Odd question, and I don't know where to post it.

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Kathleen Einwich

Kathleen Einwich

Member Since 2018
Earlier today I was putting out my prescriptions, which include a pill for thyroid. I have noticed through the years that my cats were interested in the various pills and tried to protect them while I put them out and took them.

This morning my diabetic cat Bet got to the pills while I was looking elsewhere and he actually got the thyroid pill in his mouth and tried to eat it. I got it out before he did.

I know these pills are made from pig thyroids. First question: why should a cat want to eat that? If cats like, um, pork, why don't they make cat food from pork?

Just wondering. Bet's appetite is not that great lately, and he really wanted that pill!
TIA,
Kathy
 
Tina and Boozle said:
They do make it from pork. :) I have no clue about the first question.
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Thank you for your reply.

I've never seen any cat food labeled as having pork in it, but then I've never looked that closely. Do you know whose brand or type might contain pork? I am beginning to look into other foods that Bet might like more than the FF classic pates. I find too much of them left behind after I feed them, even feeding half-cans. Bet was always fed the same canned and dry food all of his 14 years - 9 Lives chicken and a special dry dog food - and misses it. I would appreciate anything you might have to suggest.
Kathy
 
HereKittyKittyKitty said:
Unless the thyroid pill was WP, it has dextrose (sweetener) in it. Every cat I've ever known liked sweet-tasting food (fruit or anything that could be snitched)
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Interesting. It's a prescription. I looked up WP thyroid. Wow. Bet is very fussy about his food and has never shown any interest in anything sweet, and has never eaten people food - which made the snatch of my pill all the more odd. I've read that some gelcaps are made from pork, hence his interest in the one pill I take that is a gelcap.

Thanks for your information.
 
Pork has a higher salt content than other meats thus isn't used for cat food nearly as often. Dakota loves pork too...when I fix a pork loin, he'll dance and holler his head off until I give him his bite too. If I forget, he'll be up grabbing one of our plates off our trays. I don't use a lot of spices when I cook due to hubby's medical condition so I don't hesitate to give it to Dakota.
 
Sorry. I don't have any specific suggestions. You can check out the food chart in the sticky in this forum. The pork options are a little high in carbs, but there are a ton of listings to look through. And maybe you can find something close to what you are feeding, nurtrition-wise.

Boozle was trying to eat my zipper on my sleeping bag last night. Could be he wants it because it tastes good. May be because he just finds it interesting and it playing with it.
 
Squeaky and KT (GA) said:
Pork has a higher salt content than other meats thus isn't used for cat food nearly as often. Dakota loves pork too...when I fix a pork loin, he'll dance and holler his head off until I give him his bite too. If I forget, he'll be up grabbing one of our plates off our trays. I don't use a lot of spices when I cook due to hubby's medical condition so I don't hesitate to give it to Dakota.
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What a big help! Just when I was wondering whether to buy some pork and cook it for Bet...adding to the ridiculous expense of having a diabetic cat. That makes a lot of sense, though. Thanks so much for your help in solving this weird mystery. Maybe I could make him some every once in a while when he gets super fussy. That should be fun to watch.
Kathy
 
Although Prescription Diet is bashed here repeatedly, we did use https://www.hillspet.com/cat-food/pd-md-feline-canned for a while when rotating through foods to find a protein that didn't upset Whisper's IBD, and we thought we'd try that because of the pork. Also, if you are willing to do raw (the smell of raw pork almost made me vomit), we tried this for a while too: https://primalpetfoods.com/products/raw-frozen-feline-pork-formula#variant=36371560146

He liked the taste of both, but they didn't agree with him. I understand that is not your issue, just fyi.

Good luck.
 
Sandi & Whisper said:
Although Prescription Diet is bashed here repeatedly, we did use https://www.hillspet.com/cat-food/pd-md-feline-canned for a while when rotating through foods to find a protein that didn't upset Whisper's IBD, and we thought we'd try that because of the pork. Also, if you are willing to do raw (the smell of raw pork almost made me vomit), we tried this for a while too: https://primalpetfoods.com/products/raw-frozen-feline-pork-formula#variant=36371560146

He liked the taste of both, but they didn't agree with him. I understand that is not your issue, just fyi.

Good luck.
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Thank you. I might get some and to try it.
 
Sandi & Whisper said:
Although Prescription Diet is bashed here repeatedly, we did use https://www.hillspet.com/cat-food/pd-md-feline-canned for a while when rotating through foods to find a protein that didn't upset Whisper's IBD, and we thought we'd try that because of the pork. Also, if you are willing to do raw (the smell of raw pork almost made me vomit), we tried this for a while too: https://primalpetfoods.com/products/raw-frozen-feline-pork-formula#variant=36371560146

He liked the taste of both, but they didn't agree with him. I understand that is not your issue, just fyi.

Good luck.
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I found a dog food-oriented store in Slidell, LA (about 20 miles away) that carries that brand. They are looking into ordering a package for me next week. Anything for Bet... I hesitate to try the Hill's because Bet is still terribly skinny though it looks good. This should be...fun? Thanks so much for your recommendations.
 
Kathleen Einwich said:
Thank you for your reply.

I've never seen any cat food labeled as having pork in it, but then I've never looked that closely. Do you know whose brand or type might contain pork? I am beginning to look into other foods that Bet might like more than the FF classic pates. I find too much of them left behind after I feed them, even feeding half-cans. Bet was always fed the same canned and dry food all of his 14 years - 9 Lives chicken and a special dry dog food - and misses it. I would appreciate anything you might have to suggest.
Kathy
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My cat got dry food until he was diagnosed. We went through a very short time with prescription... IIRC it was about a week... Then we went to 9 Lives and he went into remission... Then we got cans of 9 Lives with mold! So now he's on ff pates. He gets 3 different non-fish pâtés a day... As the cans are opened throughout the day, I leave them out until the next a.m. and he pretty much grazes all the way through 3 whole cans in 24 hours. Since there are 6 flavors of non-fish pâtés, he gets the same menu every other day. I think it's a combination of variety and always available that works to keep him interested/eating and his BG down.

FWIW, I used to feed kitty Orijen Regional Red dog treats, which has wild boar (and other red meats), but with the possible hm contamination issue, switched to something else (Pure Bites). The cat also liked the beef treats and the wild boar treats, but the single ingredient wild boar treats made his poop and the box stink worse than a pig feed lot!!!
 
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