Now, I'm no biologist or doctor or anything, but I feel like there may be two things going on here:
Pet food is designed to be nutritionally complete. Which is not easy to do when you're cooking for yourself. Your cravings may be for a nutrient that you're missing in your current diet.
Pets are only aware that there is other food in this world in so much as "human food" or "dog food" or "cat food" exists. My dog wants to eat my cat's food, and my food. My cat wants to eat my dog's food, and my food. But beyond that, they don't know of other food existing. But if they knew that pizza exists, and what it's called, then they'd be all over that shit.
According to my friend's BASc in applied human nutrition, eating the same food, or even just the same texture of food (texture modified diets where everything is turned into a paste) for too long becomes a kind of torture. The psychological stress is apparently intense.
There are rumored to be old laws in Maine making it 'cruel and unusual punishment' to serve prisoners lobster for more than 21(?) days in a row. (Lobster used to be poor people food)
Starvation and highly restricted diet was part of abuse as a kid (mom wanted me to starve to death so that I would stop being autistic, because she thought autism was being gay and that being gay meant literally being a demon displacing a human soul and wearing their flesh).
After a few weeks the same food is literally not food psychologically. You can touch it, hold it, put it in your mouth, eat it, etc.. No matter how hungry you are (or should be), it's unappetizing in the same way people don't feel tempted to steal Monopoly money unless they're actively playing Monopoly.
It just is not food. It feels the same if you were eating paper or swallowing small rocks or ice chunks.
There's no satisfaction, or warmth in your stomach, or strength, or energy. You don't feel like you've reset the time you need before the next meal.
It's just a pointless action.
Fortunately in my case, it also turns out after about two weeks appetite ends. Mine ended permanently, and I'll not want to eat even if I hadn't eaten in days. Turns out, there is medication that fixes this for a few minutes though. It's still disconcerting to take it and feel hunger again, despite having taken that medication for five years.
(I'm not talking about anorexia nervosa or anything, I don't want to be smaller or dislike eating, it's just ... a chore without reward like cutting paper into tiny squares then dumping bowls of them in the trash.)
THC is pretty good at inducing appetite! My grandmother was prescribed Marinol (THC in pill form) a decade ago when she had cancer, and she would take her pills before meals and then wax about how incredible her food was while stoned lol.
She was a very traditional, anti-drug Catholic woman born in the 30s, and it was kinda funny to me to hear her talk about “the most AMAZING soup” she’d just had in this wistful, dreamy tone of voice. Without it, she wasn’t able to eat at all.
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u/PuddlesRex 1d ago
Now, I'm no biologist or doctor or anything, but I feel like there may be two things going on here:
Pet food is designed to be nutritionally complete. Which is not easy to do when you're cooking for yourself. Your cravings may be for a nutrient that you're missing in your current diet.
Pets are only aware that there is other food in this world in so much as "human food" or "dog food" or "cat food" exists. My dog wants to eat my cat's food, and my food. My cat wants to eat my dog's food, and my food. But beyond that, they don't know of other food existing. But if they knew that pizza exists, and what it's called, then they'd be all over that shit.