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Haven't we all wondered about this? Let's dig into it.
House cats are domesticated animals, right? In fact, they’ve been domesticated for 10,000 to 12,000 years. They actually domesticated themselves—in the Fertile Crescent (an area of the Middle East where agriculture started). As humans began developing agriculture, they figured out ways to store their grain. Well, stored grain naturally attracted rodents. These rodents, in turn, attracted an animal called the African wildcat (Felis lybica). This is the ancestor of the modern house cat (Felis catus… yes, that’s really the scientific name).
African wildcats got accustomed to living and hunting in human settlements where there was stored grain and plenty of rodents to eat. In this way, the cats formed a mutually beneficial relationship (natural pest control) with humans, even to the point where they could not exist without humans, evolving into a different species. Like I said, they domesticated themselves.
So, throughout the natural history of the African wildcat, and then the 10,000 or so years of the domestic cat, these animals have fed primarily on rodents. Their taste for rodents is deeply ingrained in their DNA. They did not evolve eating chicken, beef, or fish, which cat-food companies often put into their cat food.
That brings us back to the question:
Why isn’t there any mouse-flavored cat food?
The answer has to do with people, not with the biology or preferences of cats. There are several reasons. First, many humans are grossed out by rodents, mice and rats in particular. And humans are the ones who shop for cat food. Many humans have no desire to see, smell, or touch anything that has to do with mice and rats. So, they probably wouldn’t buy the stuff anyway.
Second, mouse farms are rare. There would have to be a lot more of them to produce enough mouse meat to fill all those millions of cat-food cans that are sold every year. And compared to chickens, fish, and cows, raising that many mice would be comparatively expensive. Raising mice requires countless small cages, suitable water bottles, and food made specifically for mice, among other things.
Third, pet-food companies have to follow the same sanitation and safety guidelines as companies that produce human food. Meeting these guidelines legally on a massive mouse farm would be a challenge.
Fourth, there are doubts about whether cats really do prefer the taste of mice over chicken, beef, or fish. Yes, they are hard-wired to hunt rodents, but does this really mean rodents taste better to them than anything else? Humans did not evolve eating chocolate, yet for most people, including me, chocolate is the cat’s meow when it comes to flavor. House cats seem perfectly content eating chicken-based, beef-based, or fish-based cat food. However, they really are hard-wired to HUNT and KILL rodents, and they probably will continue to be because their domestication process continues to involve them killing mice and rats, even today. This is why many farmers keep cats around.
Photo Credits:
Mouse-flavored cat food - Midjourney