but…
I believe my cat is due a share…precisely of those parts of a meat that I really don’t think are All That. The Top Chef finale involved somebody who got kudos for…stand by…duck neck? Gimme a break. That belongs to the cat.
I believe pets have a deep, deep place in human society; and part of the bargain is—they get things they like; and we get things we like and offer them things we don’t like.
Occasionally our communication fails. I once, living with my parents, had a kitteh greet the family, who were coming into a formal dinner with, yes, the preacher and his wife as guests of honor. Kitteh-san was standing on the finely-decorated table, next to the fall centerpiece, licking the butter. We were never sure about the turkey.
But duck neck? Pig’s feet? Chicken feet? Our ancient contract with our furry partners is negotiable: I happen to like chicken livers, properly prepared, and Jane firmly believes ALL liver is catfood. Out of deference, I do not serve liver or even cook it in the house. Steak and kidney pie? I once got so low on funds I once cooked a frozen kidney I had for the cat (who had a special diet), but after a while of cooking it, I called kitteh to come enjoy a special dinner. I know it’s a cultural thing, but that’s the state of culinary affairs in this household. Everyone otherwise opined, please enjoy my share! More for you!
that’s funny, about dogs and grapes – they love them! but I don’t buy them much, so it’s very rare that they get one. they usually love blackberries, apples and other fruit and veg too. my old dog picks his own blackberries if I start him off. Once I went blackcurrant picking, in the old days before it was all automated – handy way of earning a bit of cash in the summer holidays – I took my border collie along, and she picked and ate them.
Also hate onions — they really make the stomach act up, but garlic is fine. I remember mom eating tongue once at a restaurant, but never making it, which was a good thing. Whenever liver and onions showed up, I cut the liver in miniscule pieces and swallowed it whole — no way was I getting another option and getting caught dropping any for the dog was not a good choice. Snails happened only once at a Christmas dinner with friends over and since there were witnesses, I was able to avoid the whole thing.
When it comes to the cats, they always get some taste of roast [usually some small bits when I do french dip] and I don’t think I would make it out alive if I didn’t give them some turkey during the holidays. Sadly, they’ve never had gizards or livers or such, since I’m an adult and categorically refuse to buy any or god forfend, cook any [I know, very squeamish]. The odd things are the cats who will kill for cantaloupe and watermelon; used to have a cat who would steal biscuits, would demand pizza crust and even took off with a tostada once for the tortilla. He also ate a pickle chip but I think this was a mistake since the hamburger juice seduced him into trying it.
Pickle chip! Gotta love it.
When we butchered a hog, my mother made use of everything but the squeal (as she would say). Head cheese, blood sausage, tripe… I hate all things offal having been forced to eat it as a child. It didn’t help that my mother is a terrible cook who can make anything taste awful.
My mother had one of those 1950’s aluminum table & chair sets, and I discovered that I could chop up the liver in tiny pieces and shove it into the turned up ledge underneath the dropped side. Then, after dinner was over and wehen I was scrubbing the floor, I could retrieve it and trash it. This worked until I forgot to retrieve it; eventualy my mother tracked down the rotting smell. After that, she watched me chew and swallow…ugh..because the iron was good for a girl. Now we know that the liver concentrates all the bad stuff in the environment, so I can say that’s why I don’t eat it!
And once I had a cat who loved red jello…didn’t matter the flavor, as long as it was red. She’d turn up her nose at the yellow, green and orange jello. Once I even made a cranberry gelatin and she ate that! I never figured out how she could tell the difference between the red and orange jello.
Ah, cats…We had a cat named Leo years ago. When we would cut up steak for stew, he would sit with his tail wrapped neatly around his front paws and watch, and tilt his head completely to one side or the other. It was so damn cute that it was physically impossible to resist giving him a few bits of meat.
My grandmother had a meat grinder that she used to make Polish sausage. I remember helping her once to put the skins onto the front part and then turning the handle to grind the meat while she held onto the skin, forming the sausage a little at a time. She used to can peaches, too, fresh off the trees she had in the backyard. The last peach tree, a little old wizened thing, died the same year she did.
Slightly off-topic, but a friend’s cat likes peanut butter. Yes, peanut butter. He discovered this by accident, and doesn’t give her much, since it isn’t exactly cat food. He picked the kitten up from a shelter, and figures the kitten’s original owner was a kid, because peanut butter hasn’t been the only odd food the kitten has gone gaga over, with no prior exposure from him. The kitten has enough personality for two, and is about half the size of an average cat. Such is the way of things.
I was very interested RE your comments concerning hemolytic anemia in dogs due to dietary reasons. My father is in possession of a veritable herd of dachshunds that he dotes on and they receive their fair share of people goodies – one even had pancreatitis due to the foods they receive fresh off the table. I should research. I’m more knowledgable about human, equine and feline health than that of canines.
since i know what things like this do to the output in the litterbox i clean, i don’t give them any meat in any form so our feline friends are pretty much restricted to official cat treats.. 2 of mine like cheddar, 1 turns her nose up, that is a very occasional treat. our canine friends however are all over any meat product they can con daddy out of – mom is a very very hard sell – and the young one is a true garbage mouth and will hoover up about anything you drop. i did have a cat 20 yrs ago that ate mashed potatoes – that is the oddest thing i’ve had a cat eat. now as for liver, i don’t readily share 😉 ms. cherryh, if you want a good mid-winter style chicken liver recipe let me know 😉