# What's in catfood.



## jusjim (Jun 30, 2009)

Given the scandal in the UK and Europe over horsemeat getting into supermarket food for people, I wonder how much horsemeat gets into cat food.

Would you feed a food that listed 'horse'? Yet venison sems to be well accepted; that's deermeat. Would you feed it if it was listed as deermeat?

There used to be peddlers who went around in the UK selling sliced cooked cat's meat (in this case not the meat of cats, but food for cats) that I always understood to be horse.

I'm not sure I'd deliberately feed my cat horse, but are we fooled by acceptable names when we feed our little friends?


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

I hope not too much horse meat goes into pet food, but you just never know. I would not eat, nor would I feed to my pets, horse meat unless under some kind of crazy food shortage. There's other options out there.

Horses are animals people have closely worked with and are domesticated. They are tightly linked to our founding of civilization as we know it... meanwhile, deer have always been a source of food, they're tightly linked to what humans used to survive on as a food source. They're cute, but we didn't ride in on them, if you know what I mean.

Yes, I'd still feed deer to cats. Some cats need less common meat sources anyway due to allergies, it's important to have variety. I've also eaten venison before. Not my favourite, but I wasn't really disgusted by it either. I like deer, as an animal, but the same can be said for cows, sheep, chicken and pigs. I still have to eat meat, I'm not vegetarian. It's just like "pork", "beef" and "poultry" and "lamb"... fancy names for "pig", "cow", "chicken" and "sheep".


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## Blakeney Green (Jan 15, 2013)

I don't see much difference between eating horses and cows, honestly, except that in this country we're conditioned to see cows as food and horses as non-food. 

That said, if I discovered there was horse meat in my cats' food, I would be upset... not because it's horse in particular, but because with the amount I pay I expect a certain standard of quality, which includes an accurate label. If the label doesn't correctly list the meat source, that isn't a standard of quality I find acceptable.

It's not so much about the specifics as about wanting to be able to trust that what's in my boys' food is what the label says is in it.


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

It's illegal to use horse meat in pet food, but I'd still bet that there's plenty of horse in "meat meal".


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## 3gatos (Nov 28, 2012)

I would most definitely feed horse meat to my animals. I really want to try it and probably would if it wasn't illegal. I feel it's no different than beef or goat meat.


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## Whenthecatsaway (Jan 3, 2013)

Ditto to the post above, I love trying all different foods and meat specifically, I live in the uk and has made me want to buy a ready meal to try it but most have been taken down and I'm not a fan of ready meals haha! Knowing Lenny, horse will upset his tummy lol! There's only two foods we have found that don't upset his tummy and both too expensive to have a mix up like this... I hope!! 


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## jusjim (Jun 30, 2009)

doodlebug said:


> It's illegal to use horse meat in pet food,


That's interesting. A US law I presume. I wonder how and why that came about. 

I've just read that it came about in the 1970s, but it doesn't say why.

Wikipedia has a long article on 'Horse Slaughter', but I haven't linked to it because it could cause some distress to horse lovers who otherwise wouldn't search for it.


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## Zilla (Oct 29, 2012)

If I found out horse meat was in my cats food I'd be trying to sue someone like a lot of people would I'm sure..... No offense to those in the countries who eat horse out there but horses arnt cows nor are they goats... Horses were part of the building of our history in every sort of way.... Last time I checked a cow or a goat wouldn't work itself to death for a lower being like us humans .... Lower being meaning they are 1200 pound animals who could easily kill anything if they wanted to but yet they submit to our every need more so than a dog.... Not saying that each living thing doesn't deserve credit... but for me the horse deserves A LOT more credit than it gets.... They are beautiful smart and powerful animals.... I would say they are smarter than a dog and a lot of people don't know that.... The amount of work and training that goes into teaching a horse is mind boggling compared to a dogs... Not the basic sit down stay rollover.... It's WAY more than that and very complex.... And you cannot over power a horse like you can a dog.... But that's just my two cents coming from my training and my love for horses :lol: 


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## Zilla (Oct 29, 2012)

In other words if I was gonna choose an animal to be in a "who can learn most competition".... I would pick a horse over a dog any day of the week.... 


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

A little googling yielded the fact that yes, rendering plants can accept horses. So if you feed anything with "meat meal" or "meat by products" in it, you can be pretty sure that sometimes there will be horse meat in there (it varies from batch to batch depending on what is brought to the rendering plant).


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## RNcatlover (Feb 11, 2013)

I have two horses... That's horrible! I couldn't imagine slaughtering a horse and putting it into cat food. Disgusting! So it's legal in the US? You would think we would be better than that...but obviously not. 






















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## RNcatlover (Feb 11, 2013)

And coming from a horse lover, they are not the same as cows, whatsoever! They are used for labor, competition, rodeos, etc. a cow could never do or learn what a horse can do. A cow does not develop emotions towards its owner, only fear. Horses are second to dogs when it comes to being mans best friend. If you say you would eat a horse, then you have never had the pleasure of riding one. There is a sense of freedom when you take a horse for a ride. It's therapeutic. They are big creatures with big personalities. A horse being in my cats food is on par with a dog being in my cats food. Horrifying! 


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## RNcatlover (Feb 11, 2013)

On the subject of venison, I would feed that to my cats because I eat and hunt deer. And it's delicious.  Deer are the same to me as a wild pig or wild turkey. 


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## jusjim (Jun 30, 2009)

Zilla said:


> In other words if I was gonna choose an animal to be in a "who can learn most competition".... I would pick a horse over a dog any day of the week....
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Not sure I'd one hundred percent go along with the smartness comparison, but there was Hans (I think that was the name), the horse that was said to be able to count. Then they blocked his vision off from his guardian and the counting stopped. Not a smart horse at all, they said. However, for me it only proved the horse was smart. It could see signals it's guardian didn't know he was giving.

Cats are very smart. Missy knows when her food is ready just by listening to the sounds I make as I finish preparing it. Zenobi was smart in that we leaned to communicate, some, with sign language. I'll never forget the intense look on her face as I pantomimed for her not to bite me anymore.

In a who could learn more competition much would depend on who was doing the teaching and what was being taught. When was the last time a horse was trained to herd sheep by whistle commands?


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## jusjim (Jun 30, 2009)

RNcatlover said:


> A cow does not develop emotions towards its owner, only fear.


Depends on the owner. It has been shown that dairy cows given a name and petted give up to a third more milk. Things not tried cannot be said not to work. And I've just remembered the picture I saw the other day of a young boy riding a calf with reins.


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## jusjim (Jun 30, 2009)

RNcatlover said:


> I have two horses... That's horrible! I couldn't imagine slaughtering a horse and *putting it into cat food*. Disgusting! *So it's legal in the US?* You would think we would be better than that...but obviously not.


*Not legal in US since 1970s* 

Horses slated for slaughter in the US are now shipped to Mexico or Canada. Most of the meat is then shipped to Europe.


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## Blakeney Green (Jan 15, 2013)

RNcatlover said:


> A cow does not develop emotions towards its owner, only fear.


This isn't true in my experience. My family were farmers for generations, and their dairy cows often became extremely attached to them and are fondly remembered by name and habits.

Humans just don't train meat animals to become attached to us, the way we train animals we keep around.

I love horses. I had a horse I was very fond of. However, having grown up in mostly rural areas, I've found that what animals we consider pets and what animals we consider food is actually pretty arbitrary, and is more based on aesthetics than the animal's intelligence or ability to attach. *shrug*


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

Personally, I don't see a difference between using horses and beef, emotionally speaking. I love horses, had always had horses until recently. Majestic, amazing, sweet, and wonderful animals....but so are cows. Cows can have the sweetest and most affectionate temperaments, if they aren't raised like a hunk of meat with hooves.

That said, I worry a lot less about horse meat 'sneaking' into my cats food than how many diseased animals are slipped in under that meat meal and by product labeling.


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

As long as the horse or cow is not diseased I don't see a problem with it.


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## RNcatlover (Feb 11, 2013)

Yes, I suppose I was being a tad biased. My boyfriends family raises their cows and then sells them off to local farmers to be...well...slaughtered! Those cows have always been very fearful of humans and won't come near you, even the mama cows who have been around for years. BUT, I shouldn't have wrote that because I know plenty of girls who do rodeo shows/competitions with calfs and I'm sure they're sweet. I'm just biased because I don't view horses and cows in the same light together. Sure, they're cute but I have never looked at one as a pet, personally (some people probably do). Horses, on the other hand, I view as part of my family. I think everyone is entitled to their own opinions-- BUT, personally, I would cry if I found out horse meat was being sold in supermarkets and would throw a fit. It's all how you're brought up though. I know plenty of people who are against hunting but are meat eaters. They could never take Bambi down, but I could. So, I suppose some would look at that as evil, like how I look at horse meat  lol, all depends on where you come from!


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## Zilla (Oct 29, 2012)

jusjim said:


> Not sure I'd one hundred percent go along with the smartness comparison, but there was Hans (I think that was the name), the horse that was said to be able to count. Then they blocked his vision off from his guardian and the counting stopped. Not a smart horse at all, they said. However, for me it only proved the horse was smart. It could see signals it's guardian didn't know he was giving.
> 
> In a who could learn more competition much would depend on who was doing the teaching and what was being taught. When was the last time a horse was trained to herd sheep by whistle commands?


I'm not talking about tricks. I'm talking about what a proper trainer teaches a horse in general.... It's not black and white like it is when you train a dog. There's complex grey area.... I attended Meredith Manor Equestrian Center in West Virginia for college and the amount of information I learned there was astounding... I don't even have to ride the horse and I still think I would beat out a dog with what I can do with that horse just being on the ground with it... The things I learned at that school amazed me. And I wish more people could see how they did things there because it was truly amazing to watch and learn how to do it.... How many dogs do you know that can turn right and left and do a flying lead change without you saying a single thing or making any sound?? Or even change gaits at the same time while doing all that ^^^..... This video I'll link to is a prime example of what a horse is capable of doing.... It's a tremendous video and I encourage everyone to watch... Any horse person who knows what work it takes to get whats in this video knows what Im talking about... Personally this video makes me cry :lol: 




Now after watching that video... You got to watch the whole thing so you can see the exciting slides and stuff not just the first part of it. Now you tell me how shes getting that horse to do all those things with NO saddle, NO bridle, and NO verbal signals.... The only thing that touches the horse is her butt, her legs, and sometimes her hands but not even the whole time... When you build a relationship like that with a horse they can TRULY READ YOUR MIND and Im not exaggerating.... Shes getting the horse to do all those movements with her legs and the rhythm of her seat (butt) moving... But the horse is also feeling her every "vibe". Its hard for me to explain but when you can connect with a horse and can move him/her just by changing the vibe you put off its the greatest feeling in the world.... in my opinion. When I say vibe Im talking about your emotions. Like mad, sad, excited, urgent etc. Think it and they will feel it  Hope you all liked the video.


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## Zilla (Oct 29, 2012)

And I also agree on cows having attachments to people too  Granted I still think they are a strictly food animal... But I used to raise bucket calves for 4-H and I kept a couple of them. They really do get attached to you... Even when you put them out in a herd after they are weaned off the bottle... They still know its you and still probably come up and try to lick you like mine always did haha :lol: Or headbutt you trying to play... When they are little its cute... but when they are big.. not so much... Speaking from experience :lol: one of the ones I kept I showed as a steer the year after... While in the show ring he head butted me and I was between his head and the iron panels... Wasnt so fun and it didnt feel so great either :| lol But he didnt mean to hurt me. He was just trying to have a little fun....


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## RNcatlover (Feb 11, 2013)

I love that video!!! Horses are a truly amazing animal. 


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## Zilla (Oct 29, 2012)

RNcatlover said:


> I love that video!!! Horses are a truly amazing animal.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Hehe ME TOO! It seriously makes me cry just watching it because its so beautiful. Not even the movements... I dont even care about those... but the relationship and the amount of work she has put into that animal is beautiful. :angel


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

Zilla, I looked at Meredith Manor when I was college hunting. We toured it on our way to Virginia Tech.


For you horse lovers, here's a video on how it should always be done  It's thought provoking, touching, and sad all at the same time.


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## Zilla (Oct 29, 2012)

MowMow said:


> Zilla, I looked at Meredith Manor when I was college hunting. We toured it on our way to Virginia Tech.
> 
> 
> For you horse lovers, here's a video on how it should always be done  It's thought provoking, touching, and sad all at the same time.
> ...


Ahh did you like it?? Not the fanciest facilities but they are functional. Very hard hands on school.... I would almost compare it with boot camp if I knew what it that was like.... I'm a tall skinny girl.. Never had muscle in my life until I came out of that place.... And I never had to step foot into a gym... Haha everyone wanna know what's the GREATEST AB workout is!?? Riding a horse the right way is the hardest AB workout you would ever do in your life time.... :lol: PAIN! But totally worth it.... 


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## RNcatlover (Feb 11, 2013)

Haha true that! ^^^. As well as thigh work out. Everyone should learn to ride bare back... Talk about balance + strength training. Haha! 


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

I didn't care for it, I wound up at Bluefield College in VA.

They lost me on 3 major point.
No turnout for my horse. He was a 4 year old and came with me. There was no way I was locking a young horse in a stall for most of his time. It's just cruel, imo.

They told me I had to SHARE him. I got him as a yearling and no one but me had ever ridden him, I wasn't going to start then. Plus paying full board AND letting strangers ride him rubbed me majorly the wrong way.

I wasnt allowed to ride my own horse outside of lessons. No quiet hacks through the woods, no working in the arena. Teacher or nothing. Forget that. Danny and I were used to spending hours tooling around together.

My dad also didn't care for the facility or the fact that he'd pay for tuition and I'd come out without anything to fall back on, since it wasn't an accredited college.


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## Zilla (Oct 29, 2012)

IT did have its flaws... I wont lie... I didnt agree with everything. But the instructors and what they taught were amazing. I learned a LOT from them.


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## RNcatlover (Feb 11, 2013)

MowMow said:


> I didn't care for it, I wound up at Bluefield College in VA.
> 
> They lost me on 3 major point.
> No turnout for my horse. He was a 4 year old and came with me. There was no way I was locking a young horse in a stall for most of his time. It's just cruel, imo.
> ...


WOW... that's crazy they don't turn out their horses. And to tell you that you have to SHARE your horse? :\ hmph. no way, everyone rides differently...I wouldn't want just random people riding my horse. And no free riding? :sad That's sad... I don't think I would care for that either. I love my trail rides/arena rides by myself. I couldn't do it!


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## Zilla (Oct 29, 2012)

They had turn out but it was only arena turn out and you had to go do it yourself... When I was there they didnt make you share your horse if you didnt want to but you had to pay double for board. :/ There was no trail riding either... which I agree is lame... Sometimes after class they would let you ride around but only around the campus barns and such.... they didnt have space for turning out all horses freely...


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## RNcatlover (Feb 11, 2013)

Well that's a bummer... but I guess it might be pretty costly to have all those horses turned out.


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## Zilla (Oct 29, 2012)

Yeah it was kinda in a really bad location.... In a better location Im sure things would be different... Its literally DOWN at the bottom of a valley in between mountains :| worst cell phone service on this earth... that part of it was NOT fun lol


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## RNcatlover (Feb 11, 2013)

Oooooh...but in a valley surrounded by mountains? I think that might make up for no pasture, lol! :crazy


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

Please get back on topic...


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## cinderflower (Apr 22, 2012)

jusjim said:


> Given the scandal in the UK and Europe over horsemeat getting into supermarket food for people, I wonder how much horsemeat gets into cat food.
> 
> Would you feed a food that listed 'horse'? Yet venison sems to be well accepted; that's deermeat. Would you feed it if it was listed as deermeat?
> 
> ...


i thought people ate horse regularly in france? at least i just saw on "bizarre foods" with anthony zimmern that they were eating horse heart tartare on horse tongue. i didn't find it appetizing in the least, but obviously, somewhere, someone does.

would i feed it if it listed horsemeat? even though it is illegal to put in pet food, AAFCO established standards that prohibited horses, cattle and chickens from being used in farm animal feed. it was really common for feed manufacturers to recycle dead farm animals into their feed, effectively making them into cannibals. from what i understand, there aren't separate standards for cat and dog food, it's essentially the same institution setting nutrition standards. however, pet food companies seem to have no problem saying that the pentobarbital found in dog/cat food is from euthanized cows and horses. so they're admitting horses are used, and it isn't listed on the labels. 

after i started buying "designer" cat food, a friend of mine told me his sister raised vizslas and she started making her own dog food 20 years ago. she used horse meat and rice. where you buy horse meat in the united states is a mystery to me, and i didn't ask where she got it.

if it were legally sold for human consumption in the u.s., yeah, i might use it. i've owned horses and ridden them, and i haven't eaten meat for 37 years, but animals eat other animals. i guess as long as the horses weren't raised specifically to be slaughtered for cat food, it would be a non-issue for me. whatever kind of meat people think is acceptable is strictly a matter of acculturation. people eat cats and dogs in some countries, australians eat kangaroos, other cultures probably eat rats, and even in the appalachians and probably a few southern states, people in the united states eat squirrels, jackrabbits, oppossums, alligators and crayfish. i certainly wouldn't eat any of that, but if it were sold in the grocery store as clean for human consumption (like kidneys, heart, tongue and rocky mountain oysters--which are testicles), if my cats would eat it, i'd serve it to them. i guess the only line i draw is feeding them other cats or dogs. or even guinea pigs or canaries.

i haven't decided yet if i'll actually buy any rocky mountain oysters and make cat food out of them.


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## scottd (Jun 28, 2011)

I'm a vegetarian so I obviously wouldn't eat horse anymore than I will eat a cow or chicken.

My cat and foster kitten get chicken and turkey with a bit of fish occasionally. So no, they wouldn't get horse either. I'm comfortable that the food I buy has what it says in it so it doesn't worry me.


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

cinderflower said:


> however, pet food companies seem to have no problem saying that the pentobarbital found in dog/cat food is from euthanized cows and horses. so they're admitting horses are used, and it isn't listed on the labels.
> 
> i haven't decided yet if i'll actually buy any rocky mountain oysters and make cat food out of them.


I did some quick research the other day when this thread was started. It wasn't explicitly stated, but what I kind of gathered is that it is illegal to raise and slaughter horses for the purposes of using it in human or pet food. But that doesn't seem to apply when the horse dies...whether of old age, sick and/or euthanized and the body is disposed of by sending it to a rendering plant. Then it very likely ends up in pet food...it doesn't show on the label because they toss the horse in the rendering vat with various other rejects (4D animals, roadkill, past date grocery meat, other euthanized animals including dogs and cats etc.) and use the generic term "meat meal", "meat & bone meal" or "meat by-products" and "animal fat" for the resulting product. 

On a side note...I've eaten Rocky Mountain Oysters. Sliced, breaded and fried with side of marinara for dipping. Quite tasty...:lol:


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## Dharma2436 (Feb 2, 2013)

I live in France and no, it's not a common meat to eat. However, there are specific horsemeat stalls on the markets ......and people here are far more open to eating all types of food: wild boar, deer, rabbit, hare and all types of offal.

There is no difference in eating horse, beef, dog, chicken IMO, It's a question of emotional attachment and keeping 'pretty' animals strictly off the menu. How many of us really know what crap we are eating?


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## NebraskaCat (Jan 15, 2013)

> On a side note...I've eaten Rocky Mountain Oysters. Sliced, breaded and fried with side of marinara for dipping. Quite tasty...:lol:


My parents operate a medium sized (~2500 acre) cattle ranch in western Nebraska. Every spring when they castrate the bull calves at branding time, the oysters get thrown to the barn cats and they LOVE them.


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## RNcatlover (Feb 11, 2013)

Hey I love them too. Good calf fries. Haha


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## cinderflower (Apr 22, 2012)

doodlebug said:


> I did some quick research the other day when this thread was started. It wasn't explicitly stated, but what I kind of gathered is that it is illegal to raise and slaughter horses for the purposes of using it in human or pet food. But that doesn't seem to apply when the horse dies...whether of old age, sick and/or euthanized and the body is disposed of by sending it to a rendering plant. Then it very likely ends up in pet food...it doesn't show on the label because they toss the horse in the rendering vat with various other rejects (4D animals, roadkill, past date grocery meat, other euthanized animals including dogs and cats etc.) and use the generic term "meat meal", "meat & bone meal" or "meat by-products" and "animal fat" for the resulting product.


 yep, they're sneaky. as far as the pentobarbital showing up, if it were from any large animal it would be a horse or a zoo animal because they use a bolt gun on cows. unless you maybe had a pet cow for years and she got sick, but the very fact that they find traces of it is enough for me to ensure that my cats aren't eating their recently deceased relatives.



> On a side note...I've eaten Rocky Mountain Oysters. Sliced, breaded and fried with side of marinara for dipping. Quite tasty...:lol:





Dharma2436 said:


> I live in France and no, it's not a common meat to eat. However, there are specific horsemeat stalls on the markets ......and people here are far more open to eating all types of food: wild boar, deer, rabbit, hare and all types of offal.





NebraskaCat said:


> My parents operate a medium sized (~2500 acre) cattle ranch in western Nebraska. Every spring when they castrate the bull calves at branding time, the oysters get thrown to the barn cats and they LOVE them.





RNcatlover said:


> Hey I love them too. Good calf fries. Haha


 
oh em gee. you guys are too much. i have eaten stuff like escargot and frogs' legs way in the past, but RMO was one thing i was never exposed to. i would imagine you could bread and deep fry doc martens and they'd taste okay lol. i won't even ask you what they taste like haha. but good to know that cats like them. i have no problem making cat food with offal like heart, liver and kidneys, i just don't see the nutritional value of stuff like intestines, and i will *not* be buying any chitlins. i have been in a house where they were being cooked, you have to go to incredible lengths to clean them and they* really* smell bad. there's probably some protein there, i'm just going to pass.

i didn't mean people in france go to mickey d's and order a hi ho silver burger, i just knew that it is sold for human consumption there. like a lot of other things americans won't eat--escargot, frog's legs, and of course, brains. which sounds much nicer when they call it "sweetbreads." unless that's just the thymus gland but it's pretty much brains to me.


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## cat owner again (Dec 14, 2012)

I guess I always thought they cremated euthanized dogs. The thought that we are feeding our previous pets to our current pets doesn't sit well. Not everyone feels the same about meat. I have been to dinner with someone from Korea that told me they eat dogs there. I guess we just do the best we can.


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## ecat (Nov 18, 2012)

I hope nobody finds this offensive, but I find the comments about horses somehow being different/more important to humans because of their role as animal labour kind of perplexing and a bit... well, I'll leave it at that. I am a vegetarian and see no difference whatsoever between killing and eating a horse and killing and eating a cow.

The reason why I would be upset to find that my cat's food was horse is the health risks. Many horses are given medication that makes them unfit for consumption after death.


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## scottd (Jun 28, 2011)

ecat said:


> I hope nobody finds this offensive, but I find the comments about horses somehow being different/more important to humans because of their role as animal labour kind of perplexing and a bit... well, I'll leave it at that. I am a vegetarian and see no difference whatsoever between killing and eating a horse and killing and eating a cow.


I fully agree with you on that.


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## cat owner again (Dec 14, 2012)

If we are to eat animals, wouldn't it be nice if we knew they were raised comfortably, humanly and somehow killed without much suffering to the animal. The cats seem to play (torture) their catch before they consume them.


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## jusjim (Jun 30, 2009)

cat owner again said:


> I guess I always thought they cremated euthanized dogs. The thought that we are feeding our previous pets to our current pets doesn't sit well. Not everyone feels the same about meat. I have been to dinner with someone from Korea that told me they eat dogs there. I guess we just do the best we can.


Maybe it's time to revisit the thread about getting our departed pets stuffed.

Eating dog is one thing, but I've heard that they kill them in Korea by slow strangualtion because it make the meat sweeter.

I don't think it's illegal to eat dog in Nortrh America, but the animal must be killed humanely.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

ecat said:


> I hope nobody finds this offensive, but I find the comments about horses somehow being different/more important to humans because of their role as animal labour kind of perplexing and a bit... well, I'll leave it at that. I am a vegetarian and see no difference whatsoever between killing and eating a horse and killing and eating a cow.


To be human is to judge things... you're judging others by their opinions, and I do too. Horses serve a different purpose to us than cows, they always have. In the end, yeah all meat is equal... so what stops us from being cannibals? We don't do it except in extreme situations. Sometimes animals eat their own kind yet we draw the lie somewhere before cannibalism. We're all animals, and many animals work on symbiotic relationships; not killing those that help it. At companion animals that have been known to serve a greater purpose, and a greater bond to people, that's where I draw the line. Some cultures do eat cats and dogs, they place a different value on life than I do... they don't view them the way I do. You place a different value on life than I do too. We're all different.


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## Pursestan (Dec 31, 2012)

I'd feed my cats anything that they could naturally eat if they were in the wild. For me, that means small rodents and the occasional fish-flavored meal.
I'm not a big fan of beef and large game flavors because I know that my 10 lb cat would never actually eat that. Interestingly, neither of them seem to like those flavors anyhow (i.e. beef, venison, etc).
I wouldn't deliberately feed horse because of the same line of thinking. Not because I find them special (I think that horses are awesome, BTW, but plenty of people eat them all around the world, including in Europe). What one finds acceptable to eat wild depend on their cultural heritage and personal views.


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## Blakeney Green (Jan 15, 2013)

Pursestan said:


> What one finds acceptable to eat wild depend on their cultural heritage and personal views.


Yeah, this is so true. My friends from India think it's horrifying that we eat cows in this country, for example. 

I think as you do, that we need to just accept that different people and cultures have different views, and agree to disagree. Not that we can't give our opinions and discuss the subject, of course - but in the end, there's not going to be any one answer that everybody accepts.


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## Zilla (Oct 29, 2012)

Blakeney Green said:


> Yeah, this is so true. My friends from India think it's horrifying that we eat cows in this country, for example.


I find that culture so interesting.... Id love to go there someday and learn why they view things the way they do. 


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## Blakeney Green (Jan 15, 2013)

Zilla said:


> I find that culture so interesting.... Id love to go there someday and learn why they view things the way they do.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Yeah, it's an extremely interesting country. I've never been there, but I have friends who are immigrants who came from India.

In their religion the cow represents Dharma (the natural law that upholds the universe) and cows were tended by the god Krishna, so cows are sacred and some people believe that harming them may bring suffering and disaster.

I practice a different religion so I don't share their beliefs, but I still think it's interesting to learn about how other cultures see things.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

In the news today:



> The discovery of horse DNA in food products sold throughout Europe has set off a scandal, shaking confidence in Europe's food industry and angering consumers.
> 
> But believe it or not, it’s actually legal to slaughter horses for human consumption in the U.S. In November 2011, Congress quietly lifted a five-year ban on funding for horse processing inspections.
> 
> ...


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## cat owner again (Dec 14, 2012)

Wow I hardly can eat the meat we do eat without eating meat of animals that we use for recreation or have for pets.


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## Gummers (Mar 8, 2012)

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jusjim said:


> *Not legal in US since 1970s*
> 
> Horses slated for slaughter in the US are now shipped to Mexico or Canada. Most of the meat is then shipped to Europe.


Usually to Mexico, where slaughterhouse conditions have even lower standards in the US. Makes us feel better though, cause we're not the ones doing it.


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## Gummers (Mar 8, 2012)

marie73 said:


> In the news today:
> 
> Since the ban was lifted, no horse slaughterhouses have successfully opened, according to Holly Hazard, a senior vice president at the Humane Society of the United States who tracks equine rights issues.
> 
> “We have yet to have a new [horse processing] facility open in this country,” Hazard said, adding that attempts to open slaughterhouses in New Mexico and Missouri last year were scrapped due to public outrage.


Interesting. So where does the public think we are sending these horses to slaughter? They're going somewhere, and if they have to be slaughtered I'd rather it be done in the US so we can take some responsibility for it instead of just sending them to Mexico or where ever. The 'public outrage' won't make the problem go away, it'll make suffering for horses worse by just shipping them to a country with lower butchering standards.

Sorry for the soapbox there.


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## JungliBillis (Mar 20, 2013)

Horse meat is delicious! I wouldn't mind my cats eating it. On the other hand, I worry more about how the commonly used meat (chicken, beef, pork) being fed loads of hormones and antibiotics. I try to eat only organic meat for that reason, and I wish I could give the same to my kittens...


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

AdoptAnAngel said:


> I wonder about this at times. I can't imagine eating people but then again, I was raised in a society that shuns that.


Not me, I work with attorneys....


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## Josine (Dec 7, 2012)

My friend worked at a slaughterhouse in Wisconsin where they sold raw product (slurry) to pet food companies. He told me they could use "just about anything" in pet food including diseased animals, hooves, beaks, etc. The thing that disgusted me was that they bought roadkill from locals by the pound... yuk.


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