There is an interesting discussion on cat food on social media. It’s about how much you store in your kitchen or to use an old-fashioned word, pantry. Does this picture reflect your attitude to cat food purchase and storage?
The person concerned said that visitors to her home said that she spoiled her cats because of all the food. Well, that was an incorrect observation for the following reasons. The visitor was implying that she fed her cats too much I guess or was it a reference to the high-quality cat food she buys?
Wet cat food is supplied in tins and sachets. They have a very long shelf life. It is so long that it can almost be ignored. Dry cat food lasts even longer. This encourages cat caregivers to buy more than they reasonably need in order to reduce shopping excursions.
They buy in bulk for the sake of convenience and efficiency. That said sometimes people can overdo things when there is a supermarket down the road. Why clog up the home which might be an apartment with piles of cat food when it should be stored at the supermarket?
The answer to that question is probably: anxiety. There is a lot of quiet, underlying anxiety in the world. Hoarding is an outward manifestation of anxiety, even fear.
Storing too much cat food in the home because you can due to the long shelf-life might be an expression of anxiety – sometimes. It feels better to have lots of cat food there – ‘just in case’. It is an insurance policy against inadvertently running out, God forbid.
Having lots of anything stored at home makes some people feel more secure. It is reassuring. On that basis it’s fine. Let them do it. But storage of items beyond a reasonable need to do so is an emotional reaction.
What I am saying is particularly relevant today with mass delivery services for any product you wish. A lot of people do most of their shopping online. I do.
If you want to buy 4 month’s supply of cat food it makes sense for a delivery guy to transport it and carry it to your doorstep. No lugging around in supermarkets and because of that there is not reasonable need to have lots of cat food at home.
Of course, all the above is conditional on you having one or two cats. If you are a cat hoarder too, the amount of food in the picture is the minimum. Although cat hoarders don’t buy cat food of this quality. They are often blind to health and welfare issues.
P.S. There is a nice spin-off to buying online which is particularly relevant today. Covid is still around. It is still infecting people. It has mutated but it has not gone away. In avoiding supermarkets, you are protecting yourself from possible infection.
Tip on opening a can of cat or dog food with ease (hands only)
