kittie only eats lunchmeat!

bcbc mom

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My baby girl is 4. Her 1st food eas cooper sharp cheese!
Problem was that after that, I couldn't get her to eat anything but people food! Now all she eats is mostly turkey lunchmeat! (she eats other things-like pizza, spaghetti, chicken, a very occasional piece of steak & LOVES tuna! She's small,but her fur is silky georgeous. Can't get her to eat cat food! I've tried them ALL--LITERALLY!! Should I give her kitty vitamins? Are there such a thing? Never thought to go in depth about this with the vet. bcbc
 

sharky

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One talk to your VET about this, while most are not nutrition experts they do know what is ESSENTIAL...

Two WHAT brand of lunch meat is it .... Some are LOW SODIUM and NITRATE/ITE free

Three WHAT brands of cat food have you tried ? was it wet or dry food?

Four is she 4 months or 4 yrs
 

furryfriends50

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I'd say if the cat already likes meat then it would be easy to switch to raw. Since turkey sounds like your cats favorite start with that and slowly introduce other meats. check out the raw diet forum for more info.
 

sweetkara

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Well I'm assuming the cat doesn't drive to the store and buy people food.

If you only give it cat food it will eventually get hungry enough and eat it.
 

kara_leigh

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Originally Posted by SweetKara

Well I'm assuming the cat doesn't drive to the store and buy people food.

If you only give it cat food it will eventually get hungry enough and eat it.
I agree. Nora would eat only people food if I allowed her to. She loves people food, especially veggies and raw meat. But I know that most human foods aren't good for her so I "force" her to eat cat food.
 

gfygrl71

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My Mulligan LOVES turkey lunchmeat..LOL all I have to do is grab the bag to make lunches and there he is sittng next to me meowing in the kitchen..He also a cheese hound...
 

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I think you need to keep trying to get her to eat cat food. Cats need taurine and it is unlikely she is getting it in the people food.

Perhaps try adding a little bit of people food to the top of the cat food to see if you can get her interested in it. Try some cat foods that have more of a human food texture like Merrick's Thanksgiving Day Dinner or Granny's Pot Pie. Those are the only 2 I had any luck with when trying to get Bijou and Mika to eat wet foods.

The other thing I would be concerned about is the amount of sodium in lunch meats. Cats really shouldn't have very much ham either.
 

dusty's mom

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Try Fancy Feast. It has been called Kitty Crack and I've never known a cat that didn't like it. Although it's not cheap, it has to be less than feeding her lunch meat!
 

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Wow - if she is four years old and only eating lunch meat and people food... if you cannot get her off of that or don't want to switch her to a feline raw diet, then I would think you would need to talk to the vet about a vitamin regimen. Her fur may look nice b/c of the fat content... but I cannot imagine that the other stuff - like the sodium and preservatives - are good for her. Heck - they are not good for people either.
 

mira's_mommy

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Originally Posted by SweetKara

Well I'm assuming the cat doesn't drive to the store and buy people food.

If you only give it cat food it will eventually get hungry enough and eat it.
I agree. I had that problem with Kipper a while back, and if you just stop indulging kitty he WILL eat the cat food. The cat will not starve itself to death if there is perfectly good food available. You wouldn't let your kid eat cake all the time if he refused to eat his vegetables, would you? It's the same theory.
 
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bcbc mom

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She's 4 years old. She only eats people food. Tried it all! You can only starve them for so long before it becomes cruel & would ya rather see her rip up a poor bird? How healthy is THAT? FORCE HER?!?! What would ya have me do?--tie her to a chair & hold a WATER-GUN to her head? SERIOUSLY-I came to ask for some help-I NEVER expected "catty" remarks. I've had cats since 1977 and I'd never be so arrogant as to think I knew it all. Since I questioned my vet(another story)I thought I'd ask the good people here instead. I never had to deal with this sort of stubborn kitty before. BUT-she IS VERY healthy,quick, & BEAUTIFUL! I'll download some pics over weekend. A super-helpful person on this site gave me step-by-step. Hope there are more like her!
 

furryfriends50

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Have you tried some plain cooked turkey? Would she eat raw meat or not consider that food either? Would she eat lunch meat if you smeared a tiny bit of wet food on it?
 
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bcbc mom

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See,I'm confused on what is considered raw. Is it like raw chicken? it wouldn't be good b/c of salmonella, right? But as I said she'll eat real turkey & real chicken -both cooked-(she also eats the deli lunchmeat kind),She's VERY healthy and VERY quick, & her fur is BEAUTIFUL! I just wondered if there are special kitty suppliments out there. I've had cats since 1977 and THIS one has GOT me!
 

missymotus

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All mine are raw fed, cats don't have the same issues with raw meats as us humans do.

If she only wants it cooked, there are suppliments you can add to make it a balanced meal, raw you can do without suppliments.

http://www.rawfedcats.org/ is one raw feeding website
 

furryfriends50

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I have finally been able to quit feeding any commerical cat food and now only feed raw. If it is done right and you are careful with handling the meat, proper freezing and cleaning up afterwards there really isn't a problem. http://fnes.org/index.php?option=com...eding&Itemid=3 can explain better than i can about salmonella and other common worries about feeding raw meat.

this site is great for people to learn about raw and why: http://fnes.org/

by raw i mean raw meat like chicken. lots of meats can be fed but some cats can't tolerate bigger animals like beef for example. you can visit the raw feeding forum on thecatsite for more info about feeding raw. the most important thing of course is that they will eat raw meat, then you can work up from there to other things they need like bone, liver, and kidney (or some other secreting organ i pick kidney cause its the only one i can get).
 

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Keep in mind that until fairly recently, all cats ate left over human food.

But cats HAVE to have taurine, which is found only in uncooked meat or as a specific additive, which is why they shouldn't eat dog food. Other than that...

And I, too, have remonstrated with the food gurus. But they mean well, and have a lot of knowledge to impart. Ella and Sterling would eat anything we put down for them. Punkin will eat only one thing (Science Diet), so that's what they all eat.

And the worst store brand food is better than living on the streets and eating out of dumpsters.
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by SweetKara

Well I'm assuming the cat doesn't drive to the store and buy people food.

If you only give it cat food it will eventually get hungry enough and eat it.
Originally Posted by mira's_mommy

I agree. I had that problem with Kipper a while back, and if you just stop indulging kitty he WILL eat the cat food. The cat will not starve itself to death if there is perfectly good food available. You wouldn't let your kid eat cake all the time if he refused to eat his vegetables, would you? It's the same theory.
Actually this is very dangerous advice. If cats refuse to eat for 48 hours, they can go into liver failure. Once that happens they don't want to eat and unless force-fed will die. Maybe when you starve your cat it eventually ate but you are taking unnecessary chances with their health.

I agree with mrblanche in the other thread started by this OP to a certain degree (I will merge the threads actually) - for many years our farm cats ate table scraps BUT these same animals caught mice and other small varmits and got their requirement of taurine from eating those animals. That is certainly not the same as feeding an indoor cat people food only.
 

otto

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Originally Posted by bcbc mom

She's 4 years old. She only eats people food. Tried it all! You can only starve them for so long before it becomes cruel & would ya rather see her rip up a poor bird? How healthy is THAT? FORCE HER?!?! What would ya have me do?--tie her to a chair & hold a WATER-GUN to her head? SERIOUSLY-I came to ask for some help-I NEVER expected "catty" remarks. I've had cats since 1977 and I'd never be so arrogant as to think I knew it all. Since I questioned my vet(another story)I thought I'd ask the good people here instead. I never had to deal with this sort of stubborn kitty before. BUT-she IS VERY healthy,quick, & BEAUTIFUL! I'll download some pics over weekend. A super-helpful person on this site gave me step-by-step. Hope there are more like her!
If your cat is eating only lunch meat she is not healthy. She may look healthy but she is missing, and has been missing for as long as she's been eating this stuff, vital nutrients.

Without enough taurine her eyes will begin to form lesions and ulcers, and may have to eventually be removed. Taurine is so important, four years without it has already done irreparable damage. It hasn't shown up yet, but it will.

Other problems that will show up in time from this poor high salt high fat diet is high blood pressure, liver disease, and kidney problems.

Like you, I do not believe a cat "will eat when she gets hungry enough" cats will starve rather than eat what they don't like.

But you need to find a balanced cat food, or a homemade cat food diet recipe, with supplemented vitamins, minerals and amino acids.

There are many books on home made meals for cats, do a lot of research and get your cat on the food she needs to live a long and healthy life. but watch her eyes carefully, and start saving your money, because if she has been living on lunch meat for four years, you are going to run into problems in the next few years.
 

skimble

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Originally Posted by bcbc mom

Should I give her kitty vitamins? Are there such a thing? Never thought to go in depth about this with the vet. bcbc
I would think a daily vitamin supplement would be good. There are many on the market to choose from. http://www.vitacost.com/Pet-Naturals...-Best-For-Cats I have used this brand before and all of mine liked them. They have all the vitamins and minerals a cat needs.

Your vet probably sells vitamins as well. You can consult with him/her on what he thinks is the best for your cats needs.

One of mine loves people food too.
 
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bcbc mom

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Originally Posted by Dusty's Mom

Try Fancy Feast. It has been called Kitty Crack and I've never known a cat that didn't like it. Although it's not cheap, it has to be less than feeding her lunch meat!
I actually have tied Fancy Feast & she refuses it. This is why I've been asking b/c I've literally tried EVERYTHING! Thank you though-I DO appreciate any good input, & like yours, most of it has been positive & helpful. Thanks again.
 
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