Human foods that's great for cats?

Interesting. Never heard of either of those. But cats are carnivores... all they really need is meat. Obviously most of us feed them tidbits of this and that... I have one kitty that just loves a piece of a Cheeto. But that's what he gets - one little nibble.

But I think cutting a little slice of whatever meat you're preparing for yourself and feeding it to them before you've cooked it is probably one of the best treats there is for them!

Some people do use olive oil for skin issues; some use RAW (meaning virgin, cold pressed from coconut meat, not the dried chopra that most coconut oil comes from) coconut oil for allergy problems (and it makes their coats look great!). But I really don't think you should feed them enough peanut butter or toast that it would affect their coat quality!

Just wanted to add... I'm sure it would be the peanut oil in peanut butter that would be "good" for a cat's coat. I can't imagine what would be good for a cat's coat in toast. Either way, you're better off giving them a little lick of butter as a treat, I think.

I have to say, I got a chuckle out of the PB and toast. I am sure it IS the peanut oil - but I don't think I would want to give peanut butter to my cat's. My dog's love it in their Kong toy's though. I would try Salmon oil for your cat's coat. That is better because that comes directly from a meat source. I have one cat that will eat ANYTHING People, dog or cat, just anything. Wendall - he is like a dog . He will take whatever WE are eating directly from out hand's without a thought at all. Funny boy - I am sure Wendall would LOVE peanut butter and toast.....

Well, now, that's a very interesting question, and one that's been subject to great debate on this site.

The answer is yes, cats can get salmonella. BUT, that needs to be qualified from three perspecitves:

1) The problem of salmonella exists in kibble
2) The prevalence of salmonella and other pathogens in human grade meat, and
3) The ability of a cat to contract illness as a results of ingesting contaminated kibble or meat

1) problem of salmonella exists in kibble.

Many commercial dry food recalls have been due to salmonella. Here's a list of pet food recalls since 2009 as hosted at the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association). Not all of them have the reason for the recall listed in the title, but a quick perusal of the list and it's clear - salmonella is the primary reason for recalls. That's why "safe handling" procedures are recommended by the CDC for handling cat kibble:
http://www.cdc.gov/Features/SalmonellaDryPetFood/


2) Prevalence of salmonella in our human meat supplies has fallen over the past decade: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/science/progress_report_salmonella_testing/index.asp

According to the USDA:

As it is typically the outside of the meat that may have a problem, the CDC has established safe-handling procedures for prepping/preparing meat for human consumption... so if you wash the outside of your meat, as you would before you cook it, wash your hands the the prep utensils and area, there shouldn't be any problem feeding raw meat to your cat. In fact - many people feed their cats an all raw diet (which would include bones and organs, mimicing the profile of prey they would eat in the wild). Thus the Raw Feeding subforum.

3) The real source of debate is not whether there is salmonella contamination of our cat food or our human meat - but the extent to which it impacts our cats. If your cat has been on antibiotics, all the "good" flora in their gut is wiped out, and this definitely makes them susceptible to pathogens like salmonella. (Which is why people feeding raw ought to cook the meat while their cat is on antibiotics - or at least sear the outside, and put their cats on a probiotic, to help re-establish the good gut flora). But normal, healthy cats SEEM (there are no studies) to be able to handle some exposure to salmonella with no adverse effects. Cats are carnivores, and have a very simple digestive systems. The theory is that the very acidic environment of the stomach destroys most pathogens/bacteria they ingest, as with their natural diet (mice, small rodents, rabbits, bugs, small reptiles, etc) they are exposed to these pathogens. Here is anecdotal evidence in support of that theory: http://www.peterdobias.com/community/2012/01/2664/

According to the vet (responding to criticism of another vet about feeding cats a raw diet):

That said, no doubt about it, cats can get sick from salmonella or other pathogens. It APPEARS more common (no studies to support this) from eating contaminated kibble, because the LOAD is so unnatural. It is very rarely deadly - that would be if contracted by an already sick (health compromised) cat. Symptoms are usually mild: vomiting or diarrhea. Far less common are a fever and severe vomiting and/or diarrhea.

Hope that helps you make an informed decision.

Back to peanut butter, my Vet suggested I give Sven his pills disguised in p/b, but mainly because it would make him lick and lick at it (from the roof of his mouth), and therefore he would have to swallow his pill.  That's the only time I have ever heard of giving  cat p/b.  Toast?  Never heard of giving bread to a cat and cannot imagine how it could be of any dietary assistance.

I recently had to change the wet food I was feeding my cats. They have refused to eat anything (Blue Buffalo, Maxcat, Merricks wet ANTHING). For days, they weren't getting any wet.

Then we realized that they were showing a lot of interest in the canned chicken (we get it from BJs and use it for chicken salad). In addition, I had used chicken baby food in the past to help bring ferals around and everyone loved it as a treat. So I thought, hmm, maybe a combination?

Success! everyone likes it. I use just a dollop of the baby food - the canned chicken is packed in water and is a little dry, so the baby food is sort of like gravy, which they all love. It's a little more work but that's OK. I was using Fancy Feast grilled chicken, so this isn't anymore expensive, either. The other wet foods I mentioned we up to double the cost, so I am happy with that!

And the bonus is, so far, the occasional vomiting has stopped. That is what originally started us on this food changing adventure.

Human food useful for cats?  Youghurt is good, at least OK, but probably good.  Goat milk is good (can be used as kitten milk too).

Cheese of most sorts.  Cheese in tubs is liked by many cats.  Although I suspect it shouldnt be more than a treat - there are many additions and salts...

Olive oil of good quality contains much E-vitamine - and thus is very useful in many situations, if the cat likes these fatty oils.

Olive oil is also useful externally, if they get sore paws...

 

Yellow of the eggs, (="yolk"), preferably raw, is excellent.  The problem is, in many countries salomonella on eggs is common... You can wash of the worst with boiling / boiling and soapy water,  but it is not 100% safe anyway.  As said above, healthy cats are not at all so sensitive to salmonella as humans, but who wants to risk - especielly if the cat is sick or nursing kittens.

 

Tuna conserves are ok, as treat.  If you give more often, you must add some extra E-vitamine in some appropriate way.

 

If the cat wants, she can surely nibble on most fruits and groceries... cant harm as long as washed.

 

Interesting about this peanut butter/ oil. I shall look up what it can contains.  Some nice fats and proteins, sure. Not so good as animal-sourced, but surely better than nothing.  Probably also E-vitamine it too...   And if the cat prefer peanut butter before  olive oils so...   :)

 

 

 

These cases I had heard about, where when there was a salomonella epidemy in birds. Them cats taking and eating prob. several of sick, heavy infested birds. Them being sick, they become of course an extra easy prey to cats...

 

But healthy cats are apparently more or less immune to salomonella in "common doses"...  Good.

 

The remaining question is to see, what the not so healthy cats, and nursing moms manage.  Do we dare give them raw yolk?  there are ways to wash off the worst from the outside, but some eggs are contaminated inside too...
 

 

My cats are so picky they hate most human foods just stick to their own food the problem with processed things is that there is so much salt in them nowadays.Floss is partial to some ham off the bone from the butchers at the farm where we go to though.x

 A little salt of different ions is necessary. And commercial cat foods are salted.  In raw food it is in the blood and body fluids and the whole meat itself...

  It is the too much we dont want.  Or at least, we want to choose from where we get the additional salts.
 

 

So glad you are happy with the site and the promptness of answering questions. WE DO TRY .... I would not ever add additional salt to any of my cat's food. There is salt added to commercially made cat food though.

Interesting discussion.

 

In truth, there is no good reason to give a cat anything that doesn't come from another animal. No matter how nutritious that product may be for humans, cats can't properly digest it and will not derive the same benefits... and might run into some digestive upsets.

 

If you want your cat to have more fat - to manage dandruff, improve fur condition or whatever - feed pieces of dark chicken or turkey meats, little bites of chicken skin, or chunks of pork loin meat. All of them are fatty and will be thoroughly and efficiently digested and used by the cat. Leave the olive oil on the shelf.

 

Most cats, as they transition from kittenhood to adulthood, naturally become lactose-intolerant, so dairy foods should be avoided or fed sparingly as treats.

 

There are, actually, studies on cats and salmonella. Cats have to be very sick or already seriously compromised for salmonella to effect them even in the smallest degree. Here's a quote from one such study that makes a statement and then references another study, "Healthy adult cats appear to have high immunological resistance to the development of clinical salmonellosis. In one study, experimental infection of healthy cats required inoculation of infectious organisms in numbers far exceeding those likely encountered in natural infection."

 

I worry less about my cats getting sick from food-borne pathogens in their raw-meat diet than I do stubbing my toe on any given day.

 

As for salt, cats have a very low dietary need for it. It's in cat food mostly as a flavor enhancer, and too much salt - even when sourced from raw blood - isn't healthy. Hearts are a great source of taurine, but can't be fed every day because of their high sodium content. Even blood has to be fed sparingly - no pouring out the bloody juices from a freshly opened pack of hearts and pouring it on a plate... it will nearly always result in vomiting.

 

In sum - source your cat's non-commercial foods and treats from other animals, and feed in moderation.

 

Best regards.

 

AC

I do put bone powder to every raw meat bowl they get, to balance out effect of meat burning consuming calcium. In nature they get calcium from bones of what they hunt.

It is rather cost effective and they eat it up without knowing it is in there.

Now commercial calcium pills then, those one I have found have had over 90% ash in them, ash is used in many cat foods too and it is ash that makes urinary issues too, most important is perhaps try to avoid ash, there are other names that they call ash, but it is ash as ash is in fireplace too, why anyone would feed that?

Many cat treats seem to have lot of ash too.

I have one cat that eats bread, he steals it from me at times, also he eats cardboard boxes too as well as newspapers, but I doubt those being any good for him.

Also they try to steal my tuna sandwiches, lot of paw reaching when I'm eating such, but tuna is also bad for cat, I think it was taurine that got destroyed by tuna, small amount rarely is still ok.

Cheese is probably ok with small amounts, but lot of cats are lactose sensitives so milk and cheese is bad for them.

Fish generally is only once in a week thing.

Any wheat, rice, vegetables are such that they are impossible to use as food for them, small amount of fiber is good for digestation, but in nature they get most of those in stomatch of what they hunt, so amount should be really small.

As they digestation system is so different from ours it is quite little foods that can be given so that it would be perfect match for what they need.

Raw chicken with bones and all is great, especially chicken wings if one can get those, here salmonella is not an issue, of course varies country by country.

One of my cats is also such that he tries to steal my pizza too, if I'm not careful he comes and bites from other end as I'm biting from other end, surely not suitable food for cat, but he is bit pf eating everything kind of cat and can does hit and run attacks too.

 

The 'ash' on a label is referring to what is left after the item has been burned. Minerals (calcium, phosphorus, etc) don't burn so the ash content of something is an indicator of the amount of minerals it contains. That is why a calcium pill has such a high ash content, it is almost all mineral.

You should *NOT* add bone meal (bone powder) to a canned or dry cat food. Bone meal is very high in calcium and those foods already have all the calcium your kitty needs. Adding more can be bad for your kitty.

 

This is true.

Cat food is engineered food, if it is any good it should have everything cat needs, but not too much of anything.

When I give raw meed I mess up with that balance, so bone powder is to even out changes it does make.

One can think there is no single good thing to be fed to cat, which is true, as it is always combination of many that makes a good diet.

My bone powder is from Germany, brand is Golden animal care, grau GmbH is company that has made this, I did order this via Zooplus web shop, but I would think that similar should be in any animal supplies shop of decent size.

One has to also pay attention to how much is put into meat it is better to really measure it, package should have instructions and at least mine came with little measure to use.

My cats change their minds what human food they like and even what cat food they like.

When I first got my Willie off the farm, he like raw eggs and Doritos. Now neither of those. yesterday he had a bit of humberger.

I always share if someone says they want what I am eating.

Smoked herring. They mostly want the oil. Again just a bid bit.

We had chicken salad with the canned chicken just the other day. No takers. That saddened me. I'll never get them on another diet plan at this rate.

I use to have a book on what human foods to prepare and how But I am not sure I still have that.

Like Auntie Crazy said, there is no good reason to give either PB or toast to cats; both foods are not natural for them to eat. Do I let my cat lick off the cheese residue from Laughing Cow wedges after I'm done eating one? Yes. But I also do it less than once a week and know it is not something he needs or is good for him. He just gets a little happy taste.
There are plenty of other better treats to give your cat. PB and toast are not on the list.

I love hearing other people talk about giving canned chicken, like for chicken salads... when I make chicken salad, I always let the boys have the chicken water it was packed in. I split it in two bowls -- Crumb will drink his until he's done, but Harvey will drink all of his and then Crumb's leftovers too! I figure it's never bad to con them into drinking a little more water. I do the same with tuna water, but we don't eat it very often, so it's a very special treat. They get so disappointed when I use the can opener and it's tomatoes... 

 

Awesome idea on the baby food, though! Thanks!

yes. Meuzette is the name of the cat on Gay Purrey. She looked like a French cat in the face when I found her n the parking lot. She looked like nobody has ever given her any respect. under weight, beat up, and dirty dry wisps for a coat. So I gave her the most dignified name I knew of.
 

 

 

I do that too with the canned chicken. can salmon too.

I use to feed the baby foods to an old cat I once had. to keep her alive. I was told to do that once. Cottage cheese too.

Yeah tomatoes spoils everything at my house too.