Crickets In Cat Food?

[weebeasties]

I heard a story recently that Purina is trying out some novel proteins in dog food. The two I remember are asian carp and crickets...yep, crickets. After I got over the initial ewww factor, I thought it may not be such a bad idea really.
I have often joked about the fact that there are no catfoods that contain mice, chipmunks, lizards, or grasshoppers. All things a cat in the wild would catch and eat.
The story only spoke about dog food, but I assume that if it sells well, they will do cat food as well. I think they said that for now it is only being sold in select pet stores in the Chicago area.
So, what are your thoughts? Too gross? Would you let your pet try it? I think if you have a pet with food allergies, crickets are certainly a novel protien. Depending on what else they mix it with, it might be an interesting option.
Opinions anyone?

 

[Suru]

i think it’s a great move! more cats ate showing allergies to chicken and fish, so honestly i think the more options we have, the better!

 

[jcat]

Somebody donated a bag of this to our shelter:
InsectDog Hypoallergen - Green Petfood EN

but we didn't feed it due to the high amount of carbs. We offered a few pieces to the dogs as treats, but they all turned their noses up at it.

Something with insect protein and fewer carbs would certainly be an idea for a novel limited ingredient diet. I do know some people who buy crickets at pet stores and turn them loose for their cats to hunt and eat, but couldn't see myself doing that!

Seeing as many cats love to catch and eat bugs, why not insect cat food?

 

[weebeasties]

. I do know some people who buy crickets at pet stores and turn them loose for their cats to hunt and eat, but couldn't see myself doing that!

Yeah, I couldn't do that either even though the cats would probably enjoy it!
This reminded me of my dearly departed Shady. If a spider got into the house, he would stare at it and meow at me to take it away. If it started to walk away he would gently pat it (never squashing it) and meow even louder and more urgently like he was saying, "Hurry up mom! Get it!"

 

[cheesycats]

I know there’s a company that used to make fly larvae dog food. I guess it can be a good source of protein since a lot of bugs are nothing but protein. I remember it was insanely expensive tho.

 

[mizzely]

There's been a push for cricket stuff lately as basically the next sustainable, eco friendly protein. Currently it's debatable of it actually is.

Eating Insects Isn't as Eco-Friendly As People Say

That being said, I wouldn't be opposed to it but if they are mixing it with other proteins it sort of defeats the novel protein reasoning, and without another protein it is probably super expensive. Think about how many crickets would need to go into one bag of food!

As for canned, I've bought canned crickets before to try on my leopard gecko. They STINK.

 

[Willowy]

They can grind dried crickets into "flour" so that there are no crickety bits. Insects are an excellent protein source. I think it's a fine idea. I'd eat cricket-protein-based foods myself, as long as there weren't any crickety bits, lol.

I don't know if raising crickets for food is any more eco-friendly than, say, raising chickens, but it does help with the animal welfare angle. So that's nice.

 

[KrystnHAP]

My only concern is making sure that our cats are still getting a full spectrum of all the appropriate vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Using crickets as a primary meat and protein source may require heavy synthetic additives to try to balance the food, and even then you may not get the perfect food.
Kasiks makes a wet food using black fly larvae, but they also use salmon. It was a good option for my allergy cats. I've fed it to my kitties, and they liked it, but it doesn't smell great, that's for sure.

 

[Willowy]

My only concern is making sure that our cats are still getting a full spectrum of all the appropriate vitamins, minerals and amino acids.

Generally speaking, insects have comparable amino acid and vitamin/mineral levels to any other kind of meat. It's not significantly healthier but also isn't any less healthy.
Are edible insects more or less ‘healthy' than commonly consumed meats? A comparison using two nutrient profiling models developed to combat over- and undernutrition

 

[KrystnHAP]

Generally speaking, insects have comparable amino acid and vitamin/mineral levels to any other kind of meat. It's not significantly healthier but also isn't any less healthy.
Are edible insects more or less ‘healthy' than commonly consumed meats? A comparison using two nutrient profiling models developed to combat over- and undernutrition

That's great to know. Thanks for sharing that article!

 

[javannalynn]

When i had Lizards as pets I gave my cats live crickets as treats. I would put them in the middle of the floor one at a time and let the cats catch and eat them. Tubby Cat LOVED them. he knew when I came home from the store with a bag full. My other cats were less interested then he was but he sure loved when i fed the lizards.

 

[Tobermory]

crickety bits

Crickety bits

 

[marmoset]

I'd keep a few cans around. Cricket protein is the new big thing. I really can't get behind it for human food personally but for animals that do eat insects (like cats) I think it could be a good alternative since pet allergies are on the rise. Crickets are messy and smelly to raise, they are sensitive to temperature changes and are not cheap to purchase so I don't think the food would be economical but that doesn't mean it wouldn't have it's place in the industry.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

... Kasiks makes a wet food using black fly larvae, but they also use salmon. It was a good option for my allergy cats. I've fed it to my kitties, and they liked it, but it doesn't smell great, that's for sure.

​

I'd never heard of this so had to go find it!
KASIKS Grub Formula - 12 Cans | FirstMate Pet Foods

Wow! Salmon, Pea starch, Black Soldier Fly Larva Meal, [et cetera]... and top it off with blueberries, raspberries, cranberries and coconut.
I think my kitty would take a pass on that one!

 

[weebeasties]

Crickety bits

Crickety Bits! Perfect name for an insect based cat treat!

 

[mizzely]

I'd keep a few cans around. Cricket protein is the new big thing. I really can't get behind it for human food personally but for animals that do eat insects (like cats) I think it could be a good alternative since pet allergies are on the rise. Crickets are messy and smelly to raise, they are sensitive to temperature changes and are not cheap to purchase so I don't think the food would be economical but that doesn't mean it wouldn't have it's place in the industry.

Yeah I hate crickets. I switched my gecko to dubia roaches as they are much hardier and less stinky! Crickets are vile things lol

 

[Tobermory]

Crickety Bits! Perfect name for an insect based cat treat!

Or for the name of a rock band ... Okay. I’ll stop.

I know cultures other than mine eat insects so it’s not such a stretch. After all, a lot of people consider crab and lobster to be sea “insects.” I’d want to know a lot more about the nutritional make up of insects and what that means for an obligate carnivore before I fed them to my cats.