# Pork cat food **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 15, 2013, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-cat-food/673950 "2013-11-15T00:56:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-cat-food/673950/1 "2013-11-15T00:56:41Z")
I feed my cats canned food, and it comes in so many flavors, mostly poultry, seafood, beef or even lamb . . . and various combinations of these. But I have never seen pork cat food. Why not? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-cat-food/673950/2 "2013-11-15T01:02:29Z")
I can’t recall seeing that flavor in dog food either. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-cat-food/673950/3 "2013-11-15T01:12:02Z")
WAG: Chicken and seafood scraps are cheap. We get cheap beef from cows raised for dairy or other purposes. Pigs, OTOH, are raised nearly exclusively for their meat, so there isn’t a big supply of cheap low-grade pork. ---
**Author:** ![Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/77aa72/32.png) [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluffy_PickleSniffer)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-cat-food/673950/4 "2013-11-15T01:25:14Z")
I’m not sure if this is really helpful or not, but when I last had my oldest cat (17) at the vet for his checkup, the vet was telling me that I could start letting him have a little protein back in his diet again (he’s got kidney disease) because some new studies/research have shown that the protein isn’t causing the problem, it’s phosphates - which tend to be associated with high protein diets. But anyway, long story short, he warned me NOT to give any pork/ham to him - because it would do the worst damage to the kidneys. So maybe that’s why there’s no pork flavors in cat food? Maybe it isn’t healthy for them even when they are healthy and younger. I could ring the vet and ask him more about that if anyone is interested. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-cat-food/673950/5 "2013-11-15T01:35:22Z")
Our cat was eating prescription cat food (due to issues with bladder stones) for quite a while. It came in two flavors: Seafood and Chicken. But, when you looked at the labels for either of those flavors, the first two ingredients were actually pork and pork by-products. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-cat-food/673950/6 "2013-11-15T01:42:46Z")
[It’s not because it’s being roasted for deli meat](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=707639) ---
**Author:** ![Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/77aa72/32.png) [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluffy_PickleSniffer)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-cat-food/673950/7 "2013-11-15T01:57:30Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Our cat was eating prescription cat food (due to issues with bladder stones) for quite a while. It came in two flavors: Seafood and Chicken. But, when you looked at the labels for either of those flavors, the first two ingredients were actually pork and pork by-products. 😛 That is interesting! I’ll have to have a look at the cans I have on hand, just for curiosity sake. ---
**Author:** ![NiceGuyJack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/niceguyjack/32/3069_2.png) [@NiceGuyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NiceGuyJack)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-cat-food/673950/8 "2013-11-15T03:01:55Z")
We all know dogs will eat practically anything. I once saw a Hamilton Retreiver dig up then happily wolf down an entire nest of baby voles. Almost caught the mother vole too. Cat’s on the other hand seem more finicky. Perhaps they only eat kosher or halal foods. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-cat-food/673950/9 "2013-11-15T03:05:23Z")
> [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](#): > > That is interesting! I’ll have to have a look at the cans I have on hand, just for curiosity sake. This is the “Ocean Fish” flavor which we would buy: [http://www.hillspet.com/products/pd-feline-cd-multicare-feline-bladder-health-with-seafood-canned.html](http://www.hillspet.com/products/pd-feline-cd-multicare-feline-bladder-health-with-seafood-canned.html) Top ingredients, in order: Pork by-products Water Pork liver Ocean fish Once my wife started reading the labels, she got rather peeved. She did some research into the dietary recommendations for cats with urinary tract issues, then switched to a couple of regular retail brands which most closely met those (high protein, low ash, moderate-to-low fat, no corn or rice). ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-cat-food/673950/10 "2013-11-15T03:41:20Z")
Perhaps it is more profitable to make McRibs 😃 ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pork-cat-food/673950/11 "2013-11-15T03:44:44Z")
> [@NiceGuyJack](#): > > Perhaps they only eat kosher or halal foods. Halal Kitty? \