We’ve all seen cats grooming themselves. They lick their fur from head to tail. While they are grooming themselves the barbs on their tongues catch every bit of lint, loose hair, dust or dirt particles, every minuscule piece of dead or alive matter, litter dust that was caught on their coats and claws, then, what do they do?
They swallow every bit of those aforementioned particulates. No matter how dirty, gross, or full of germs they may be. You never see them shaking their heads in disapproval of a taste of whatever they found to be unpleasant from their own bodies, do you?
You never see them barf up something afterwards, just because it tasted bad, do you? You know that they are bound to cleanse particulate left from their feces or urine on their behinds as they clean. But they never show signs of repulsion, do they?
So why do they react to medicines or anything else that tastes bad, for that matter? When I used to try different foods on Norie, she wanted the old food. She sometimes shook her head, walked away and ten minutes later came staring at me for food??? (I am not feeding her a new kind of food or spoiled food.) And she pestered me until I threw out that food and opened a different food for her.
How does the feline brain work when it comes to food? I learned on a marvelous video on YouTube: “The Lion in Your Living Room, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDj-TJaBCm4, that cats often will not eat food left out too long.
Okay, that is obviously a safeguard against bacterial poisons that could grow in the food when left unrefrigerated. The food I put out is fresh out of the can or has been refrigerated over night at the longest and warmed with hot water. So no toxins or foul smells there.
What sadistic pleasure is she enjoying? So rather than let my cat go hungry, I throw perfectly good food down the disposal, while feeling guilty for the wastefulness, while many cats around the world are starving. (Can you tell how I was brought up?)
And another thing! Why do they leave little pieces of their food on the floor? Yes there is a food mat under their food. Are they tossing the food around like a dead mouse or something? I call the little bits of usually dried food, “jibbly bits.”
Food in the water bowl
Norie sometimes decides she wants her food a little moister. So she will drop a piece of food in the water bowl; pause for about 30 seconds; fish it out with her paw and pop it in her mouth. Well, that seems like an intelligent thing to do, if you want moister food. But she doesn’t always fish out the last one or two pieces of food from he water bowl.
No, she leaves them sitting in the water, potentially contaminating the water. And even though I change the water daily, I may have to change it yet again and wash the bowl. (I think she is just bored and I am giving her something entertaining to watch.)
joyful2beeblogs 
A lot of love and thankfulness in this lovely post.
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Glad there was a balance of humor, love, and confusion. Thank you, Bernadette!!
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I feel your pain with the food. My vet wants my cats on wet food. If I cut back and give them less they give me the stinkeye because they are still hungry. If I give them the full portion they leave half of it to sit and go stale. I had a water fountain and I had to give it up. Someone (not mentioning names here Morgan) kept dropping food in there and it was a hassle to clean it out every day. No more fountain! I keep dry food accessible. If they are being especially picky so they have to eat that. I was going through expensive cat food that no one was eating!
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And again! They lick themselves without a grimace! Why??? Sounds like you and I both have finicky eaters! Good luck! I have one cat who is diabetic and gets two insulin shots twice a day! The other.one is overweight! They now get 3 helpings of 1/2 can of the Fancy Feast pates, and 1/4 cp. of a high fiber and glucose control dry foods.
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What kind of dry do you give them? Hazel’s on a diet but somehow she’s not losing weight. I think she’s stealing food somewhere.
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Well Sister gets constipated easily so she gets the Royal Canin Gastrointestinal fiber response. And they both need to lose weight, so they are also on Spring Hill Glucose/Weight Management. Norie hasn’t gained weight but is staying at 16.4 pounds. Sister’s blood sugar has started to come down finally!! But she is on Long acting and short acting insulins twice a day.The dry food has to be ordered through the vet , or possibly Chewy, or one of the pet chainstores. Hope this helps.
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Some brands to explore. One cat gets diarrhea so I want to stay away from the first.
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Sometimes fiber can thicken up the stool. Look and see if it can help cats. This is for humans but it may work for cats too. https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/chronic-diarrhea-16/diarrhea-more-fiber
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Right now she gets a small dose of Propectalin daily plus a steroid pill every other day for IBS. Since going on this regiment, she hasn’t had a bout with diarrhea. Her annual is coming up and I’ll ask the vet.
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That’s the best thing to do. It may not work for cats diarrhea but it did work for constipation for Sister. She also gets a medicine to increase intestinal motility so I’m not sure which is the cure or if they are working together. Good luck. Let me know what the vet said.
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I’m enjoying your cat posts! When we have looked after our daughters cat and he likes to have us turn on a water tap so he an drink FRESH water.
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Thanks!! I was afraid people were getting tired of them! Only my black cat likes the water from a faucet. But only because she seems fascinated by it. Some cat videos show cats drinking from the faucet and don’t care if their heads get wet!
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❤
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Madam, my beautiful black cat, has lost the hair off of her back legs and back end.
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I’m so sorry. Has a veterinarian checked her for mange or something else?
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New subscriber here and I already love your posts. lol. I have a cat named Simba, who for some reason – tips his water bowl to drink the water and refuses to eat his hard food in his food bowl. I have to put it on my dresser, or he doesn’t touch it. I’m beginning to think he’s been spoiled in a previous life and demands it here. lmao
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My friend who is a nurse part-time and a pet-sitter, told me to grind up dry food and put it on the canned food. Now my cat’s Norie won’t eat her wet food unless it has dry food sprinkled on top! She is spoiled but I admit that I do love her. She is something special.
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awwee that’s hilarious and adorable at the same time. 🙂 Cats move to the beat of their own drums, and they are definitely spoiled creatures, but they’re so affection and lovable if treated right. ❤
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You are so right. Norie has a mind of her own. And will let me know it. I love her too.
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