Cat food - the newest toddler delicacy???

Can someone please tell me what is so delicious about cat food? Because it’s totally unfathomable to me. Joshua, the 19 month old is in the 10th percentile for weight. That’s good actually, because a couple months ago, he fell off the charts completely and I had to give him these supershakes, with high protein and fat in them to get him back up there weight-wise. He is such a picky eater that I find myself wanting to pull my hair out daily. Hates all fruits except bananas and vegetables – forget out it. Not gonna happen! But cat food? The kid is all over it. He eats that stuff like they are freaking m&ms. We’ve tried various things to deter him. Saying ‘no’, a light smack on the hand, but he is completely unstoppable! Finally, we’ve had to put the cat food up on the kitchen bar. Our poor cat – she’s never had to work so hard for anything in her life and now, at 11 years old, she’s having to jump up REALLY high to get her food. You can tell when she’s hungry, she starts meowing, louder and louder and looking up at her destination, then back at me, like ‘can I get some help here’. So, I eventually give in and lift her up. The lesser of two evils I guess. I choose being a human/feline elevator over having my son eat cat food all day. These are choices I could never have even imagined before motherhood