Cat Eating

I like to see my cat eating. I prefer to see her eating cat food from a tin. Although, I am not a great fan of manufactured cat food. A lot if it is prepared a little “cynically” I believe.

What I mean by this is that the manufacturer has profit in mind. This is to expected, of course. The objective is to ensure the cat likes the food. The trouble is, as animals, (and I include us in this discussion) we tend to like too much of what is not necessarily good for us. I’m thinking of carbohydrates and fatty foods as they are both tasty and therefore attractive.

Cat food manufacturers can tend to put into cat food, ingredients that are attractive to a cat but not necessarily, absolutely, the best ingredient in respect of promoting health. An example can be read about here.

As far as I am aware my cat has never seriously hunted another animal nor killed and eaten it. I look after her too well 

Cats have techniques for preparing their food if it is not already prepared for them by manufacturers of cat food. You can read about domestic cat hunting here. In this article I discuss, what follows a successful hunt.

After the kill

Your cat would have a little pause having hunted and killed her prey. It is thought that this gives her a chance to calm down to aid good digestion. I can empathise with that (I’m thinking of indigestion ).

The Rodent 

Small rodents such as this half eaten mouse are usually eaten head first (but definitely not in this instance).

The skin is sicked up. Sometimes the gall bladder (bitter taste), tail (in my experience) and the intestines are left.

The Bird

photograph reproduced under creative commons © cloud nine

The photograph above has been taken, of course, a few moments before the eating takes place.

A cat eating a bird will follow set procedures. Once the bird is killed there needs to be some preparation before the eating commences because of the feathers. Small birds are eaten whole, feathers and all.

The larger birds, such as the pigeon, need plucking and cats have an innate genetically inherited ability to pluck the feathers from a dead bird.

The intermediate sized birds are plucked, eaten, plucked as the cats progresses in her meal.

The larger bird is plucked before eating, following a set procedure, which is essentially as follows:

1. pin bird down with front legs/feet
2. clamp feathers in jaw
3. pull sharply upwards (USA style – see below)
4. spit out feathers
5. shake off feathers
6. lick fur to remove last remaining feathers
7. start at 1 and continue 

A cat eating a bird in Europe will follow a different procedure to her American counterpart in respect of the feather plucking technique. European cats pull the feathers off in a tugging, left to right action. The American cats strip the feathers off in a long single upwards movement.
More efficient perhaps?

To animal lovers this sort of discussion can be a bit distressing. My smiley images are not meant to be disrespectful. Killing and eating is part of our world. One day it might not be.

Source:

• Desmond Morris – Cat Watching
• Own knowledge

From Cat Eating to Cat Facts