Feeling pretty crappy ...
 

You know how cats are picky eaters?

Well, when Oscar started refusing her wet food, I figured it was
because I'd given her dry food while we went on several overnight
trips. I know that she loves kibble, so I figured she was just
holding out for the dry stuff.

Except she was losing weight. Well, a lot of cats lose some weight in
the spring time ... I monitored her behavior carefully, and while she
was eating only a few bites of her food, she was still energetic,
clear-eyed, got the zoomies, etc. She didn't seem like a cat who was
suffering from starvation or any other illness, except that she was
getting pretty skinny.

I even tried poking a few kibble into her wet food to stimulate her
appetite; not much luck.

Well, this weekend, I finally went and bought some other flavors of
wet food, to see if maybe it was just this flavor.

As soon as I served up something other than the cans I'd been feeding
her, she fell to like a lumberjack eating a hearty meal of pancakes
before a long day's work. Or maybe like a starving cat.

Now I feel really sh*tty because I should have realized that something
was wrong. Oscar's an indoor kitty, so it's not like she can go
hunting if she doesn't like the meals.

I had thought she'd eaten this flavor she's rejecting before, but now
I'm thinking I misremembered. I got it because it's not seafood --
she much prefers the seafood, and I worry about mercury. She's pretty
impressed with a pheasant food (I would never have guessed that, but
the lady at my pet store gave me a free can to try), but that has rice
in it, and I try to stay away from carb-y foods for her ...

Sigh. Monique, cat-starver =/

Feeling pretty crappy ...
 

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote

I had thought she'd eaten this flavor she's rejecting before, but now
I'm thinking I misremembered. I got it because it's not seafood --
she much prefers the seafood, and I worry about mercury.

I don't think there's much of mercury problem with most seafood outside of
shrimp and tuna. Salmon is ideal because it's farm-raised.

the lady at my pet store gave me a free can to try), but that has rice
in it, and I try to stay away from carb-y foods for her ...

Again, I don't think you need to worry about rice, as they probably use
whole grain which is not nearly as dangerous, carb-wise, as white rice.

Hey, we all make silly mistakes. Try pleasing seven kitties with one type of
food! But they eventually adapt and eat whatever is served. The only thing
that absolutely won't get touched around here is any of the cheap, off-brand
stuff, even if it came from a can.

Feeling pretty crappy ...
 

I don't think there's much of mercury problem with most seafood outside of
shrimp and tuna. Salmon is ideal because it's farm-raised.

But unfortunately farmed salmon is full of PCB's.

--
Message posted via CatKB.com
http://www.catkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...dotes/200603/1

Feeling pretty crappy ...
 

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

As soon as I served up something other than the cans I'd been feeding
her, she fell to like a lumberjack eating a hearty meal of pancakes
before a long day's work. Or maybe like a starving cat.

Aww, don't feel bad. You do the best you can. We can't read their minds.
Hope Oscar's appetite will be good from now on.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.
marina (dot) kurten (at) iki (dot) fi
Stories and pics at http://koti.welho.com/mkurten/
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

Feeling pretty crappy ...
 

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

You know how cats are picky eaters?

Well, when Oscar started refusing her wet food, I figured it was
because I'd given her dry food while we went on several overnight
trips. I know that she loves kibble, so I figured she was just
holding out for the dry stuff.

Except she was losing weight. Well, a lot of cats lose some weight in
the spring time ... I monitored her behavior carefully, and while she
was eating only a few bites of her food, she was still energetic,
clear-eyed, got the zoomies, etc. She didn't seem like a cat who was
suffering from starvation or any other illness, except that she was
getting pretty skinny.

I even tried poking a few kibble into her wet food to stimulate her
appetite; not much luck.

Well, this weekend, I finally went and bought some other flavors of
wet food, to see if maybe it was just this flavor.

As soon as I served up something other than the cans I'd been feeding
her, she fell to like a lumberjack eating a hearty meal of pancakes
before a long day's work. Or maybe like a starving cat.

Now I feel really sh*tty because I should have realized that something
was wrong. Oscar's an indoor kitty, so it's not like she can go
hunting if she doesn't like the meals.

I had thought she'd eaten this flavor she's rejecting before, but now
I'm thinking I misremembered. I got it because it's not seafood --
she much prefers the seafood, and I worry about mercury. She's pretty
impressed with a pheasant food (I would never have guessed that, but
the lady at my pet store gave me a free can to try), but that has rice
in it, and I try to stay away from carb-y foods for her ...

Sigh. Monique, cat-starver =/


You couldn't have known that, Monique! I guess Oscar just needed a
change in her diet.
Best wishes,
Polonca and Soncek

Feeling pretty crappy ...
 

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
You know how cats are picky eaters?

Well, when Oscar started refusing her wet food, I figured it was
because I'd given her dry food while we went on several overnight
trips. I know that she loves kibble, so I figured she was just
holding out for the dry stuff.

Except she was losing weight. Well, a lot of cats lose some weight in
the spring time ... I monitored her behavior carefully, and while she
was eating only a few bites of her food, she was still energetic,
clear-eyed, got the zoomies, etc. She didn't seem like a cat who was
suffering from starvation or any other illness, except that she was
getting pretty skinny.

I even tried poking a few kibble into her wet food to stimulate her
appetite; not much luck.

Well, this weekend, I finally went and bought some other flavors of
wet food, to see if maybe it was just this flavor.

As soon as I served up something other than the cans I'd been feeding
her, she fell to like a lumberjack eating a hearty meal of pancakes
before a long day's work. Or maybe like a starving cat.

Now I feel really sh*tty because I should have realized that something
was wrong. Oscar's an indoor kitty, so it's not like she can go
hunting if she doesn't like the meals.

I had thought she'd eaten this flavor she's rejecting before, but now
I'm thinking I misremembered. I got it because it's not seafood --
she much prefers the seafood, and I worry about mercury. She's pretty
impressed with a pheasant food (I would never have guessed that, but
the lady at my pet store gave me a free can to try), but that has rice
in it, and I try to stay away from carb-y foods for her ...

Sigh. Monique, cat-starver =/


You are not a "cat-starver." There was food there if Oscar had deigned to
eat it.
My cats have tried to play this one on me and I have called their bluff.
If they turn their nose up because "we don't want the lamb flavour today"
it's removed. There is nothing until the next meal (2x/day)
It's surprising how they have suddenly decided they like what I give them.
I do not play the food game with them any more when I used to try and find
more yummy food that they might like better. They eat what I provide or go
without. It works.

Tweed

Feeling pretty crappy ...
 

On 2006-03-23, Christina Websell penned:


You are not a "cat-starver." There was food there if Oscar had
deigned to eat it. My cats have tried to play this one on me and I
have called their bluff. If they turn their nose up because "we
don't want the lamb flavour today" it's removed. There is nothing
until the next meal (2x/day) It's surprising how they have suddenly
decided they like what I give them. I do not play the food game
with them any more when I used to try and find more yummy food that
they might like better. They eat what I provide or go without. It
works.

Yes, but your cats do have the option to hunt for themselves (well,
Boyfie might hunt for KFC, lately, it sounds like). If I fed Oscar
food that was somehow contaminated, she would have no options.

Also, how long did it take for them to break down and eat the food you
provided? Oscar got noticably skinnier; enough so that I could feel
her hip bones and her backbone was more prominent to the touch than I
would like. True, she was behaving normally, so it probably isn't as
bad as it sounds ... but still scary. It honestly seemed like she
would rather starve than eat that food. We went through most of a
case (20? 24? cans) of this flavor before I caved.

Fortunately, I can go back to the pet store and trade the unused cans
for a flavor she will like.

DH also says that if she's really hungry, she'll eat. But she got
skinny enough that I was afraid to call her bluff.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

Feeling pretty crappy ...
 

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

It honestly seemed like she would rather starve than eat that
food. We went through most of a case (20? 24? cans) of this
flavor before I caved.

Wow! That's a lot of cans. I wonder if there was something not quite
right about that food? I would expect a cat to eat anything edible if
it's really, really hungry (to the point of actually losing weight),
but maybe if the cat thinks there's something wrong with the food,
they won't eat it no matter what.

DH also says that if she's really hungry, she'll eat. But she got
skinny enough that I was afraid to call her bluff.

I think you did the right thing by changing the food. This isn't just a
case of a cat being finicky and manipulating you. After she refused the
food over and over, I think you correctly interpreted that she does not
want it! But please don't feel guilty about it - if she appeared to be
eating it, and continued to act normally, then you would have no reason
to think anything was amiss. Once you noticed her weight loss, then you
were alerted to her eating patterns. I can't imagine how you would have
figured it out any other way.

Joyce

Feeling pretty crappy ...
 

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

Sigh. Monique, cat-starver =/

Aw, you're not a cat-starver. She just changed her mind about what she
wanted and didn't mind-meld to you about it. She'll be fine.

--
Sam, closely supervised by Mistletoe

Feeling pretty crappy ...
 

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
You know how cats are picky eaters?

Well, when Oscar started refusing her wet food, I figured it was
because I'd given her dry food while we went on several overnight
trips. I know that she loves kibble, so I figured she was just
holding out for the dry stuff.

Except she was losing weight. Well, a lot of cats lose some weight in
the spring time ... I monitored her behavior carefully, and while she
was eating only a few bites of her food, she was still energetic,
clear-eyed, got the zoomies, etc. She didn't seem like a cat who was
suffering from starvation or any other illness, except that she was
getting pretty skinny.

I even tried poking a few kibble into her wet food to stimulate her
appetite; not much luck.

Well, this weekend, I finally went and bought some other flavors of
wet food, to see if maybe it was just this flavor.

As soon as I served up something other than the cans I'd been feeding
her, she fell to like a lumberjack eating a hearty meal of pancakes
before a long day's work. Or maybe like a starving cat.

Now I feel really sh*tty because I should have realized that something
was wrong. Oscar's an indoor kitty, so it's not like she can go
hunting if she doesn't like the meals.

I had thought she'd eaten this flavor she's rejecting before, but now
I'm thinking I misremembered. I got it because it's not seafood --
she much prefers the seafood, and I worry about mercury. She's pretty
impressed with a pheasant food (I would never have guessed that, but
the lady at my pet store gave me a free can to try), but that has rice
in it, and I try to stay away from carb-y foods for her ...

Sigh. Monique, cat-starver =/


I know exactly how you feel, Monique. I felt the same way when Vino wasn't
eating his kibble, the stuff we eventually dumped out and a dog crapped on
it. I opened a new bag of food and he eats it no problem. Sheesh, talk
about a guilt trip!
I'm glad Oscar's eating her new food now. She must be the opposite of Vino,
he doesn't care for any of the seafood flavours.
--
Britta