Sidney's eating "disorder"

**catland** · 11-06-2002, 03:14 PM

My big Sid is so funny. We like to give our kitties a little bit of canned food each day. They don't really need it, but it's the one time they act grateful for our existence.

But Sidney doesn't like to bite into canned food, he likes to lick it. He'll lick it right off of the plate or bowl and on to the floor. His teeth are fine - he eats dry food without complaint. This is just so funny though.

We even found a plastic in-box to set his food in or he'd lick the plate all around and behind the dry food, where it would get stuck.

He also cannot drink water by lapping it up in the middle of the bowl. He has to lap up the side of the bowl so that his tongue is making contact with the bowl itself.

Anyone else have a kitty with an eating "disorder"?

**boscibo** · 11-06-2002, 03:38 PM

No, but I have a cat with a drinking problem.

Abby likes to dip her paw in the water bowl and then lick the water off her paw. It horrifies the dogs when she does this in their bowl (not really- heck, the dogs like drinking out of dirty puddles.

) I don't know why she likes doing it like that. She does drink normally too, but she really likes to drink the water off her paw.

Hanna does something weird, too. I do the same as you - I give the cats a little bit of canned everyday. I usually have to give them one flavor (Fancy Feast fish and shrimp feast), because Hanna won't eat any other flavor. I accidentally gave her some other flavor, and she tried to cover it, like it was her litter! She took one sniff, and started scratching the floor, trying to cover it up. She refused to eat it, so I took it away and gave her the normal flavor. Spoiled much?

And then, when she's done eating and the bowl is empty, she tries to cover it up, too.

**sasvermont** · 11-06-2002, 04:00 PM

Just for the sake of it, the next time you take your kitty to the Vet, have the Vet check Sydney's tongue. The cat may have an issue with using it as it should be used. My reason for saying this is that I had a kitty that had issues with water first, then food, and it turned out to be a problem with her tongue. NOT that your situation is the same.

I had a different cat than above...and that cat (RB) dipped most of his food in the water. I would find my bread, crackers, his dry food, etc. whatever he would find, in the water dish. He would also use his paw to DIP into my glasses and cups and then lick the liquid from his pay. He would even drink coffee that way. He also liked to lick the chemicals off photographs.....He lived to be 18.

I think they all try to cover their food. I am not sure if it is that they don't like it as much as saving it for later. I sometimes put a paper towel next to their dishes so they can use that to cover the left food. They are SO SILLY! But smart!

**catland** · 11-06-2002, 04:11 PM

SAS - I never would have thought of that - thanks for the suggestion.

**Edwina's Secretary** · 11-06-2002, 04:35 PM

. I sometimes put a paper towel next to their dishes so they can use that to cover the left food.

Sally Anne -- You receive today's prize for Most Serious Cat Coddler!!!

I envision little Miley. The paper towel tucked around her elegant neck. She finishes eating, daintily wipes her little mouth and gracefully covers her food dish with the paper towel!

**Tubby & Peanut's Mom** · 11-06-2002, 05:04 PM

Peanut likes to stick her feet in the water before she drinks too.

Click here to go to a thread that Wayne had started about Snow Cat. There are a few pictures of Peanut using her paw.

The last time we were gone on vacation, the pet sitter started giving T & P their pills covered in canned cat food. Now you have to know that they have never gotten canned cat food as long as I have had them (16 & 14 years respectively) so she said it worked real good and they gobbled it right up. So I get home, read her note and think this is a fantastic idea and why didn't I think of it! So the next morning I dish out the pill, completely covered in canned cat food - shrimp flavor. Tubby of course inhales it and has not clue there is a pill in there. Peanut picks at it for a bit, then eats everything.....except the pill! I don't have time to deal with her, so I revert to the normal procedure of stuffing it down her throat. The next morning I try again, same thing. The next morning she won't even eat the food. I got a different, fresh, can, different flavor though, and she still won't even lick the stuff, just turns up her nose and walks away. So either I try the shrimp flavor again, or continue with the stuffing procedure. Talk about a finicky cat!

Oh, and Tubby and no problem finishing off her portion once she decided it wasn't good enough for her.

**Cataholic** · 11-07-2002, 05:15 PM

Catland,
I don't know if this is exactly what you mean, but, I thought I would tell you about Tex. He gets a bowlful of wet food in the am...I am trying to fatten him up. He doesn't 'eat' the food, but licks it..it gets so plastered onto the bottom of the bowl that he can't really eat it anymore. So, I do two things. First, I put the bowl on top of a dampened washcloth. This makes a kind of rubber stop, and the bowl won't keep moving. I then stop the food fest every once in a while and re-pile his food into the middle of the bowl, so he has a easier pile to lick from.

Maybe that would help?

**catland** · 11-07-2002, 05:19 PM

Sid weighs in at over 15 pounds so fattening him up is not the issue

But thanks for the idea!

**catland** · 11-07-2002, 05:54 PM

Cataholic - since you have another food "licker"

The canned food we use has a little bit of liquid in it, so sometimes I'll pour this over Sid's plate, smash up his food with a fork, and then stir it up so that is gets the consistency of gruel. I think it looks disgusting, but he really likes it.

**Cataholic** · 11-08-2002, 04:20 PM

Originally posted by catland
Cataholic - since you have another food "licker"

The canned food we use has a little bit of liquid in it, so sometimes I'll pour this over Sid's plate, smash up his food with a fork, and then stir it up so that is gets the consistency of gruel. I think it looks disgusting, but he really likes it.

Hmmm...I think that would be easier for the old boy to eat that way! I get tired of the other trick. His preference is for me to hold it in my hand, and keep moving my hand around to keep it in the palm part...and then I flatten my palm to give him the most access..as you can imagine, this way is a MITE bit time consuming...