History Main / GourmetPetFood

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': Lord Vetinari feeds his dog Wuffles finest steak, according to ''Literature/TheTruth''. The man subsists on dry bread and water despite being the ruler of a major city.

* ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales'': It has an OlderThanPrint example. the Prioress feeds her beloved dogs roast meat and fine bread with milk. It reveals her MoralMyopia, since she doesn't show anywhere near the same concern for human wellbeing, despite her holy orders.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'''s Lord Vetinari feeds his dog Wuffles finest steak, according to ''Literature/TheTruth''. The man subsists on dry bread and water despite being the ruler of a major city.

The rich, meaty look of gourmet dog food might lead some characters to a fridge mixup, in which they end up unintentionally EatingPetFood. Compare and contrast FakeFood. DogFoodDiet is an inversion where the humans intentionally eat pet food due to poverty.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': {{Inverted}}. Bart opens a can of "Carrot Cat Food" which is advertised as 88% ash and 12% carrots. They are actually quite common ingredients, though certainly not in those proportions. Snowball II is understandably disappointed when the food lands in her dish with a puff of gray dust.

** The brand is a repeat offender. Delicate portions of delicious looking meat are served in a crystal goblet to a fabulously white longhair cat which deigns to leap (in slow motion) off its personal chaise lounge where it has been sunning in what appears to be a Mediterranean villa. After a few bites it licks its lips and stares solemnly at the camera as if to say "I am a cat and I am richer than you."

* Fancy Feast cat food is a repeat offender. Delicate portions of delicious looking meat are served in a crystal goblet to a fabulously white longhair cat which deigns to leap (in slow motion) off its personal chaise lounge where it has been sunning in what appears to be a Mediterranean villa. After a few bites it licks its lips and stares solemnly at the camera as if to say "I am a cat and I am richer than you."

** A Meow Mix commercial [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTMdTWeW2ZU parodied this]] by having a owner serve a nasty can shaped brick of meat to a cat in a glass goblet, only to have the cat break the goblets, by knocking them to the floor.
* A dog food commercial (Cesar) shows the whole block of dog food on a plate being carried out to the appetizer table at a party. A guest picks up a cracker and uses it to scoop up some of the food, but just before he can eat it he is interrupted by the hostess, who starts conversing with him as she picks up the plate of food and sets it on the floor so her dog can eat it.
** Apparently, Cesar now has its "Sunrise" line, with such ingredients like bacon, eggs, steak, etc.
* A UK dog food ad aired which contained chicken, vegetables and ''penne rigate''.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aWx5WIIa6w FreshPet Select]] had a mother feeding her children dry kibble out of a bag marked "Dinner." The obvious implication being, "You wouldn't serve this to your kids, why should you give it to your dog?", although no matter how much a consumer might love their pets, they do not and never will have the same dietary needs as a human child.
* An ad for Brit dog food shows the food being served at a restaurant for dogs. Apparently it's so delicious that it makes the dogs forget about their manners.

* This is taken to an extreme with many treats for both cats and dogs. Semisolid snacks are especially egregious offenders: colorful and fancifully shaped (into bacon strips, little burgers, hearts, fish, et al.), they clearly are made to appeal to the owner's aesthetic sensibilities. This helps to hide the fact that they are usually little more than overpriced soy- or wheat flour.

* Parodied in a ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' sketch where the elegant packaging illustrations and elaborate descriptions are intercut with actual cat food cans opened onto plates complete with glopping sounds as the meatwad comes out of the can.

!!Examples

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* In ''Fanfic/TheWarcrafter'', after the Alliance raids Coil's house, Lok'tara (formerly Rachel) picks some of the meat and gives it to her dogs. When asked about it, she says it's "Wag-You" beef, which she picked because she thought it was specifically made for dogs. The others choke and/or freak out, because she's speaking of ''Wagyu'' beef, which was already very expensive ''before'' Leviathan sunk Kyushu and international shipping tanked. Lok'tara tastes some, remarks it's not that great, and tosses another piece to her dog.
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[[folder: Literature]]

* ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales'' has an OlderThanPrint example: the Prioress feeds her beloved dogs roast meat and fine bread with milk. It reveals her MoralMyopia, since she doesn't show anywhere near the same concern for human wellbeing, despite her holy orders.
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* In the ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth'' manga, Shawn Southern gives pet treats worth 500 yen each to his dog. They look enough like real sweets that the killer, in an attempt to frame him for killing his girlfriend, Emi St. Cloud, placed the cakes on the table to make it seem as though Shawn and Emi were both having them (even though Shawn dislikes sweets).
* An ad for Bitch'n' Dog Food in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'''s [[AllThereInTheManual manual]] is probably the most logical AvertedTrope, bonus points for admitting they use "the scrapings off the abattoir floor". Of course in the game the company is more into using HumanResources.
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* Averted in an early ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode where Bart opens a can of "Carrot Cat Food" which is advertised as 88% ash, 12% carrots. They are actually quite common ingredients, though certainly not in those proportions. Snowball II is understandably disappointed when the food lands in her dish with a puff of gray dust.
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* Averted in an early ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode where Bart opens a can of "Carrot Cat Food" which is advertised as 88% ash 12% carrots. They are actually quite common ingredients, though certainly not in those proportions. Snowball II is understandably disappointed when the food lands in her dish with a puff of gray dust.

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** A Meow Mix commerical [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTMdTWeW2ZU parodied this]] by having a owner serve a nasty can shaped brick of meat to a cat in a glass goblet, only to have the cat break the goblets, by knocking them to the floor.

-->--'''Creator/JimGaffigan'''

Compare and contrast FakeFood. DogFoodDiet is an inversion where the humans eat pet food.