What weird foods do your pets adore?

[Lorien]

My Oberon loves pumpkin, which is fine because pumpkin-in moderation-is good for ridding cats of hairballs. Puck loves ANYTHING made of potatoes; especially potato rolls! Both of them also love non-food items like tape and plastic. Ugh!

My old cat, Miro, eats lint off the floor, but doesn't go for many "people foods". Go figure!

How about your pets? What are their odd food obsessions?

[Lilli]

1. Didnt know that about pumpkin....will have to trry it out

Cats:
Lillie loves green peas - they dont love her ;)
Yogi has a thing for yogurt and mayonnaise
Timmy (no longer with us) was a bread junkie

[lukasahero]

2. Well my Beau is a Lab so

I've seen him eat just about everything. It's easier to note what he doesn't like and even that's a very short list. Let's see, he's not really fond of grapes. :shrug: (He eats them but he doesn't quite know what to make of their feel, I think...)

[InvisibleTouch]

32. Don't give your dogs grapes or raisins

Trust Beau's instincts on this. There have been several cases lately where dogs have died excruciatingly from eating quantities of raisins or grapes. And while it seems to take quite a bit to bring about the toxic effect, there's no sense risking it. Keep him away from the grapes and let him enjoy the stuff he does like....

[lukasahero]

34. Thanks for the advice

I had never heard that. The only way he ever gets a grape is if it falls on the floor and he gets to it before we do, but I will definitely put it on the "no" list now.

[hobbit709]

42. We have eight dogs

The Lab-Chow mix loves hot peppers (he got into my garden and ate a whole habanero plant, didn't bother him at all) He'll sit up and beg for pickled herrings.
The Aussie loves tomatos and pickles
The Collie loves sardines
The other ones are a little more picky about what they eat, but don't open a can of smoked oysters around any of them.

[lukasahero]

51. 8?!? Yikes

God bless you - I hope you have lots of land!

I try to keep Beau away from peppers but yeah, he'll eat them if he can find them. I can't believe your's didn't have a tummy ache after a whole plant of them though. :)

[fudge stripe cookays]

3. Kleenex

We can't leave Kleenex boxes within reach. Fargo shreds both box and tissues while we're out during the day. We come home to a BIG mess!

FSC

PS-- Oh, and CHICKEN. Fargo LOVES chicken.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

4. coquette eats cardboard, isis eats plastic

why i bother to buy them high quality food i dont know!

[Willy Lee]

5. My 3 dogs are all kookoo for Bananas

That may not be too strange... they also love raw carrots and one of 'em craves raw garlic. I am happy to oblige!

[Lorien]

6. I've never heard of a dog that loved bananas

let alone three! What kind of dogs are these?

[Willy Lee]

2 mastinos (italian mastiffs) and a border collie.

My last boy, a lab mix, loved them also.

Once we had a new house/pet sitter and we told her to give the dogs banana treats every day. When we got home after a few days we were surprised to see numerous whole bananas, in variuos stages of blackening, out in the yard. I guess we should have told her that dogs don't have opposable thumbs and peeling was necessary!!

[lukasahero]

15. Doh!

And some things seem so obvious... ;)

[giant_robot]

7. Any kind of greens

The only time Scooter (a cat) will ever beg for table food is when I'm cleaning anything green and leafy. And he is persistent. He once ate a small salad's worth of spring greens. Just this week he was eating leaves from raw brussel sprouts. Strange animal.

[scarlet_owl]

8. Not really that weird, but the ferrets are crazy about raisins.

The vet told me not to give them to them anymore, though.

[demnan]

9. My cats

Lily loves cantalope. Actually her mother ate cantalope too, according to the lady I got her from. Loves it, will drink the juice and suck the rinds.

Pad Thai eats packing balls! They can't taste good, he's just fascinated by them.

We also had a cat, Charlie who would eat corn right off the cob. Now that was funny.

[underseasurveyor]

43. I had a cat years ago that adored cantaloupe and honeydew

Most of my kitties meow and rub around your ankles, acting all lovey-dovey and looking cute as they beg you for a goodie. My Peekers kitty was no different in that respect unless you had honey dew or cantaloupe. That cat went nuts and with serious determination, would climb up your leg like a tree to get a piece. Nothing would stop her from getting a piece of melon. Never seen anything like it before. Like a drug addict desperate to get a fix.

[auntAgonist]

10. EMERY boards!!

I can't forget to hide my emery boards or my cats will chew them to bits. VERY frustrating :)

[prole_for_peace]

25. Mine too.

My emery boards. And q-tips too, used and un-used, though they like used better.

[Eurobabe]

37. my guy shreds them, he sniffs them first and then attacks

must be the smell of the sanded fingernails.

[Coyote_Bandit]

11. My Doggies Love Fruits and Veggies

Bannanas. One will eat apple off the core. They like all kinds of veggies - carrots, peas, green beans, cabbage (cooked and raw), alfafa sprouts, tomatoes. No onion as I understand that is as dangerous for them as chocolate. They will also eat rice and pasta and potatoes and tapioca and nuts of various kinds.

One of the dogs was actually fed a homecooked diet by his breeder. And one has renal disease and eats prescription dog food. I am seriously investigating feeding them a homecooked diet.

On edit: They love to drink cool blue raspberry flavored gatorade.

[Willy Lee]

12. Hey- my boy has kidney problems too.

We have him on a low protien diet, but the food he loves most (we special order from the vet) is made by purina, which I am not thrilled about.

I used to have all of my dogs on a raw diet but got lazy and stopped (my bad). Now am considering it again, especially for the Dante with the bad kidneys.

If you decide to go this route I have oodles of info on homemade diets. I need to resume this myself!

[Coyote_Bandit]

13. My Little Guy

has been eating Science Diet k/d since he was about 5 months old. He's doing very well. But has started to develop some skin sensitivities. I know he would prefer home cooked food and I have begun to suspect that it might be much better for him in the long run. Of course, what I know about formulating nutritionally balanced homecooked dog diets for dogs hat have special nutritional concerns could be written on a pinhead. Do you have any suggestions on where to look for such information?

[Lorien]

14. Here you go:

Great book with plenty of dog food recipes:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0875962432/qid=1100715892/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/104-4273752-0447148?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Any of the foods on this site are good (much better than Science, Iams, Nutro, Eukanuba, etc. because the ingredients are all human grade. Your dog will like them better too)!:

http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/Natural_Dog_Food_s/15.htm

Other great foods not found on that site are Wellness, Innova, and Artemis ( www.artemiscompany.com ). If you go to the Artemis site, they have a retail locator. Any retail store that carries Artemis probably also carries the other brands as well.

[Coyote_Bandit]

16. Thanks! n/t

[Willy Lee]

17. here are some links to get you started...

BTW. "BARF" stands for Bones and Raw Food. Home"cooked" is a misnomer as the best diet is raw. We can chat about the meat thing- it freaks out a lot of people- perhaps ina separate thread.

http://www.barfworld.com/
http://www.touchmoon.com/dotters/raw/index.shtml
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/animals.htm

You can google raw food diet, holistic diet etc and gets oodles of hits also.

[Lorien]

23. B.A.R.F is the best diet

time consuming, but no doubt the best! I know a guy with a Timber wolf/ malamute mix who feeds his wolfdog this way. She's one of the healthiest animals you've ever seen!

[kitchen girl]

18. Pumpkin is very good for...

animals who have constipation problems - lots o' fiber. My 11-year old cat gets 2t a day, and he loves it. Yogurt, too.

The dog, OTOH, is a fool for baked goods. Muffins, pancakes, you name it. If it's sweet and baked, he'll choose it over steak any day.

[Longhorn]

19. How about rocks?

Although they chew them less now that I give them rawhide chews whenever I leave, but my dogs love to chew rocks! They'll even fight over a rock when there are millions more just like it out in the yard!

Brutus, the dachshund, was especially bad about it and he still loves it when we're digging in the yard -- you'd think we were digging up meat-covered bones! He was in heaven when they were digging our swimming pool! He doesn't just chew them -- sometimes, he stops and stares at the rock and then barks at it. I used to take the rock and throw it outside really far but darned if he wouldn't find that same rock and bring it back in the house. So then I would eventually throw it away in the trashcan. :D

[ironflange]

20. Let's see. . .

Nicki, on the left, likes Cap'n Crunch, and will lick that blue icy cool rub stuff off you if you let her. Also goes for crackers, saltines, triscuits, whatever; she'll rip open the bags to get at them. Also anything Ranch-flavored.

Cleo, in the middle, enjoys bread and pasta. She's very interested in raw pumpkin, but won't eat it.

Amber doesn't really eat anything strange, but loves to chew up cardboard boxes; she grabs a mouthful, pulls and twists till it comes off, then flings the piece away. She has a strange eating habit, though, she'll grab a big mouthful of her kibble, walk over to the carpet, drop it and eat it there.

All three love to catch and eat bugs, grasshoppers, moths, etc. Amber especially, I've seen her steal insects from the other two.

Deceased pets:

A sheltie who was nuts about mandarin oranges.

A cat who would eat pizza, black olives, and Vapo-Rub.

[Willy Lee]

21. We had a cat that was crazy for vicks vapor rub also.

What is that all about??

[ironflange]

22. I don't know!

I remember having to close my bedroom door tightly when I had a cold, or else he'd come in and lick it off while I slept.

[fudge stripe cookays]

29. Well, it's menthol,

which is a form of mint.

Catmint is an herb that is attractive to cats, and it is also in the mint family. Because of the herb relationship, that may have something to do with it.

FSC

[Gardeaux08]

33. My Salem

ate a little bit of pizza with me tonight. She will eat table scraps of just about any kind. Winston, my other cat, generally doesn't go for anything other than his Iams dry food. But they both cry for salmon.

[prole_for_peace]

24. So far I haven't found anything Abbie won't eat or at least taste.

Yesterday he was all over the limes I was cutting and juicing. He has drank my diet coke, eaten lettuce and green beans.

Molly loves cabbage but that is about it.

edit: I can't spell today

[Mallifica]

26. Chef Boyardee

my cat does not like much people food, only tuna and chef boyardee - beefaroni

[dogonarug]

27. chap-stick & kisses

this one decided a tube of cherry chap stick would hit the spot.



and this little she genuis got hold of a bag of hersheys kisses...ate half of them, foil and all. Vet bill...$700 and a close call!

[ET Awful]

28. Quinn likes sourdough bread :) n/t

[City Lights]

30. Alex likes broccoli, Cairo likes avocado, Watson likes hair spray

and Tigger (now deceased) liked ear wax. (All cats, BTW).

On edit: I forgot Tabitha (now living with friends). She used to love to lick the chemicals off of our pictures. She also loved to eat ribbons and tape, making Christmas her favorite time of year.

[thedailyshow]

31. Mine loves tortilla chips, little bits of cheese, and cheerios

[Cadence]

35. Popcorn.

He can be dead asleep in another room and if he hears even one kernel pop in the microwave, he's there in a flash.

[Socialist Dem]

36. My dog

LOVES pasta, veggies, and paper towels if I'm not careful.

[truthseeker1]

38. My pom loves soybeans, green beans and most of all, pancakes!

You don't want to even say the word pancakes or she will be all over you. She also goes nuts for corn on the cobb. (we hold the corn cob for her). And she likes to lick lotion off of me.

[Shopaholic]

39. My two dachshunds both loved their greens

collards, turnips, broccoli. Dutchy would eat lettuce, Nicky didn't care for it. Italian was very popular with both of them--spaghetti, pizza, lasagna. Nicky had a huge sweet tooth--cakes, cookies, whatever, he'd be there in a flash to help you eat it. They're both gone now--oh how I miss them!

[bullimiami]

40. the daschunds love carrots.

they lurk around if youre making a salad cause they know its coming.

[Hans Delbrook]

44. Mine too!

The beagle only eats them to keep them away from the dachshund.

But then again, the list of what my dachshund (Dante) don't love would be much shorter...ummmm, lettuce w/o dressing on it and raw garlic. That's about it.

[ironflange]

41. My mom's Aussie Shepherd, long deceased

One Halloween time, when we were out, she got hold of a sack of mini Mars Bars (Canadian ones, you'd know them as Milky Ways). She ripped the bag open and ate every last one of them, wrappers and all. I think it was at least a 24-pack. I know chocolate isn't good for dogs, but this didn't seem to bother her.

This same dog used to love to peel the fabric off hard-cover books. The library didn't appreciate that much.

[Tracer]

45. American cheese.

One of my cats is insane for this!

She recognizes the word "cheese" and immediately jumps up onto the kitchen table to get her twice-daily treat (which is not a whole slice, but a quarter of a slice, carefully wadded up into 4 little pieces).

Cat owners are fools and tools, I admit.

[Princess Turandot]

46. Only one of my 5 cats really likes human food and will eat almost anything

however pizza is her favorite. She can be in a dead sleep in the back of my bedroom closet and if I heat up a slice in the kitchen, she is there in no time, smacking the air with her little paw until she gets some. I love Indian food; so does she. Same for brussel sprouts. She will try fruit, but does not like prepared sweet food like cakes. And thankfully, she does eat cat food :).

One of my others is seriously addicted to maple syrup. I don't make french toast that often, but if I do, he cleans the plate off for me!
Otherwise, my 4 boys seem more interested in inspecting people food than eating it, although one will occasionally eat deli meats.

[Princess Turandot]

47. Most of you probably know this already, but chocolate is very bad..

for pets, in particular dogs, which it can actually poison if the chocolate content is high enough. It is not as toxic to cats, but it can make them sick as well, so it should be avoided.

[slutticus]

48. Also, I've heard that onions, raisins and grapes are bad for dogs too...

[undergroundpanther]

49. My Rustle

cat loves any flavor of the Yoplait custard style yogurt ,he likes yogurt period,As long as it is flavored,dried apricots,mango and iced tea and tomato sauce

My cat Vinnie loves...live moths,pickles,special K red berries,garlic and parmesan cheese powder.

My Sparkle cat, loves...to lick eyelids in the morning,he likes dustbunnies,and he loves cream cheese cake frosting,soda pop,walnuts and he likes yogurt too. I can't eat a yogurt without the cats grabbing the spoon for licks.

None of them will touch cooked chicken,beef or tuna meat(they just like tuna water)

My cats are weird.

[buckettgirl]

50. My female cockatiel likes diet A&W Root Beer....n/t

[Love Bug]

52. My one kitty likes mini-marshmallows

I know they are bad for her teeth, so she doesn't get them very often, but she loves mini marshmallows.

[Trailrider1951]

53. Mad Max just loves peanut butter

The chunky kind. He will sit by the pantry and give me that look, the one that says, "You know what I'm here for!", and I am putty in his paws.

[Logansquare]

54. Dried apricots, bread, tortilla chips, soybeans, grapes, apples

These are cats, by the way.

[patdem]

55. Rompy Stompy loves to chew on those plastic bath scrubbies

If one is left in the tub..it ends up out in the hall and the cat loves to chew it til it unravels! Rompy is very skinny...maybe I should think about chewing on plastic bath scrubbies??? :shrug:

[sadinred]

56. My Goofy (cat) loves Smartfood, spaghetti, and peaches

not all at once however. Sweetpea (cat) loves Poptarts!!! and chocolate ice cream. Both love cheese. Sweetpea also loves lizards and frogs, yuk. He eats dust balls too, very weird.