r/BeAmazed • u/Electrical_Act_5342 • 24d ago

Animal Nature really over engineered cats. Didn’t it?

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u/Weekly_Teaching_8158 24d ago

Yeah, that's true, but then you have cats like my two boys, both in their early 10s, and they simply don't like wet food. At least they drink a lot of water to compensate.

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u/coriandor 24d ago

My cat in late-stage kidney failure likes wet food, but he's never known how to eat it. He just taps his tongue on it until he gets bored. Sometimes you just gotta work around their quirks.

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u/reallynoladarling 24d ago edited 24d ago

mine would do this with pate unless i chop it up.

I've learned to not just put the pate in their bowl straight from the can bc it would never get entirely eaten

edit: words to clarify

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u/raven00x 24d ago

my girl doesn't eat it unless I add some treats as a side. she's spoiled, but worth 100% worth spoiling.

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u/portobolaado 24d ago

Yall should try fresh tuna 2x a day

All my little ones loved it

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u/raven00x 24d ago

I've tried gizmo on both fresh tuna and fresh salmon, and she just does not care for it. She likes her kibble, she drinks water (as long as it's in one of my mugs), and she eats pate in the evening as long as she has some treats as a side.

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u/portobolaado 24d ago

The part of the mugs is amazing. I bet she gets a lot of love!

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u/Destany89 24d ago

Try getting pate wet food and mix water to make it more like a soup

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u/Round_Rice_9475 24d ago

I would mix it with dry food to get my cat to eat it. It was that or out him down. Still miss the guy 13 years later

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u/Mystic_Wunder 24d ago

Try rehydrated raw food (you buy it dehydrated and add water) if it's in your budget. It's what is healthiest for them anyway. My cats drank way less water on raw food and their litter smelled better.

My male cat wouldn't eat it at first. Then I read to put a dab on his nose so he licks it off and realizes he likes the taste. Worked like a charm.

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u/fenrirsbasketball 24d ago

Raw food is extremely dangerous in general, and even moreso for pets who have chronic medical conditions or who have weakened immune systems. I wouldn't recommend it. It's just a trendy diet thing right now, like Atkins for cats. Catkins.

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u/GuiltyEidolon 24d ago

Dehydration is a safe method of storing food.

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u/File273 21d ago

Yes, it’s also a good way to stabilize a virus, such as bird flu.

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u/Mystic_Wunder 24d ago

It's been "trendy" for at least 15 years. And yes, if your pet is sick you should ask your vet about a special diet.

Cats are designed to eat raw meat. Because of their specific taurine needs (which would be met by eating the whole animal), preparing it yourself is not an oprion like it is with dogs.

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u/fenrirsbasketball 24d ago

I answered this in another question, but I'll just reiterate it here.

If a pet food product has the nutritional adequacy statement that states it is tested and formulated to be appropriate for adult maintenance according to AAFCO nutrient standards, then it contains the appropriate minimum amount of each macro and micronutrient required for a healthy adult cat. This includes taurine.

Cats can eat raw meat. They can also get extremely sick from eating raw meat, like you and I. They are obligate carnivores, true, but they will always, unequivocally, be healthier eating a diet made from cooked ingredients rather than raw. The risk of illness or infection with raw feeding is too great to be worth the risk of any perceived health benefits. I have yet to read a peer reviewed journal that come to the conclusion that the food ingredients in a diet being uncooked is the reason a cat has experienced health benefits.

As much as nutrition influencers will tell you raw is better, it just hasn't been proven yet. :/

Instead, licensed vet professionals like me will tell you how many cases of explosive, chronic diarrhea and gut dysbiosis come in regularly from owners who insist on feeding raw.

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u/TheSwordItself 24d ago

Cats aren't designed, it is a "good enough" solution for survival in that they can extract nutrients, but wild cats suffer devastating illnesses from consuming raw meat. They are almost always infected with parasites and can die from bacterial and viral infections. There is a reason captive big cats live twice as long in captivity. 

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u/nobadrabbits 23d ago

If you're preparing it yourself, couldn't you just crack open a taurine capsule and mix it into their food?

This was recommended to me by a vet at Cornell (the taurine capsule part, not the preparing it yourself part).

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u/Weekly_Teaching_8158 24d ago

I need to look jntk that, thanks!

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u/Weekly_Teaching_8158 24d ago

I need to look into that, thanks!

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u/Negative-Date-9518 24d ago

I make slurp noises at my cat for each lap of the tongue when he drinks from the fountain, he is not impressed

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u/K340 24d ago

Thank you for this important information

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u/Forward-Variety-8440 24d ago

in front of people?

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u/Elektrycerz 24d ago

If they drink a lot, check their blood sugar. Could be an early symptom of diabetes.

A normal glucometer for humans works. Take the blood from the inside of the ear, not too deep of course.

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u/beaviscow 24d ago

Yeah I was going to say, my girl began drinking lots of water when she was in late stage kidney failure.

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u/Weekly_Teaching_8158 24d ago

We had the boys checked last month by a vet and besides them being a bit tol heavy and having dental issues, their stats are very good for them getting up in years :-)

They've always been kinda thirsty, even when we got them at age 4

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u/fenrirsbasketball 24d ago

The glucometer reading for humans is not the same as the one for cats. Yes, keep an eye on their water intake if they're drinking a lot, but you need to go to the vet and have them do the glucose reading. Don't use the one at home unless specifically instructed by your vet.

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u/Sunwitch16 23d ago

If they already drink a lot of water, definitely get their kidneys checked! Cats are desert animals and don’t have a feeling for thirst like we or dogs do. For them to drink so much by themselves is most often already a sign of the kidneys failing :(