Antelope Meat and Pets

[Dougfirtree]

I cooked antelope steaks for dinner tonight and it seemed to drive the family pets bonkers. One of the cats kept obsessively trying to leap onto the table and steal meat from our plates (which he succeeded in once). He was unusually brazen in his efforts. After the meal, I took the trimmed bits of fat and connective tissue from my kids' plates and put them in the dog bowls. Soon after, I had to restrain our little female (14 pounds) from stealing all the bits from the male (60 pounds). It just felt like something weird was in the air. Anyone else ever experience this, or is it a fluke? I mean, as wild game goes, it does have an interesting aroma...

 

[p_ham]

My dogs go nuts for any kind of wild meat. I think I would of had to throat punch that cat if it was jumping up on the table though.

 

[LuketheDog]

My kids and wife do the same thing when I cook antelope...

 

[Hummer]

We have fed our Siamese cats raw elk or antelope almost every day since we brought them home as kittens, 5 1/2 years ago. They love the elk but Sushi and Kobe much prefer antelope. They relish it. Unfortunately, I haven't brought antelope home for two years. Some good friends gifted me some 2016 antelope but I didn't dare tell them that some of it was going to our cats.

The only thing the cats like as much as raw antelope is seared (mostly raw) Ahi tuna, which they get weekly. The frozen Ahi from Sam's has always been excellent sushi grade meat. Our cats get a variety of grain-free-only food. The raw game meat is what I have carefully butchered and packaged myself. Raw meat is highly digestible and better tolerated than commercial pet foods. We also prepare baked chicken for them, mixed with taurine, bone meal and fish oil. Home prepared food is better quality and cheaper than premium commercial pet foods.

I hope to draw a pronghorn tag this year because we love the meat as much as our cats do.

 

[ccc23454]

I hope to draw a pronghorn tag this year because we love the meat as much as our cats do.
View attachment 82819

There's a new one...lol

 

[wytex]

Our cat will rub constantly on any antelope horns or skulls we have in the house or outside, not much on any other antlers . Wonder if the sage aspect of their diet somehow smells of catnip to them.

 

[teej89]

interesting... i'm going to have to thaw some of my pronghorn to see how the cats react. I enforce a strict no on the table while we're eating rule(with a spray bottle and a swift hand lol)

Ever clean with clorox before? We have 2 boys and they'll fight each other to lay on the bathroom floor after we've cleaned it with clorox, the dog just looks at them perplexed.

 

[Tradewind]

Hummer...I think your cats eat better than most humans :hump:

 

[1_pointer]

Pronghorn meat is such a favorite at my house that Hank Dawg hasn't gotten the chance to develop a taste for it...

 

[Goatshoes]

My dogs seem particularly fond of all red meat game as well (particularly elk and duck). I often toss them raw trimmings when trimming meat for the freezer. The stuff that makes it to the plate is usually seasoned with pepper etc. so I don't give them anything from the plate but will sometimes process and BBQ less desirable trimmings along side mine un-seasoned for them.

 

[Hummer]

Hummer...I think your cats eat better than most humans :hump:

I'm sure they do, they're our kids after all. Like with humans, feeding pets quality, healthy food can lead to longer, healthier lives. It takes more effort than fast food but in the long run it's less expensive.

We've had three generations of long-lived male & female Siamese since 1971. The first gen loved deer and elk meat and lived to 21 years. The second pair wouldn't touch game or foods other than commercial cat kibbles. They only lived to 13.3 and 15.4 years, and died of kidney disease. Genetics would be a factor but I'm convinced the prevalence of kidney disease in cats is due to corn and other grains in commercial cat foods.

Our third gen has only gotten grain-free food, both commercial and home prepared, and they get game meat virtually every day of their lives. The digestibility of raw is well known and our cats have fewer digestion issues when they eat more raw elk and antelope. We'll see how that works out.

 

[el unit]

This is interesting. We will be having antelope backstrap tomorrow night and I'm curious to see how our cat reacts when we make it.
We haven't had antelope in 6 or 7 years- it's a shame, I know. BTW Southern Elk, this fabulous pronghorn backstrap you gave us is for human consumption only! No pets.
FWIW- our dog won't touch bear meat- cooked or not. He loves every other kind of game meat though.

 

[Goatshoes]

I'm sure they do, they're our kids after all. Like with humans, feeding pets quality, healthy food can lead to longer, healthier lives. It takes more effort than fast food but in the long run it's less expensive.

We've had three generations of long-lived male & female Siamese since 1971. The first gen loved deer and elk meat and lived to 21 years. The second pair wouldn't touch game or foods other than commercial cat kibbles. They only lived to 13.3 and 15.4 years, and died of kidney disease. Genetics would be a factor but I'm convinced the prevalence of kidney disease in cats is due to corn and other grains in commercial cat foods.

Our third gen has only gotten grain-free food, both commercial and home prepared, and they get game meat virtually every day of their lives. The digestibility of raw is well known and our cats have fewer digestion issues when they eat more raw elk and antelope. We'll see how that works out.

Makes sense as cats are obligate carnivores.

 

[BrentD]

All of our dogs (and cats back in the day) live exclusively on raw meat. Much of it is wild game. I don't know that they find any particular species more tasty than others, but the certainly love them all. Nothing like handing them a pound and and half of venison or half a rabbit, or whatever and off they go (best served outside). Their health is simply beyond compare to the kibble fed dogs I've had long ago. If you want a healthy pet, feeding raw is the way to go in my opinion.

 

[dcopas78]

My dogs when I was at home with dad and mom always ate well in hunting season. My dad is a taxidermist and you'd be surprised at the people who cut the neck off long when they bring the head into a taxidermist. There is usually a good neck roast left. Not necessary being safe for human consumption by the time it made it to the shop, dad would throw these necks to the dogs. They were the healthiest dogs you ever saw, consisting solely on necks throughout the hunting season. It was hard to get them to touch their dog food once the bounty subsided and hunting season was over. We raised some excellent deer tracking dogs like this. One in particular was a sure bet to find a wounded deer. He helped me a few times and was highly requested by neighbors and friends. I recovered a really nice 10-point buck that I hit through one lung. I got to the place he had him bayed to find him hanging off the deer's neck Stuck another arrow in the deer and it was over.

 

[Hummer]

It is of note that the CPW and probably other wildlife agencies caution against feeding game meat to pets. They aren't specific as to the reasons but it may be due to the possibility of lead, CWD, worms and other parasites that could be in the meat and fat (more under the hide). Personally, I don't feed meat to our cats until it's been in the deep freeze at -15F for at least 30 days, which will kill any parasites.

Our cats aren't very big so they don't get more than about 2 tablespoons of raw game meat per day. An elk feeds our family for a year.

 

[Hummer]

Btw, our cats aren't alone in an appreciation for elk carpaccio:

https://onyourownadventures.com/hunttalk/showthread.php?262976-The-Wild-Kitchen-Elk-Carpaccio-Salad

 

[haiku_rodney]

My cats consume about 1 goat per month. Raw meat frozen for at least 1 month.

 

[HighDesertSage]

I gave my dog some lope scraps the other night and he crapped in the house....

 

[PrairieHunter]

The only thing the cats like as much as raw antelope is seared (mostly raw) Ahi tuna, which they get weekly. The frozen Ahi from Sam's has always been excellent sushi grade meat. Our cats get a variety of grain-free-only food. The raw game meat is what I have carefully butchered and packaged myself. Raw meat is highly digestible and better tolerated than commercial pet foods. We also prepare baked chicken for them, mixed with taurine, bone meal and fish oil. Home prepared food is better quality and cheaper than premium commercial pet foods.

I hope to draw a pronghorn tag this year because we love the meat as much as our cats do.


]

Wow, your cats eat better than most people.