My cats (who were raised in the house, but have become barn cats) are now back in the house for a week or two due to Rooster (the cat) having a neck wound and an elevated kidney level.
They LOVE people food. Last night, Lola licked my spaghetti bowl clean, and both of them had some sliced turkey, which they demolished.
Are there foods that I shouldnt feed them? They arent getting a lot of anything, just leftovers basically.
http://www.entirelypets.com/toxicfoods2.html
www.catinfo.org is a great site too !
here is a good site, and I am sure there are others, but I have to run.
The only things I’ve heard that are definitely bad for cats (& dogs & pet birds) are items in the Allium family - onions, garlic, etc., etc. - raw eggs, & raw fish. There may be others, but those are the only three that I’ve found reputable substantiation for.
Needless to say that splintery poultry & fish bones are also out.
One of mine eats almost everything, no chocolate. Loves cheese, spicy hummus, doritoes anything unhealthy really!
If in doubt ask your vet, mine laughed when my mom asked her about him eating pb, because it was soo unusual!
One of our cats is a horrible beggar (totally blaming this on DH here). Anyway, she will pretty much eat anything-the other day she ate a chick pea and was quite happy about it. Her favorite thing on earth though is butter- not that I feed her butter, but if you turn your back for a second and leave it on the dining room table it’s apparently fair game. We also have a cat that thinks lettuce is da bomb and one of my mother’s cats get her own serving of fresh cantaloupe every day.
Really, anything that contains anything other than meat ingredients is bad for cats to eat on a regular basis. Cats are obligate carnivores, and their systems aren’t meant to digest and metabolize plant-based foods. An occasional lick of tomato sauce or a few bites of lettuce probably won’t hurt, but you wouldn’t want to make a habit of giving them popcorn, pretzels, pasta etc. as cats aren’t designed to handle excessive carbohydrates. Many cats are also lactose intolerant, so dairy-based treats like milk or cheese should also be given sparingly.
A chunk of chicken or turkey (cooked or raw, with no breading or spices) is a good kitty treat. Many cats have beef allergies, but it they don’t, a piece of beef is ok, too, or a bit of steamed salmon (though fish has mercury and should be given to cats sparingly in any form including cat food) A piece of raw meat, like a chicken wing (raw wing bones are ok) is the best thing for keeping a kitty’s teeth clean, and can be given on a regular basis.
Well Henry, tell that to my parents late kitty, Dusty.
He was abandoned as a kitten in an apartment where the tenants moved out and left him behind. Not having anything to feed the kitten, he got what she had handy: defrosted/warmed frozen meatballs.
She promptly went and bought cat food the next day. Nope, not having it. Not canned, not dried, no form whatsoever.
His diet for the rest of his amazingly healthy long life (17 years) was (and in this order on the tray):
1 little bowl of iceburg lettuce, torn into pieces. If the pieces were too big or got brown, he would find one of my parents. Howl at them, walk to the dish and proceed to paw/bury it with a look of disgust.
1 little bowl of puree’d salmon. People salmon of course, whizzed through the food processor. If it got too warm from sitting out, see above “burying” & howling behavior.
1 little bowl of Great Grains cereal. It too had to be fresh and crunchy. Should it go stale, yup… it’d be buried too.
1 little bowl of water.
If the bowls were not put in a clockwise position in the above order, he refused to eat. He’d sit next to it, look at the tray, look at them, howl & look at the tray in utter disgust that his staff had the NERVE to put them in the wrong order.
Perfect weight, perfectly uber soft coat, extremely athletic cat. Quite the character :winkgrin:
well, that’s a perfectly disgusting story of bad pet owners indulging their spoiled little brat, but so what? it’s just like the stories about “my grandpa smoked four packs a day and lived until he was 90”. Yeah, let’s all run out and smoke.
Rooster!
The Cat.
Has a NECK wound!?!
You pet him and squeeze him and call him George… and feed him whatever he wants.
Rooster. You can’t deny a cat with a name that cute.
We have been though this before, OP.
My son left his cereal bowl unattended and our cat devoured some frosted mini wheats. Lesson learned as he had awful, awful poops for a day and a good barf too.
But, he still begs for frosted mini wheats (now a banned substance) and he enjoys a lick of goldfish crackers every now and then.
It does kind of surprise me that so many here are super careful about feeding their horses the best possible diet based on the most up-to-date research but are unwilling to do the same for their cats and dogs.
Again, in very limited quantities, some human foods are probably fine for cats and dogs. But just like most people would agree that feeding a horse a nice fat ham sandwich every day is probably not good for the horse as their bodies aren’t meant to digest meat, the opposite is true for cats, and feeding non-meat based treats to cats on a regular basis is just as inappropriate as giving a horse meat for the exact same reason.
My cat likes hotsauce, chease, breads, lasagna, ketchup, salad dressings…pretty much anything he can get ahold of… Set the table for dinner and turn your back for one second to put more food on the table and you will turn around and he is sitting in a chair, reaching up onto the table, munchin away at something… My cat and my sister’s cat once got onto the counter and tore open a bag of cat treats… not sure where part of the plastic went… xP He also can be caught with his head in glasses and spilling drinks…
I know avacados are to be avoided with all animals as is chocolate.
[QUOTE=HenryisBlaisin’;6263533]
It does kind of surprise me that so many here are super careful about feeding their horses the best possible diet based on the most up-to-date research but are unwilling to do the same for their cats and dogs.
Again, in very limited quantities, some human foods are probably fine for cats and dogs. But just like most people would agree that feeding a horse a nice fat ham sandwich every day is probably not good for the horse as their bodies aren’t meant to digest meat, the opposite is true for cats, and feeding non-meat based treats to cats on a regular basis is just as inappropriate as giving a horse meat for the exact same reason.[/QUOTE]
You know I expect my horses to be athletes and I feed them accordingly. I expect my cats to hang around and be petted and occasionally amuse me with their antics- big difference. And seriously, my cats have all lived to their late teens, early twenties- I’m pretty sure that I’m doing things okay.
[QUOTE=wendy;6263174]
well, that’s a perfectly disgusting story of bad pet owners indulging their spoiled little brat, but so what? it’s just like the stories about “my grandpa smoked four packs a day and lived until he was 90”. Yeah, let’s all run out and smoke.[/QUOTE]
oh get over yourself- it’s a cat, a CAT. The whole point of cats is they do what they please. If you don’t understand this, then get a stinking dog.
[QUOTE=tabula rashah;6264355]
You know I expect my horses to be athletes and I feed them accordingly. I expect my cats to hang around and be petted and occasionally amuse me with their antics- big difference. And seriously, my cats have all lived to their late teens, early twenties- I’m pretty sure that I’m doing things okay.[/QUOTE]
OK, I see. Cats are only companion animals, so they aren’t worth the effort to do right by them, but your horse is. Got it.
Like someone said above, my great grandfather lived to be 96 despite smoking and eating butter straight from the wrapper. So that’s okay to do because, hey he never had a problem with it.
One of my cats goes NUTS for canned corn… While he will eat a few kernels, it’s the liquid in the can that he goes bananas over.
It got to the point that I would strain a can in the sink, turn around to dump strained corn in a bowl, and by the time I turned around again there would be a gigantic orange cat in my sink licking up whatever was left. Don’t worry - I keep a very clean sink.
After chasing him out of the sink enough times, I finally started straining my corn over a small plate so he can have his “corn juice.” What a wierdo 
[QUOTE=tabula rashah;6264355]
You know I expect my horses to be athletes and I feed them accordingly. I expect my cats to hang around and be petted and occasionally amuse me with their antics- big difference. And seriously, my cats have all lived to their late teens, early twenties- I’m pretty sure that I’m doing things okay.[/QUOTE]
OK, I see. Cats are only companion animals, so they aren’t worth the effort to do right by them, but your horse is. Got it.
Like someone said above, my great grandfather lived to be 96 despite smoking and eating butter straight from the wrapper. So that’s okay to do because, hey he never had a problem with it. And it’s ok by your logic for anyone who is NOT an athlete to eat whatever they please too, whether it’s good for them or not.
Sorry, I actually love my cats as much I do my horse, and so I actually put equal effort into caring for them properly.
[QUOTE=HenryisBlaisin’;6264782]
OK, I see. Cats are only companion animals, so they aren’t worth the effort to do right by them, but your horse is. Got it.
Like someone said above, my great grandfather lived to be 96 despite smoking and eating butter straight from the wrapper. So that’s okay to do because, hey he never had a problem with it. And it’s ok by your logic for anyone who is NOT an athlete to eat whatever they please too, whether it’s good for them or not.
Sorry, I actually love my cats as much I do my horse, and so I actually put equal effort into caring for them properly.[/QUOTE]
Yep- and gasp two of my horses get sweet feed too- because that is what they do best on.
BTW how’s the air up there on that high horse?
I’m pretty sure my happy, healthy, vaccinated, brushed, loved, pampered kitties are just fine with their standing in life and I bet your great grandfather was too.
[QUOTE=tabula rashah;6264355]
You know I expect my horses to be athletes and I feed them accordingly. I expect my cats to hang around and be petted and occasionally amuse me with their antics- big difference. And seriously, my cats have all lived to their late teens, early twenties- I’m pretty sure that I’m doing things okay.[/QUOTE]
Put me on the Cat Abuser/Neglecter side of things. But I have a really good philosophical argument to justify my cruelty.
A cat places no value on being super healthy optimized. If you asked a cat whether he’d like a feast of corn (or whatever) today, or longevity and to feel relatively great as an old animal, I think he’d take the corn option.
A cat is an intentional hedonist. Who am I to project my values onto him?
Why? Avocados don’t hurt dogs. In fact, they love them.
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