I have a 5 yr old female whom I’ve had since she was a kitten. She has always eaten Friskies Pate canned food which was recommended to me at the time I got her. She needs to be changed to a different food however. She has lately been having problems with constipation and our vet wants her on a dry food with more fiber. She is also putting on too much weight which also requires a change in her diet (and cut back of her canned food) as well.
The problem is that she is the FUSSIEST cat I have ever been around. She simply won’t eat any kind of dry food I feed her. I am on the fourth different kind of high quality brand dry food I can find and she hasn't had anything to do with any of them. Right now, I am trying Hill’s Science Diet Interior Chicken Recipe for Adults 1-6. She simply won’t have anything to do with it. I have tried the “transition” techniques Hills recommended, i.e. mixing a small amount of the kibble with some of her Friskies pate. She simply picked the kibble out of the food and ate only her old Friskies.
I also tried taking some small pieces of baked chicken breast (which she normally goes absolutely mad for) and mixed those with just a very small amount of kibble and again, she wouldn’t touch it. She wouldn’t even try to get the baked chicken pieces out of it. I also tried the baked chicken pieces again but mixing some warm water in with the kibble to soften the kibble and make kind of a chicken “stew”. Again, she would have no part of it.
The same thing happened with the last brand I tried, which was a Purina top of the line, all natural grain free dry food. There was NO way she would have anything to do with the kibble even with her favorite foods mixed in. She has always seemed prepared to starve before she was willing to touch any of the newer food.
Now, there is another part of this problem. She has NEVER been willing to drink water either. The only water she has been getting is from her Friskies canned food, which has high water content and so far has been adequate but not great. Since she is going to have to have her canned food cut way down because of her weight, that means she is going to have to start drinking water on her own. This will be particularly true if I am finally successful somehow in getting her to start eating dry food.
I’ve gotten her a water bubbler in the past since she wouldn’t drink from a dish of water but she wouldn’t touch it. I have also now gotten her a Drinkwell large circular fountain, a really nice fountain and again, she still ignores it. She will play with a small stream of water from a faucet and sometimes will stick her paw in the water and lick the water off her paw, but I can’t get her to drink water from her fountain at all.
I had none of these kinds of problems with my previous cat. She was very laid back, would eat anything I put in front of her and drank water regularly. Does anyone have any suggestions about what I can do to get this one to eat different (i.e. dry) food and start drinking water? For her own health, she simply cannot continue along this same path but so far, I have been completely helpless to get her to change. It’s becoming quite maddening.
The problem is that she is the FUSSIEST cat I have ever been around. She simply won’t eat any kind of dry food I feed her. I am on the fourth different kind of high quality brand dry food I can find and she hasn't had anything to do with any of them. Right now, I am trying Hill’s Science Diet Interior Chicken Recipe for Adults 1-6. She simply won’t have anything to do with it. I have tried the “transition” techniques Hills recommended, i.e. mixing a small amount of the kibble with some of her Friskies pate. She simply picked the kibble out of the food and ate only her old Friskies.
I also tried taking some small pieces of baked chicken breast (which she normally goes absolutely mad for) and mixed those with just a very small amount of kibble and again, she wouldn’t touch it. She wouldn’t even try to get the baked chicken pieces out of it. I also tried the baked chicken pieces again but mixing some warm water in with the kibble to soften the kibble and make kind of a chicken “stew”. Again, she would have no part of it.
The same thing happened with the last brand I tried, which was a Purina top of the line, all natural grain free dry food. There was NO way she would have anything to do with the kibble even with her favorite foods mixed in. She has always seemed prepared to starve before she was willing to touch any of the newer food.
Now, there is another part of this problem. She has NEVER been willing to drink water either. The only water she has been getting is from her Friskies canned food, which has high water content and so far has been adequate but not great. Since she is going to have to have her canned food cut way down because of her weight, that means she is going to have to start drinking water on her own. This will be particularly true if I am finally successful somehow in getting her to start eating dry food.
I’ve gotten her a water bubbler in the past since she wouldn’t drink from a dish of water but she wouldn’t touch it. I have also now gotten her a Drinkwell large circular fountain, a really nice fountain and again, she still ignores it. She will play with a small stream of water from a faucet and sometimes will stick her paw in the water and lick the water off her paw, but I can’t get her to drink water from her fountain at all.
I had none of these kinds of problems with my previous cat. She was very laid back, would eat anything I put in front of her and drank water regularly. Does anyone have any suggestions about what I can do to get this one to eat different (i.e. dry) food and start drinking water? For her own health, she simply cannot continue along this same path but so far, I have been completely helpless to get her to change. It’s becoming quite maddening.