Anyone else has a feline garbage disposal?

ziggy'smom

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I have a long term foster, Jack, who has the weirdest habits ever. I always just figured that it's his personality but I just read something about a cat with somewhat similar issues where it was a medical problem so I got a bit nervous and just wanted to see if anyone else has a cat like Jack.

Jack is a naturally slim cat. He's long and sleek and very beautiful if you ask me. Surprisingly though he loves to eat and is always on the prowl for something edible. This cat eats almost anything. A few days ago I found him on the kitchen counter munching away on corn in a bowl. Another time he had helped himself to a bag of shredded coconut that he had spread out all over the kitchen floor. He loooves bread to the point where we have to keep it out or reach from him or he will tear up the bag and take bites out of every slice. He also likes the dogs' treats. Last week he stole a pig ear from the cabinet. There are few things this cat doesn't like. Of course canned cat food is a big hit and whenever I bring it out for them he acts like he's been starved. He walks back and forth, meowing and won't let the can out of sight. He's worse than my dogs when it comes to food.

He has access to dry food all the time and he eats enough of that so he's not hungry. I think he just likes the good stuff and he happens to think that a lot of things is the good stuff. Oddly enough this cat is one of the thinner cats in my house. He's not skinny, just lean, but you would think that with his appetite he would be a bit chubby.
Like I mentioned I always just thought this is just the way he is and thought it was quite amusing. But after reading about the other cat who also had a big appetite but remained thin that had medical problems I became a bit worried that that may be the case with Jack too. He has always been a very healthy cat so I don't really think there is anything wrong with him but I just wanted to verify that his behavior is not that much out of the ordinary. So, does anyone else have a feline garbage disposal?
 

cococat

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Raises hand.

I have dogs, but this 6lb. kitty is way worse with the food stealing. People food, cat food, dog food, reptile food, bugs who somehow get in the house, it is all to be eaten until gone to her.

She cannot be free fed. She got way too obese.
 

strange_wings

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I have cats that aren't picky, but have usually only seen wormy cats that are really bad about eating anything they can get ahold of and thin on free feeding. It'd be worth ruling that out (remember fecal tests can miss worms) and making sure his thyroid is fine.
 

cococat

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

I have cats that aren't picky, but have usually only seen wormy cats that are really bad about eating anything they can get ahold of and thin on free feeding. It'd be worth ruling that out (remember fecal tests can miss worms) and making sure his thyroid is fine.
This is great advice.
 

minka

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What kind of dry food are you feeding?
It is quite possible that it is low in protein and that leaves him hungry and always in search of other food.
 

kailie

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Both Pria and LP are the garbage disposals around here! I haven't found anything yet the WON'T eat.
Neither one have worms or health issues, and both are very slim. They are both young though, so I will probably have to watch their weight as they age. Both were strays before they went to the shelter though, so that may have something to do with it, the instinct to eat whatever they can just in case, you know?
 

natalie_ca

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I think Katie is going to be my little piggy! She is always in my face wanting whatever I'm eating. I put dry food out for Abby and dry kitten food out for the kittens on top of my sewing machine where Abby can't get to. Spencer and Katie eat Abby's food, and Katie will also go and eat the kitten food. And she always has her nose in the trash bag. She is tall and lanky so far. But she is such a hyper kitten and doesn't sit still for very long at all, so she is burning off whatever she is eating, thankfully!!
 

feralvr

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Most of my cats are little piggies!! I, too, would check for possible parasites? When was he wormed? and if so, was it two consecutive wormings two to three weeks apart? He could just be a kitty disposal, but I would just check with the vet and see if they have any suggestions.
 
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ziggy'smom

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I don't think he has worms. I worm all the cats yearly, two times three weeks apart with strongid. After I found flea dirt on my dog last fall I treated all the cats with revolution too. Maybe I should have his thyroid checked. He's always seemed healthy though and he's a very active cat - always doing something - so that probably helps him stay thin.

It's good to hear that others have feline garbage disposals too.
 

sneakymom

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Any one of my 3 could be called a "garbage disposal". Though as Sneaky has gotten older- she has gotten more finikey. Holly and Jasper will eat ANYTHING.

Holly is especially bad about bags of cat food. I had bought a 16lb bag of cat food at the store. 3 cats- it's more economical to do so. But they hadn't quite finished what was in the closed bin. So- I put the bag on top of the bin. BAD IDEA. I opened the pantry and the bag of food had a HUGE hole in it- and there was food all over the floor. I don't think it was Jasper- because I've seen Holly start sniffing around and pawing bags of food.

cheryl
 

skippymjp

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In this tribe, that would be the Hobo; Hobo Skimbleshanks. Cat food, bird seed, dry corn meal, bean sprouts, black beans, cinnamon rolls, pringles, and anything paw sized or smaller that's slow enough to catch.
 

krazy kat2

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My petite little Fluffy, who weighs all of about 6 pounds, would eat her weight in table scraps, fruit, snacks, human and feline. Anything she can beg or steal. She gets good quality dry food in a feeder so she always has access, and regular wet meals, but you would think we starve the poor little creature. I have had her checked for worms and anything else that might explain her appetite, but have found no problems. The vet says she just loves to eat.
 

sk_pacer

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My Jack is a garbage disposal, too. He is fortunately, back in the barn so his food can be somewhat controlled, rather than him swiping stuff: bread, chips, meat scraps saved to feed outside, potatoes, milk, yogurt, sour cream, fruit, Da Lip's shreds and gravy. Now I just have to watch that he doesnt eat in the barn then sneak in the house and eat all the cat food put out for the house cats when I go do chores. No, he isn't scrawny, wormy or anything; he has quite the gut and looks much like a small barrel on legs. It also isn't hunger, he is spoilt......got him from a friend as an old kitten/young adult and he just got spoilt rotten (one of her staff members would give him stuff just to make him stop begging).
 

pookie-poo

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Maggie is my feline garbage disposal.....as long as it's a carbohydrate. Her nickname is Carbo-Cat!

I once made a batch of lemon-poppyseed muffins, and set them on the kitchen table to cool. I got busy watching a movie, and when I went into the kitchen to frost the muffins....there was Maggie, up on the table, eating all of the muffin tops off! I can't believe she didn't get sick from it!

She eats like a horse, but has never weighed more than 8 pounds.
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by Ziggy'smom

I don't think he has worms. I worm all the cats yearly, two times three weeks apart with strongid. After I found flea dirt on my dog last fall I treated all the cats with revolution too. .
Both of these treat roundworms, fleas carry tapeworms. Tapeworms require a different dewormer. Tapeworms also do not show up on fecal tests.


It's also a misconception that a wormy cat will always look scrawny. If the intake of nutrients off sets what the worms steal, then the cat can even be fat. Few well cared for cats are forced to go without food as a stray does, which is why a stray cat being wormy will seem more obvious.
Poor coat, shedding, and even dry skin can be a side effect of worms, though.
 

Winchester

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Banshee thought nothing of eating anything in the house. Once we brought it inside, it was hers.

One night I made a coconut layer cake. It had to cool before I could frost it, so I put the layers on wire racks and took the wire racks back to the computer room with me, so I could keep an eye on the layer cakes. Did I trust my Queen? Not in the slightest! And rightfully so. I was on the computer and I heard a noise....I turned around and there was the Queen B, perched on DH's desk and munching down on layers of cake. She worked on both of them, so I had to throw both layers away and make another cake.

She loved cereal of all kinds, but her favorite was shredded wheat and she would demand her share every night when DH had his cereal snack. He would sit on the couch, she would perch on his shoulder and try to paw at his bowl. He'd take a piece of cereal out of the bowl and she'd gobble it down and demand more. (After Banshee died, it was months before DH could eat a bowl of cereal without tears.) Same thing with bananas....every morning pretty much her entire life, she shared DH's breakfast banana. Cantaloupe was a favorite, too, as well as honeydew and watermelon. She'd be back in bed napping, but as soon as she heard the knife slicing that cantaloupe open, she'd fly out the hallwy so fast, she'd slide around the corner coming into the kitchen. And then she and I would share the cantaloupe and I think she ate most of it. Popcorn....she loved, loved, loved her popcorn. I was always so careful to only give her puffy white pieces of the popcorn.

Chicken and turkey, Banshee was a Chicken Hawk and she would sit in front of the oven when she knew a chicken or turkey was roasting, just waiting for it to be ready. We'd take it out of the oven and she'd start prancing around. She used to sit next to me at dinner because she knew I'd feed her some chicken. Made my father crazy when they would come for dinner, but that was our routine.

She loved tuna, too, and it got to the point that I would have to open one more can than the recipe called for, simply to feed the Queen B (and the rest of the RugCats, too) some tuna.

We talked to the vet about her food habits and he always said that, as long as she understood that her main nourishment had to come from her kitty food and that human food was for snacking only, she'd be fine. And she always ate very well, both her canned food and her dry kibble. She was never really overweight.

I miss those days with her. We still open an extra can of tuna for the kids....and it turns out that Mollipop is a tuna hound. But even now I can't roast a chicken without thinking of Banshee.
 

orangeishcat

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Oh goodness yes, Peanut would eat his weight daily if we'd allow it- that's why the little goober is on a diet!
Beg, borrow, or steal- if it's not nailed down he'll try to eat it, if it is he'll gnaw on it.
 
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ziggy'smom

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

Both of these treat roundworms, fleas carry tapeworms. Tapeworms require a different dewormer. Tapeworms also do not show up on fecal tests.
Yes, I'm familiar with worms and the various treatments. I highly doubt that he would have tapeworm though. He was treated for that with profender when he came and he hasn't had fleas since so he would be very unlikely to have tapeworm.
He's just a food happy cat that is blessed with a slender body. I think he may be part siamese because he has a siamese type body and that longer snout that siameses have.
 
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