# Corned beef



## Britt (May 18, 2014)

Don't shoot me, girls .... Just wondering if I could give Pooh some corned beef once in a while (as a treat)


----------



## Torin. (May 18, 2014)

I'd be worried about the salt content as that's the main preservative used. I guess a little bit here and there wouldn't be super bad, but the same sort of thing as ham, really. I don't know where corned beef lies in relation to cat-suitable salt levels, which would be something to double check.


----------



## Polski (Mar 16, 2014)

It depends how much a "treat" is. Corned beef is probably the only wet meat Jasper will go for. I don't buy it often, probably 4 times a year, and I will give him a bit...by a bit I mean 2-4 thinly sliced pieces about the size of my little fingernail depending how quick I eat my sandwich as he has them out of my sandwich...If I just dished them up to him he wouldn't eat it.

Now if I could just bring myself to eat from a tin of butchers I reckon I could get him onto wet food!


----------



## Charity (Apr 17, 2013)

I'd be concerned about the salt too.


----------



## Jellypi3 (Jan 3, 2014)

I'd worry about eating corned beef myself...let alone feeding it to a cat! It's so salty and processed...


----------



## ALR (Apr 16, 2014)

Any reason, why corned beef, Britt? is it because he likes it? If it's a small treat from time to time, then I wouldn't worry about it too much. 

Have you tried raw mince? Bubble loves his beef and he really likes raw mince.


----------



## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

As has been said ^^ corned beef contains salt. It also contains sugar and the preservative sodium nitrate.

Sodium nitrate is considered carcinogenic in animals as it combines with amino acids to form nitrosamines which can cause chemically induced cancer. An animal ingesting sodium nitrate is comparable to cigarette smoking in humans. In other words, *bad news*!


----------



## Ely01 (May 14, 2014)

Polski said:


> as he has them out of my sandwich...If I just dished them up to him he wouldn't eat it.
> 
> Now if I could just bring myself to eat from a tin of butchers I reckon I could get him onto wet food!


Hilarious! 
It works out of a sandwich but not as cat food


----------



## Ely01 (May 14, 2014)

Brit, I have to admit I tried already! Shoot me not either. 

I had too cans of it this winter which I didn't know what to do with (I don't like corned beef, it was left behind by my previous flatmate), I gave them to Oleg, as part of my early rotation. 
He ate them quite happily I must say. 

I read later corn (like wheat) isn't very good for cats. I guess a little is ok but easy on it I'd say.


----------



## MerlinsMum (Aug 2, 2009)

Corned Beef is called "corned" because of the type of salt used in its preservation which is/was termed "corns" due to the size of the salt granules.

It's also very high in fat, which is why cats probably like it so much. My cats always liked a little tidbit of ham and could hear a packet in the fridge being opened from 100 yds away - ham also contains salt & preservatives so only tiny bits were even given as special treats.

However, it's sometimes useful to know exactly what rattles an individual cat's cage when it comes to food. Salt, preservatives or not, you might one day find yourself in the situation where a cat simply will not eat due to illness, and just a few bits of something you know they adore can help turn that very difficult corner. And corned beef when warmed up smells even better to an ailing cat.

Edit: History of Corned beef - and there is more than one type- I take it you are talking about the canned variety? Scroll down to where it says United Kingdom.
Corned beef - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, corned beef refers to the variety made from finely minced corned beef in a small amount of gelatin (bully beef; from the French bouilli "boiled"), and is sold in distinctive, oblong cans, just as in the United States and Canada, or in slices from supermarkets. It is mainly imported from Argentina, Brazil, or Uruguay. Bully beef and hardtack biscuits were the main field rations of the British Army from the Boer War to World War II. It is commonly served sliced in a corned beef sandwich. Hash and hotpot, in which potatoes and corned beef are stewed together, are also made. Tinned corned beef is also used in mainland Europe.

The U.S. version of corned beef is known in the UK as salt beef, and is available in cities with large Jewish communities.​


----------



## jill3 (Feb 18, 2009)

chillminx said:


> As has been said ^^ corned beef contains salt. It also contains sugar and the preservative sodium nitrate.
> 
> Sodium nitrate is considered carcinogenic in animals as it combines with amino acids to form nitrosamines which can cause chemically induced cancer. An animal ingesting sodium nitrate is comparable to cigarette smoking in humans. In other words, *bad news*!


That doesn't sound good!
I don't give my cats corn beef but I do give them Ham as a treat.
Is Ham the same? does it have sodium nitrate in it?
I don't eat it myself.


----------



## MerlinsMum (Aug 2, 2009)

jill3 said:


> Is Ham the same? does it have sodium nitrate in it?


Yes it does.


----------



## huckybuck (Jan 17, 2014)

I think you can get a lower salt version these days.


----------



## Britt (May 18, 2014)

ALR said:


> Any reason, why corned beef, Britt? is it because he likes it? If it's a small treat from time to time, then I wouldn't worry about it too much.
> 
> Have you tried raw mince? Bubble loves his beef and he really likes raw mince.


I never tried raw mince. I tried a pure beef hamburger last week and he loved it but I was concerned about possible constipation issues. Since adding some fat to Pooh's diet would help I thought that giving corned beef once in a while might be good. I didn't think of the salt though.


----------



## Cookieandme (Dec 29, 2011)

Britt said:


> Don't shoot me, girls .... Just wondering if I could give Pooh some corned beef once in a while (as a treat)


Not sure why this would be a treat :hand:


----------



## Britt (May 18, 2014)

Cookieandme said:


> Not sure why this would be a treat :hand:


I would only give him some from time to time. I don't eat meat at all and it's hard for me to feed him any even though I know that cats need raw meat.


----------



## ALR (Apr 16, 2014)

I don't eat meat as well so I understand where you're coming from. I've never eaten red meat in my life so I don't know what to do with some meat. 

I experimented with mince though to find out what Bubble likes (turns out he likes beef). Surprisingly beef mince doesn't smell. Chicken on the other hand does! Although when cooked it's the other way round. 

I'd try a few of the alternatives and see what Pooh likes.


----------

