Rather random kitty questions

[Parrothead]

I have three cats, two girls and a boy, ages 13, 2 and 1. We free feed dry food all day, and give each a can of wet every morning. Middle kitty, Eve, always bypasses the wet to eat the dry (big mouthfuls, too.) and might give the canned a lick.

My boy kitty chews on pinecones. Granted he's only a year, but still.

Does anyone know why they do it, or does anyone else have cats that do this?

[KiaKat]

Some cats just don't like certain kinds of food. It could be the brand, or it could be that she's just not a fan of wet food. Mine will go nuts over it, to the point where I never feed it to them for my own sanity.

I wouldn't worry too much. Vets are undecided whether wet food is really necessary, anyway. Some of them say it's required for moisture, others say never give it because it's basically junk food. My cats growing up always ate only dry food, my two now only eat dry food, and it hasn't seemed to hurt them any.

Your boy probably likes the texture. Maybe find a toy with a similar texture, or try giving him objects to chew on that keep him interested. Cat grass is always good to have around (it's basically just wheatgrass - go to the natural foods store and buy it there, it'll be much cheaper than the pet store), as is a decent cardboard box for him to nom on.

Mine chew the corners of tables if I don't watch them. My coffee table (thank G-d it was a junk piece to start with) is pretty much ruined, and I've had to swat Sarai off the antique sofa table a couple times to keep her from ruining that one too.

[Soulstealer]

Like KiaKat said, all cats are different in their eating habits. To elaborate current kitty won't touch human food but my first kitty would snuggle up to you for yogurt and other handouts. I had one kitty that would try to get my olives, silly of her to do so since I don't share those. She'd lick my fingers after I had a few though.

[BookstoreEscapee]

One of my cats likes wet food, one doesn't. Either way, they don't eat much, so they split one of the small cans; they each get about 1/4 of a can at a time, because they don't always eat it. Girl, especially, is very picky and will pretty much only eat one flavor. But they have dry food and water available at all times. They seem to be doing just fine.

[It's me]

Every cat is different.... our current beastie is 6 months old, and pretty much ignores any wet food we put out. He just eats the dry food.

He's pretty good about not chewing on things... although he does love plastic drinking straws... around our house you need to keep an eye on your drink or he will swipe the straw from it

[MaggieTheCat]

Regarding the pinecone-nomming cat, he may also be cleaning his teeth. Cats can develop cavities so it's good to give them food or toys that are good for cleaning their teeth. Dry food is generally supposed to be better than wet for cleaning teeth, and there are certain treats or toys that work too. He might also just like the taste of it, for whatever reason -- we have a cat that likes the taste of envelope glue! We have to keep any kind of envelope (even if it's one that's already been licked, closed, and re-opened) away from him or he'll start nomming on it.

[fireheart]

Our two will go nuts for wet food in the morning, and they get free fed dry food all day. Not to mention any extra meat that gets put down for them. (namely tuna, lamb, beef and ham)

[Ratha]

we have a cat that likes the taste of envelope glue! We have to keep any kind of envelope (even if it's one that's already been licked, closed, and re-opened) away from him or he'll start nomming on it.

Not to get off-topic, but things like that always remind me of Koko from The Cat Who... series by Lilian Jackson Braun.


Back on topic, my cat has weird eating and nomming habits too. He won't touch human food at all, not even any meats I offer him, but he loves chicken broth and the juice from tuna packed in water.

He also likes to eat carboard boxes, so I have several scattered around for him, most of which are half-eaten.

[cool2batroll]

Our kitty eats dry cat food, but will stalk us if we have chicken. He also loves to chew on our broom (and pukes it up later) if we forgot to put the broom away.

[Bramble]

Our old cat LOVED and I mean LOVED french fries. HE would decimate all who stand in between him and the fries. Really.

[protege]

Both of my kitties only get dry food. I tried to alternate between wet and dry food, but Baxter (the fluffy Maine Coon) would wolf down the wet stuff...and then it up later. Of course, this is the same cat that will spend hours playing with the plastic 'rings' from gallon milk jugs

Sally, on the other hand, is a bit picky about her food. She doesn't like the soft treats...but will eat the crunchy ones.

[Bella_Vixen]

My Rooks used to eat potatoes. She doesn't really do it much anymore. Every once in a while she'd also go for chicken, steak, and/or fish. I don't give her those anymore, especially since she tends to throw up after eating them.

All my other cats never liked people food.

Rooks gets wet prescription food now, just half a can a day (big can) and always has her dry prescription food for grazing.

Not to get off-topic, but things like that always remind me of Koko from The Cat Who... series by Lilian Jackson Braun.

I don't think I've ever met anyone outside my family who has read those books.

[fireheart]

Getting back onto random foods our kitties eat.
Well, not really...

Our eldest one, when he was still a kitten used to chew on one of mum's old filing boxes. Basically, he'd jump into the box, nom on the edge, spit the piece out, nom onthe edge again, spit it out...lather rinse repeat.

Eventually it was just four corner posts and one curious kitty wondering why there was no more box

[Ratha]

I don't think I've ever met anyone outside my family who has read those books.

I love those books. Ever since I got my first two from one of my aunts years ago. Ever since, I've been hooked. Got the entire series, including the three short tales books and both editions of the cookbook.

I even went so far as to count Merlin's whiskers to see how many he has. To my amusement, he has sixty-one. (Koko has sixty.)

[Der Cute]

My cat Fuzzy loves dry food. She eats wet food once in awhile, but she prefers dry. She WILL get very..pushy..when I eat chicken. She will stand on her hind legs, reach out with her hands and pull my hands DOWN towards her to let her sniff out what I'm eating. She won't bite it out of my hands, but she'll be very obvious she wants some.

She has a strange habit though. She likes raw shea butter. I have a canister of it and use it on my skin, but she wants a taste of it when I open it! It's a plant derivative, a fat from a nut kernel - but is it safe?

Cutenoob