Among the many occupations of the Victoria era that no longer exist, you can count the cat's meat man. These were vendors who went from house to house selling fresh meat for cats and dogs. Dogs had always been both working and companion animals, but cats were rising in popularity among city dwellers as members of the family as well as pest control experts, and those who loved them were willing to buy meat for them. These vendors sold horse meat as well as organ meat and other castoff pieces from beef and pork slaughterhouses. In the mid-19th century, there were a thousand cat's meat men in London serving some 300,000 cats, and quite a few dogs as well.
The history of the profession had its ups and downs. Just the title was confusing- did these fellows sell meat for cats, or the meat of cats? There were always whispers of the latter, and even worse when one of Jack the Ripper's victims was found at the back door of a juvenile cat's meat man. But overall, the cat's meat men's services were appreciated. In 1901, 250 of the vendors gathered to enjoy an appreciation banquet sponsored by the new magazine Our Cats, and presided over by famous cat lover and artist Louis Wain. Read up on the cat's meat men of London at the Public Domain Review. -via Nag on the Lake