Lemmings who have tasted dog food, what brands do you recommend for after the apocalypse?

lazylion_ca@lemmy.ca to Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world – 93 points –

Or any pet food I guess.

63

Not dog food, but cat food.

We had 2 kinds of dry cat food, one the cats would eat, one the cats would not eat. We didn't know what the difference was so I went "Fine!"

Neither tasted particularly good to me, but the one they liked had a crunchy texture and the one they didn't was squishy, like it was stale Corn Pops cereal.

Between the two? I suggest the crunchy kind.

There is another reason to use cat food beyond the superior flavor (on which I am just going to trust you): Dog food will often contain bone meal, which is fine for dogs, but indigestible for humans (and cats). Can clog up your guts.

Remember when dog poop stopped being white?

That’s when they phased out bonemeal in dog food

1990 maybe? Now that you mention it I didn't even notice until years later when Sarah Silverman did a song about it

I have heard (and it might be wrong) that cats can eat dog food with no ill effects. They just cannot survive on dog food alone because it does not contain the nutrients necessary for cats.

Yeah it amazes me that cats can get their entire vit D supplements from food. Meanwhile humans should not go without sun. Supplements alone do not cut it

I thought cat food also contained bone meal? They call it "ash content" or something like that.

OK, turns out they use it much less in dog food, but also to some extent in cat food. So it does just come down to the flavor.

C'mon Jordan! Name names! What's the good stuff? I need to stockpile for...reasons.

That shit they keep in a refrigerator. It's literally just a shepherd's pie/stew marketed as dog food. It smelled better than what I had made for myself one night so I took a bite. If I had no shame, I would have ate that and gave the dogs what I made cuz it was actually better.

I don't know that fancy refrigerated cat food would be a good option for the apocalypse, myself.

That freeze dried liver and fish and shit? You bet. I'm sure it doesn't taste good but it's actual meat with very little if any added stuff. If I'm ever in trouble, I'll be nibbling on those freaky looking anchovy snacks my cats get.

Pet food is unseasoned and more expensive than bottom shelf canned meals made for human consumption.

I'd stock up on those instead...

I did sample some of the stuff out of curiosity, and it was overwhelmingly bland and chewy. Not terrible, just really dull.

Dog food is safe to eat in America at least. They have to keep it that way because kids are stupid and might eat it.

As an example, my son ate cat food one time when he was two.

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Dog food is after the regular cans are gone and you're desperate. If I was a survivalist, I'd stack up on beans, peanuts, multivitamins and water purification of some sort. But I'm not so I don't. Good thing I have big bags of kibble and booze.

I used to work at an animal shelter and as a result have dished up the vast majority of commercially available wet cat foods at some point (we’d get lots of stuff donated to us). At least what’s available where I live. Not gonna lie there have been a few fish ones where they’ve honestly smelled just like a decent fish chowder and I’ve thought ‘you know, in an apocalypse…’. Some are just chunks of mackerel or sardines in sauce and I eat sardines in sauce all the time lol. You’d have to eat a lot of them to get enough calories though. Kitten food is probably the most calorically dense but you won’t get a lot of flavor or texture options, mainly mystery meat pâté.

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I've tasted both cat and dog kibbles, my kids used to love eating them when they were toddlers. I just wanted to know if I was missing out on something.

Neither tasted good, but the cat kibbles weren't nearly as bad as dog kibbles. There most likely are brand differences, but my curiosity was satisfied by the sampling I had available at the time.

If you're resorting to pet food, you probably won't have a large variety of options. Just eat whatever you can get your hands on and hope your stomach can handle it.

I've been feeding my dogs many different kinds of pellets and canned foods over the years. I always wash my hands after feeding ASAP, because the smell has a tendency to linger. It's not vomit-inducing, but it's still pretty far from pleasant.

My nephew apparently loves kibbles. Got to ask my brother the brand, gonna let you lnow.

Is pet food not perishable or something ? Why not learn traditional long term preservation techniques instead ?

I imagine in a survival situation, most proper none perishables would have already been looted from a grocery store but maybe the dog food would be overlooked.

Only reason I can think of for this question. Or maybe OP lost a bet and he's trying to make the best of it.

The Science Diet for dogs with food sensitivity or allergies isn’t bad. Kinda bland.

I can't remember the brand, but the packaging looked like human food except for a very small piece of text in the corner that mentions its dog food.

It tasted like it just needed a little bit of salt or maybe ketchup, but was otherwise pretty good.

I've also knowingly had wet and dry dog food since then, just because i already took the plunge accidentally so how bad could it be?

Again, I can't remember the brands, but dry dog food is alright if you've literally nothing else. I'm sure some seasoning would help. I would recommend wet dog food though only because it's easier to season. Tastes mostly how it smells, just blander.

Cheap dry cat food is unpleasant stale savory tasting and the flavor lingers in your mouth. It tastes like cat breath and could really use some salt and sauce to take the edge off.

I plan to only eat my neighbors leftist asses.

(Consensually.)

When my water shuts off I feel sheepish having to ask the neighbors if theirs is off too. Youre over here spreading cheeks and mud diving. Different neighborhoods I guess.

Has anyone ever tried those fancy dog cookies they make that come in different shapes and have icing and stuff? Every time I'm at the pet store I'm just so curious.

I Worked at a pet store chain for about 9 years. The sandwich ones with icing and the carob chips cookies taste like human snacks. The only issue is that it’s not produced in a human food grade factory

Idk that I've tried any fancy ones, but I have tried cookies supposedly meant for dogs before and they taste exactly like regular people cookies, but with less sugar and less overall flavor. They are also usually firmer than people cookies.

I remember one of them I tried literally just seemed like regular vanilla Oreos.

Just a thought - why don’t they make People Chow? It would be nice for those quick rush out the door days

https://mrsplantintexas.com/2021/02/25/homemade-vegan-dog-food/?fbclid=iwar2xs3ckgzh3ywytsp63oklnb_i8qwdhbfm2caw8a7h2-bgv2jhflqfqpyk

I make a double batch of this for my dogs each week. I do it in an electric turkey roaster, not a pressure cooker, but if you seasoned that, it would basically pass for "people chow." The dogs certainly love it. They whine for food now, never did for kibble.

I also add a pouch of salmon to one meal a week, just cause the husky loves salmon.

Wet or dry OP?

I’ve never tried any, I’m just curious of the parameters of the question.

I can tell you that dog biscuits (at least whatever brand my mother bought when I was an adolescent) had little flavor and were kind of like dried bread. Very benign.

Since dogs are scavengers and can eat literal shit I'd stay away from dog food, honestly, who knows with what ingredients they pad it, might be indigestible for humans. Cat food, on the other hand, is made to please carnivores, and cats are the pickiest of animals so I believe we should trust the cat. My cat liked Pro Plan kibble and Whiskas meat packets. Friskies kibble is also pretty good, at least street cats that I feed love it. Cat food is more expensive than human food though, so I'd just buy regular canned meats and fish (tuna in particular is dirt cheap and delicious both heated and cold, especially with oil).

Isn't Pro Plan Purina? Aka Nestle, therefore I would eat my dog's feces before I'd eat their food.

My dog and cat love a good Bachelor's Handbag every few days. I'd happily have those pretty regularly, although they don't seem to keep you full for long.

A what?

Aussie slang for a hot Barbecue Chicken from a supermarket - typically sold in a plastic carrier bag. Classed as the Bachelor's handbag as it is not uncommon for a single guy to buy one as a meal.

Probably better off just foraging and hoping to not get poisoned if that happens