Stewed Cat anyone?

[Gromit]

I was talking to a Chinese student in our department, and she was telling me about civets, which are eaten in Eastern parts. I asked what it tasted like, and she thought and said "ahhhh, like dog!" Then seeing my blank expression, "Ah, you never eat dog..."

It's all culturally relative. Just don't eat too much carnivore liver, it's chock full of Vitamin A, to dangerous levels.

Oh, and how to humanely kill a cat? Just like a rabbit: a head shot, or a swiftly broken neck.

Could you not just feed a cat or dog liver all the time? The gradual ossification of their bones is a more human way to kill them don't you think?

 

[just jim]

Render them catatonic then cataleptic by playing Leonard Cohen records to them then finish them off with a swift rabbit punch.

Cat punch surely????

 

[Arch]

Could you not just feed a cat or dog liver all the time? The gradual ossification of their bones is a more human way to kill them don't you think?

No, I've seen that skeleton*, and if that cat felt anything like my back does first thing in the morning, it's not humane at all!

*Part of the department animal pathology collection, a cat who liked liver and was over indulged by the little old lady who owned it, and fed it liver everyday. Every joint was overgrown with extra bone, turning it completely stiff - that's vitamin A poisoning.

 

[darkstar]

Nothing wrong with eating cat, to me, as long as it's humanely killed, and not someone's pet.

Nice fur too. Kitten mittens anyone?

The fact cats have such a deep historical heritage and have long been domesticated makes me disagree with that statement. Im know it's easy to say, 'oh it's just another animal' but it's really not, there is something about them which demands respect.

 

[Arch]

The fact cats have such a deep historical heritage and have long been domesticated makes me disagree with that statement. Im know it's easy to say, 'oh it's just another animal' but it's really not, there is something about them which demands respect.

Other animals have been domesticated for thousands of years too... Cows, pigs, sheep.... When they were being domesticated, cats' ancestors were probably just hanging around looking for a meal, and that happened to make them useful enough to be tolerated. But part of that historical heritage you mention has always been as a source of meat and fur.

Cats don't 'demand' respect, any more than they give it - to a cat, you're a source of food and warmth, if you fell down the stairs and broke your neck and couldn't open the next tin for them, they'd just start on you....

Animals that 'demand' respect, to me, are those that could kill me - a cow or pig has more claim to that. (I think I'd be safe from sheep, unless feeling particularly feeble)

 

[darkstar]

Hmmm suppose people differ in opinion, cats are my favorite animals and whenever i watch our domesticated cats at home, i see the the similarities with big cats. Then again, i have eaten dog before, which some people would be horrified by... Supose you would not agree with people eating elephant though?

 

[Hilldodger]

An elephant would take a few sittings.

 

[Kestevan]

Not to mention a bloody big oven

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

An elephant would take a few sittings.

<sizeist assumption> Not for a Hill Dodger tho' <sizeist assumption/>

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

(I think I'd be safe from sheep, unless feeling particularly feeble)

Well I scarpered from some sheep once. Rams in flock decided to gang up. 4 or 5 of those

 

[Hilldodger]

<sizeist assumption> Not for a Hill Dodger tho' <sizeist assumption/>

You sayin I is fat?

 

[gavintc]

I was in Marrakech for a holiday recently and came across a stall selling cuddly toys. The toys were life size cats. Being curious, I had a closer look. I am reasonably convinced that the fur was too realistic to be fake. Cat fur has a distinctive feel. It amused me when I saw a young girl in a cafe later stroking one of these cuddly cat toys. Clearly, they take their recycling seriously.

 

[Arch]

Hmmm suppose people differ in opinion, cats are my favorite animals and whenever i watch our domesticated cats at home, i see the the similarities with big cats. Then again, i have eaten dog before, which some people would be horrified by... Supose you would not agree with people eating elephant though?

And dogs were domesticated long before cats...

Elephant? If it happened to be culturally the done thing, and there was a ready supply of elephants, why not. The main issue with eating anything like that is the sustainability of supply - elephants take a heck of a time to gestate, so they aren't very efficient at replacing loss over and above natural death.

I reckon I'd eat any mammal, or bird, assuming it tasted ok. Insects I might be more squeamish about, mainly because I think they would be squishy, not out of any cultural nicety.

 

[02GF74]

And dogs were domesticated long before cats...

and chickens were domesticated long before the egg..... or was the egg domesticated first.........................

 

[Coco]

Guinea pigs are tasty and have been domesticated for years too so I think the issue is cultural. The only thing that separates a cat from a cow is the taste