Oh, and why doesn't cat food come in "Mouse, Rat or Pigeon" flavors?

[IdaBriggs]

I mean, seriously, "seafood sensation" and "beef pate" -- this makes no sense to me.

I think they are marketing to the humans and NOT the kitties.

[rocktivity]

1. And as long as you've touched on the subject

How often do firefighters remove cat CORPSES from trees?


rocktivity

[Chan790]

2. Bingo.

Cat food flavors are chosen and marketed to appeal to consumers rather than the beings that consume the food. The most popular flavor of cat food is chicken...left to predatory-habit, cats will kill and/or eat just about anything before a chicken. Songbirds, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, mice, voles, insects, corvid, bats, moles, snakes, pigeons, reptiles, fish, frogs. Mine turns her back on chicken, actual chicken meat, for popcorn.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. I have wondered that myself.

It might be because it's too hard to make cat food out of mice, rats and pigeons because of their size and the numbers required. They'd have to be skinned and deboned (although cats eat the whole thing) to keep from grossing out the humans who'd buy the food. Or, it could be just that fish, beef and chicken actually tastes better and cats would rather eat that sort of meat than rats and mice and pigeons, but they can't catch and kill cows and even chickens would be iffy.

[pinboy3niner]

4. They tried it, but supermarkets complained

The cans kept moving around and falling off the shelves.

[Skittles]

5. lizard, cricket and bird-flavored

yes indeed

[marked50]

6. Cats don't really eat those things

they just kill them and drop them at your feet

[R B Garr]

7. LMAO - this reminds me of "Grilled Guts"

My SO and I were out getting cat food and grabbing at cans. I picked one up to read the label and without my glasses thought it said "Grilled Guts," but it really said "Grilled Cuts". LOL! I said to him, What the heck is this? Grilled Guts? It makes sense, though!

We still laugh about that.


edit to add: My kitties kinda turned their noses up at fish --no salmon, trout, etc., so we had to take the time to read the labels and get beef/chicken type combinations.

[Aerows]

27. The more disgusting it smells and looks

the better mine seems to like it.

[NV Whino]

8. I've never understood why no one markets six packs of frozen rats.

[IdaBriggs]

10. They do it for snakes.

I felt sorry for the rats.

[csziggy]

22. Mice to Go!

Serve your carnivorous snakes and lizards the excitement of real prey - without the hassle and mess of live rodents! Raised in a sanitary laboratory environment and formula-fed to provide superior nutrition for reptiles, frozen Mice To Go arrive ready to thaw and serve. Choose from a variety of sizes - Fuzzies, Pinkies, Small Mice, Large Mice, or Small Rats - for all of your carnivorous reptiles and pets. All Mice To Go are free of mites, ticks, and internal parasites. Available year-round.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=6016+7891+6045+28511&pcatid=28511

[NV Whino]

24. Perfect!

I may give this a try.

[blogslut]

9. Hell if I know.

All I know is that The Meanest Cat in the World™ will have nothing to do with fish flavors, barely tolerates beef and chicken but will begrudgingly eat turkey. And of course, no matter how she gobbles up the first and second portion of a can, the last portion becomes unpalatable.

[Aerows]

29. Your cat must be related to mine. n/t

[Liberal Veteran]

30. Ugh....DeeDee was like that.

I would bring home a variety of flavors and she would inhale one particular flavor. I'd buy 6 or 12 cans of that flavor and she'd look at me like I served her a cucumber and barely nibble at it.

[Douglas Carpenter]

11. parakeet and canary flavor would be popular with the ACTUAL consumer, I suppose

[IdaBriggs]

12. Based on my own personal life experience, yes.

My beloved "Free" kitty ate several of my not-free canaries in my youth.

[Tom Ripley]

13. Why doesn't dog food come in catshit flavor?

It seems as if it would be a big hit

[LynneSin]

15. Or catfood in used cat litter flavor

Abbott would have appreciated that one!

[LisaLynne]

16. Yeah, no kidding.

You should see the elaborate contraption I had to come up with to keep the dog out of the cat boxes while allowing my slightly unbright and very lazy cat to get to it. :/

[hifiguy]

36. OK, that was the biggest laff I have had today,

Brilliant.

[LynneSin]

14. Why doesn't dog food come in 'My recent poop' flavor...

just saying

[politicat]

17. Yes. My vet would like cat food to be whole mice or sardines or birds.

She is fine with the idea of grinding into a pate (because the humans still have to look at it) and the cooking/canning process, but cats need the fiber of the fur/feathers, the vegetable stomach contents, the bone calcium. She thinks she would see a lot less premature kidney failure if cats were eating a more appropriate diet. (And no frickin' corn or soy.) (yes, cats can have bird bones, provided they are either ground before cooking or not cooked. It's the cooking that causes the splinter danger.)

Not that our princess would touch it, but she's a princess and ancient and spoiled rotten.

[Kber]

18. People have more money.

And opposable thumbs.

That's why they market to us.

[NightWatcher]

19. Next you'll want dog treats to come in "Ass" and "Taint" flavors

[IdaBriggs]

20. O.M.G.

BRILLIANT!!!

[KamaAina]

21. Or Broccoli

Srsly. I once knew a kitteh who had a serious jones for broccoli! And the damnedest thing is, he weighed well over 30 lbs.!

[Aerows]

26. I had one that cried for corn

You couldn't cook corn without giving her some. She would beg, plead and then attempt to jump in your plate if you did not give her some corn.

[fizzgig]

23. my dim kitty still wouldn't eat it

she turns her nose up at just about anything other than her dry food and treats. she'll take a few licks off a scoop of wet food, maybe a bit of tuna from time to time, but nothing else. no meat, no cheese, no human food.

the other one would probably eat the shit out of it, but she thinks she eats everything.

[Aerows]

25. Mine wants lizard flavored

She snacks on them like they are going out of style. It's disgusting. She leaves the bad parts - stomach and intestines - laying out like little pearls of wisdom.

It's just plain gross.

I love her anyway.

[Duer 157099]

28. They do

They just call them "seafood sensation" and "beef pate" -- but I bet they taste just like mouse, rat or pigeon.

[Aerows]

31. What about shrew flavor?

My cat committed genocide. In one night she brought home *8* of them. Flattened, eviscerated shrew bodies were freaking EVERYWHERE. Just nasty. There are no shrews around.

Eww, and the damn possum she dragged home that was still alive but bleeding out from a throat wound.

My sweet kitty. Curls up at my feet and terrorizes everything when she can.

[alarimer]

32. And how do they determine "New and Improved Taste" for pet food?

Who does the testing? I mean a dog can't tell you whether it tastes better or not.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

34. As it turns out, sometimes they use human taste testers. Really.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/26562/inside-surprisingly-delicious-world-cat-food-taste-testing

And here are some cat food reviews with beverage pairings: http://www.vice.com/read/what-cat-food-tastes-like

[hifiguy]

37. Man, how hard up for a gig would you have to be

to be a CAT FOOD taster?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

40. Nom nom nom.

[Wounded Bear]

33. I don't think cats can read....

And if my bank gave a cat an account, I'd find another one.

[Tom_Foolery]

35. It all tastes like chicken anyway. n/t

[840high]

38. You're so right. When I

see chicken and liver I assume my kitties won't like it cuz I don't like liver.

[eppur_se_muova]

39. I just tell them that's what it is -- they don't know the difference anyway. nt