Converting Pigs to Cats to the Rhythm of the War Drums
As regular readers will know, my surviving cat, Sebastian, has a liver condition. He has a tube surgically grafted onto his esophagus, and we are force-feeding him via syringe. His food? Made up of pig liver, poultry liver, and fish liver. Now, while pig liver is a delicacy in some cultures, there is probably an abundance available in the US market as a slaughterhouse byproduct. But poultry livers are eaten, and fish oil is used medicinally, so the food is probably not entirely waste products. Actual killing, of species otherwise immune to microfeline predation, is going on to sustain my cat who has a natural condition. We have to go back to Gnathostomata to unite these “food” products; they are from different classes entirely. Such is the price of miniaturizing, domesticating, and doting upon carnivores, I suppose.
How do I feel about this? Not sure. PETA (fuck ‘em, but I’ll talk about them) has a compelling shirt that shows a cow and pig juxtaposed against a cat and dog. “Why love one and eat the other?” it demands. “Make the connection.”
OK, connection made. But I love my cat. And apparently, I’m willing to kill for it.
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