Cat likes sugary anything, coincidence?

scylla

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My big kitty hircine loves anything sugary even simple syrup :(

He's almost 2 we think and he's not fat (getting there though)

its never really an issue because he has no health issues and we're vigilant in keeping sugars locked away from him, but if we leave our cereal out he eats the sugar coated cereal! Ignores the milk though...I would think maybe he likes corn or wheat but he tends to even go after slurpees/pops

Idk I'm curious if anyone else has this issue or knows if it could be a sign of insulin problems? Or if theres an enzyme in pop/juice he could like? I only ask because cats aren't supposed to like sugar lol
 
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gareth

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Hi 

Cats, as far as current understanding goes, lack the gene which populates the tongue with tastebuds that detect sugar. They do posess the metabolism to process sugar, but do not need processed sugars in their diet. It IS an issue, because a cat eating sugars will in time develop tooth and gum issues, and potentially obesity and diabetes, so lock all the sugary stuff up, especially chocolate which can be very bad news for cats.

I don't think you need to rush your cat to the vet. However, a cat craving sugar is bizarre to say the least. My guess is that he's NOT craving the sugars but actually going after what the sugary substance is on.
 
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scylla

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I'm aware cats don't possess the capabilty to taste sugar i did say im only asking because its unusual lol

And it would be an issue yes which is why sugar is under lock and key :0 I tried to say that in the post but maybe you skimmed ;P

I did include in the Original post that I would think he likes corn or wheat however he goes after simple syrup, pops and chocolate(which I forgot to include) which is why I make the post because the only thing two of those thing have in common is corn syrup!

He has gone for non corn syrupy things too but thats my theory so far :/

*Once again I did say a few times now though that it's under lock and key! (I never let him eat it)*

I just know he will because he's crafty and in the beggining especially i wasnt expecting to have to guard my sweets when my other cat ignores them
 
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gareth

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I'm aware cats don't possess the capabilty to taste sugar i did say im only asking because its unusual lol

And it would be an issue yes which is why sugar is under lock and key :0 I tried to say that in the post but maybe you skimmed ;P

I did include in the Original post that I would think he likes corn or wheat however he goes after simple syrup, pops and chocolate(which I forgot to include) which is why I make the post because the only thing two of those thing have in common is corn syrup!

He has gone for non corn syrupy things too but thats my theory so far :/
Maybe worth a taste test - leave a bunch of bowls with a variety of things (single taste items in each bowl) and see what he goes after,.
 
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scylla

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I might try this in a few hours, im going to need to find sugary things that dont have the potential to be poisonous first

I'm also going to try some corn as well to see once again if he likes corn, I have corn flakes that I can trust on the table unsupervised but maybe a difference container will change.

I have bread and he'll totally go for bread I dont even need to test it but I dont think wheats usually in syrup aside from maybe some starches

I'll def try honey and simple syrup, maybe brown sugar.

I have stevia but he's more likely to want it for any fillers it has plus it's plant based and he might be biased ;P plus I dont know of its poisonous
 

gareth

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I might try this in a few hours, im going to need to find sugary things that dont have the potential to be poisonous first

I'm also going to try some corn as well to see once again if he likes corn, I have corn flakes that I can trust on the table unsupervised but maybe a difference container will change.

I have bread and he'll totally go for bread I dont even need to test it but I dont think wheats usually in syrup aside from maybe some starches

I'll def try honey and simple syrup, maybe brown sugar.

I have stevia but he's more likely to want it for any fillers it has plus it's plant based and he might be biased ;P plus I dont know of its poisonous
lol your cat sounds like a right character. It must be thoroughly entertaining living with him.
 

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I second @Gareth.

Cats can break down aminoacids to sugars and can also use the available sugar from the diet in order to store energy (although cant taste sugar as such and despite they do not need it anyway) .

The excess of sugar may lead to obesity, because of high energy content per dry mass.

I would simple take away the sugar in any form from the cat's diet. 

Myself I never left dangerous food unsupervised. Cats are problem-solving creatures and very curious by their nature. I dont trust cats... :-).

The same applies to cornflakes (no salt!), although in small amounts every now and then, could be OK. 
 
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scylla

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Im pretty aware of the effects of sugar (i'm prone to insulin resistance due to health issues so I have to be) ;P my question isn't about the effects of or why to avoid it, my question was what other thing is in the sugary products that he could be craving like enzymes in certain melons

I would never leave out a toxin in my cats reach and as such im not leaving chocolate bars in his bowl of all things.


Okay so i did a taste test it had honey, white sugar, corn flakes and a chocolate syrup that I seriously doubt has any chocolate as its mostly corn syrup.

Hircine considered the corn flakes and then immediately huffed some sugar and walked away :0

After I showed them to him again he did try the honey but it wasn't as enthusiastic as it normally would be when he steals my cereal/candy (not that I can get upset with him he's pretty skittish so we gently move him if hes doing a bad which is the only reason i dont immediately think of it as a game for hircine),
so I was thinking maybe the starches was the culrit since thickeners are in pretty much everything and yeah he was really enthusuastic about some potato starch I put on a plate!

The potato starch is one we get from one of the import grocery stores near us and theres no fillers so hes def going for the starch.

So starch/thickeners is what he must be craving and those are in pops and candies

Doesn't explain simple syrup and sugary cereal but he's a cat it doesnt need explaining I guess.

And yes like I said I'm pretty vigilant about keeping all sugars locked up! My guests and family don't understand that so he has in the past eaten sugary things before I knew to basically baby proof the house of sugars ;P

Once again I dont feed him sugars at all not even sugary treats but I did want to see if he goes for a certain ingredient!
 
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solomonar

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Taurine defficiency? 

Holistic vets claim that cat dry food is scarce in enzymes because of processing the meat at high temperature . 

I do not know whether this is scientifically proved and I do not know brand by brand.

But you may try feeding wet food and see what happens, if this behavior persists.

Could be also a pure behavior feature: cat likes playing with certain food and then ingesting it. Like a game.

My cat attempts to swallow paper. That is because I play with her using paper balls (actually it turned to be a bad idea, since I also have some important papers that are not meant to chew, no matter how tasty they may look ...:-)).
 

gareth

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Right then, now you are talking. A Cat craving carbs makes much more sense. 

Unfortunately, there's a million and one reasons !

Too many carbs in diet or a diet with not enough protein would be my guess as to the most obvious causes, but you sound like you are way ahead of us on the learning curve with it !
 
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scylla

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Taurine defficiency? 

Holistic vets claim that cat dry food is scarce in enzymes because of processing the meat at high temperature . 

I do not know whether this is scientifically proved and I do not know brand by brand.

But you may try feeding wet food and see what happens, if this behavior persists.

Could be also a pure behavior feature: cat likes playing with certain food and then ingesting it. Like a game.

My cat attempts to swallow paper. That is because I play with her using paper balls (actually it turned to be a bad idea, since I also have some important papers that are not meant to chew, no matter how tasty they may look ...:-)).
I will def look into taurine deficiency as that would concern me greatly

I do feed wet food once a week or so and have noticed that he prefers wet foods with potato starch as the thickeners, which is why I tried the starch earlier, so I'll look for a wet food with no thickener or at least a different one

As for behaviour, it would suprise me since the weirdest behaviour hes got is that he wants to be pet while he eats but I'm considering it aside from the fact he doesnt play with his food but its always a possibility

Right then, now you are talking. A Cat craving carbs makes much more sense. 

Unfortunately, there's a million and one reasons !

Too many carbs in diet or a diet with not enough protein would be my guess as to the most obvious causes, but you sound like you are way ahead of us on the learning curve with it !
If it is possibly not enough protein I'll try a higher protien food next time I get some for sure

He's on a 33% protein diet and a 10% wet here and there but im not sure what the as dry matter is for the wet :/ protien was a 40% for the dry but he's allergic to turkey so we had to switch him to the chicken one for now. He also gets regional red orijen(38% protein i think) as a treat and to top off his food when he's hyper as well as for a different protien source than the kibble hes got now

As for carbs I can keep an eye out and get one with less carbs too, and switch his wet to one with less carbs as well as make sure its not using potato starch as a thickener

Also I didn't even think of the potato starch thing till now I knew he liked cans with lots of starches before (because my other cat can't have a lot of stuff so I get to go through all the ingredients and feed them seperate) but didnt put two and two together till then! I made the thread because I know some basic animal nutrition stuff from school/work but you guys know more from experience and time and I need to absorb all of it ;P
 
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scylla

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Okay so even though this post is 2 days old I want to update this with something I noticed while making my tea today.

Hircine jumped up and started licking my empty stevia packet!

Its a sweet powder from a plant, normally it's cut with dextrose but I get one with the only filler being a bit of fiber :/ so my starch theory might be wrong :(

course I moved him as soon as I noticed but it could have been the fiber in it? I also have to protect my watermelon but some melons have enzymes that cats like so it might be unrelated as well
 
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