Bottomless Pit

[harleydiva]

One of my cats is making me crazy, trying to eat everything loose in the house.  He is a Himmie, big boy, around 12-13 pounds, but not too fat (yet).  He is the one that got all picky, a couple of months into the raw diet.  He decided he only wanted to eat rabbit or the beef/tripe mixture.  If I served him chicken or turkey, he smelled it and walked away.  I tried all kinds of toppers and nothing worked until I found the "magic ingredient"....green tripe.  Now, if I mix in some green tripe, he will eat anything I serve him.  He eats chicken hearts, and just started eating pieces of gizzard.

So...I have pretty much solved the problem of getting him to eat what he is supposed to eat......but he wants to eat everything else he can get his little paws on, including some things that are non-edible.  (I'm a behavior consultant...figures I would have a cat with PICA).  I had to pick up the little scrunchy balls....he will eat pieces of them.  If you leave a piece of cellophane on the counter, he will eat it. I have to keep butter in the microwave, or he will open the butter dish and eat it.  He roams the kitchen counters looking for things to eat.  He will eat lettuce out of the salad bowl, broccoli....pretty much any kind of people food he can find.  He got a mini cupcake a couple of days ago and ate it all.  I bought a couple of 6" sub rolls yesterday.....they were double bagged.  Found them this morning...he ate almost a whole one and part of another.  

I really think he is getting plenty to eat.  He gets probably 5 oz raw per day, plus a couple of chicken hearts and a gizzard.  If I offer a third meal in the middle of the day, he doesn't want it.  Is this normal????  

 

[redvelvetone]

how old is your cat? Also was he a stray before you took him in?

I have a cat with somewhat the same problem (and who used to be a feral, and he's the same size as your himmy), except he does not try and eat inedible objects, and does not try and eat fruit. But any other food is fair game. I left a cookie out on a plate (cinnamon cookie), and when I came back to the plate he had swiped it and eaten it. he's tried to eat pizza and donuts. He will eat crackers and pita chips. He eats some veggies and any kind of meat. He's swiped my edamame. We have to put the garbage can out of his reach or else he'll go through it.

He's a year and ten months now. I am hoping this calms down as he gets older. When he was a kitten he was a bottomless pit and begged for food all day. He still is whiny about getting his meals but he USUALLY confines it to around three times a day (which is when he gets his meals) and whenever he sees you in the kitchen he takes the opportunity to beg as well.

So I don't have the answers but maybe it's an age thing. Maybe he'll mellow out as he gets older. I remember my last cat mellowed out about mealtimes as he got older.

However, you may want to talk to the vet about him wanting to eat inedible foods to see if there is an underlying medical problem.

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• redvelvetone
• Nov 27, 2012

 

[korina]

Lol, kittens.

My boy martin well do the same, even some tiny styrofoam bits from a package that fell the floor.

He is also jumping into sink for fun, and to drink water from dirty dishes.

Obviously that is a people problem (me) also I think it is because he is so large (8lbs, 7 months)  he often will lie down and drink out his bowl.

I might need to start elevating his food.

Stella tore the carpet off the top level of her Catcraft floor to ceiling tower, and started eating it. I discovered it by seeing a little white stain on my red carpet(from acid), I picked up the contents and rubbed in my fingers, it was carpet fiber

I moved all the towers in the house but one to the basement for storage (and ordered a sisal ceiling tower for ALOT more money)

And dont get me started about them biting the vacuum power cord while I am vacuuming (yes, they have no fear of vacuum, Martin will let me run it right past him.  I  HOPE that lasts, I have wall to wall in 60% of house)

 

[harleydiva]

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• harleydiva
• Feb 4, 2013

He is 10 months old.....and has been a pampered kitty since birth.....no excuses for ever being without food....lol.  I truly don't think he is hungry...if I put out an extra meal of cat food, he doesn't eat it.  He wants people food.  He will leave some "cat food" in his bowl....and then go scavenging the counters for our food.  He is definitely not underfed....I check every other day to see if I can find his ribs.

 

[redvelvetone]

aw they are adorable! 

 

[korina]

Epic, very cute, but my babies need to bomb this thread.

Neck-

Drumstick -

pork-

 

[harleydiva]

Foo is still obsessed trying to get people food....he ate his breakfast this morning (rabbit + gizzard).  About an hour later, my roommate found him in the kitchen, having pulled a loaf of rye bread out of a drawer, opened the package and eaten almost a whole piece of bread.  (so much for grain free).  We have never fed him people food ..... he just suddenly decided he wants it.  I am convinced he is not hungry....I have tried offering him food right after he is trying to get into something.....an appropriate food like rabbit which he loves.....and he won't eat it.  We can't leave anything on the counter....or he's on it.  Soft butter has to be shut in the microwave or he will eat the whole stick.

 

[ritz]

I think any cat who at any time literally didn't know where their next meal was coming from may have a food obsessive personality.

I don't have any majic answers.  Only to be firm, hide food, and make sure they are getting enough fat, and no carbs.  Plus protein of course.

 

[vball91]

I don't have any advice for you for but Himmie eating a whole piece of bread made me LOL. So much for grain free indeed!

 

[ritz]

This idea/thought may be out of left field but:  has Himmie been recently tested for worms?

 

[harleydiva]

Hasn't been too long.....I took him in  for a test because he was having "pudding poop" all the time.  No worms.  As soon as I started him on raw, it went away.  It only returns when he eats something stupid....like a piece of bread.,,,,but not really bad because he primarily eats raw.  I found a spot where he vomited this morning.....there was a 12 inch thin piece of plastic, the kind you cut off the cheese package.  He didn't eat breakfast, but ate that.  (Anything that smells like food must be food.)   Roommate caught him in the sink this afternoon trying to tear into a piece of ham she was defrosting.  I have 2 dachshunds who are totally food driven...maybe he is emulating them....lol.

 

[harleydiva]

"The Pit" strikes again......  I bought a new loaf of whole grain bread couple days ago.  Packed it in 2 grocery bags, under several items in a back corner of the counter, behind appliances.  Went to make a sandwich today....bread is still in the grocery bags, but half the loaf has been eaten.  He is obsessed with bread.  He's eating his other food...where is he putting it?  The other 2 cats could care less about bread.  He will be making sandwiches soon.....

 

[vball91]

LOL. You need a Lock&Lock container or something similar to protect your bread. I challenge "The Pit" to get that open.

Of course, he'll probably just eat something else...

 

[harleydiva]

I just got one of those NuWave ovens a few days ago.  It is a countertop oven that has a large clear dome, through which you can see the food cooking.  It is like "Kitty TV" for The Pit. I cooked a whole chicken Saturday and he was just mesmerized watching it.  I took the top off when the chicken was done.....which leaves an opening at the top of the dome.  My roommate caught him dipping his paw in the chicken "juice" in the bottom, then licking his paw, and going back again.  

I can't leave anything he might get into in the kitchen cabinets....the Siamese boy will open them for him....lol. I'm running out of places to hide the food!

 

[vball91]

Your kitties are too smart for their own good. I love Kitty TV. That's hysterical. He's just a LITTLE obsessed, methinks. What about the fridge? Surely that door is too heavy for them to open?

 

[harleydiva]

 

[smitten4kittens]

One of my cats is the same way. He ate right through the plastic to get at the bread. If I drop lettuce on the floor he will drag it under the chair and growl like he found a t-bone steak! One time he found a bag of treats and ate all of them. I have to keep everything put away or he will have himself a full buffet dinner.

He was found on the streets as a kitten so I guess he is still concerned about always having enough to eat.

 

[vball91]

Love that bumper sticker! If Gideon were bigger and had opposable thumbs, he would take over the world.

 

[harleydiva]

Love that bumper sticker! If Gideon were bigger and had opposable thumbs, he would take over the world.

Gideon is scary smart...lol.  When a stranger comes in, I have to protect them......the other cats disappear, but Gideon wants to jump on their shoulders and check them out.  He talks to everyone....you can almost hear him saying "Who are you?  Why are you here?"   

 

[harleydiva]

One of my cats is the same way. He ate right through the plastic to get at the bread. If I drop lettuce on the floor he will drag it under the chair and growl like he found a t-bone steak! One time he found a bag of treats and ate all of them. I have to keep everything put away or he will have himself a full buffet dinner.

He was found on the streets as a kitten so I guess he is still concerned about always having enough to eat.

Yeah, Foo will eat lettuce too.  He'll eat non-edible things if he thinks they smell like food.  We have to be very careful that we throw away any pieces of plastic or paper when we open packages.  He threw up last night and had diarrhea.....who would think that after half a loaf of bread???  I've also discovered he is scrounging around the parrot cage.....found him with macaroni stuck in his long hair yesterday. He would definitely eat a whole bag of treats if he could find them.  The treats are in my underwear drawer, as it is the only place Gideon can't get into.  

I'm working so hard to feed this cat the "perfect diet".....he is driving me crazy....lol.