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Cats are tireless hunters of mice. If you’ve never had the opportunity to see a feline in action, you may have already received a half-dead rodent as a present, dropped at your feet by a well-meaning tomcat. Nothing of that? There is no doubt, however, that you are aware of the eternal chase in which Tom and Jerry have been engaged for ages.
Anyway, we know that cats love mice. However, if you take a quick look in the pet food section of a supermarket, you cannot find the slightest trace of “mouse-flavoured” canned food. No more success either in terms of croquettes: the mouse flavor is non-existent. How to explain such a culinary vacuum?
The least we can say is that some masters do not shrink from any madness to satisfy their beloved tomcat, between toys galore and so-called mash “gourmet”. So if a good little mouse-flavoured porridge pleased their cat, there is no doubt that they would rush to buy it immediately. Really?
The mouse taste: not really appetizing
It would seem that it is in fact quite the opposite. Because yes, marketing experts have worked on this potential product, reports France Info. But their conclusions did not really reassure market players. And for good reason: it’s a safe bet that no one would want to buy food with such a taste.
Until proven otherwise, it is indeed the human masters – and not the cats – who get their hands on the wallet. Once in front of the croquettes section, it is therefore up to them to choose the cat’s meal before going to the checkout. A choice that is influenced by what they imagine to be good for their animals and, therefore, indirectly, what they think is good for themselves. And who among us finds mice appetizing? Nobody.
To sell kibble flavors, you must first convince the cat owner. Chicken, salmon, beef, tuna: these are reassuring foods that we know are edible, that we appreciate and which, in our imagination, can therefore only be excellent for the feline! In no time, we find ourselves with menus for cats covered with the same marketing arguments as for humans: croquettes “thinness”, “balanced” or “vegan”. In any case, it’s still much sexier than a mouse pâté, a rodent that we associate more with sewers and diseases than with the idea of a gastronomic feast.
Frugal meal
The anthropocentric point of view of the cat owner is far from being the only obstacle to the marketing of mouse-flavored feline food. The very characteristics of the small rodent actually make it a poor food.
Skin on bones, mice really have nothing to offer compared, for example, to an imposing bovine. Not much to chew on. Economically, the mouse also likely has more disadvantages than real advantages.
Not to mention that at present, manufacturers of cat food only process slaughterhouse waste and meat from animals that are not suitable for human consumption. However, to add the mouse flavor to the shelves, these rodents would have to be bred specifically to eat them before slaughtering them, which is prohibited in almost all European countries, adds the Berliner Morgenpost. Sacred sticks in the wheels.
A final point should also not be overlooked: are we really sure that cats salivate just by thinking of the taste that mice can have? Nothing is less sure. If the tomcat runs after them, it is rather because they greatly awaken his hunting instinct. A hunt for pleasure, for fun. Not necessarily for taste.
The trophies that cats sometimes bring back to their master are implacable proof of this. Once the dead mouse has been brought home warm, the cat still prefers to return to these famous salmon or turkey-flavored croquettes, rather than reveling in its loot. Jerry can therefore breathe: it is not tomorrow the day before that he will end up in a club.
