• Skyline969@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    My cat is broken. Any amount of food put in front of her will be eaten as quickly as possible. Even if it makes her puke from being too full. She has zero self-regulation. She’s a former street cat so maybe that’s where she gets it from?

    The only way I prevent her from inhaling her food in literally (I timed it - literally) 30 seconds is her lick mat. Mush her raw food into the mat so she has to lick it up instead of just smashing her face into a wad of meat. Now it takes her maybe a minute and a half.

    • SolarNialamide@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      One of my cats used to be this way. She was also a former stray, so I assumed it was from that. It got worse when I started feeding her at specific times because she got too fat. I had a problem when I got a new cat though because he wouldn’t eat everything in one go but I also couldn’t free feed because then my girl would just eat everything. I gave her a dewormer (which I never did because they’re indoor only cats) and while she did have some problems with diarrhea for a little while, the food obsession is totally gone now. So it may be worth it to see if there’s an underlying issue at play. It’s normal for former strays to be like this for a while but after a few months or years they should learn to trust there’ll always be food.

      • Skyline969@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        She’s had multiple rounds of deworming. My vet has given her a clean bill of health, but yet she still eats all food like it’s the last in the world.

        It’s going to be a challenge eventually - my girlfriend has two cats that free feed. If we move in together, my cat is going to need to learn to chill the hell out or we’re going to need to get one of those smart feeders and only authorize her cats.

    • ThenThreeMore@startrek.website
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      1 year ago

      I’ve got two former street cats. Once I fell asleep without putting their food bag away. They got into it and ate so much that their bellies were hard. They still wanted their dinner at normal time.

    • omgarm@feddit.nl
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      1 year ago

      My girlfriend’s cat has the same issue. Mother died and the litter was found a day or so later. Now he eats literally everything (I believe it’s called pica) and has no self regulation.

      • BottleOfAlkahest@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Pica is the desire to eat non-food stuffs. Rocks, glass, ash etc. So if your “literally” was used correctly then it’s possible pica. In people it can mean a mineral deficit which causes the abnormal cravings, so maybe check that he’s not short something mineral wise.

        • omgarm@feddit.nl
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          1 year ago

          He eats hair bands, plastic and other stuff so yeah. My girlfriend has brought him in for many checkups and they haven’t found anything wrong. I’ll bring this up as well to be sure! Thanks.

          • Skyline969@lemmy.ca
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            1 year ago

            My cat used to eat any amount of garbage bag that hung over the edge of my garbage can. Got her on a mineral supplement, that issue went away relatively quickly. It’s cheap too - I think the supplement I got was $15 or so. Been giving her some every day for six months or so and I still have a third of a can left.

    • Misconduct@startrek.website
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      1 year ago

      Most former street cats do learn to regulate eventually but some simply don’t. Good luck with that lol. I can’t free feed mine anymore because my cat will eat until he throws up or even worse… he has IBS so he’ll just keep eating and shit uncontrollably lmao. He’s such a disgusting little idiot ❤️

    • fossilesque@mander.xyz
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      1 year ago

      My former feral cat seems to have gained manners for everything but the box of Dreamies. As soon as she finds it, she’s trying to drop it from height to break it open.

      • Misconduct@startrek.website
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        1 year ago

        It’s churu for me. That shit is like crack to one of the strays we took in. I’ve been working with her for a year but she’ll still sometimes snap and wrap her whole self around my arm and tear me up trying to get it lol. I have to be so careful with her. Her brother is fine and has some damn dignity but Bunny will cut a bitch for some churu tubes

  • stefanyas@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    My girlfriend does this. She almost always leaves two bites of a meal, or the two last cookies, and then eats it later. She says she’s eaten plenty and then puts it away for later. I still don’t understand.

    • johan@feddit.nl
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      1 year ago

      My partner just leaves two bites and doesn’t eat it later. I also don’t understand. She says she’s had enough but if the portion were slightly bigger she’d also leave two bites.

      For cookies I get it. I don’t know if your cookies are tiny but I leave two or even just one.

      • Misconduct@startrek.website
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        1 year ago

        I’m the same way and I can’t tell you why. I’ve always had a weird aversion to cleaning my plate. Once juice or milk or whatever is below a certain level in the fridge it is also dead to me. No idea why I’ve been like this my whole life lol

        Edit: Thinking back I used to get bullied about my appetite a lot when I was a kid maybe that’s why. And yelled at for eating/drinking the last of anything now that I think about it… Holy shit I think I cracked it wtf lmao

    • HiddenLayer5@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Same. Is your dog a small breed may I ask? I’ve found those tend to act more like cats.

      • dukk@programming.dev
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        1 year ago

        My dog’s a nice big Labrador. He’s a dog in all aspects, but often he’ll only eat half his food and finish it later.

        He also sits wherever he wants to sit. If he wants to sit with the family on the couch, he’s sitting with the family on the couch.

        • fossilesque@mander.xyz
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          1 year ago

          I have a labsky that’s a grazer too. The lab gene doesn’t automatically equal insatiable void, though she does love her snacks.

      • johnyrocket@feddit.ch
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        1 year ago

        Yes a Bolonka. The breeder told us this would be the case so we don’t worry when she doesnt eat in a day.

    • rustydomino@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      You’re right. Some labs are defective in a gene called POM-C, which regulates appetite. Those poor doggos are genetically programmed to always be hungry 😢

  • Dicska@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I scrolled to the bottom to find the first comment about whisker fatigue and I couldn’t find any (I might have missed it).

    It MAY be because the feeding bowl is a bit too narrow, making your cat’s surprisingly sensitive whiskers to bend, giving an unpleasant, if not painful experience.

    If your cat keeps looking at you after finishing half of their meal, check if they want to finish it if you dump it onto a tray.

  • callyral [he/they]@pawb.social
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    1 year ago

    my dogs save their food for later, although they eat a bit over half of it at once then save the rest and eat it throughout the rest of the day

  • HiddenLayer5@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Which is kind of weird when you think about it since they’re both predator animals. You’d imagine that evolutionarily they’d both be more inclined to each as much food as they can when it’s available because they don’t know when they’ll catch another prey.

    Though I read that because the small cats we have as pets hunt mainly much smaller prey compared to themselves and they feed multiple times throughout the day, whereas dogs are descended from wolves who can spend days at a time hunting much larger prey before getting a kill, a cat’s stomach is also a lot smaller in relation to their size than dogs. So a cat could well actually be full after just a part of their daily portion, and physically don’t have space to finish it unless they go off to digest for a while before coming back, while a dog is specifically adapted to gorge themselves as fast as possible and then potentially go without food for a long time.

  • thepianistfroggollum@lemmynsfw.com
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    1 year ago

    Somehow we rescued the only Great Dane who isn’t food motivated. He’ll get super excited to get fed, then just go take a nap and eat mouthfulls throughout the day. He won’t even eat stuff on the counter unless his bowl is empty (unless it’s a fast food cheeseburger)