# Cats & Pork



## HELLO_KITTY (Apr 4, 2006)

Okay . . .

I know this is going to be a silly question, but I swear I do not know the answer.

Why is there no pork flavor cat food? Is pork bad for cats? I'm guessing yes, since no cat food contains pork to the best of my knowledge. 

Oddly enough, my two picky eaters (who will not eat cat treats) both enjoyed some cooked ham from Easter dinner. I’m guessing it was a bad idea to let them have a little treat of this - ?????


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## Sky Eyes Woman (Feb 26, 2006)

When ham is made there are a lot of preservatives and salt added to it, so I'd keep that as an occasional RARE treat. I'm not sure about the pork flavor cat food, though.


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## nanook (Jun 12, 2005)

Pork and ham are not good for cats. That's why they aren't in cat foods. From what I understand they contain fat globules that are too large to pass through a cats blood vessels and can clog them. And, of course prepared hams and lunch meats contain nitrites, tons of sodium and other preservatives that are extremely bad for them. They aren't good for us either but we're much bigger so the amounts aren't as dangerous.
All that being said, I'm sure a very occassional, little treat wouldn't hurt.


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## HELLO_KITTY (Apr 4, 2006)

. . . Ah thank you. I was just curious why I had never seen a prok flavored cat food.

I guess my kitties won't get getting anymore ham. :?


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## moggiegirl (May 15, 2005)

If you study the ingredients of Hill's pet food, especially some of the prescription diets like Hill's m/d they do use pork fat and pork proteins. That's one of the reasons I don't like Hills. Poultry fat is a much better source of linolic acid for cats and I did read somewhere on the Petco (don't know if it's still there but I will check it out) website on cat care that pork fat is not good for cats, another reason you're not supposed to give cats bacon, the fat from pork is too course for a cat's digestive system.


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## HELLO_KITTY (Apr 4, 2006)

I was doing some research and I came across this regarding pork used in cat foods. I thought I should share it:

_Pork meal is the dry rendered (cooked down) product from a combination of clean flesh and skin (with or without accompanying bone), derived from the parts of whole carcasses of pigs or a combination thereof -- exclusive of head, feet or entrails.

In general, pork is an approved ingredient but there are palatability issues with pork as compared to other meats. It is difficult to make a highly palatable pet food using pork without adding flavor enhancers. Another problem is that there is an inadequate supply of pork meal that is free from by-products.

One word of caution: You should know that problems could arise when cured pork is fed regularly (e.g. bacon). It is high in salt, sugar and sodium nitrite (which has been linked to stomach cancer). All of these substances in high concentrations are unhealthy, and dogs are particularly sensitive to nitrites, which can cause severe reactions in susceptible dogs._


. . . Eagle Pack also used pork in some of their cat food falvours. But not in all of them . . .


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## moggiegirl (May 15, 2005)

HELLO_KITTY said:


> I was doing some research and I came across this regarding pork used in cat foods. I thought I should share it:
> 
> _Pork meal is the dry rendered (cooked down) product from a combination of clean flesh and skin (with or without accompanying bone), derived from the parts of whole carcasses of pigs or a combination thereof -- exclusive of head, feet or entrails.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the information.


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## EChryst (Aug 8, 2005)

Good, another reason to NOT have ham (the devil) (which I CANNOT stand) in the house. Great information guys!


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## Ann* (Mar 6, 2006)

Pork can contain Aujeszky's disease, a very dangerous disease. When they get it, they die, there's no cure.
Chances that pork contains this virus are very small, but who would take that chance?


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## Sol (Feb 20, 2003)

There's nothing wrong with feeding cats pork, depending on where you live. As already mentioned pork can be contaminated with a virus that causes Aujeszky's disease (Pseudorabies). In some countries (maybe in some states in the US) Pseudorabies has been eliminated. Sweden has been free from Pseudorabies for over 10 years so here it's not an issue. Pork can also be contaminated with Trichinella, some countries such as Sweden have very strict testing programs for Trichinella and contaminated meat is destroyed. 

If you ask my cats there's nothing wrong with the palatability of pork, they love it! I raw feed them and raw pork is a part of their menu. As for the fat... some say the fat from pork is bad for cats (though I've never seen any studies on that) and others say that the fat from pork is good for cats (that it's closely related to the fats found in rodents).

My theory, in reasonable amounts it at least doesn't cause any health problems. I believe in variation.

I do know of two petfood companies that do use pork: Hill's and Specific. Specific is a European petfood company and they're one of two European petfood companies that make decent wetfood.


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## moggiegirl (May 15, 2005)

I've also seen it listed on the bags of certain foods in a health food store. I don't remember if this was at Henry's or Trader Joe's. But this proves that there are pet food companies that use pork in their cat food recipes.


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