Eating cats, illegal? Immoral?

[psychonaut]

@The_Flying_Dutchman

I’m going on a limb here. No can come up with a statute in the western world that forbids eating cats.

I’m with you there. However, I’ll bet there are various laws that forbid killing cats, and selling or serving cat meat, which probably make it difficult to get around to the actual eating part.

[gang_green]

@sitchensis

I have eaten bobcat spaghetti, it really wasn’t that bad but the sauce kind of took over the dish. I would equate it to ground turkey in that it just didn’t have a lot of flavor. I did notice that my GI tract wasn’t really used to that particular game animal.
From what I know people don’t usually eat carnivores and omnivores because the risk of trichinosis. Though pigs garner most of the worry over trichinosis, it was mostly home raised pigs that were fed uncooked meat and meat scraps as feed that were the real problem. With the advent of large industrial pig farming trichinosis is largely gone from modern store bought pork.
Of all the cases of trichinosis I have hear of in the last 10 years, one was a case from mountain lion meat and the rest were from bear meat. I have to believe that in my own experience bear meat would be a likely culprit because it is really tasty and resembles beef in that your inclination is to cook it on the rare side whereas it should always be cook well done.

Another thing to avoid when eating carnivores is the liver. Apparently, there can be toxic levels of vitamin A.

As for eating cats (and/or dogs), as has been noted, certain regions of China and Korea are known for this. I seem to recall an anecdote of a woman in a large marketplace in China, who stooped down to pet a cat that was tied to a stall. The stall owner became quite angry with her, as the cat had been blessed by a monk, and now he’d have to get it re-blessed before he could eat it. Or somesuch.

[Sal_Ammoniac]

My brother has eaten cat in Ghana. I can’t remember how he said it was – so it must have been palatable, I have to think. In Africa, under the heading of bushmeat, just about anything mammalian is fit for the pot.

[Rachellelogram]

I would keep a rabbit as a pet but I would still eat rabbit. I couldn’t do the same for cats. I don’t know why. However, even though I wouldn’t voluntarily eat cat meat unless I was starving, I wouldn’t judge someone else who did so. As long as the animal was raised with the intent of being eaten and not a pilfered pet.

[moejoe]

@Captain_Midnight

Tastes like chicken!

Well then I think I’ll have the chicken, thanks.