Ungrateful beasts
@GardenGerty (169406)
United States
February 12, 2023 7:55pm CST
Some of you may remember from about nine or ten years ago that I used to make homemade catfood for my beasts that had dental problems. They loved it.
My sister tends to spoil her pets and she bought special food for Bruno, as well as giving him dry food. She also fed him about a cup full of treats every night. Not me.
I have been feeding the special food. . . and neither Bitty nor Bruno have been eating it. I had some less expensive on hand. . . still turn up their noses. All they really want are those darn treats.
I got to figuring that just the wet food alone was going to cost about $45 per month. The treats would be $30 if I gave them the way she did. Dry food is around $20 a month. Their food costs more per serving than people food.
So I cooked up a bunch of chicken I have on hand. Added oat meal and pumpkin, just as recommended, and just as I did before.
These cats will not even touch it. I made a lot. It is full of chicken broth as well. I even resorted to sprinkling it with cat nip. All they really want are those treats. That is not what we eat in this house. I use treats for behavior. I use treats to distract them from going out, or to reward them for coming in.
Besides, Bruno needs some fiber in his food.
I bought a box of birdseed so I can plant it for them to have "cat grass" inside. I would like them to be inside all the time.
Bruno would eat it if I pretended like it was my food and put it on my plate. Not happening.The cats have their own dishes for food.
16 people like this
16 responses
@DaddyEvil (174208)
• United States
13 Feb 23
When I was a kid, we had a housecat that had been spoiled before his owner passed away. The cat was given to us by the owner's son... (The son didn't like cats.) When the cat kept turning up his nose at the food we offered, dad told us to ignore him and he'd eat when he got hungry enough.
Sure enough, after a few days of refusing to eat, he began eating his food. He did try to "punish us" by peeing on everything but dad locked him in a cage for a while each time he did that... the cat finally gave up and started acting like a good kitty...
Pretty's mom did the same thing when she was given a spoiled cat. It does work but it feels mean...
When Pretty refused to eat the food she was given, I treated her like my parents treated me. If I didn't want to eat, they wouldn't force me but I couldn't have something different, either. When I got hungry enough, then I ate what was put on my plate. Pretty did the same.
4 people like this
@GardenGerty (169406)
• United States
13 Feb 23
We did not have alternative meals. We were really too poor. The kitties do have dry food and plenty of water, but I wanted to have them have some wet food as it helps their elimination. I also like that I know exactly what is in it.
3 people like this
@DaddyEvil (174208)
• United States
13 Feb 23
@GardenGerty We were really poor, too. Even so, I remember mom going to make one of my brothers something different once and dad telling her to sit down and eat because they weren't "coddling" a picky eater.
Dad always said mom made plenty of different foods and we could pick and choose between them but after mom was done cooking, she was done cooking.
If they're eating the dry food, then I'd put out a little wet food and let them eat or not.
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (51811)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
13 Feb 23
@DaddyEvil That's how I was raised.
1 person likes this
@kaylachan (84701)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
13 Feb 23
Cats can be picky eaters, getting them to eat food you want them to eat, isn't fun. And, isn't broth usually salty? Excess salt isn't good for cats.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (74988)
• United States
14 Feb 23
You don’t use a litter box in your house or they are just to going out that it won’t go in a litter box?
My kitten refuses new food I bought him after we adopted him from my sister. I just refused to buy him new food and after a few days he must have gotten hungry enough he started eating it.
@jerzgirl (9384)
• United States
14 Feb 23
I don't have many problems with my cats eating, but Josie doesn't like wet cat food unless it's just gravy. So I buy baby food (beef and chicken) and she loves it. She gets it every three to four days. I started doing that after she got really sick and I realized she was constipated. I first got some with sweet potatoes in and she began to poop again. She got better. So now I keep it on hand so she can get the moisture the wet food provides. So far, no more constipation. Not since last summer. I have treats, too, but they get them maybe 1-2 times a week.
@RasmaSandra (97912)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
13 Feb 23
My cats really enjoyed having some chicken when I cooked some for myself. They also like hard-boiled eggs, Then I got them Meow Mix and they like their dry food so much they will no longer eat anything else,
@Nakitakona (59987)
• Philippines
15 Feb 23
That's good for Bruno has a special food. We're wondering what kind of food would Choey, our female dog want to eat. She's very picky.
@rebelann (117193)
• El Paso, Texas
13 Feb 23
I'm so glad I don't spoil my kritters, they get treats once in a while but not so much that they won't eat regular food.
@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
13 Feb 23
I'd do what Daddy Evil did but it sounds like you're heading that way anyway. You can bet your boots they won't let themselves starve.
@LindaOHio (222222)
• United States
13 Feb 23
They will eat if they get hungry enough??? I wouldn't give them treats for dinner. Let us know what transpires!!!
