- Joined
- Jun 18, 2014
- Messages
- 44
- Purraise
- 3
I have been a dog person my entire life, and I am here researching and learning before my new kitten arrives in a month or two. I cant help but notice over and over how cat owners constantly say their cat is picky, it wont eat a certain food brand due to a slight variation in texture, or flavor, etc. I see people jumping from brand to brand, throwing food away and going to extremes to cater to their cat's pickiness. Giving away very expensive, high quality foods and switching to bottom shelf junk food filled with sugars, dyes and chemical flavors because the cats want to eat the junk food instead. In my mind, its like a toddler crying at each healthy meal because they want to eat Fruit Loops and Ice Cream instead of a chicken salad. Surely cats in the wild have, for millions of years, eaten extremely varied diets based on whatever they can catch or forage each day.
With dogs, it is common knowledge that a picky dog is spoiled and has its owners trained, and that if you set the food down, (even for a dog that has learned how to manipulate its owner into giving it the wrong foods), it will eat in a day or two when it gets hungry enough and realizes that no one is going to give in and keep swapping out foods. It's all about the dog training the human, and the human giving in.
Is there something I am missing about cats when it comes to food issues? Is there a legitimate reason why cats cannot or will not eat certain foods? Will a cat literally starve itself because it prefers chunky style textures over pate? If people posted all of these picky feeding issues on any dog forum, the advice would be the same always - "feed the dog the healthiest food you can afford, set it down, and when he is hungry he will eat it." Anyone who switched brands 20 times, threw away high end food and switched to junk food, or let their dog eat 2 bites of a can then throwing the rest in the trash would be scolded for training their dog to be picky by doing these things.
I'm not trying to insult anyone, its just as a dog person, the common mentality I see for feeding cats is 100% polar opposite of what I am used to. Also, it seems very common, discussed on many threads, and seems to be accepted behavior by all of the other cat owners.
Is there a legit reason? Will a cat literally starve itself to death and die if it is forced to eat chicken -vs- tuna or pate -vs- stew against it's will? Is there a reason why no one ever leaves the food sit there until the cat is hungry enough to eat it?
With dogs, it is common knowledge that a picky dog is spoiled and has its owners trained, and that if you set the food down, (even for a dog that has learned how to manipulate its owner into giving it the wrong foods), it will eat in a day or two when it gets hungry enough and realizes that no one is going to give in and keep swapping out foods. It's all about the dog training the human, and the human giving in.
Is there something I am missing about cats when it comes to food issues? Is there a legitimate reason why cats cannot or will not eat certain foods? Will a cat literally starve itself because it prefers chunky style textures over pate? If people posted all of these picky feeding issues on any dog forum, the advice would be the same always - "feed the dog the healthiest food you can afford, set it down, and when he is hungry he will eat it." Anyone who switched brands 20 times, threw away high end food and switched to junk food, or let their dog eat 2 bites of a can then throwing the rest in the trash would be scolded for training their dog to be picky by doing these things.
I'm not trying to insult anyone, its just as a dog person, the common mentality I see for feeding cats is 100% polar opposite of what I am used to. Also, it seems very common, discussed on many threads, and seems to be accepted behavior by all of the other cat owners.
Is there a legit reason? Will a cat literally starve itself to death and die if it is forced to eat chicken -vs- tuna or pate -vs- stew against it's will? Is there a reason why no one ever leaves the food sit there until the cat is hungry enough to eat it?