Pet owners rely on their furry friends for love and support, but many know very little about what their pets are fed, and with good reason. Commercial pet food labels can be tough to decipher and since pets need a different balance of proteins and nutrients than people, it’s hard to know if an animal is eating what they should. Here are four things you may not know about what your pet eats (and what it should be eating).

Pop Culture and Conventional Wisdom are Lying to You

Milk, cream and dairy treats of all varieties are verboten for cats as many, if not most, are lactose intolerant according to Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Likewise, raw meat and fish are off the table too “because of the dangers of vitamin deficiency and transmitting diseases” reports WebMD.com.

Take heart though. Your feline friends may not be down for ice cream or sushi, but they can consume a few things that humans can’t, including seawater. Thanks to their freakily efficient kidneys, cats can rehydrate themselves in a pinch by drinking seawater, though it’s not nearly as good for them as fresh water. (Certain marine mammals share this talent too). As one redditor noted, “Someone should have told Pi.”

Most of Us Have No Idea What’s in Pet Food

The dietary requirements necessary to win the “complete and balanced” label is set by the Association of American Feed Control Officials, but it’s not 100 percent clear about what specifically goes into pet food to make up those requirements. For as much as pet owners love their furry friends, many aren’t aware that pet foods can contain animal parts including brains, udders, bone and heart. That’s not necessarily a bad thing considering the head-to-tail approach to eating that animals adopt in the wild, but it is worth thinking about where those animal parts come from and the process they go through to make it into Fido’s bowl. According to Slate writer Jackson Landers, the animal renderings found in pet food could potentially be from a wide array of beasts, including the remnants of pets euthanized at animal shelters, but the pet food industry has strongly denied those claims.

Pet Food Recalls Are For Us Too

There have been 13 pet food recalls or withdrawals in 2014 alone reports the Food and Drug Administration, but those may be designed to protect people as well as pets. A 2012 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found when salmonella sneaks into dog food, it has a tendency to create infections in their two-legged masters too. This study backs up research published in Pediatrics which also found a sharp uptick in the number of human salmonella cases, particularly young children, following a recall of 23,000 tons (TONS!) of pet food between 2006 and 2007. To sidestep a nasty case of salmonella, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevent recommends scooping your cat litter daily, keeping pet waste in closed container and washing your hands directly after scooping that poop.

Your Cooking Is Killing Them

If you think your home cooking is better than high-quality commercial food, proceed with caution. An analysis of 200 home-prepared dog food recipes by researchers at the University of California, Davis, found that only nine met the nutritional standards set by the Association of American Feed Control Officials. Among the nine diets that passed, eight were written by veterinarians. Next time you’re tempted to head to the kitchen and whip up a special treat for your pet, contact your vet to make sure it’s A-OK.