# Cats love fish **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 30, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-love-fish/465884 "2008-09-30T17:29:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-love-fish/465884/21 "2008-10-01T07:13:58Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Where did this come from? Obviously, fish are tasty. But before humans came along, I can’t imagine kitties fishing for mackerel. Well, why do you think cats domesticated humans in the first place? So they (the cats) could be fed fish on a regular basis! ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-love-fish/465884/22 "2008-10-01T14:30:13Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > There’s a kitty-cat-looking animal at the zoo called a fisher cat; he’s only a little bigger than a housecat. Just for the record, the Fisher is not related to cats: it’s an overgrown ferret or undergrown wolverine. It also doesn’t really eat fish in the wild. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-love-fish/465884/23 "2008-10-01T14:32:27Z")
My cats must not be right in the head. None of them like fish flavored anything on its own, but put it in cat food and it’s just fine. Interesting thread BTW! ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-love-fish/465884/24 "2008-10-01T15:01:05Z")
> [@BaneSidhe](#): > > What I don’t understand is why there’s beef flavored cat food. Has anyone ever seen a domestic cat take down a cow? > > My cat, Jack, is convinced he can take down a deer. I’ve seen him try to do it, and I don’t have the heart to try and stop him. :eek: I know somebody who refuses to buy any cat food that has beef or veal “because it’s not something a cat could kill and eat on its own”. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-love-fish/465884/25 "2008-10-01T15:04:08Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Just for the record, the Fisher is not related to cats: it’s an overgrown ferret or undergrown wolverine. It also doesn’t really eat fish in the wild. No, this is a cat-thing. Looks just like a tabby cat. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-love-fish/465884/26 "2008-10-01T15:04:29Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Just for the record, the Fisher is not related to cats: it’s an overgrown ferret or undergrown wolverine. It also doesn’t really eat fish in the wild. I think they were referring to the [Fishing Cat](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishing_Cat), which is indeed a cat. I have several cats and the majority do go wild and swarm when I eat fish and try to get some however I think the food they all seem to love the most is indeed chicken. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-love-fish/465884/27 "2008-10-01T15:05:25Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Just for the record, the Fisher is not related to cats: it’s an overgrown ferret or undergrown wolverine. It also doesn’t really eat fish in the wild. See my previous post above. “Fisher cat” is ambiguous, it can be used as a synonym for “fishing cat”. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-love-fish/465884/28 "2008-10-01T15:09:01Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Of course, what cats REALLY like is a fish skeleton, complete and holding together including head, because that’s what trash is made of. When that cat makes a lot of noise on your back fence, you throw a handy boot at it. (You probably caught the boot fishing for the fish the skeleton came from, so it’s very economical.) The 1930s called; they want your concept of cats back. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-love-fish/465884/29 "2008-10-01T16:13:04Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > [Brilliantly described by **Mangetout** :](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=440811) The comments on those pictures are great: Something Cyrillic. Something Cyrillic. Something Cyrillic. Something Cyrillic. Something Cyrillic. “YOU PEOPLE ARE FUCKING CRAZY!!!” Something Cyrillic. Something Cyrillic. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-love-fish/465884/30 "2008-10-01T19:22:55Z")
> [@LurkMeister](#): > > I know somebody who refuses to buy any cat food that has beef or veal “because it’s not something a cat could kill and eat on its own”. So they don’t realize cats’ll also scavenge something dead, even if they didn’t kill it? ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-love-fish/465884/31 "2008-10-01T20:39:14Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > I think fish give off a particularly noticeable odor that can attract a cat from a farther distance than other animal flesh, and that advertises itself somehow as especially easy to catch. An average mouse, which most cats can easily catch, still doesn’t have the volume of flesh that a fish has. You _think_ that fish give off a particularly noticeable odor? ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-love-fish/465884/32 "2008-10-01T20:56:00Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > I think they were referring to the [Fishing Cat](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishing_Cat), which is indeed a cat. Cool! Nice to learn something new. Which just goes to show the superiority of Latin names for organisms.. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2008, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-love-fish/465884/33 "2008-10-01T21:59:26Z")
Remember that for hundreds (perhaps thousands, somebody help) of years the majority of boats would have a “ships cat.” It was a working job, ment to keep the vermin population under control whille at sea.\* While rodents would make up part of the feline diet it seems like fish would be a natural supplement. How many years of this visible job before humans would relate cats and fish? \*Even the Titanic had a ships cat…“Mouser.” Mouser didn’t make the voyage, however. By dark of night she moved her kittens off the ship before it lifted anchor. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-love-fish/465884/34 "2008-10-02T19:48:54Z")
[This photo seems relevent to the discussion.](http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/funny-pictures-cat-teaches-you-to-fish-and-then-steals-your-food.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-love-fish/465884/35 "2008-10-02T19:54:56Z")
For any conceivable situation, there is, or can be created, a lolcat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-love-fish/465884.md?page=1)