Damn picky cat

Our new cat came to us with one lower fang missing, but seemed to enjoy the dry food we fed her. I know that dry food isn't the best deal for cats, but it's convenient for cat owners.

A few months ago, she had her teeth cleaned and they had to remove a few teeth. So we started feeding her canned wet food. I spent far too much time investigating wet cat foods, and found one that looked good. It had one ingredient: shredded chicken. The cat loved it. Gobbled the stuff down and wanted more.

I found a place on-line where I could buy the food and they would automatically ship me a supply every four weeks. So far, so good.

After three months, the cat quit eating the chicken. One day, she ate normally; the next day, she wouldn't eat a bite of it. Went all day without eating. Wouldn't fucking touch it. Concerned about her apparent lack of appetite, I gave her another type of canned food that had been put aside when we started feeding her the chicken. She woofed down the other food. We have been giving her alternatives to the chicken and she eats fine. I try sneaking in some of the chicken and she won't touch it.

So now I'm left with a month's supply of chicken (about $90 worth).

Cats are great pets, but they can be picky little fuckers.

I learned a long time ago that Dottie likes variety. I buy three or four different brands, always fish or chicken but in a variety of presentations: shredded, pate, chunks. When I stack the cans in the cupboard I rearrange them in random order. She also begs for salmon or chicken whenever we eat it. She stands on the vacant chair, with her front feet on the kitchen table.

Since she's 15 now, not overweight, but still eating healthily I tend to indulge her. She's a pain in the butt but I want her to last as long as possible.

The dogs otoh will eat the same shit every day, with gusto every time. They're dumb like dogs.

P.S. Most pet stores and homeless shelters will take donations of unopened pet food.

P.P.S. Cats, being opportunistic feeders, really don't need to eat every day.

NoCoPilot wrote:

P.P.S. Cats, being opportunistic feeders, really don't need to eat every day.

They have to, if you want them to shut up.

NoCoPilot wrote:

P.S. Most pet stores and homeless shelters will take donations of unopened pet food.

I'm thinking it might make a good sandwich.

_Howard wrote:

They have to, if you want them to shut up.

Tell her to get out to the barn and catch her own damn mouse.

P.P.P.S. Why don't they make mouse-flavored cat food?

_Howard wrote:

I'm thinking it might make a good sandwich.

Some mayo and celery, make a salad.

Mayo and celery...let's see...mayo and celery or trash can...tough decision.

Trash can sandwiches? Doesn't sound very tasty.

Nor does mayo and celery. Never liked mayo, and celery is not a food.

Damn picky eaters.

If you're wealthy, you're a gourmet, you're discerning. If you're not wealthy - especially if you're a child - then you're picky.

Your cat, then, is a gourmand.

NoCoPilot wrote:

P.P.S. Cats, being opportunistic feeders, really don't need to eat every day.

Cats are opportunistic feeders only in the sense that their food source can vary, if the cat is feral or doesn't live in the house. But as obligate carnivores, their diet is still quite restricted.

The idea that they don't need to eat every day is no more accurate than that people don't need to eat every day. In fact, it can be very hazardous for a cat to go any extended period with insufficient food.

My point was, not that you shouldn't feed every day, but that leaving food out for a couple days should be okay.  During hot weather Dottie will often go 1-2 days without touching her food.  If her food gets older than that, I give it to the dogs and give her fresh food.

The vet said feeding cat food to dogs is fine.  Just don't feed dog food to cats -- potassium levels or something not healthy for them.

In your case, throw it in the front yard for your bobcat.  That should make you popular!

The food we give the cat cannot be left out for days. It's meat and dries out quickly and rots. I'm afraid to give her rotten food - she knows where we sleep!

Then give her a half meal at a time, and don't refill her bowl until it's empty.



Hint: Who is training whom?

We feed the cats twice a day. We don't have a left-overs problem with the wet food, though, because they gobble it down like dogs. We don't have any particular time for putting down the wet food. Sometimes breakfast is as early as 8:30, sometimes as late as 1:00 in the afternoon, depending on when I get up. Dinner is usually around 9:00, but can be anywhere from 8:00 to 11:00. They also always have access to dry food, so any time they want a snack between wet-food feedings, they can just help themselves. The dry food does get eaten eventually, but it sits out for quite a while. It seems they much prefer the wet food.

We did have a food-aggression problem, with the boy intimidating the girl away from the food bowls so that he could eat her food too. We solved that by separating the bowls so that they eat out of sight of each other. Then they go and sniff the other one's bowl and eat anything that's left, just to make sure that they got the same food as each other. Can we spell jealous?

Sounds like feeding time is an adventure at your house, Richard.

After two weeks of eating various foods, I sneaked in a bowl of the chicken this afternoon and the cat gobbled it up. I had tried sneaking it in before and she turned up her nose.

Trying to understand a cat is like trying to figure out what color the number seven smells like.

Cats strive to be inscrutable.

_Howard wrote:

Sounds like feeding time is an adventure at your house, Richard.

Whoever bred these kittens was not a nice person. We were assured that they were 8 weeks old, but when we got them, the girl weighed just a pound and the boy was a pound and a quarter. They didn't recognize cat food, and tried to steal cold french fries that got left on a plate they could reach. When we took them to the vet, she wanted to draw a blood sample, but couldn't because their veins were too small. She said they probably were less than 8 weeks. She tried them with a prescription kitten food, and they embarrassed us by noisily scarfing it down like it was the best stuff they had ever had - which it presumably was. So we got a supply of that, and set about fattening them up. Which took only a couple of weeks, really. They gained so much weight so quickly that the vet changed her opinion, and said they probably were 8 weeks when we got them, just undernourished.

After that start, they have never really become as relaxed as our previous cats about food. Which still pisses me off, so many years later. I don't actually remember when we got them, but they are about ten years old now.

Our last several dogs have been rescue dogs. Sometimes they come with behavioral issues.

Our earlier cats and dogs were kittens/puppies, so their behavior was still malleable.

It's just luck, I think, if you get a near-adult dog from a shelter and it's not all fucked up. Our present boys, I think, must have both been escapees from neglectful owners because, although they show no fear of people, they are very clingy. They have no food aggression, and get along with each other like best friends -- although one's from a California kill shelter and one's from an eastern Washington kill shelter. Both seem to be fine with our cat, though it took six months to convince Dot.