My cats eat the same cat food all the time and drink water. One of them eats about half a taco a week (at least the cheese and meat part, leaves the rest).
They are perfectly healthy. Why can’t we do that? If there was one “universal food” it sure would make life easier.
Easier, but so much less enjoyable. I’d rather eat like a bear than my cat. Lots more variety.
But they seem so happy.
Perhaps that’s why we’ve got “cat years” as a unit of measure.
C’mon Tom, if I took some plant, animal, and minerals that could sustain life, mix it up in a food processor, pressed it into a bar and offered you some, you’d say, “I can’t believe you eat that crap”
mmm… salmon, onions, and eggs on a bagel…
-SD
Well, as a rule cats think that the stinkier it is, the better. Mmmm, fish parts by-product.
Hmmm, true. I wish I could just take a pill six days a week and then eat “recreationally” maybe once a week.
Well, you could market that gruel that they ate in the Matrix movies. I’m sure you could get a whole bunch of people to exist on it if it was organic, vegan, low cholesterol, etc, etc. Or just eat Powerbars. Personally, I prefer my 16 part meal plan. It’s on here somewhere, so I won’t list it again, but it’s yummy. Same stuff every day, excpet on weekends, when I survive on Mexican food, pasta, and occasionally pub grub(including Guinness, natch!).
The cats may be resigned to eating their kibble every day, but they will eat other stuff given the opportunity. My Ichiban Gato loves getting little bits of “floor turkey” when I make my lunch. (I’m very sloppy! Thank goodness she’s there to clean up after me.) Last night, I was playing tug of war with her using the remains of a roast rack of lamb. I never give her a lot of people food, just a little taste(I’m sure that the stuff we eat is just as bad for them as it is for us.)
All cats love cheese. I don’t know why. Maybe that’s why they hate mice. It’s a “competition for scarce resources” thing. Or maybe it’s just a “mice are crunchy” thing. I don’t know.
Dogs are a good example of the opportunistic feeding nature of pets. A dog will eat kibble happily for years, until that one day when you don’t quite close the cabinet door all the way, and you come home to find the entire contents of your garbage can spread across the floor in a single layer so that you can see all the perfectly good stuff that you threw away. They’ll eat everything! (Jon Stewart does a hilarious routine based on this behavior.)
Cats are a little more picky, but I don’t recommend leaving any hamburgers around.
Dogs are a good example of the opportunistic feeding nature of pets. A dog will eat kibble happily for years, … They’ll eat everything!
LOL. My buddy went home the other day to find out that his 9 month old Great Dane had eaten half of his bedpost.
When I was growing up, we had a cat who would eat damn near any “people” food you put in front of her. Not just the obvious bits of chicken leftovers or cheese or melted ice cream at the bottom of a bowl - this cat had a taste for things like broccoli, popcorn, olives, kool aid. Anything she could chew, she would eat. She was an “outdoor” cat and a tough old gal who lived to be 19.
I have a cat now, on the other hand, who won’t eat anything but actual cat food. I haven’t really encouraged her to try anything else, but at the same time can leave a turkey sandwich on the counter for a minute knowing that she won’t have the slightest interest.
Cheese and turkey I can understand. Our female manx will yell at you until you give her your carrots and/or brocolli. (We got her when my wife was a nutrition major - coincidence?). The Maine Coon will of course lick the cheese grater, but what he really craves is avacados and Smart Start cereal. Came in from the dining room last week to find he had knocked over the cereal box and had his whole head stuffed inside. The black mutt cat is not picky, but while we were on vacation opened the upper kitchen cabinet, dragged out the little container of treats, opened it, and proceeded to eat all the contents. Apparently he was not deterred by the two wine glasses that shattered after he knocked them off the counter.
Back in the late 80’s or early 90’s I recall discussion in the corrections field of “nutraloaf.” If the inmates were behaving badly they would be served exclusively a loaf of meat, vegetables, oatmeal and who knows what else as a disciplinary measure. It was supposed to meet all dietary requirements in one bland icky, package. Kind of a modern day “bread and water” sentence. Maybe your local prison or jail still has the recipe.
I’ve got one that prefers fish-based cat foods and melted ice cream almost exclusively. But Zed-kitty will eat anything, usually multiple times. (I think he didn’t care for the wasabi much since he’s turned it down since) If it’s meat or cheese, he’s all over it. Tortila chips, you can’t leave the bag out because he’ll be fishing out and munching bits of blue corn goodness. Veggies, he’ll give a nibble to because he likes to eat the same things the Big Cats (us) eat.
When I was growing up, my family had a cat named Ferndock the Second. The only cat food she would eat was Tender Vittles, but she’d out and out inhale donut bits or corn if you offered them to her.
Ferndock the Second, that’s huge.
It differentiated her from Ferndock the First, who was my Dad’s cat when he was growing up. Fern I was one of those legendary sorts- he’d kill and bring back full grown bunnies and raccoons, deliver the paw smack down to any dogs he came across, an all around bad-ass kitty in his time and neighborhood.
Fern II was a rather cranky average-sized black Siamese mix with decent, but not exceptional hunting prowess.
If there was one “universal food” it sure would make life easier.
And very boring, what would i think about on long rides? I enjoy eating, I also enjoy cooking, though it is more fun when you are cooking for more than one. I love the variety of flavors textures colors and aromas of food. I never look at eating as a chore but something to be enjoyed.
Don’t small animals like that only live 15 years or so? If that were the case and you followed that diet - wouldn’t you be dead right now?
What about the impact of stress on a life, combined with diet and rest etc.? If these things have the impact that they do, then is it any wonder your cats are healthy? Hell, my cats don’t do a damn thing if they don’t want to, they sleep where ever they happen to lay down, they eat and live well. I never heard any one of them bitch about getting somewhere on time, or paying a bill. Stress is a killer! Diet, it’s important, but…they’re cats.
We have two 18 year old cats that probably will never die. One is diabetic and takes insulin twice a day and the other ones favorite food is watermelon of all things. I swear to God that cat could be vegan, she also goes nuts when you whistle the Marine Corp theme. May be there is reincarnation and she is in some past life. Now if I could just teach them not to horke up hairballs on the carpet. G
hmm… my sister’s cats both get tired of their cat food well before the end of the small 5lb bag, and they also get their share of tuna, sushi, peanut butter and champagne (new year’s). They’re very happy affectionate fatties.
On the other hand, one of my friend’s cats who has eaten the exact same dry food for its entire life is the most b-tchy, evil, ferocious (she attacks my feet for no reason) cat I have ever met. The odd thing is she isn’t a stray (well, daddy was) so its not like she’s ferile. She just hates everybody but her owner.
like they say, you are what you eat…
Soylent Green man…Soylent Green
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