Advice
A word of the warning to anyone with food motivated cats thinking of trying a corn based cat litter
JUST DONT.
So I have five cats. One of my boys, Fanta, is a very lovely boy. Very cuddly, very cute, very smart. His one fatal flaw is that he is the most food motivated cat I've ever met. He is a heat seeking missile but for scran. It's so bad that we have to partition the house every feeding time otherwise he will steal all the other cats food no matter how full he gets. I don't think he has ever been full in his life. We cannot eat in the same room as him because he will pursue us relentlessly and try to eat our food no matter how much we push him away, hiss at him, or skoosh him with water. Anyway, I'll get to the story.
The other day I was at the shops to get litter, and I spotted this brand. Looks interesting I thought. Corn based? Let's try it out. I bring it home and show my girlfriend. It smells very nice. I jokingly say let's hope Fanta doesn't try it. After that we both look at eachother like 😐. Before I knew it, he had dove head first into the freshly changed litter tray and was chowing on his new litter like it was a 5 star buffet. I had to throw it all out again and go and buy more! So yeah, word to the wise, if your cat is anything like mine, in that he is the living embodiment of gluttony, avoid corn based cat litters.
With my big food motivated kitty, the vet discovered he has hyperthyroidism. Despite getting his levels back to normal, he still loves food. He even learned how to outsmart an expensive chip scanning pet feeder that was bought to keep him out.
Question, if the tests all came back normal, how did y’all manage to figure out it was his thyroid? Edit: I’m realizing I misread your post and you meant you got his level back normal after treatment 🤦♀️
+1, had a calico menace due to long undiagnosed thyroid issues. Got on once a day meds and was a completely different, chill, cat. Depending o nthe condition there are also radiation treatments that are more permanent as well.
My cat had radioactive iodine treatment for his hyperthyroid and it was an absolute godsend. He put on 4 lbs and we had 4 more peaceful years together. RIP little Q cat, you were the best noodle that ever noodled
Wow this is crazy. I have one cat who’s 13, since he was a kitten everyone has said “idk how he eats like that and isn’t 30lbs.” He’s constantly hungry and will lose weight easily so he always gets a bigger portion and I sneak him more treats than the other cats get lol. I attributed it with him being a feral and having food scarcity as a kitten but never knew thyroid issues could be the answer
both of my boys had thyroid issues and went through iodine treatment. They were both over 13 when they were diagnosed and treated. The oldest (and also a tripod at aged 10) lived to 18.5 years, and the other one is here at 16.5 years and seems to have many more years they way he is kickin'!
Edit: just wanted to add that we caught the hyperthyroidism by noticing a rapid weight loss. they were both a slight chonky, but it was a distinguishable amount lost (5lbs) in a couple of months. Since iodine treatment, they both maintained a healthy weight which was helpful in their longevity.
I def need to get him checked out for thyroid issues, we were at the vet last year and everything was good but we never specifically tested for anything like that
Yes, please ask for a T4 test. That is the indicator for hyperthyroidism in cats. Apparently, my little void had the highest T4 readings my vet has seen before. Luckly our vet is a great friend, and kitty was at the top of the list for the next group of IRTCC (Iodine Radiation Treatment Camp for Cats). It is a interesting process to go through. Please DM me if you have any questions about iodine treatment or amputation in cats. :)
Same here, our calico was always getting on counters seeking our food, shoving her brother out of the way to get to his food bowl, etc. She was later diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. After she was given meds, all that went away
Exact same situation! My little calico lady was INSATIABLE, but she would then throw up (maybe eating too much or too quickly.) Took her to the vet and what do ya know? Hyperthyroidism diagnosis. Meds have settled her down and she’s living a happy, peaceful life. 😊
I have a gluttony calico lady too and after all those comments I might ask the vet tomorrow to take a look or sth (she'd be going anyways for a vaccine) 😅 I hope she just really likes food, but it's relieving to know that even if it's something serious, she has chances of being okay! She's 4 so maybe someone would have seen it by now?
Reading the thread, definitely going to get our tabby girl checked out. My partner and I joke that all she can ever think about is food. Op’s cat and our girls’ descriptions are indistinguishable.
In my language there's a word that literally means "slave to the belly", and I call my cat that daily cause she's so dramatic about food!
We even had to put her on a diet cause she was an 8 out of 9 on the chonk scale, according to the vet. Here she is, holding my notebooks hostage in exchange for food.
My girl did not get diagnosed until she was about 13 years old, so it’s not impossible! Honestly, the vet didn’t decide to check her thyroid until she started vomiting frequently. I also noticed a change in her eyes, like I could see the whites more often than I remembered being able to in the past. Supposedly, that’s a symptom also? It wouldn’t hurt to ask them to check if they are doing bloodwork anyway, but she could just be a food lover. 😂
Also, OP, how are his anxiety levels? One of my cats (RIP, Boris the cat) was like that. A lot. There were other signs of anxiety (separation anxiety towards us humans, redirected aggression if our neighbors cats patrolled our yard, yowling if he heard loud noises), but the tipping point was that eventually he started vomiting daily.
After 5 years of monitoring, vet finally decided we should try Prozac. His bullying our other cat (also at the rainbow bridge now) completely stopped after he had been on meds for 2 weeks. He still polished off her wet food (she was a grazer), but the urgency was gone.
That's how we knew our orange was sick. He left kibble in his bowl at breakfast!
Immediately took to the vet and turns out basically his entire lower region has infections. He was acting completely normal otherwise.
Now he's on antibiotics that make him nauseous so still not eating as well.
He's getting as much watered down gravy tubes and freshly boiled chicken as he wants to make up for that. I'm afraid he's gonna keep expecting that after he's better.
This would make sense because my childhood cat loved corn husks and begged for them every time we had corn on the cob. She had thyroid issues later in life
my cat has it and she was eating soooo much and I always had to make sure that her sister can eat in peace. Nowadays with medication it isnt as bad anymore.
Also some cats might get an upset stomach from the meds and the hormone changes. Was a bit scary for a while.
Thank you, my girlfriend was actually worried he was underweight for a bit because sometimes he seems pretty skinny, but I think hes just nice and fit.
Seconding. I use swheatscoops but it doesn’t really smell like anything. One of my cats is very particular about where she poops and won’t use anything that smells good or bad. I tried pretty litter once and she took a shit in my bed.
Years ago we tried the wheat based cat litter and my partner was so repulsed by the bread dough consistency we decided to run out the bag and not get it again. Then it got invaded by ants. My partner put a double sided duct tape barrier around the perimeter of the litter box but the ants were so hell bent on getting in there they’d just climb over the dead ants
We use Worlds Best, but have been since they were kittens so had no issues overall - actually kinda nice to scoop and flush and not have to bag and carry.
This post is scary because I literally just put out worlds best corn based litter today. My one cat keeps using my bathtub as his box 😭 and I am starting to think he doesn’t like the litter I use (which is like tofu pellets) - so far, one good poop for WB. And I haven’t seen him eat it.
You shouldn’t flush cat waste. That’s a good way to spread Toxoplasmosis through your entire water system. It doesn’t get killed by standard water treatment.
This is good to know! My newest cat who is just now 12 weeks old is the most food motivated cat I've ever had. I've used grass seed litter and that worked out great!
We have 11 cats and changed to tofu litter about 2 years ago. I love it and the cats do too. No dust, excellent odor control, clumps tightly. The brand I use is Pidan natural tofu, not one of their tofu blends. It's edible if you have a chunk.
This stuff smells like vanilla. It's human food grade. I imagine it doesn't taste good but it's just pea dregs. It's also safe to flush down the toilet. It's unlike any cat litter I have ever used. It wouldn't concern me if one of my cats ate some.
Oh I'm sure it's great, just the thought of "Hey try a bite of this cat litter" is far from appetizing LOL. But yeah, I'm sure my cats have ingested far worse.
Tofu litter is genuinely the best I've ever used. Clumps nicely, doesn't smell, and the ones I've seen are quite compact when unopened too, which is good for storage
Thanks for the laugh OP! Cats can be so silly sometimes.
One of my cats is actually scared of corn on the cob (for some reason??) but he loves canned corn or corn cut off the cob (he especially loves the canned corn though). He will try to steal it. I definitely won't be trying corn-based cat litter lol
An orange cat who looks like Garfield ate the corn based litter with Garfield on the bag. The marketing department couldn't have made this packaging any better if they knew this cat personally lmao
Pine pellets make for a great clay litter alternative. Don’t bother with the ones marketed for cats though, they mark up the price by like $10-$15 at least. They sell the exact same pine pellets as animal bedding at most farm supply stores for like $6 for a 30 lb bag. I also get the giant blocks of pine shavings (fine quality, so the shreds are smaller) from there as well that they sell for like $12. I put down about an inch of pellets & like 2-3 inches of the shavings & it works great & helps with the smell a lot
concrete mixing tub + pellets is cheap, clean and easy. if you can get your cat to use that as a litter box (not all cats will go for this setup,) I really can't think of a better option.
you can perforate a second tub and nest in in the other one so that when the pellets start to break down it will sift into the tub below, helping to hide the smell of urine. I haven't tried this tbh, I just frequently change the litter box. 6$ for a 40lb bag at tractorsupply is kind of crazy. I don't even think about the cost of litter anymore.
I am going to ditto this but say to go for hardwood. I use the hardwood heating pellets and they are a godsend to my wallet. I've found that pine+pee is a deadly combo for my allergies.
I’m fostering a mama cat who just gave birth so the rescue sent me home with wood pellets that were intended for wood stoves. Looked it up and it’s like $7 for a giant bag!! Clay litter here is about $25 for a medium size box.
lol Some cats will just eat anything. But you might want to ask the vet to check his thyroid at his next check-up. We cat sat a friend's cat who was constantly ravenous and would desperately try to eat anything, and it turned out he had undiagnosed hyperthyroid disease.
_Before I knew it, he had dove head first into the freshly changed litter tray and was chowing on his new litter like it was a 5 star buffet_ ... brilliant.
We have yeah, vet concluded he was fine and just a perpetually hungry boy. But someone else said it might be a thyroid thing so I'll ask about that next time.
“heat seeking missile for scran” made me laugh out loud 😭 oh my goodness thank you for the read, this was hilarious. hopefully he wont try to eat the other new litter…..
I volunteered at a shelter once and noticed one cat in cat jail. Admittedly a very large, nice cat jail (5’x5’x10’ with cat trees and toys). I asked about him and he had to be put in jail during feeding time because he’d eat all the food he could get to for the other 20-30 cats (this was in their cat house, a large area for the remaining non-greedy cats). I lol’d
I have a handful of cats in my house. One has PICA. He's a brown tabby who eats plastic bags, plastic wrappers, crinkly chip bags. My life is stressful and floors are so clean from this meatball. And worse yet... he keeps trying to eat the World's Best Cat Litter brand cat litter (corn based). The only one he won't immediately dive into mouth first are the red bag ones. The yellow and green he will, the scented kind is his favorite 🙄 He stops once someone has soiled in it. Things have changed since we've moved and the kitties have more space to run around in the house and play with each other more. He doesn't eat any plastic or brand new cat litter! Yay!!!
I've just been discharged from a hospital stay. I'm feeling a little sorry for myself and your post gave me to giggle I needed. My cat is currently catching up on 4 nights of missed cuddles and it made him jump. Thank you.
I notice with words like “scran” and “skoosh” you must be a fellow Scottish cat parent. I’ve seen this litter in B&M and actually thought about giving it a go. But I’ll take this under advisement as my r/onewhitebraincell idiot (tax below) would definitely eat it.
We had a dog who already had a propensity to eat cat poop, then we tried the corn litter. It was like we panko-crusted all her favorite treats and she was insatiable!!
Oh wow! Never thought of this issue. I’ve used corn based litter for so so so long and hadn’t had that issue. Yikes! Hopefully you can find a good alternative Fanta won’t eat!
Yeah it was definitely a first for me. We normally just buy Aldi own brand cat litter or recently have been using wood based litter which we've found to be pretty good.
I have not had this issue with my cat, but I did have a problem with mice coming into the bathroom where the litter box is for the longest time and at first I thought it was just because the cat food was stored in there too but even once I moved the food to be inaccessible to them it didn’t make a difference. Finally I realized one day that the corn litter I was using was perfect mouse food and switched back to clay and haven’t had mouse problems since.
Squirrrels love it too! I had some squirrels chew through the lid of my garbage can of the course of weeks to get to soiled corn based litter. They were probably real sad when the finally reached it.
He's not really food motivated. Sure he likes his treats but if I toss them it takes him so long to engage the brain cell that the girl has inhaled them all. But I had to get rid of corn based litter because he would come and get a snack every now and then.
The fact that the litter as Garfield on the front, should have been a warning. I mean, it's Garfield. The cat is walking vacuum. Especially when it comes to lasagna. Thanks for the chuckle, and the warning.
FYI, ravenous, insatiable appetite can be a big indicator of thyroid issues in cats. I’d suggest having blood work done for him to rule out any thyroid instability.
had exactly the same situation happen with our very food motivated rescue boy. Discovered him chowing down.. after business. We moved onto the hyper compressed wood pellets and not looked back!
Had the same problem with our old cat. We switched to cleaning the tray more regularly and mixing in some old litter with the new so it always smelt a little of wee to him and he stopped. It was only a whole fresh new tray that he wanted to eat
My dogs keep trying to eat it :/ not even just the used litter, a well knows doggy phenomena, one of them chewed a hole in an unopened bag and gorged herself till she was a little balloon 💀 (she’s fine, but damn)
I have used that World's Best Litter brand for a number of years, I have one cat that likes to snack on that fresh litter but doesn't go whole 'hog' on it. Especially once my other cat has used it, or if he uses it, then he stops eating it.
Be careful, he might get really sick, if it clumps! I have a similarly food-motivated cat and had a similar experience. A few days after he ate it, he started to act sick. $1500 vet bill for enemas and medicine to help him pass it.
I can relate. Before anyone says anything, this pose/picture angle DOES make him look fatter than he is, I DO have him on a diet, and his belly has always been kind of swollen from FIP. He has since lost weight and I have had conversations with the vet about this.
OMG thank you for this. I nearly woke up my spouse laughing, though.
We have the most food-motivated feline either of us have ever seen. I should be thankful she doesn’t eat her wheat litter.
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