Diet: Raw and...bread?

jenc511

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Lucy is apparently too good for anything but raw food and...bread.


Since switching Lucy to raw (we just tried to the Nature's Variety tonight, and it was as big a hit as the Aunt Jeni's), she is turning her nose up at anything "cat". Cat treats, wet food, dry food, etc. It's pretty silly for a cat who was wolfing down canned food just a few weeks ago.

However, she has been counter surfing like a maniac and keeps stealing and eating bread. I had to throw away a package of sub sandwich rolls, a package of hot dog buns, and a packaged pizza crust! The bread is all now safely locked away, but it's just a little weird to see the little beast, who blew off some canned tuna and Meow Mix wet (I ran out of raw for one morning feeding, and she was screaming for food - I gave her what I had lying around to shut her up - not a chance), feels the need to eat massive quantities of bread whenever she gets the chance. The first, time I thought it was a fluke. The second time, I realized we needed to hide the bread. The third time, I just didn't see the flat pizza crust package on the top of the fridge (I'm short).

On one of those occasions, she walked past the sausage and eggs I made for breakfast to jump on top of the fridge to eat sandwich rolls (we were eating breakfast in the living room)...??? Dave and I keep laughing about the little bread thief, but it's weird. I've never had a cat actively seek out bread, especially when better stuff was available.

She's eating tons of food three or four times a day, so I highly doubt she's starving. The little piglet is going to be a big piglet if she keeps it up. I stocked up on more raw (two 3lb bags of the NV medallions and five 1lb tubs of the Aunt Jeni's), so at least I won't accidentally run out any time soon.
 

sharky

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Well the bread likely is a signal something is NOT quite right in her diet ... Possibley try giving some cooked rice or potato at a different time than her raw
 

aliciahorsley

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you're not alone. my cats occasionally get carb cravings and attack bread too. but it's kinda sporadic so i never made the connection until sharky mentioned it. and not all of em are attracted to bread. odd...will pay more attention
 
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jenc511

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Sharky, how much rice/potato would you recommend? I've got to admit, I feel a little silly adding carbs to a cat's diet, but I can see your point.

She's not bypassing the raw for the bread (she'd eat that every 20 minutes, if I offered it to her), but she doesn't seem to care for her "old" food/treats. Could the plastic packaging of the bread/rolls have anything to do with her interest in them? Maybe she just gets bored when she gets on top of the fridge? A package of regular sliced bread sat undisturbed on the other counter throughout this bread thing, and everything she stole was on top of the fridge.
 

kittys mom

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My Tre loves bread and it's never safe out in the open. I don't think that his diet is lacking anything...he eats canned food and some dry.

But, like your cat, he's obsessed with it. Then again...he's obsessed with everything. He loves cookies and cupcakes (eats through the hard plastic containers they come in from the grocery store to get to them). He will chew through the box and plastic to eat Ho Hos...the plastic baggie covering the french bread or sandwich bread doesn't stand a chance against him.

I don't think it's that weird.
 

sharky

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try like a tablespoon a day and see if that helps....
 

goldenkitty45

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Charlie doesn't help himself to bread, but he will not turn down if you offer him a bite of toast with butter
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Charlie doesn't help himself to bread, but he will not turn down if you offer him a bite of toast with butter
Charlie eat s other grains
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by CatsAreBetter

Maybe she's looking for the yeast, or potentially salt?
yeast/starch like sugars is my guess or the "high:" from eating carbs /.//
 

catsarebetter

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Pogue has a thing for salty foods... and will sit and lick salt from my fingers. I think I'm going to add some to my raw diet, or potentially put down a salt lick.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by CatsAreBetter

Pogue has a thing for salty foods... and will sit and lick salt from my fingers. I think I'm going to add some to my raw diet, or potentially put down a salt lick.
lol.. tell me if you get the lick to work
... I added 1/8 teaspoon of salt( grey sea
 
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jenc511

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I prefer sweet potatoes, and tend to have those around, so would that sub for regular potatoes okay?

Umm...she just wolfed down four medallions. Good lord. Even if the weights for the medallions are a little off, that's still more than they recommend daily for a seven pound cat (just checked the NV website)! She eats three to four medallions per meal. She gets about three meals a day! Is my cat a black hole, future fatty, or suffering from some sort of illness that causes massive overeating? Based on what I just read, she's eating at least 3x the recommended daily amount (and would eat more!) I'm used to regular cat foods that tell you to feed way more than you actually need to. Does the opposite apply with raw?
 

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You need to feed LESS with raw. BTW, I think she's going for the baked goods because she's still got a carb addiction. I'm of the opinion that once a cat has a carb addiction it never really goes away. Despite fighting Mellie's preference for dry food for two and a half years, she's still not over it.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by JenC511

I prefer sweet potatoes, and tend to have those around, so would that sub for regular potatoes okay?

Umm...she just wolfed down four medallions. Good lord. Even if the weights for the medallions are a little off, that's still more than they recommend daily for a seven pound cat (just checked the NV website)! She eats three to four medallions per meal. She gets about three meals a day! Is my cat a black hole, future fatty, or suffering from some sort of illness that causes massive overeating? Based on what I just read, she's eating at least 3x the recommended daily amount (and would eat more!) I'm used to regular cat foods that tell you to feed way more than you actually need to. Does the opposite apply with raw?
Sweet potato is GREAT... They will eat alot till they adjust to raw and make up for any "deficiencys " of a prior diet ... My Kandie ate 4-5 ozs a day /... Gigi my dog is 15lbs and eats 6-7 oz thou 4-5 is what her wt requires ... REMEMBER the portions on bags are just RECOMMENDATIONS not one size fits all
 
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jenc511

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Coaster, she never started attacking bread until we started the raw. She hasn't eaten dry food since I got her (I generally feed grain-free wet, so she might have had one or two meals of wet food that did contain grain of some sort). They provided wet and dry at the shelter, so I imagine she might have eaten it there. She was perfectly happy eating canned at scheduled mealtimes, and my bread was safe on the counter or on top of the fridge.

I'm starting to think she was just plain hungry. I was giving her plenty of food, according to the feeding guidelines, but she always cleaned her plate. I'm just going to let her eat what she wants until she either starts getting fat or has any other issues.

Sharky, I'll offer the sweet potato and see how that goes over.

Of course, if this continues, maybe I can use it to justify my purchase of a bread maker. Dave thinks I don't need one, and it will just take up valuable kitchen storage space, but if it's "for the kitty," how can he argue?
 
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