Is it safe to eat cat food or dog food?

[raccoon]

Just wondering. Just in case you were trapped in a blizzard and only had Fluff's/Fido's canned or dry food for sustenance.

[DS1]

1. Depends

How big is Fluff/Fido?

[raccoon]

5. Are you referring to eating the animal, or the fact that the animal would be competing for food? nt

[CreekDog]

6. In the wild, WE are food to the cat

not the other way around :P

[DS1]

8. Well, one could lead to another I suppose

but if Fido wanted that Alpo, you might just have to let him have it.


/words chosen carefully :D

[flvegan]

2. What do you mean by "safe"?

If it weren't safe for human consumption, should we be feeding it to our pets?

I took a few bites of kibble as a child, and I lived.

[raccoon]

9. Doesn't kill you/make you sick. nt

[China_cat]

3. One of the recommendations

in my training years ago for backcountry hiking was to carry a couple pounds of high quality dog kibble with you instead of trail mix.

The logic was that you are likely to nibble on the trail mix and then not have it if you need it. The kibble might not taste good but it would supply nutrients and fats that you need to survive for a few days if you really need it.

[NightWatcher]

4. I eat dog food all the time, usualy about 5 minutes before the dog does

steak, tuna casserole, chicken.... whatever I drop on the floor, he eats, so I guess I am eating dog food

[dropkickpa]

7. My dogs food

is higher quality than most of the crap I eat, so why not!

[harmonicon]

10. I knew a guy who ate dry cat food - I don't know if he ever ate a meal's worth....

...but, as far as I know, it never hurt him.

[Arkansas Granny]

11. My daughter used to eat dry cat food when she was a toddler.

She would sneak it out of the cat bowl and nibble on it like crunchy treats whenever she got a chance. I asked her pediatrician about it because I was afraid that it meant she was lacking in certain vitamins or minerals. He said that she probably just liked the taste and while he didn't encourage it, he didn't know of anything in it that could hurt her. Thankfully, that stage didn't last long.

[Sanity Claws]

13. LOL

Did you keep photos? They might come in handy if you ever need to blackmail her. Not that you would...
BTW, do ever let her cook for you?

[Arkansas Granny]

14. Actually, she is an excellent cook. I will admit, however, that I have

checked and she does not keep the cat food in the kitchen pantry and her casseroles never have a "mystery topping".

[Akoto]

12. I must confess, in my youth ...

I was known for getting into the dog treats. Apparently, I was quite the connoisseur, and my mother doesn't let me forget it. I survived, though!

(By the way ... Red treat has good flavor.)

[Arkansas Granny]

15. When I was a kid, we always tasted the animal foods. Chicken

pellets are kind of salty, rabbit feed just taste green like the alfalfa it's made from and dairy feed is sweet, like molasses. We would go out in the pasture and nudge the cows away from the salt blocks and taste them too. Kids will try anything.

Edited for spelling

[Crabby Appleton]

16. I did the same thing with Milk-Bones

I ate a bunch as a kid, I'd get one for the dog and one for me.

[EnviroBat]

17. Yes, but it will make you poop on the carpet.

[pitohui]

18. as far as i know it is

i never heard of anyone being harmed by eating cat or dog food back in the day, but people stopped eating it when it got more expensive than similar foods sold for people

this would be in regard to canned cat/dog foods versus canned food like the very cheapest tuna, the very cheapest walgreens' sardines -- last time i checked price (and it was a LONG time ago) then the cheapest canned tuna was cheaper than the same size canned cat food -- i was willing to do it to save a buck but it just wasn't going to be cost effective so i stuck with good old tuna

i think folks may have done this more in the 1960s, by the late 1970s i was already seeing that the people's food was cheaper than the pet's and you only heard of old people doing this who perhaps had not comparison shopped lately

a professor told me that he knew native americans who did it as a political statement against their poverty, buying tinned cat/dog food and eating it right in front of the store, again, this would be decades ago, the 1950s and 60s

[La Lioness Priyanka]

19. depends on the band you buy, wellness uses human grade ingredients

so it would be ok to eat kitty/balieys food