What the heck was I thinking!

[Kobster]

So, my cats have been on an all grain free canned food diet for their whole lives. I found out when Sully was a kitten that he had diarrhea if he ate dry food, any dry food. So he's been on canned since. Ninja was weaned on canned and has never had dry.

but the FORAGING has gotten ridiculous! Sully doesn't do it as much, but Ninja is just constantly on the hunt for food. He has broken, destroyed, dismantled and shredded everything in my kitchen. I tried increasing his food but that made no difference. I increased his feedings to three times daily, not a dent in the destruction.

SO I gave in and listened to a "feline behaviorist" who insisted that he was just hungry and if he had access to food all the time, he would stop. Well I can't leave canned food out as 1) it would spoil and 2) He would just eat everything I put out, no matter how much I put out, and then go forage for more. He's a bottomless pit. I put out 1/2 a cup of dry Blue Wilderness. As expected, it was devoured despite the fact that they had JUST had their breakfast. I kept putting it away then bringing it out again later to get them to slow down. Well, this was a massive fail.

Both cats have explosive diarrhea. I don't know how or why I thought this was going to work. To top it all off, the foraging today reached new heights. Ninja somehow managed to get into the cabinet over my stove (and I STILL don't know how) which is where I had kept the dog and cat treats because I thought it was safe. Silly me. He knocked them all onto the ground and every last treat was consumed by two cats and one dog. Two cats have diarrhea still from the dry food yesterday, but are otherwise unharmed.

My dog is very very ill. She's old and may not make it through this. So I'm just really peeved, mostly at myself. Why can't I be smarter than this darn cat!!!

I'm trying new things all the time to enrich Ninja's life tunnels and toys and scratchers and everything I can think of. The problem is, I can't really engage him in hard play because it could kill him! I can't win and I'm just at the end of my rope with this cat.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[RowdyAndMalley]

I'm so sorry you are going through all of this Rachael. I don't have any good advice, as our cats are the pickiest eaters, but wanted to let you know that you are Ninja's hero.

[laurief]

Have you had Ninja's thyroid checked? It's not common for a young cat to be hyperT, but it's not unheard of, either. It sure would help explain his ravenous behavior.

Laurie

[Susan]

I too would wonder if such a voracious appetite might be a health issue. If not, then I'm likely not going to be too much help, since my girls are very picky eaters, like RowdyandMalley's cats. The only thing I can think of is to try one of those treat balls, where you put a bit of dry food in (that presumes he can tolerate dry in small quantities). At least it might keep him occupied for a while and he wouldn't end up eating too much additional food. Then again, if he can't tolerate dry at all, that suggestion won't work.

I'm sorry for all of your troubles, not only Ninja but also your dog.

[marie73]

Have you tried the trick with the 2-litre bottle? Cut a small hole in the side, put some kibble inside it, and he'll spend lots of time trying to get the kibble out. It would give him something to do, plus it's food.

I'm sorry you're going through this.

[doodlebug]

Great idea from Marie. But I'll also add that today may be particularly bad because of the full moon. Kobi turns into a total jerk once a month when the moon is full (other times he's just a partial jerk ). And...my parents are here visiting and they said the girls have been absolute brats today too...into everything, trying to get at food, non-stop counter surfing and they didn't sleep as much as usual either.

[Muzby]

Will he eat raw foods at all? I find my cats really get their mental stimulation and workouts from chewing large boney meals... don't know if Ninja will take to that kind of thing - but this worked for my aunts cat who was always trying to get outside. They starting giving him large boney raw meals (he eats canned food normally) and he has almost completely stopped door dashing.

[paperbacknovel]

My 11-month-old black cat has been acting ridiculous and ravenous, too, and I just found out that he has worms! (despite the fact that his vet checkup 3 months ago was good!)

I hope this gets better for you.

[mimitabby]

i cut a chicken neck (raw) into 3 or 4 pieces and leave it for the cats in the morning. When I get home i can usually just find a vertebra or two.
You say your cat destroys the kitchen, what else (besides the kitty treats) are they getting into? I"m curious.
And how is the dog doing? Sounds crazy over there.

[Kobster]

You know, I might try some raw snacks and see how he does.


He gets into the weirdest stuff. Like raw pasta, cream of wheat, uncooked rice, he also shreds my mail and any tissues, toilet paper or paper towels that get left out. I don't know if he's really hungry or just bored. Right now he's sleeping in my lap sweep as pie.

Thyroid could be a problem, he has another oddball diagnosis for a cat let alone a young one, so why not two. I'll have it checked.

Moxie is fine, she pooed orange for a few days but is was back to normal the next morning. The boys stools have firmed up again too.

Does anyone feed Blue Wilderness? I have this whole bag with only 1/2 a cup gone thats going to go to waste.