People food?

[loveysmummy]

Just wondering how many of you agree that its ok to offer the occasional people food treat?
How often and when?

I haven't yet and rarely rarely with my dogs....so just wondering if its ok?

Cheers!

 

[rosiemac]

They don't really get people food if i can help it, but i give them the odd lick of my ice cream but not chocolate.

They have a little tuna once a week as well.

 

[momofmany]

I rarely do so with my cats or dogs either. The food I buy them is balanced for their nutricianal needs and unless you fully understand those needs, why mess with it? I don't think its a good idea unless you know what you are doing.

Mine will get some turkey at Thanksgiving, and perhaps some ham at some other holiday. While my puppies don't yet understand what the smell of baking turkey means to them, the older dogs that I had before them always knew what that smell meant and holidays became a special time for them also (as soon as the turkey smell started wafting out of the oven they would start to drool).

Of course I do give in to them sometimes with goldfish crackers (which they love) - but only one and I make them earn them. LOL

 

[sharky]

Mine get some meats since that is all Zoey will eat other than her dry food...the dog on the other hand gets greens and meat ... Yes I know they shouldnt but it is small amounts

 

[rarepuss]

I sometimes give marsh some poeple food. in fact, he goes CRAZY for poppy seeds!

 

[maverick_kitten]

Maverick gets cooked me from the sundays roasts and occasional tuna or chicken breast as she doesnt like cat treats.

she's also been known to get a bit of fish finger on ocassion

 

[darkeyedgirl]

After having a recent scare with urinary crystals (not me, Snickers), I am very adamant about feeding people food.

However there are occasions, once a month or so maybe, when I make broiled tilapia or orange roughy... I make an extra filet just for my cats! I do not season it but just clean it off & broil it & tear it up for them. I figure unseasoned fish is okay once in a while.

Oh, and Thanksgiving & Christmas, since it is at my house; I have no choice really but to let them have ham & turkey. I have a picture of Snickers & Hammie standing near the counter staring & sniffing up at the Christmas ham. They CRIED until we gave them some!

I think as long as it's not a regular thing, so they get used to people-food, then it's okay. Snickers came from a place where he was fed bacon, eggs, sausage, red meat galore. And he paid dearly for it. When he came to live with me, I fed nothing but cat food; and he blocked up with crystals.

So I am real careful now!

 

[petnurse2265]

None of my cats get anything otherwise I'd never be able to eat a meal in peace. I did use to give Echo whatever he wanted (he really like subway and Arby's), but I knew his life was going to be very short so why not. I occasionally give 2 of my dogs veggies and they like bananas, but the other 2 won't touch anything like that.

 

[maverick_kitten]

maverick does this really cute thing every sunday where she sits up at the dinner table in the spare chair for her food! she is always fed in her bowl on the floor though and never tried to eat from plates and is quite good about not harassing us for food whe we eat though i do have to let her sniff my food before i can eat it!

i think that if you feed it as a treat and not as a meal and otherwise feed good quality food it would be ok. everythingin moderation, same as if you ate nothing but chocolate or fries.

 

[cjandbilly]

I'm guilty... I give CJ and Billy stuff from my plate now and then.

They beg, and so I throw some stuff for them. Never stuff that's bad for them, though. Mainly a piece of meat or something like that.

 

[ali012281]

Originally Posted by CJandBilly

I'm guilty... I give CJ and Billy stuff from my plate now and then.

They beg, and so I throw some stuff for them. Never stuff that's bad for them, though. Mainly a piece of meat or something like that.

I'm guilty too. Meishka will do 'tricks' for chicken and turkey. She isn't a big fan of beef, pork or any seafood other than tuna. She won't touch shrimp or salmon. It doesn't stop her from begging though. Once we let her sniff the meat and it isn't something she wants she goes and eats her cat food. She loves homemade bread lol

 

[negs]

I think its interesting that your cats like people food. My cats won't go near people food. Unless its TUNA.... They love tuna. I used it when I had to give Tyson his pills and Wayne gets it once in a awhile as a treat! They seem to love there cat food...

 

[pat]

I will give them turkey on Thanksgiving, but if I want to treat them, I give them Active Life

one of the hardest to find foods on the planet at the moment (wry grin).

Patrick gets baby food as one way to stimulate his appetite (he has chronic renal failure)...but that is really it.

Ah...cheese...I do have cats who will beg for cheese

 

[cjandbilly]

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

Ah...cheese...I do have cats who will beg for cheese

I had a dog, who used to get two slices of American cheese everyday for the pills he had to take! He ate so much, that we had to stop giving it to him period, because we had to bring him to the vet because he was constipated and didn't "go" for 4 days!!!!

 

[ghostuser]

My mother is a lot worse than I am. Our last cat practically live on human food. I've been trying to get her to stop feeding the new boys so much junk, but she doesn't understand what "A little" means.

Sigh. I'll give them a lick of icing, or a small bit of whipped cream, or some angel food cake, or marshmallows. Enough for one little lick, and then they seem happy. (Of course, then comes the occation when I forget to put the pack of cupcakes away, and they have a sugar spree in the middle of the night.

They do have quite the sweet tooth.

 

[ricalynn]

My mother's dog Cinnamon is a bloodhound when it comes to chocolate!!!! (any other time he's just a plain ol' sheltie/springer cross) Mom and her late hubby brought back a 1/2lb of fudge from their vacation last summer, but they left the bag on the floor - all they ever found was the remains of the box!! That dog ate the entire block of fudge!

And when I was home last month I was decluttering and found a box of choc's mom got for xmas, still sealed in plastic, and I made the same mistake. Next morning, all that was left was the wrapping and the plastic tray.

I asked mom if he ever got sick eating that stuff, but she really doesn't know because he's housetrained and has a doggie door.

 

[ghostuser]

Remind your mom that chocolate kills cats and dogs!!

If he ever gets into baking chocolate, he needs to get to an ER vet quickly because even a small amount can kill a large dog due to the fact that the poisonous chemicals haven't been cooked out of it.

Chocolate bars and chocolate chips have been processed so much that it breaks down some of the chemical. It is still deadly, but from what I understand it takes large doses to harm an animal. It's still something that I would never be messing around with, personally.

 

[cjandbilly]

Originally Posted by wodesorel

Remind your mom that chocolate kills cats and dogs!!

If he ever gets into baking chocolate, he needs to get to an ER vet quickly because even a small amount can kill a large dog due to the fact that the poisonous chemicals haven't been cooked out of it.

Chocolate bars and chocolate chips have been processed so much that it breaks down some of the chemical. It is still deadly, but from what I understand it takes large doses to harm an animal. It's still something that I would never be messing around with, personally.

Yes, baking chocolate is the most deadly to an animal.

 

[ricalynn]

Originally Posted by wodesorel

Remind your mom that chocolate kills cats and dogs!!

If he ever gets into baking chocolate, he needs to get to an ER vet quickly because even a small amount can kill a large dog due to the fact that the poisonous chemicals haven't been cooked out of it.

Chocolate bars and chocolate chips have been processed so much that it breaks down some of the chemical. It is still deadly, but from what I understand it takes large doses to harm an animal. It's still something that I would never be messing around with, personally.

I agree absolutely!! I was really concerned when I found out about the first time, but mom just laughed it off. then when it happened to me I felt sick - I just knew he was gonna get sick and it would be my fault.

But my mom is a farm girl and if it ain't on it's deathbed, it doesn't warrant a trip to the vet. TRUST me, this will NOT be the case when I'm living there. ALL her pets (except the fish, maybe

) are getting a checkup so I know what I'm living with.