my feline friends are over-weight, and they see the vet for regular check-ups. It just ticked me off that someone would put me down so hard for feeding them foods that they love so much.

I cook leg of lamb at least once a month, thats one of their favorites.
I also give them things like raw beef, they get fish a couple times a week, and they'll climb my leg for a piece of bacon.
I think my cats are getting a varied diet that is interesting to their palate and good for them, and they seem very happy.


What do you say.
Is there any such thing as "human food" ?
Am I harming my cats by feeding them the same food I eat ?

[edit on 7/2/2007 by anxietydisorder]

LOL

Human food.
Tell your neighbor that you just made a tasty mouse mousse, and was wondering.........

I feed my cats human food every now and then..They love shrimp..the pre-cooked tail-on type. They come running when the bag opens..

One of my cats has a thing for fresh mushrooms..I let him take a little bite every now and then, but not too much. But if he finds a container on the counter..he steals it. He's about 15 years old now.

I don't think it's a problem at all..neither does our vet..

As long as you don't feed them sugar and chocolate your cats are perfectly fine with human food.

Streetcats in cities live of of what people eat and trow away ya know.

Chocolate can lead to kidney and liver problems for cats and sugar can lead to things like diabetes.

Originally posted by anxietydisorder
I've Been Admonished For Feeding My Cats Human Food

I cant say I agree with it anxietydisorder,and I`ll add its only a matter of time before those humans are missed,tick tock tick tock.......

The price may seem cheap just now,but you will be caught eventually and its going to seem expensive then.

I have three cats as well. My oldest cat is almost 20lbs and has only been fed catfood! The vet constantly tells me he is overweight. So cat food isn't necesarily healthier. Quantity......we have to work on that.

Some pedigree cat breeds require a diet of meat. As long as your aren't loading them up on grease, they should be just fine.

Originally posted by gps777

I cant say I agree with it anxietydisorder,and I`ll add its only a matter of time before those humans are missed,tick tock tick tock.......

I bow to your wisdom:


The neighbour that pissed me off will be missed eventually.


As spacedoubt and thematrix eluded to, they can eat almost anything.
I think of cats as opportunistic hangers on of human society, offering their love and effection in return for a meal.

But it's not the first time I've heard people say you can't give "human food" to a pet. Though I think it's probably their ability to scavenge off of us that made them such a successful species, the same goes for dogs.


And what spacedoubt said about shrimp, My cats will pick the tails out of the garbage if they get the chance. We have to make sure the lid is down on the kitchen garbage if any meat is thrown away.

I'll go post some pictures on "Cat Lovers, Are You One".


I posted the pics, this should take you there.
www.belowtopsecret.com...

Isn't pet food just processed primary human food with cheaper priced ingredients?

So im thinking human food would be okay unless their are high levels of additives, sugars, toxic substances (alcohol) etc.

When I was much younger, I had a cat that liked chili.

Not that I purposely fed it to him, mind you. But one day I was in front of the boob tube and got a phone call. I put down the bowl of chili and went to the other room to tend to the caller. When I returned, my cat was happily eating away at my spicy chili.


The next few times I made chili, my cat would come running, kind of begging for some. Of course I wouldn't give him the spicy stuff, but after that I always prepared a bit just for him. the meat and some beans, mostly.

But deep down inside I know what he really wanted.

Think about it this way, What do wild cats eat? Can they go to the store and by a can ? lol

I think as long as you don't feed them silly stuff like sweets,
Then IMO there's no need to worry,

I think a blenched diet is the key, To much of anything is a bad thing,

Cat food contains lots of things to keep your cat healthy, so it should be there main meal,

But its ok to feed them bits, Mine are always nibbling at chicken,sausages etc etc,


just common sense,

When you said "human food" I thought you were feeding them actual humans. This thread isn't nearly as exciting now.

Peace

Originally posted by Dr Love
When you said "human food" I thought you were feeding them actual humans.

Soylent green brand cat food ehh? Why bury Uncle Ed when the cats are hungry?


As far as cat treats, the ones at the store are overpriced crap that my cat won't even eat. The answer: I buy chicken breasts, cook and and then cube them.

As for overcooked meat or non-meat...probably not so good for fluffy.

Or is that just Dogs.

Some people treat animals like family, not like animals. If it works for you why should you care what anyone else thinks?

My female cat won't eat "human" food, just milk left in cereal bowls... whereas my male cat is a little pig. If I leave the butter dish uncovered the little brat will lick as much of it as possible. When I used to eat meat he would devour any chicken left accessible to him to the point where I was surprised he wasn't exploding.

I love my cats

Tigger, the male, will eat cereal, kraft dinner, and pretty much anything. He's quite the large cat, but he's not fat... surprisingly.

Originally posted by anxietydisorder
But it's not the first time I've heard people say you can't give "human food" to a pet.

It likely started as one of those pearls of wisdom, something like 'If you feed your pets what you are eating, they will always beg for food from you.'

Over time, the 'wisdom' prevailed, but the logic behind it disappeared, evolving it into 'You shouldn't feed your pets human food.'

And when someone can't explain why we don't do something, the automatic answer is that mysterious, nebulous health issue. 'You shouldn't feed your pets human food, because it isn't healthy.'

Given time, FUD would evolve that into 'If you feed your pets human food, they will DIE!'

Your neighbor is an idiot. Look at all the pet food, these days... it's all 'With real beef' or 'now with real chicken!' Hell, my wife's cat eats better than we do, I think.

My wife fed her family's cats human food all the time. They lived to 13 and 15 years old, and a third is 15 and still going strong. Her current cat is 10 or 11, and he eats all kinds of junk... she feeds him jello and pudding all the time, and he loves birthday cake. Still going strong.

So, in summary, your neighbor is just spouting ignorance.

Originally posted by Royal76
Or is that just Dogs.

It's just dogs, as far as I'm aware, and it's way overblown:

www.talktothevet.com...

Assuming you have a REAL dog (40 lbs and up, not one of those little yippy footballs) it would take quite a bit of everyday chocolate to even make them sick, never mind kill them.

Don't leave baking materials out where they can get into them... same goes for drain cleaner, hygiene products, and anything you wanted to eat, yourself. Dogs are indiscriminate vacuum cleaners for stuff like that.

awww kitties . I have 2, Satan has possesed the young kitten, but back on topic, they will eat anything, and I mean anything, My young satan infested devil child loves calamari ^_^

I won't be listening to any old wives tales from my neighbor any more.

Hobbes makes a lot of sense with this:

Originally posted by Hobbes

It likely started as one of those pearls of wisdom, something like 'If you feed your pets what you are eating, they will always beg for food from you.'

Over time, the 'wisdom' prevailed, but the logic behind it disappeared, evolving it into 'You shouldn't feed your pets human food.'

And when someone can't explain why we don't do something, the automatic answer is that mysterious, nebulous health issue. 'You shouldn't feed your pets human food, because it isn't healthy.

And as others have said, they seem to eat a large variety of foods without any harm.
My cats are so happy to get some raw meat, or the chance to lick my plate when I'm done. ( no matter what I'm having......)
My husband even lets them drink out of his milk glass and eat off his plate during a meal, but I won't let the little butt lickers do that to my food. :shk:

All three of them are total mooches and I don't mind them begging at the table, so I guess it's no harm done.

I'm cooking potato latki and sausages tonight, I'll let you know how they liked them.



Edit: For the sake of editing.

[edit on 5/3/2007 by anxietydisorder]

I don't really understand why anyone would have a problem with that. As long as you don't overdo it, it's not going to hurt the cat any. I don't give "human food" to my cats much, since I'm vegetarian and don't think they'd appreciate most of the food I eat , but they really like cheese, sour cream, mashed potatoes, and one even begs for oatmeal. Plain oatmeal. And they're perfectly healthy! That said, according to this website, there are some things you shouldn't feed a cat:
Onions/garlic
Chocolate/espresso
Grapes
Too much milk
Bones
Raw eggs
Raw fish

-cat =^.^=

Years ago I had two beautiful cats (they've passed on now) anyways back then I never gave them anything but cat food. I never thought of giving them human food. They wasn't so healthy on their cat food. Both of them had to go to the vet a couple of times cause they got urinary track infections and the vet said it was the cat food I was feeding them. I then had to buy them special cat food. If your vet says their healthy and their not over weight I wouldn't worry about it. I also wouldn't worry about what your neighbor said. Brush it off.

I have 2 cats myself and I feed them canned tuna fish and Meow Mix. They go nuts for Pringles potato chips, bacon and chocolate pudding.