Does instincto lead to overeating?

[TylerDurden]

Sorry, carnivorousape, I didn´t mean to be rude.
It´s (currently) too time consuming for me to discuss this topic in English (please remember that English is a foreign language to me ). Just wanted to link this article in case that you or other persons who are interested speak German.

I speak German.

[CarnivorousApe]

Sorry, carnivorousape, I didn´t mean to be rude.
It´s (currently) too time consuming for me to discuss this topic in English (please remember that English is a foreign language to me ). Just wanted to link this article in case that you or other persons who are interested speak German.

No worries Hanna, English is foreign to me also! I am not going to send reference in Russian though as computer translation produces utter rubbish

It would be interesting to discuss this point further when you have time or Tyler helps with translation from German to see how pure nonsense this is

I know that cats get pretty overweight when fed ad libitum, these beasts ask for food at any opportunity! (i.e. when they don't sleep or chase opposite sex, ah that's the life!)

Wonder what happens to our closer relatives when allowed to eat whatever they want. This would be great test of instincto as it is easier to do with apes in controlled environment than with people.

[CarnivorousApe]

I speak German.

Tyler, that would be great if you helped with translation if you are interested in this topic!

[intrigued]

I know that cats get pretty overweight when fed ad libitum, these beasts ask for food at any opportunity! (i.e. when they don't sleep or chase opposite sex, ah that's the life!)

Note that I've seen a lot of evidence against that in the rawfeeding community... not sure if that includes you.  I also find it anecdotally true, myself.  I feed all my pets (2 dogs 1 cat) 95%+ raw meat, bones, and organs, with some random other treats.  All of them are allowed to gorge fairly frequently (e.g. a whole chicken is left out and they can eat their fill) and they are all pretty lean.

I think cats (and dogs) tend to get pretty obese when you feed them as much as they want of "pet food" which is basically just cheetos sprays with enough vitamins to survive and meat waste so that it smells/tastes appealing.  It's a similar concept to us overeating cooked food.

[Dorothy]

My feral cats never would eat until the gorged even on totally crap cat kibbles. They are very particular about how much they want and soon as they are done they walk away. I couldn't overfeed the cats if I tried. I've given them raw meat too and they don't gorge on that either.

I had a beagle that would gorge herself to the point of sickness, but only after she was spayed - before that never when she wasn't all raw and when she was all raw. I'm pretty sure it was a hormonal imbalance. For my other two dogs I leave a dried raw food out all the time and feed them slankers raw pet food once a day. They leave whatever they don't want - and they leave lots at each meal. The chickens get the slankers that they leave behind.

I however have never been wealthy enough to feed the chickens all the slankers they could eat. They will leave seeds behind though.

[CarnivorousApe]

Interesting. Manufactured cat food would definitely lead to consequences.

In my experiences cats do get fat even on the raw food, especially before winter. Maybe it has to do with the type of raw food they are fed. Do you feed your cat mostly with muscle meat or organs and fish?

This guy shares his experience about leopards:

http://www.2ndchance.info/bigcatdiet.htm

Feeding as much as the cat will eat leads to obesity.

[intrigued]

Mostly muscle meat with some organs.  She also gets a lot of whole prey when it's nice outside.  She does bulk up a little in the winter, but I find that 50% of it is just a thicker and longer coat, and then there's just a little bit more fat packed on which I assume is natural heat/food storage.  Allowing her to eat all that she wants, she would never get obese like most cats will on all you can eat corn chow.

[Dorothy]

Maybe it has something to do with our mild winters, but feeding six feral cats nothing but super crappy cheap bagged cat food none of them would ever overeat. I found homes for most of them and now I'm trying to convert my favorite kitty to a raw diet of slankers pet food which is raw whole groundup grass-fed cow and he eats just enough to keep himself at a nice weight. But bulking up a bit for winter is a completely natural. If a cat has to live outdoors in the cold why begrudge it enough food to do that?

Maybe it also has something to do with having cats incarcerated where they aren't always moving and exercising like my ferals are. Also, I've noticed that eating is a communal activity for them. It's very important for them to do lots of rubbing and connecting with one another and they wait turns.

But my dogs are incarcerated couch potatoes and still don't overeat their raw food. hmmmm.

I wonder if over-eating occurs if whole animals with all the organs are not fed to them? Or, I wonder what kind of medications, vaccinations, operations etc. animals that overeat have gotten - like my poor beagle.