I can’t get over how much Tabs liked carbs! It was crazy. It didn’t make any sense to me. He was a carnivore! — so why did he get more excited about a zinnia flower, a croissant or a piece of toast than a piece of cooked chicken?
The only thing I can think of is that his old dry food (Hill’s Science Diet) contained whole grain wheat and other veggie fillers, which I didn’t think twice about at the time, but then a few years later Tabs was diagnosed as pre-diabetic, and his vet said he should lay off the carbs.
After a while, he progressed to low glycemic grain-free Nutrisca crunchies and grain-free wet food, which he ate…reluctantly.
Well, he loved his nightly wet food (mostly Sheba Paté, but sometimes he got $$$ ZiwiPeak), but I don’t think he loved it as much as he used to love regular Fancy Feast, which has wheat in it to make that delicious gravy.
Over the years, I asked a couple different vets why some cats like to eat grass, other plants and flowers, and they weren’t sure. I guess there are different schools of thought. Some vets think cats do it as an instinct to clean their teeth, because the plant fibers can get down in there between their teeth and gums, or to supplement their diet with certain nutrients that they don’t get from meat, or to force themselves to barf, because it helps them clear out their digestive system. Even wild cats do it.
I don’t know the reason, but I do know that Tabs was a fiend for grass. He’d eat grass and flowers till he barfed every chance he got.
Rosie, on the other hand, has very little interest in grass, carbs and other plants. She craves meat! Yup, especially chicken and turkey.
It’s weird. How about your cats? Will they eat greens if left to their own devices, or are they full-on carnivores?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen