OK Seriously, What’s With All The Turkey?

Why is Buddy so obsessed with turkey?

You may have noticed that turkey is a frequent topic of conversation on this blog, and since we’ve had new readers join us it’s a good time to explain just what the hell is going on with my cat’s fowl obsession.

It’s simple: Buddy really loves turkey.

I first noticed it when he was about 10 weeks old. Like most cats he enjoys all kinds of food, but when I fed him turkey one day, he scarfed every last bit of it down, licking his bowl clean.

When he was finished he looked like the happiest kitten in the world, sitting there licking his lips enthusiastically, sopping up every stray morsel before letting loose a tiny, satisfied belch.

Buddy Drooling At Turkey
“The turkey!”

Before adopting Bud, I’d read enough cautionary stories about finicky cats who’ll only eat a certain kind of meat, in only one texture, from a particular cat food company.

Not only does food become perfunctory for those cats, but if the cat food company discontinues the product, both cat and owner are in for frustration that could stretch for weeks of trial and error. Finding an acceptable alternative is usually an expensive, wasteful process as kitty repeatedly turns his or her nose up at substitutes.

Heeding the cautionary advice of those devoted cat servants, I fed as much variety as was possible from the very beginning. Bud eats salmon, chicken, beef, tuna, shrimp and duck, among other varieties when available.

He genuinely enjoys his meals thanks to the variety, and I’d recommend the same strategy for anyone else bringing a new kitten home. Get ’em started early and you won’t have a picky cat.

But for Bud, nothing compares to turkey. No other food prompts such meows of pure joy, or the urgency with which he leads me to his dining nook when he knows his bowl is filled with yummy turkey goodness, frequently looking over his shoulder to make sure I’m just a step behind him with his beloved turkey.

It’s been that way since he was a baby, and in more than six years it hasn’t changed.

So for Buddy, life’s finest things are turkey, catnip, napping, napping on top of his Big Buddy, and turkey.

10 thoughts on “OK Seriously, What’s With All The Turkey?”

  1. Such a lovely article, like balm on my troubled soul. Thanks for this story of little Buddy’s love affair with turkey, may he never tire of the large fowl.

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    1. I didn’t do justice to how damn happy he looked that first time, but yeah, for whatever reason he loves it. Turkey would have been a relatively recent addition to the feline diet as well, within the past 400 years or so when cats arrived with colonists.

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      1. I’ve read that the colonists used wild turkey meat like bread, because it was so dry. If this is true no self respecting cat would consider eating the dry fowl unless they were starving.

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  2. I’ve had two cats over the years who would happily eat nothing other than eggs. One of them loved eggs so much that on those rare times I would make scrambled eggs for myself, she’d get up on the table and try to take it out of my mouth, by-passing the plate because she knew she was never allowed to sample what was on my plate.

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  3. Some of my cats will gladly swipe food off the plate or fork. One once took a piece of chicken out of my open mouth! A few of my
    cats couldn’t care less about getting people food.

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  4. Holly is so weird. She’s the only cat I’ve ever had that doesn’t like “people” food. Not even turkey! My other cats practically worshiped turkey and would beg all day on Thanksgiving until they got their share. Holly will only eat her dry cat food and dry cat treats. She makes it easier that way, but it’s still weird! 😀

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