I snapped at my cat.

[Furballsmom]

I apologize if you have mentioned it previously, but do you have a way to weigh him so that you can keep track?

 

[Jabzilla]

I started feeding him 1 cup but I noticed that it’s way too much food for him so I dropped it to 3/4 of a cup. Last week he was getting between 3/4 and 1 cup a day but since Monday he hasn’t had 3/4 cup in 2 days. A friend suggested to cook the meat and stop offering raw in case he is refusing it bcs the meat has gone bad. This way i can ensure that he is not refusing the food because he is smelling something off.
what a journey!

edit:
The book mentions that 1 ounce has 40 calories. My cat gets around 6 ounces a day so around 240 calories. Maybe he only needs half a cup since 240 calories can be a bit too much for him. I will try to aim for 200 calories. Maybe i’m trying to overfeed him?

Cooking the food is certainly worth a try. Make sure not to cook anything with bones. Another option is if the food is ground, storing it in ice cube trays. That makes it very easy to quickly defrost small amounts of food w/o worrying about the rest going bad. 240kcal per day very well could be too much. If he were an active outdoor cat, then a large amount of calories would make sense. But an indoor raw feed cat likely doesn't need that many. My other cat, Rocket, gets 200kcal/day and she was 4.9kg when last weighed and is at an ideal body score.

 

[silent meowlook]

Last time I will say it. Try feeding your cat canned cat food. Pick a variety that isn’t beef or fish and feed him that. Even if it is fancy feast. Just make sure it is a pate variety. If you use the fancy feast cans, jhe should get one in the morning and one at night. That’s it.

I will be direct because that is how I am. You are over complicating this and blaming the cat for things that are not his doing or in his control. He is a cat. He thinks like a cat, not a person. He is not manipulative because he cannot be. He is a cat. They are not capable of those kinds of thought processes. They are simple. Cats don’t lie or think out elaborate schemes to get something from you. He is just being a cat.

To consider opening the door and letting him out to teach him some sort of lesson is cruel, and the only lesson he will learn is how to die out there.

Please, if you don’t want this cat, or you think that life was better before you had him, find him another home or return him to where you got him from. But being so angry at him isn’t fair.

If you want to keep him, then he needs to see a vet to make sure he is well. That means blood work and whatever diagnostics they recommend.

I don’t and never would cook for my cats. It is very hard to get the nutritional ratios right and I have seen a 4 month old kitten have to be euthanized because the owner didn’t have the phosphorus to calcium ratio correct and the cats bones on X-ray were translucent. He had multiple fractures and suffered another just in a cage overnight.

I am picking up on a lot of resentment towards your cat from these posts and it honestly isn’t fair to the cat. He is just a little cat that doesn’t have any ill will towards you at all. If you can’t find it in you to enjoy his company, consider alternatives then.

I am not trying to offend and am just very concerned for your cat.

 

[maggie101]

Well put S silent meowlook I took in a stray cat that end up having fatty liver disease from not getting enough protein and passed on her own. Beautiful,friendly cat. Very few,if any cats that do not crave fancy feast.

 

[Furballsmom]

I am picking up on a lot of resentment towards your cat from these posts and it honestly isn’t fair to the cat. He is just a little cat that doesn’t have any ill will towards you at all.

I agree.

I'm hoping that your work towards determining his caloric needs is helpful regarding eliminating your frustration, but as mentioned, if it does not you need to take my advice from earlier and test whether or not a different environment changes his behavior, or rehome him. Cats pick up on our emotions like little sponges. He needs you happy and loving, and appreciating him for what he is, rather than constantly upset.

 

[my_money_pit]

Last time I will say it. Try feeding your cat canned cat food. Pick a variety that isn’t beef or fish and feed him that. Even if it is fancy feast. Just make sure it is a pate variety. If you use the fancy feast cans, jhe should get one in the morning and one at night. That’s it.

I will be direct because that is how I am. You are over complicating this and blaming the cat for things that are not his doing or in his control. He is a cat. He thinks like a cat, not a person. He is not manipulative because he cannot be. He is a cat. They are not capable of those kinds of thought processes. They are simple. Cats don’t lie or think out elaborate schemes to get something from you. He is just being a cat.

To consider opening the door and letting him out to teach him some sort of lesson is cruel, and the only lesson he will learn is how to die out there.

Please, if you don’t want this cat, or you think that life was better before you had him, find him another home or return him to where you got him from. But being so angry at him isn’t fair.

If you want to keep him, then he needs to see a vet to make sure he is well. That means blood work and whatever diagnostics they recommend.

I don’t and never would cook for my cats. It is very hard to get the nutritional ratios right and I have seen a 4 month old kitten have to be euthanized because the owner didn’t have the phosphorus to calcium ratio correct and the cats bones on X-ray were translucent. He had multiple fractures and suffered another just in a cage overnight.

I am picking up on a lot of resentment towards your cat from these posts and it honestly isn’t fair to the cat. He is just a little cat that doesn’t have any ill will towards you at all. If you can’t find it in you to enjoy his company, consider alternatives then.

I am not trying to offend and am just very concerned for your cat.

I did feed him fancy feast last week. He enjoyed eating it but he refused to eat it this week. I had 3 different kinds of fancy feast which he enjoyed but he stopped eating them as of Monday. So, I went and got him a different brand Oven Baked with options Rabbit, Duck and turkey. He refused to eat the 3 options.

I think you are missing a lot of information and you are not reading the thread entirely. You are jumping to conclusion as if I haven't tried so many options. I am following Dr Becker's book and giving him all the supplements required. I am not messing around and feeding him is a very serious matter to me. Just to give you an idea about how much I care about his food, I bought him organic extra lean beef that was freshly ground right in front of my eyes. I dropped 43$/kg just to make sure he is getting the best quality. I only did that on week one to ensure I am not giving him any chicken or meat with gmo and such.

It hurts me truly reading your comment. I don't think you wanted to come off like that but I have gone above and beyond with my cat. The issue has been going on for 3 years and I have been patient with him. He was a good boy eating pate on schedule but when I introduced him to new sorts of protein he started being picky.

Saying that the cat is not manipulating is underestimating his intelligence. He is very well capable of that. He knows that I have so many options for him so he refuses to eat anything except what he really feels like eating. He has a great feeding schedule that I already posted on this thread. He eats 2 types of protein every day sometimes he gets salmon or sardine with it and other times he gets egg. Even his sardine, salmon and eggs are organic. His veggie mix is organic. I am not trying to show off, but I do care about him but enough is enough and I have my boundaries too.

I made him starve for 24 hours and he ate whatever I served him.

 

[my_money_pit]

Well put S silent meowlook I took in a stray cat that end up having fatty liver disease from not getting enough protein and passed on her own. Beautiful,friendly cat. Very few,if any cats that do not crave fancy feast.

I tried fancy feast. He ate that for a week then he started refusing it.

 

[my_money_pit]

I agree.

I'm hoping that your work towards determining his caloric needs is helpful regarding eliminating your frustration, but as mentioned, if it does not you need to take my advice from earlier and test whether or not a different environment changes his behavior, or rehome him. Cats pick up on our emotions like little sponges. He needs you happy and loving, and appreciating him for what he is, rather than constantly upset.

I'm only aiming at 1/2 cup a day then will increase the amount once he is set with a schedule. He did eat 1/2 yesterday so hoping I don't jinx that!

 

[Furballsmom]

I made him starve for 24 hours and he ate whatever I served him.

well, this approach won't work on a regular basis.

 

[Cf24248]

Last time I will say it. Try feeding your cat canned cat food. Pick a variety that isn’t beef or fish and feed him that. Even if it is fancy feast. Just make sure it is a pate variety. If you use the fancy feast cans, jhe should get one in the morning and one at night. That’s it.

I will be direct because that is how I am. You are over complicating this and blaming the cat for things that are not his doing or in his control. He is a cat. He thinks like a cat, not a person. He is not manipulative because he cannot be. He is a cat. They are not capable of those kinds of thought processes. They are simple. Cats don’t lie or think out elaborate schemes to get something from you. He is just being a cat.

To consider opening the door and letting him out to teach him some sort of lesson is cruel, and the only lesson he will learn is how to die out there.

Please, if you don’t want this cat, or you think that life was better before you had him, find him another home or return him to where you got him from. But being so angry at him isn’t fair.

If you want to keep him, then he needs to see a vet to make sure he is well. That means blood work and whatever diagnostics they recommend.

I don’t and never would cook for my cats. It is very hard to get the nutritional ratios right and I have seen a 4 month old kitten have to be euthanized because the owner didn’t have the phosphorus to calcium ratio correct and the cats bones on X-ray were translucent. He had multiple fractures and suffered another just in a cage overnight.

I am picking up on a lot of resentment towards your cat from these posts and it honestly isn’t fair to the cat. He is just a little cat that doesn’t have any ill will towards you at all. If you can’t find it in you to enjoy his company, consider alternatives then.

I am not trying to offend and am just very concerned for your cat.

I have to agree with this. I don't understand why, if the cat isn't underweight (which was stated that he is a healthy weight), why you are bending over backwards to try to get more food in him. If he stops eating, just remove the food and offer it again later. Keep kibble out at all times, and offer wet food once or twice a day. He is not manipulating you. he's a cat, that isn't how they work. He's not starving. He's not in any danger of wasting away. I am not sure why you think he's not eating enough and is "starving" when his weight is healthy

If he is hungry, and he's been vetted and is healthy, he will eat. No need to keep rotating out food and spending money on new stuff. He will be okay being hungry for a day or two before deciding he'd like to eat again.

 

[maggie101]

I tried fancy feast. He ate that for a week then he .
Good luck! If my cats don't like something they won't eat it. Has he had a urinalysis?

 

[Eurocat]

I‘m sorry, just let me summarize how I understand things.
This thread is about a cat which supposedly doesn‘t eat. On the one hand the cat has access to an amazing amount and variety of best quality foods which the cat‘s amazing human provides round the clock when the cat even moves in the direction of its foodbowl. The cat is not underweight or losing weight. The cat is currently healthy.
The human on the other hand is extremely stressed as the cat seemingly doesn‘t eat (regularly?). The human truly wants the absolute best for their cat and really does care about it and will go to the greatest extent to find the tastiest nutritional complete food. However the human says the cat is manipulating it intentionally and causing more stress and they want to throw the cat out on the street or starve it if its behaviour doesn‘t change. The cat on the other hand is just carrying out behaviour its human has TRAINED and CONDITIONED it to do - namely wait for the even more tasty morsel that may come. (Who wouldn‘t ?) It doesn‘t understand why its human is constantly stressed and may possibly also start showing stress symptoms due to this down the line.

Its human’s response to dealing with this is to look for even better food for the cat.

Did I miss anything?

 

[maggie101]

I did feed him fancy feast last week. He enjoyed eating it but he refused to eat it this week. I had 3 different kinds of fancy feast which he enjoyed but he stopped eating them as of Monday. So, I went and got him a different brand Oven Baked with options Rabbit, Duck and turkey. He refused to eat the 3 options.

I think you are missing a lot of information and you are not reading the thread entirely. You are jumping to conclusion as if I haven't tried so many options. I am following Dr Becker's book and giving him all the supplements required. I am not messing around and feeding him is a very serious matter to me. Just to give you an idea about how much I care about his food, I bought him organic extra lean beef that was freshly ground right in front of my eyes. I dropped 43$/kg just to make sure he is getting the best quality. I only did that on week one to ensure I am not giving him any chicken or meat with gmo and such.

It hurts me truly reading your comment. I don't think you wanted to come off like that but I have gone above and beyond with my cat. The issue has been going on for 3 years and I have been patient with him. He was a good boy eating pate on schedule but when I introduced him to new sorts of protein he started being picky.

Saying that the cat is not manipulating is underestimating his intelligence. He is very well capable of that. He knows that I have so many options for him so he refuses to eat anything except what he really feels like eating. He has a great feeding schedule that I already posted on this thread. He eats 2 types of protein every day sometimes he gets salmon or sardine with it and other times he gets egg. Even his sardine, salmon and eggs are organic. His veggie mix is organic. I am not trying to show off, but I do care about him but enough is enough and I have my boundaries too.

I made him starve for 24 hours and he ate whatever I served him.

I have thought how I would love to be a cat but have gotten picky myself. I get tired of eating the same thing and I only like certain restaurants but tired of eating their food. To make matters worse,I cannot drive so days I have a driver I can only buy enough for 2 days. Your cat is lucky! So many cats have no home and many dangers to face in the wild. Thanks for caring!

Here's my senior cats,all rescues. My cat Maggie has ibd peaches had a crown taken out so she couldn't eat before now only minced. ,and coco, my very timid cat.

 

[maggie101]

have faith. It will work out so you are both

 

[Lulu&Finn]

Lulu is like Kokomo's cat. There was a time she didn't eat her wet food for weeks. It was during the pandemic when I'm convinced all the cat food changed. She was eating only dry food. She's very fussy and picks one food to eat for 2 weeks or so. Then we have to move on. It's always back to a food a she ate before. But she does not do well with variety each day. It has to be the same. Little weirdo.

 

[betsygee]

MOD NOTE: Just a reminder that suggesting things like punishing cats or putting them outside to fend for themselves is against TCS guidelines for quality cat care and cat welfare. Please remember to be respectful of others when posting.

 

[Caspers Human]

I suggest that when people dote on their cats too much they get acclimated to that treatment and often seek attention through behaviors that get them the attention they want.

No, cats don't think out these behaviors. They just repeat certain behaviors that they have learned will get them the attention they want. It's called "Operant Conditioning."

"Classical Conditioning" or "Pavlovian Conditioning" is what we often think of when we hear that animals become conditioned to do things. If you ring a bell then give a cat some food, it will learn to associate the bell with food and respond when it hears the sound of a bell. Pavlovian Conditioning can be thought of in terms of "Stimulus begets response."

Operant Conditioning is when behavior changes due to some circumstance or stimulus. For instance, if your cat poops on the floor you might say, "Bad kitty!" then take him to the litter box. Then, when he uses the litter box properly, you say, "Good Kitty!" Eventually, the cat will learn to use the litter box instead of going on the floor. (This is just a very simplified example used to illustrate a concept.)

The difference between Classical/Pavlovian Conditioning and Operant Conditioning is that Operant Conditioning is behavior based. Instead of "Stimulus/Response" it works like "Behavior begets response which, in turn, begets a new behavior."

It is my bet that your cat has been conditioned through Operant Conditioning to behave this way at mealtime. He wants to be doted on. He wants to be fussed over. Most cats like to be fussed over. He is behaving in a way that gets him the fussing that he wants.

If he refuses food then you'll run around, fixing different kinds of food, until his needs for attention are overwhelmed by his needs to eat. You are going to have to do something to recondition the cat to stop this behavior.

I suggest picking a food and sticking with it. Maybe a selection of different foods but make it a narrow selection. Pick something good. Pick something that he's eaten before but, whatever you choose, pick it and stick with it.

The second thing I suggest is to make a fuss over the cat while you get his food ready. Make mealtime into a performance. Talk to him. Tell him that you're making his "yummy dinner." Clink some dishes together. Make sure he hears you opening the container. Give him lots of petting and attention.

Once you put the food down, however, that's it! You've fussed over him. You've made his "din-din." You've petted him and given him lots of love. Now, it's time to eat. Either he eats or he doesn't. Give him a certain time (maybe an hour) then pick up the food and put it in the fridge and try again, later.

Again... Fuss-fuss!... Din-din! Yum-yum! Pet-pet!... Love-Love! After that, the food goes down and he either eats or doesn't. If the cat wants to eat he's going to have to learn (be conditioned) to do it YOUR way.

Another thing... Play with him before mealtimes. Make it part of the fussing routine. He gets play and fun times. Then, he gets to eat. Not only does this reinforce his conditioning, it's part of a cat's natural instincts.

It goes to Jackson Galaxy's saying: "Hunt. Catch. Kill. Eat."

That's how cats in the wild behave and it plays upon your cat's natural instincts. Then, you use conditioning to reinforce that behavior at mealtime.

 

[tiggerwillow]

Not sure if anyone's said this: could he have mouth pain? A bad tooth or something?

 

[my_money_pit]

hi, sorry for not replying. So many things have been happening that I didn't have the time to reply.
Shiva, the cat, is doing great. We went through a lot to get him to eat. The only thing that worked is two meals a day with a big gap between them. The first meal is at around 10 and the second one before midnight.
Sometimes, he demands food during the day around 2-3 pm. I put his plate on the floor for 10-15 mins. If he doesn't eat then i will just put it back in the fridge.
I am not putting anymore effort feeding him the required quantity. The food is out there if he is hungry he'll eat. He gets between 3/4 and 1 cup a day.
I also found out that he doesn't really like the pate consistency so I stopped blending his food. I now cut his food into small cubes or shred it with my hands. I cook the food before serving it so he has some freshly good meals except when I feed him the leftovers

He's a happy cat, he found a new spot next to the heater, so he sleeps there all day.

Thank you all for your comments and support. It was a rough ride!

 

[Jabzilla]

hi, sorry for not replying. So many things have been happening that I didn't have the time to reply.
Shiva, the cat, is doing great. We went through a lot to get him to eat. The only thing that worked is two meals a day with a big gap between them. The first meal is at around 10 and the second one before midnight.
Sometimes, he demands food during the day around 2-3 pm. I put his plate on the floor for 10-15 mins. If he doesn't eat then i will just put it back in the fridge.
I am not putting anymore effort feeding him the required quantity. The food is out there if he is hungry he'll eat. He gets between 3/4 and 1 cup a day.
I also found out that he doesn't really like the pate consistency so I stopped blending his food. I now cut his food into small cubes or shred it with my hands. I cook the food before serving it so he has some freshly good meals except when I feed him the leftovers

He's a happy cat, he found a new spot next to the heater, so he sleeps there all day.

Thank you all for your comments and support. It was a rough ride!

What a fantastic update! I'm so glad you've found something that works for Shiva and that he's doing well! <3