My kitten LOVES uncooked whole wheat dough. Why?

[Remi's Mommy]

Thanks for the suggestion. I did not know I could buy small dead animals online...That could be an option! It sounds like people are thinking his strange taste for raw flour might be something he needs nutritionally?

I wouldn't read too much into it. Some cats simply have a taste for some strange things. Remi seems to know instinctively what not to eat . Cats have no taste buds for sweet, but I've seen my neighbors Maine coon eat pancakes. So mainly it's our responsibility to monitor what they consume.

Thanks for the suggestion. I did not know I could buy small dead animals online...That could be an option! It sounds like people are thinking his strange taste for raw flour might be something he needs nutritionally?

 

[Moggieslegacy]

So... a happy update...

There is a specialty pet food store on the island where I live which carries frozen prepared raw cat food pucks, but when I asked about this a couple months ago the sales clerk told me if I start feeding raw it would be a lifetime commitment and I could never change back. As I live on an island and don't get to town much and circumstances can change I decided I should not risk being unable to continue with it.

But it has been getting harder and harder to get Moggie to eat anything canned, and even his enthusiasm for the Orijen chicken kibble was loosing steam. When he was a 3-4 month old kitten he enthusiastically ate every type of canned food I offered. He loved Wild Calling, Whole Earth. Then he began only nibbling the first 1/4 or 1/8 of each new can, and then acted like it smelled bad even if it had been refrigerated right after opening. I tried toppings, warming it, and making him miss a meal by refusing to feed him anything else, but nothing was really working. He seems healthy and eats enough kibble to keep him going but I want him to eat a mix of wet and dry and I was getting tired of throwing out 3/4 of every can I opened. Then I tried Weruva, and for a while that was a bit better, but not much and one day he would eat it and the next can would not at all.

A couple days ago I began to really feel something was wrong. Moggie began trembling with excitement and went way more nuts than usual over the aforementioned unleavened whole wheat dough. He was climbing onto the counter next to the hot plate and frying pan where it was cooking like he was about to grab it off the pan. He isn't like that. He is polite. I let him have a couple small pieces, baked him a potato as a substitute hoping to find a solution. He ate a bit of this, but was still meowing and acting a bit crazy whenever I ate bread or oats of other carbs, and like he was needing something I was not providing.

Anyways, I did a bit more research and t sounds like I can give him raw and canned and kibble and if someday I can't feed him raw anymore it would be OK to go back to canned and kibble. So today I bought him a bag of irRAWistable frozen ready to eat raw ground chicken pucks, tried him with one, and he LOVED it. It is the first time I have seen him seem to enjoy his food in a month!!! And he ate every last drop, something he never does with the canned even when he likes it OK. He didn't even repeatedly stop to make covering it all up motions. Pheeewww!

I am really glad to have found something he seems to relish and hopefully the crazy cravings will diminish now... Thank to everyone for suggesting this!

 

[Moggieslegacy]

Now I am wondering if raw food has elements in it that are missing in even the best quality canned food and kibble, that some cats seriously NEED?

This morning after just 1 meal of raw Moggie is noticeably more playful and frisky than I have seen him in a couple months. The toys he seemed bored with are now totally intriguing, and he is even playing by himself a bit with stuff he finds around the house. Something I mentioned noticing he never did... I may need to kitten proof my house all over again!

 

[Patti]

t sounds like I can give him raw and canned and kibble and if someday I can't feed him raw anymore it would be OK to go back to canned and kibble.

This is absolutely okay to do, I'm sorry you were misinformed but glad you have worked it out now, and glad to hear that Moggie is a happy kitty with a full belly!

 

[WitchyWoman]

We always advocate varying types of food as well as manufacturers of food in the event that there is a recall or a food the cat likes is no longer available or the formula for a favorite food changes and the cat begins to reject what it formerly loved.

I'd wager the reason Moggie was craving the carbs was because he wasn't getting sufficient nutrition from the other foods. Processed foods -- kibble and canned -- have supplements added back in to compensate for what's lost during processing but they may not be the same quality or quantity that every cat needs.

He's still a kitten so you might want to supplement his food with Mazuri or another vitamin mix for awhile.

 

[Moggieslegacy]

Thanks for the explanations and suggestion a supplement. Seeing the difference in him today I feel awful realizing he wasn't bored, he just wasn't feeling great.

There seems to be some debate on whether it is OK to feed raw alongside kibble, and some people say they should be kept as entirely different meals at different times of day as they supposedly can be difficult to digest together. I would be interested to know if this something I need to be diligent about?

I am just feeling so relieved to figure this out!

 

[Moggieslegacy]

Ha, and I made whole wheat pancakes for a brunch, offered Moggie a small piece as he was supervising everything with interest, but he just sniffed and didn't eat it! Yaaay! The last few days he wolfed down any bit of flour or bread offered/grabbed like he was possessed by a starving cat demon.

 

[Moggieslegacy]

So... I thought the problem was solved, but apparently relishing the raw chicken pucks was a one time or only occasional thing... The next day he refused to eat it, and decided he instead like the canned Wild Calling rabbit. Which he also refuses to eat 1/2 the time.... And he is back to begging for bread, though when I gave him a couple thumbnail sized pieces of a scone this morning he only ate 1. So maybe he just wants it because I eat it? I have never had a cat that was not happy to eat whatever I offered and it is exasperating.

I am going to look for a thread or start one about picky eaters to explain in more detail.

 

[Katy Connel]

HI, I saw this thread and had to comment. It is really dangerous for cats to eat uncooked dough because it can rise in their stomach. Read here more about cats and bread and especially uncooked dough. It is really dangerous https://www.felineliving.net/can-cats-eat-bread/

I would never feed it to a cat. Not just that it is dangerous but if something bad were to happen your kitty would have a HORRIBLE time as the dough would rise inside of them and block their stomach

I don't want to scare you or anything but it is dangerous

 

[Moggieslegacy]

Thanks for the warning and concern! It makes sense that cats don't need an active yeast culture introduced to their stomachs!

The flat bread I make, that my catlette seems to crave, is just organic whole wheat flour and water. No yeast or salt. So I am guessing it won't be the same problem as leavened bread dough. And I never give him more than a couple pea sized bits.

But good to clarify that if other people are reading...!