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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / February 2005Conflicted wet food feelings (long)
I've always felt guilty that Oliver doesn't get wet food. It isn't that we won't give it to him but he refuses to eat it. He isn't really a big eater. He'll nibble at some tuna or turkey and that is it. He loves his dry stuff. Every once in a while we will open up a pouch of wet food and give it a try. He'll lick off the gravy and leave the food. Well Tuesday I opened a pouch and told him he could have a treat-- he licked off all the gravy and walked away. Then he started pacing in front of the bowl. Then he ate a bite of the food. Then he ran away like he had done something wrong. None of us ever comment when he is eating because we don't want to disturb him so it wasn't something we said that scared him off. Eventually he ate most of the food. After eating all of the food he was a mad man, zooming all over the house and biting all of us. Not hard more like a pinch. It is this little game he usually reserves for the dog where he'll sneak up on Boone while he is sleeping, bite him and run away. Well, everyone was getting snuck up on. Yesterday I decided to put another pouch out and called him over. He again quickly licked off the gravy and then walked away. A few minutes later he came back and was running along the breakfast bar where his bowl was and when he got about a foot away from the bowl he jumped in the air like the bowl surprised him and then ran away. Then he came back and kind of stiff walked over to the bowl. All this time we were not making any comments. Then he took a few bites and ran away. This time I called him over and told him the food was his if he wanted it and sort of stirred up the food and put it in front of him. Well he wasn't happy with that and ran away cussing me out. Eventually he came back and ate most of the food. I really don't understand this. It is like he has conflicted feelings about the food. He seems to want it but is nervous for some reason. We have never made him feel bad about eating anything. The few times he has shown interest in something we've been eating or sniffed at a plate we don't swat at him or yell but just move him away. Or if it is something he can have we're likely to share! I can't even blame it on the bowl because we used two different bowls and he has eaten out of both before with no trouble. I'm stumped.  SignatureMargaret Fine mefine@mindspring.com > I've always felt guilty that Oliver doesn't get wet food. It isn't that > we won't give it to him but he refuses to eat it. He isn't really a big [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > the bowl because we used two different bowls and he has eaten out of > both before with no trouble. I'm stumped. It's called "Games Kitties Play" MLB I cannot explain why Oliver was crazy after eating wet food, it's way more low protein than dried. I have always given Kitty FC wet food, with a bit of dried in a dish in case she was peckish when she'd eaten all her wet. When Boyfriend arrived, apart from the few weeks when he said he nearly died of starvation when he was lost and ate wet food in an emergency, he preferred dry food, and the more expensive the better. He seems to drink quite well, but after the CRF scare about dry food, I want him to have mainly wet, with a bit of dry only as a treat. This is not going down too well. BF" My dry food bowl is empty." Meowl loudly x 5. Meowmie "Tough, just look at that lovely salmon & mackerel reasonably expensive very nicey food in your wet bowl." BF "don't wannit" Meowmie " Get real if you think you getting a lot of dry cos it's bad for boys" BF: expletive deleted." so I will starve and it will all be your fault" <dramatics> Tweed > I've always felt guilty that Oliver doesn't get wet food. It isn't that > we won't give it to him but he refuses to eat it. He isn't really a big [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > we used two different bowls and he has eaten out of both before with no > trouble. I'm stumped. > I cannot explain why Oliver was crazy after eating wet food, it's way more > low protein than dried. I've found that Oscar is way more energetic and "kittenish" on wet than dry. But it wasn't an instantaneous change; it was something I noticed after a few weeks. [snip] > This is not going down too well. BF" My dry food bowl is empty." Meowl > loudly x 5. Meowmie "Tough, just look at that lovely salmon & mackerel [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Tweed Yup. I had to call the pet food store and confirm that they will let me trade the cans of Wellness Chicken & Lobster (apparently pure poison) for cans of Wellness Turkey & Salmon (the first wet food that she'll actually eat right when I set it down). Oscar is frustrating because she doesn't beg or otherwise tell me she doesn't like a food, she just doesn't eat it. But sometimes she seems to skip a meal "just because" or eat only a tiny bit; other times she eats every little bit. It's hard to tell if she doesn't like the particular food or just has decided to fast for 12 hours. Signaturemonique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca Wierd. My Calvin would never ever ever eat wet food, but he would fold, bend, spindle and mutilate for canned jack mackrel!! PatM > Wierd. My Calvin would never ever ever eat wet food, but he would > fold, bend, spindle and mutilate for canned jack mackrel!! PatM Harri Roadcat is completely unimpressed with canned cat food, and has become rather jaded to her infrequent snacks of human tuna. She has even taken to leaving tuna water, if it's from chunk light tuna. Tuna water from solid white tuna, though, is another matter - she'll lap that up in one sitting. No, she's not spoiled, not at all! Dan Really no idea who he acts this way. Maybe he once tried to nose into Boones food and got growled at for his trouble. Jake just doesn't like wet foot. Not even ours. Molly won't eat wet food usually, but does act a little like you describe. Like she thinks it would get her in trouble maybe. Jo > I've always felt guilty that Oliver doesn't get wet food. It isn't that > we won't give it to him but he refuses to eat it. He isn't really a big [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > we used two different bowls and he has eaten out of both before with no > trouble. I'm stumped. > I've always felt guilty that Oliver doesn't get wet food. It isn't that > we won't give it to him but he refuses to eat it. He isn't really a big > eater. He'll nibble at some tuna or turkey and that is it. He loves > his dry stuff. Every once in a while we will open up a pouch of wet > food and give it a try. He'll lick off the gravy and leave the food. If he licks up the gravy, isn't that the only most important thing? The whole point to wet food is the moisture content, usually around 78%. So as long as he licks the gravy, he is getting lots of moisture. Not so? Unless the gravy is very, very small. In my wet foods with gravy, it's mostly gravy, so I'm delighted if the cat were to eat only the gravy. Science Diet is mostly gravy with a few of their foods. Moisture is moisture or almost. In the past, I have just put out wet food and left it out until she started eating. She is way too smart to do the starvation routine. Now she seems to demand wet food in the morning as breakfast, much to my surprise. I prefer it that way because later I give her Science Diet Oral Health to help clean her teeth as opposed to feeding wet food late at night and there's more time for plaque to form over night. Wet food, then Oral Health to clean the teeth, than some dry kibble like Science Diet Maintenance, somewhat lower calories. The imagery you describe is hilarious! Perhaps he has decided wet food is for humans and feels guilty. But after having some...well, you know forbidden food tastes better. Maybe that accounts for his antics. The liveliness might calm down once he is used to eating wet food. My Djoser won't eat wet food. But he will eat a few bites of human food once in awhile and roast turkey anytine. It took me two years of coaxing before he would even eat a Whisker Licking! Now he will eat two at a time, no more till next time. When Sheba became diabetic and went to canned food, she was still her grumpy old self until This last year when she refused to eat the diabetic food any more and so I feed her selected low-carb canned foods of FF and Supreme. Now she gets lively and a lot more energetic and she "talks" with her mouth full! Like she is saying "Boy-o-boy, this is the best food; where has it been all this time and where is more?!" -- CATherine I find it helps to mash the food when it is in gravy, I just mash it with a fork, it is usually eaten this way. Sometimes if all the gravy is eaten, I will stir in a little warm water. I think cats like their food to be moist. Give it a try ! Marie in OZ. > I've always felt guilty that Oliver doesn't get wet food. It isn't that > we won't give it to him but he refuses to eat it. He isn't really a big [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > the bowl because we used two different bowls and he has eaten out of > both before with no trouble. I'm stumped. In <C86Rd.3488$9J5.95@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net>, Margaret Fine <mefine@mindspring.com> shouted to everyone in earshot, >I really don't understand this. It is like he has conflicted feelings >about the food. He seems to want it but is nervous for some reason. Jimmer reacted similarly the first time I gave him canned food--got very nervous and ran away. It took me several tries to get him and Buck to eat the stuff. After a canned-food attempt, he'd even be nervous about eating in general, and it would take a couple days for that to wear off. I just kept trying every few months, and eventually, he decided it was ok, and everybody looks forward to the evening glop of yummy food. Does Oliver react the same to the ground, canned food as he does to the chunks and gravy (if you've tried that)? Jeff > In <C86Rd.3488$9J5.95@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net>, > Margaret Fine <mefine@mindspring.com> shouted to everyone in earshot, [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > Jeff Hi Jeff, I haven't tried the ground stuff but that is a good thought. Thanks! I might give that a try although my hopes of him eating it are low since the main attraction seems to be the gravy. He won't even eat baby food! Margaret SignatureMargaret Fine mefine@mindspring.com > Hi Jeff, > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Margaret Margaret, I have such a hard time getting my cats to consistently eat canned food. I keep trying though. Shamrock is fully on canned food, but some days he rejects something he ate just the day before. Now, the kittens give me grief with canned food and Scarlett who really needs to eat, won't eat the same food two meals in a row. Even if I warm up leftovers. Then if I open a new can, she still sometimes won't eat it if she ate it recently. She doesn't even like dry food (and I've tried many types even though I'd rather she eat the canned) I end up throwing food out quite a lot. I usually have a few types of canned in the refrigerator. I don't know how to get them to eat properly, so I read and I read and I read.. others experiences, tips, etc. Scarlett loves cooked chicken and turkey, so I may end up making her food. I don't know how else to get her to eat. She's so skinny. SignatureCheryl > Margaret, I have such a hard time getting my cats to consistently > eat canned food. I keep trying though. Shamrock is fully on canned [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > chicken and turkey, so I may end up making her food. I don't know > how else to get her to eat. She's so skinny. If the cat is skinny but getting adequate nutrition, then it's highly likely the cat will live far, far longer than most other cats. The research in longevity is bearing this out. Adequate nutrition here refers to milligrams of the proper minerals, vitamins and so forth, not extra pounds or even what is considered "normal" - in the research the long-lived creatures are about 20% below normal. In my own recent experience, a cat that is 21 and in good health weighed about 4 1/2 pounds, a small cat, and ate only cheap, dried food. That astonished me but I suspect it's her skinniness that keeps her healthy as long as she meets the required daily allowance of amino acids, minerals, vitamins, proteins, and so forth. Nobody wants to hear what I have just written but dat's de research, dudes, across the board for mammals. Any research to the contrary is usually some moron forgetting to factor out that cancer, alcoholism, cigarettes tend to make one skinny, also meth and coke. >>Hi Jeff, >> [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > chicken and turkey, so I may end up making her food. I don't know > how else to get her to eat. She's so skinny. Oliver likes his dry food just fine but even if I give him cooked turkey or chicken or even tuna he will eat one or two bites and walk away. He seems happy and healthy enough and at a good weight. I am mainly concerned about the moisture. We have a drinkwell fountain and I think that encourages him to drink more so maybe that will be enough. I just don't know. Crazy cat! SignatureMargaret Fine mefine@mindspring.com > Oliver likes his dry food just fine but even if I give him > cooked turkey [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > fountain and I think that encourages him to drink more so maybe > that will be enough. I just don't know. Crazy cat! Drinkwell is good. Do you keep water sources around the house in different places? I used to keep coffee cups of water in several places until the hoolikittens discovered that its fun to knock them over. But now I have a big dog water dish downstairs, a pyrex casserole dish in the living room, the drinkwell in the kitchen, and a coffee cup velcroed to the TV stand in the bedroom (Bonnie is still attached to drinking from coffee cups). Oh, and another dog water bowl in the room I still call the kittens room, even though they don't stay in there anymore. SignatureCheryl >> Oliver likes his dry food just fine but even if I give him >> cooked turkey [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > water bowl in the room I still call the kittens room, even though > they don't stay in there anymore. It amuses me when the cats walk past one or two bowls to get to the one they've decided to drink from at that moment. SignatureAdrian (Owned by Snoopy & Bagheera) A house is not a home, without a cat. |
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