My cat is incredibly weird and I'm fine with it for the most part but I just want to see what you all think of his behavior. Maybe it is benign but I want to make sure he isn't reacting to some specific ailment.
I don't know how to make this short but I'll try to keep it basic. I've had him for three years. I adopted him from a shelter who estimated he was around 5 at the time. He was raised as a housecat at some point (vets and shelter said because he was fixed and litter trained and affectionate toward people). But when he got turned in to the shelter, they estimated he had been living on the street for about 3 years. So, I think he may have some odd learned behavior from his years living as a street cat.
When he got to the shelter, they amputated most of his ears because of frostbite damage. They removed most of his teeth because they were rotten or impacted. He probably has about 3 teeth but has never seemed to have any issue chewing any kind of food. Even when he steals a dorito.
This brings me to his next "odd" behavior. He will eat literally any kind of food. Whether for cat/dog or for human. He is AGGRESSIVE about trying to steal someone's food no matter what they're eating. He ate a plate of green peppers I left out one time. He goes nuts over tortilla chips and popcorn and pizza especially. He will do anything to try to steal them.
I would love to let him have whatever food I'm eating, but I really can't. This brings us to his third "odd" aspect. He seems to have very sensitive bowels or stomach. When I adopted him, the shelter told me the only food that seemed to not give him diarrhea was Fussie Cat which is a canned grain free wet food. I bought it for a while and things were ok. But then after a couple months he gradually started getting diarrhea more and more often. I tried adding dry food into the mix (also grain free) and that gave him diarrhea every single time. The wet food was back and forth. After taking every diet suggestion I can try, ive finally settled on feeding him raw frozen food for the past six months. Specifically nature's variety frozen raw chicken or rabbit (in bites). He loves it as much as anything else, and it doesn't seem to be giving him diarrhea.
On to the next "issue." When I adopted him he used the litterbox for pooping. After about 3 months he was popping 100% of the time outside of the litter box. He has always peed in the litter box. He has not pooped in the litter box in the last almost two years. Occasionally he will accidentally get some into the box unwittingly, if it happens to come out while he's peeing or leaving the box. It seems like he doesn't recognize when he has the urge to poop (so he doesn't know to head to the litter box), it just comes out on its own. I don't think he usually realizes he's pooping until it's coming out and he feels it.
As a note: yes I scoop his litter boxes often so they are always clean, he has two in different locations, he's the only cat, he digs around a lot to cover his pee so I think he likes the kind of litter, the boxes are big enough, and he clearly doesn't mind using them since he pees in both every day with no issue.
If you're still reading this whole thing, I'm grateful. I should add other odd things about him in case any of it helps crack the case for someone. He always has an appetite. If I left food out all the time he would always eat all of it the second I put it down. His weight was healthy (11 bs from when I adopted him til recently) but in the last six months he's dropped to 8 lbs and a vet told me to up his caloric intake because he's a little on the low side now. I believe this may be because of this raw food, since i switched him to that the same time his weight seems to have dropped. I am now feeding him more of that food, four times a day instead of twice. Though the vets all say he's in excellent health, so I am baffled by why he acts this way. He doesn't have a tape worm or acid reflux or any issue like that. I've spent over $1000 on tests hoping to "crack the code."
Does anyone have any ideas on any of these issues, what they might mean, how I might fix them (or not be able to fix them), and if I can do anything to make him happier?
Another thing I should mention is any food he happens to steal before I can get it away, he gets diarrhea, just like with the dry food I tried.
To sum this up- how much of this food should I be feeding him if he is supposed to gain some weight? He will always eat 100% of what I put out, so I don't know how to find the cutoff. How can I make his poop less hard/dry without making it diarrhea? I really believe the association of hard and painful pooping is what drives him away from the litter box. I think he holds it in as long as he can until it just comes out on its own.
I don't know how to make this short but I'll try to keep it basic. I've had him for three years. I adopted him from a shelter who estimated he was around 5 at the time. He was raised as a housecat at some point (vets and shelter said because he was fixed and litter trained and affectionate toward people). But when he got turned in to the shelter, they estimated he had been living on the street for about 3 years. So, I think he may have some odd learned behavior from his years living as a street cat.
When he got to the shelter, they amputated most of his ears because of frostbite damage. They removed most of his teeth because they were rotten or impacted. He probably has about 3 teeth but has never seemed to have any issue chewing any kind of food. Even when he steals a dorito.
This brings me to his next "odd" behavior. He will eat literally any kind of food. Whether for cat/dog or for human. He is AGGRESSIVE about trying to steal someone's food no matter what they're eating. He ate a plate of green peppers I left out one time. He goes nuts over tortilla chips and popcorn and pizza especially. He will do anything to try to steal them.
I would love to let him have whatever food I'm eating, but I really can't. This brings us to his third "odd" aspect. He seems to have very sensitive bowels or stomach. When I adopted him, the shelter told me the only food that seemed to not give him diarrhea was Fussie Cat which is a canned grain free wet food. I bought it for a while and things were ok. But then after a couple months he gradually started getting diarrhea more and more often. I tried adding dry food into the mix (also grain free) and that gave him diarrhea every single time. The wet food was back and forth. After taking every diet suggestion I can try, ive finally settled on feeding him raw frozen food for the past six months. Specifically nature's variety frozen raw chicken or rabbit (in bites). He loves it as much as anything else, and it doesn't seem to be giving him diarrhea.
On to the next "issue." When I adopted him he used the litterbox for pooping. After about 3 months he was popping 100% of the time outside of the litter box. He has always peed in the litter box. He has not pooped in the litter box in the last almost two years. Occasionally he will accidentally get some into the box unwittingly, if it happens to come out while he's peeing or leaving the box. It seems like he doesn't recognize when he has the urge to poop (so he doesn't know to head to the litter box), it just comes out on its own. I don't think he usually realizes he's pooping until it's coming out and he feels it.
As a note: yes I scoop his litter boxes often so they are always clean, he has two in different locations, he's the only cat, he digs around a lot to cover his pee so I think he likes the kind of litter, the boxes are big enough, and he clearly doesn't mind using them since he pees in both every day with no issue.
If you're still reading this whole thing, I'm grateful. I should add other odd things about him in case any of it helps crack the case for someone. He always has an appetite. If I left food out all the time he would always eat all of it the second I put it down. His weight was healthy (11 bs from when I adopted him til recently) but in the last six months he's dropped to 8 lbs and a vet told me to up his caloric intake because he's a little on the low side now. I believe this may be because of this raw food, since i switched him to that the same time his weight seems to have dropped. I am now feeding him more of that food, four times a day instead of twice. Though the vets all say he's in excellent health, so I am baffled by why he acts this way. He doesn't have a tape worm or acid reflux or any issue like that. I've spent over $1000 on tests hoping to "crack the code."
Does anyone have any ideas on any of these issues, what they might mean, how I might fix them (or not be able to fix them), and if I can do anything to make him happier?
Another thing I should mention is any food he happens to steal before I can get it away, he gets diarrhea, just like with the dry food I tried.
To sum this up- how much of this food should I be feeding him if he is supposed to gain some weight? He will always eat 100% of what I put out, so I don't know how to find the cutoff. How can I make his poop less hard/dry without making it diarrhea? I really believe the association of hard and painful pooping is what drives him away from the litter box. I think he holds it in as long as he can until it just comes out on its own.
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