Di You Feed Your Cats/pets Human Food?

[Jahulaye]

Di you feed your cats/pets human food? I’ve always been of the thinking that I don’t want my cat to adapt to human food and totally go off cat food, also I don’t want my cat jumping up on the table sideboards licking pans etc which I’ve already caught her doing, lol

There’s also the worry that I don’t want to make my cat sick by feeding her the wrong food, best case scenario is diarrhoea everywhere and the worst case is finding a feline corpse.

So do you feed your cat, dog or other pets human food, what types of food and are they now begging, have they been ill and has that turned them off their pet food?

[murraymints]

both tinned and dried cat food..but also cooked chicken strips...nothing processed or salted.. or ham if I have a gammon joint will keep some for cats..or trimmings from any roast... but mainly cat food....

[Jahulaye]

Roast trimmings, does it include chicken skin as I’ve had that gives cats runny stomachs tho abroad the foreign cats were fine with skin but then again they were feral

[DTCwordfan]

Mainly cat food here, Whiskas pouches and she thoroughly enjoys her own catches of mainly mice and rats. The dog - very tightly controlled as I am working on getting his weight off, some of my mother's food mixed with no more than 1/3rd of a can of meat and possibly a handful of biscuits if there isn't much a contribution from the mater plus his metacam (for arthritis).

[sherrardk]

Our cat gets ham, turkey, chicken, prawns - it's spoilt rotten.

[Jahulaye]

Sherrardk do you have problems with diarrhoea?

[Jahulaye]

Lol, your cat I meant

[sherrardk]

No, he's fine but he's only a kitten so he's been eating treats since we've got him (and he doesn't have loads).

[Jahulaye]

I know that you shouldn’t give cats chicken bones, is there anything that you should NEVER feed a cat?

[mazie]

Our female cat goes mad for ham .she gets a very small piece and seems fine with that..its the only human food she begs for .

[woofgang]

Caffeine, chocolate, xylitol (in chewing gum and diabetic sweets) and alcohol are the biggies. Animals, like people vary in what they find digestible and what will cause problems. All of my dogs have been given human food as well as dog food...apart from finding out the things that disagreed with them, its never been a problem. I think counter surfing and licking pots is going to happen whether or not you give them human food, they know what smells and tastes good.

[Islay]

My cats have human meat as treats and it has never affected them, they also have had chicken drumsticks but with the little bones removed.
Dogs get the scraps left over from meals and their own meat reduced to allow for it..

[Buenchico]

>>> is there anything that you should NEVER feed a cat?

Onions can kill cats but they'd need a lot of them (either all in one go or spread out over a period of time) before any real damage could occur. (There'd be no need to worry just because a cat licked up a bit of onion gravy).

See here for other things which cats shouldn't have:
http://www.petmd.com/cat/emergency/poisoning-toxicity/e_ct_human_food_poisoning

Every plate, saucepan and frying pan in my house is 'pre-treated' (by four cat tongues) before it goes into the washing up bowl.

If I'm preparing a meal with cheese I automatically cut off lots of small pieces, and throw them onto the floor, so that my two cheese-loving cats can join me.

If I'm eating, say, sausages, I'll keep throwing small pieces on to the floor for the cats.

If I buy a chicken and stuffing sandwich from the supermarket for my tea, I often end up eating a stuffing sandwich, while the cats enjoy the chicken.

My own diet is often determined by what the cats can have. (I'll reject a nice-looking ready meal in a supermarket, for example, if I see that it's got lots of onions in, as the cats won't be able to lick out the container and clear my plate).

I'm always on the lookout for food which can feed both me and the cats. For example, a pack of four chicken pieces from the rotisserie counter in Asda will feed my four cats (and probably the two from over the road as well), while still leaving me enough to make a chicken curry for myself.

Oh, yes, they do get cat food as well. They've always got two types of 'pouched' food (one with gravy and one with jelly) available to them, along with with premium cat biscuits (plus, of course, lots of clean water).

. . . and even with all that lot, they still look forward to their daily treat of Dreamies ;-)

[ToraToraTora]

you feed your cats people islay?! It's a struggle to get my 2 to eat anything as vulgar as dog food! See avatar!

[Islay]

Yes Tora I feed them the people from AB that annoy me!!

[nailit]

Ive never had cats but used to keep pet rats. They ate whatever we were having with occasional bits of 'rat feed'. They used to sit on the settee and wait to be fed a chip or bit of veg. I had a cockatiel at one time who used to be a bit too fond of alcohol when it could get near enough to get it...

[ummmm]

Mine eats human food and has never turned his nose up at any cat food yet.

[nailit]

Why do they make cat food with tuna and salmon? That is not a cats natural prey, cats don't go fishing. Why not mouse or vole?
Just curious.

[murraymints]

wonky does not like fishy things... prefers chicken/lamb

[Buenchico]

>>> That is not a cats natural prey, cats don't go fishing

Living in the wild (like this street cat), moggies will hunt anything which might be edible, which most definitely includes fish!

[woofgang]

its the same as dogfood Nailit, the flavour names are designed to appeal to the owners. That's why you never see "stinking carrion" or "cat poo" as dog food flavours.