Insect Based Dog And Cat Food

[LTS3]

I heard about this from an NPR program. Of course I had to Google it and insect based pet foods are a new thing, seemingly catering to people who are concerned about global warming and reducing COs emissions and farm animal welfare concerns and sustainability and all that stuff.

What Is Insect-Based Pet Food? | petMD
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49450935
Insect based pet food - Wikipedia

And two brands of insect based foods, none approved for sale in the US yet but slowly spreading in Europe:

Yora Insect Protein Dog Food
Conscientious Cat (looks like still in crowdfunding status so no actual product available at this time)

What do you think of insect based foods that may be heavily supplemented to provide whatever nutrients are lacking from insects?

 

[Silver Crazy]

Eeeeeuuuuw!!

 

[Graceful-Lily]

What exactly is the purpose of this? I saw an article about it but didn't think too much of it and totally forgot until I saw this thread.

Is this supposed to be benefiting some animals in come way? If not, it seems like another one of those, "I can eat it so maybe Princess can too!".

 

[Willowy]

I assume the benefit is to produce animal protein in a way that doesn't take as much land and resources as raising cattle, pigs, or chickens. It takes a walloping amount of land, chemicals, and fuel to raise and transport meat animals.

 

[LTS3]

That dog food is only available as a dry food so I assume any cat food would also be dry since that's easier to produce Maybe canned / wet versions will be made later.

Cats do eat insects in the wild but it's more like a snack than a whole meal, IMO.

 

[Willowy]

Well, I think insects have to be dried in order to grind them up effectively. So, yeah, you'd probably be starting with insect meal no matter what form the finished product came in.

There are probably some feral cats that survive primarily off insects. Chitin (what an insect's exoskeleton is made of) is a bit rough on the digestion if it isn't ground up, though.

 

[Kieka]

Insects are a good source of protein and nutrition. They are low resource to farm and have a quick maturity rate so they take very little time to farm. Plus they take up less space since you can grow them in small trays in a shelf set up. As long as they are farmed insects and fed quality food, I am fine. I know for reptiles that eat insects; they guy load the insects before feeding the reptile to make sure they have good nutritional value.

My cats eat crickets/grasshoppers and little bugs pretty constantly. I don't think I'd do a just bug diet for them but I'd be fine with it being part of their normal rotation
.

 

[Jcatbird]

I agree that it doesn’t seem like more than snack food to me. I have been to places where humans eat bugs too though. I am not sure this idea will fly but it may have some place in the market. Perhaps it would be useful to animals with food allergies but it seems that a large shift in building new production facilities will take a toll on the environment as well. Maybe using them as an additive to meat based food? Very interesting thought but without more facts IDK. Cats want meat but then, toss in the fact that meat is pumped full of things none of us want to ingest......

 

[Kieka]

I agree that it doesn’t seem like more than snack food to me. I have been to places where humans eat bugs too though. I am not sure this idea will fly but it may have some place in the market. Perhaps it would be useful to animals with food allergies but it seems that a large shift in building new production facilities will take a toll on the environment as well. Maybe using them as an additive to meat based food? Very interesting thought but without more facts IDK. Cats want meat but then, toss in the fact that meat is pumped full of things none of us want to ingest......

I don't know how much new building would have to be built. There already is a huge market for insect food for reptile and other hobby feed. If the industry was to expand any warehouse type building could be converted to insect farming fairly easily.

 

[Willowy]

If the industry was to expand any warehouse type building could be converted to insect farming fairly easily.

There's an idea. Lots of huge empty buildings out there.

 

[jcat]

We've had two brands of insect-based dry dog food donated to the shelter and now simply throw it out because the dogs won't eat it.

 

[LTS3]

I wonder how a cat who is used to eating meat based food would react to a insect based food Insects obviously don't have the same smell or texture as meat. Would a company need to coat kibble with animal digest to make it palatable to cats?

I can see an insect based food being an option to cats who have multiple allergies to meat proteins.

I think the market for insect based foods would mostly be people who are into sustainability and saving the planet from Human destruction.

An insect based prescription dry food in the UK: Hypoallergenic (Insect) cat - TROVET Ingredients: insect meal, rice, poultry fat, poultry liver (hydrolysate), calcium carbonate, fish oil, vitamins and minerals, potassium chloride, linseed, choline chloride.

 

[Azazel]

Hakuna matata?

 

[LTS3]

Hakuna matata?

Lol

 

[muffy]

There is no way I would feed any animal insects. That is just gross.

 

[Sidewinder]

My cat Tiger loves to eat crickets, LOL.

 

[Azazel]

My cat Tiger loves to eat crickets, LOL.

Lots of people around the world eat crickets too. They're very nutritious.

 

[Sidewinder]

Haha, if I were starving I wouldn't hesitate, I'm not squeamish about eating bugs as long as they're not venemous... I'd probably add a little seasoning or sauce to help choke 'em down, LOL.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

My feral cats (one missing now ) eats crickets, grasshoppers, and cockroaches. They also have been catching and eating the moles in the yard. I'm not sure if I want my hand to touch a bug though to feed them unless I got food service gloves to keep it off my skin. There are just some bugs I will NOT touch.

 

[Katie M]

When the cicadas were out in force in 2016, I remember Oscar rushing around and eating as many as he could. A fun snack for a Great Dane puppy, but he ultimately needed meat in order to grow.