Frustrated with wet food!

kittycleo

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 4, 2005
Messages
60
Purraise
1
Location
Louisiana
I've finally hit my frustration level with canned food!
My two girls are so picky! They haven't touched their wet food for 4 days now! I'm feeding them high quality dry food, which is the only thing they're touching right now.

I feed a couple of feral kitties outside Friskies, but I'm bound and determined to feed my indoor kitties a high quality canned food. I can't tell you how much $$$ I've spent on ordering quality wet food, only to have them turn their nose up at it.
I have had a little luck with Lick Your Chops Delicacies (sp?), but it has a lot of fish and they'll eat a little of the NB Ultra, but will leave most.
I've tried Cal. Natural, Pinnacle, Pet Promise, Petguard, Wellness, by nature Organics, other Nat. Balance flavors,Merrick.....no luck. I even bought some Pro Pac canned....but when I got a whiff of that, I clearly understand why they didn't want to eat it!
So all this food that they turn their noses up at, ends up going to the ferals, so they're eating pretty good right now!

I was having pretty good luck with Nutro Max.....until the recall. Now I don't trust it.

I know what they want though. They want the Friskies that I'm giving the outside cats. Everytime I open a can, Cleo comes running to the counter.
I gave in one night and gave them some so I could mix in their heartworm med.'s with it and she didn't hesitate!

Any suggestions???? I really don't want to resort to feeding them brands like Friskies and Fancy Feast, but their pretty much turning their noses up at everything else I've tried.
 

sharky

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Messages
27,231
Purraise
38
Meow mix pouches ...

Avoderm

Solid gold

Sheba tubs

Nutro is going in house so the ones I will feed I pray by end of summer
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

kittycleo

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 4, 2005
Messages
60
Purraise
1
Location
Louisiana
Oh, and I've also tried Innova. They prefer chunky foods over the pate...and other than the Merricks, which they barely touched and the Nutro Max which is scratched off my list.....I don't know any other quality brands that offer the chunky style.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

kittycleo

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 4, 2005
Messages
60
Purraise
1
Location
Louisiana
I also tried all of those......except Sheba, with no luck.
Is Sheba an OK brand to feed??
Thanks!
 

sharky

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Messages
27,231
Purraise
38
the gold tubs are providing they arent the only food as they are nt complete...

Max will be back but NOT for likely months ... as Nutro is no longer using Menu... right now I am not using Nutro canned
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6

kittycleo

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 4, 2005
Messages
60
Purraise
1
Location
Louisiana
I just checked into Sheba tubs and they said for supplemental feeding only.
I wonder if I could use those and mix it in with the cans I'm using now?? Maybe it will entice them to eat it.
Thanks!
 

sharky

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Messages
27,231
Purraise
38
yes or you can give the tubs just making sure you are giving a complete food ( dry?? )
 

beandip

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 1, 2007
Messages
2,322
Purraise
2
Location
under a pile of cats
I went through some similar frustration with my gang. Only difference is my most stubborn cats wouldn't even eat the Friskies or FF.
The only viable solution for me was to eliminate the dry food. That may seem a bit extreme ...but it was important to me so that's what I did.

I'm not sure what to suggest. You already tried the By Nature pouches, and the Avoderm select cuts, and the Meow mix pouches...none of them passed the test...is that correct?
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #10

kittycleo

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 4, 2005
Messages
60
Purraise
1
Location
Louisiana
Originally Posted by beandip

I went through some similar frustration with my gang. Only difference is my most stubborn cats wouldn't even eat the Friskies or FF.
The only viable solution for me was to eliminate the dry food. That may seem a bit extreme ...but it was important to me so that's what I did.

I'm not sure what to suggest. You already tried the By Nature pouches, and the Avoderm select cuts, and the Meow mix pouches...none of them passed the test...is that correct?
I didn't try by Nature pouches...it was the cans. I didn't know they had pouches. Avoderm and Meow Mix was a no go too.

Josie actually prefers the dry food, but would eat some of the wet. Cleo seems to prefer the wet, but eats the dry more because she doesn't want the canned I offer, the little stinker. Now they both aren't touching the wet.

I notice that they must do most of their eating at night after we've gone to bed. I thought about picking up the remaining dry food and leaving just the wet, to see what happens. I just hate to think that they'd still refuse the wet and go hungry.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #11

kittycleo

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 4, 2005
Messages
60
Purraise
1
Location
Louisiana
Originally Posted by Misty8723

Have you tried Evangers? That's kind of chunky.
I haven't tried that brand. If I can come across a site where I can order just a few cans to try instead of a whole case at a time, I might give it a try.
 

littleraven7726

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 1, 2002
Messages
3,339
Purraise
12
Location
Next to the World's Largest 6-pack
Right now we are using Friskies (in gravy), Fancy Feast, and Meow mix (pouches and tubs). I bought some tubs of Meow Mix and they like it again. They decided they were tired of the pouches.
I'm running into a bit of a wall again. The guys are getting bored of Friskies in gravy for breakfast. We may try FF or Pro Plan in gravy for a little while to see if that gets them out of their breakfast rut.

I'm waiting for Nutro to start making their own canned again. My guys used to like the Nutro Natural Indoor wet in their rotation. But we haven't used it since the recall came out. We tried a LOT of canned food varieties when the recalls hit, and they still pretty much like the same ones. Luckily nothing I feed regularly was recalled. At the time of the recall we only occasionally fed Nutro wet.

Have you tried the Pro Plan Selects? My cats like the Tuna and Salmon flavors of those. It's just hard finding them in stock--I swear our Petsmart is always out of it.
 

mschauer

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jun 17, 2007
Messages
6,753
Purraise
2,338
Location
Houston, Tx
I'm having a similar problem. I recently discovered that one of my cats has an intolerance for some common cat food ingredients and am now trying to find quality food that they will eat and that don't have those ingredients.

What I have had some success with is:
- If they won't even taste what I put down, just sniff and walk away, I put a bit of something on top that they love. One of mine loves parmesan cheese. Another likes freeze dried salmon. Frequently in the process of gobbling up what they love they get a bit of the new stuff and decide they like that too and just keep gobbling.

- If they will only eat a little of the new, I make a mixture of 1/2 new, 1/2 something they like. The 'something' they like can be anything, regardless of quality. Over the course of a few days I increase the amount of the new food and decease the amount of the other until it is all new and none of the other. How many days and what proportions of new to other you start with depends on how stubborn they are.

If I can't cajole them to eat any of the new despite using the 2 methods above, I give up on that food. I've spent a lot of money on food they won't eat too.

Good luck,

Medora
 

beandip

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 1, 2007
Messages
2,322
Purraise
2
Location
under a pile of cats
Originally Posted by mschauer

What I have had some success with is:
- If they won't even taste what I put down, just sniff and walk away, I put a bit of something on top that they love. One of mine loves parmesan cheese. Another likes freeze dried salmon. Frequently in the process of gobbling up what they love they get a bit of the new stuff and decide they like that too and just keep gobbling.
mschauer made a good suggestion...I forgot about that. Oftentimes, if you can find the right "bribe" to sprinkle on top to get them to at least taste the food, eventually they forget about the bribe IF they enjoyed the food. My brain isn't functioning. What I mean is you might find that you only have to top it with something the first time. Some cats are different and may continue to demand the bribe.

I had some trouble getting Leopold to eat food with medicine in it. I succeeded by pushing some small kibbles (Wellness dry) into the top of the food. He had to dig them out so he ate it.

Pumpkin is very stubborn about trying new things, but she breaks down immediately with a little sprinkle of brewer's yeast on top. Most of my cats fall for that one. Precious is the only one that's sly enough to just carefully lick it off the top.
 

followedbydolls

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Apr 16, 2007
Messages
504
Purraise
1
Location
Where the fur flies
I'm also in the same boat so-to speak LOL

Mine will only eat a cuts n gravy type food. I have tried sooooo many other brands and have just given up.

For now i am using proplan w/the odd whiskas thrown in. Not the best but they are on good dry foods so we will deal until nutro comes back out which is what i used before.
 

misty8723

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 16, 2006
Messages
7,688
Purraise
8,129
Location
North Carolina
Originally Posted by beandip

Pumpkin is very stubborn about trying new things, but she breaks down immediately with a little sprinkle of brewer's yeast on top. Most of my cats fall for that one. Precious is the only one that's sly enough to just carefully lick it off the top.
Is the brewer's yeast safe? How much is safe to give them? I wonder if that would work for Cindy?
 

beandip

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 1, 2007
Messages
2,322
Purraise
2
Location
under a pile of cats
Originally Posted by Misty8723

Is the brewer's yeast safe? How much is safe to give them? I wonder if that would work for Cindy?
It's safe, although almost anything can be overdone. It's already in a lot of cat foods. Beandip's urine acidifier tablets are in a base of brewer's yeast, so he gobbles them up like treats.
So much for pills. Yippeeee. But back to what you asked...

I got the Lewis Labs brand at a health food store. The label says "not blended or fortified - nothing added"...so it's strictly brewer's yeast. I read up on it quite a bit and couldn't find any good reason not to use it this way. I just dust the top of the food. A pinch goes a long way. Leopold is the only one who has no interest in it...so your chances of Cindy liking it could be in the 87% range.
 

misty8723

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 16, 2006
Messages
7,688
Purraise
8,129
Location
North Carolina
Originally Posted by beandip

It's safe, although almost anything can be overdone. It's already in a lot of cat foods. Beandip's urine acidifier tablets are in a base of brewer's yeast, so he gobbles them up like treats.
So much for pills. Yippeeee. But back to what you asked...

I got the Lewis Labs brand at a health food store. The label says "not blended or fortified - nothing added"...so it's strictly brewer's yeast. I read up on it quite a bit and couldn't find any good reason not to use it this way. I just dust the top of the food. A pinch goes a long way. Leopold is the only one who has no interest in it...so your chances of Cindy liking it could be in the 87% range.
Sounds like it might be worth a try. I guess I'll head over to the heath food store this weekend. I think I'll be shocked if she goes for it though
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #19

kittycleo

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 4, 2005
Messages
60
Purraise
1
Location
Louisiana
Thanks for all the suggestions!

I will try mixing the foods too and see if that works.
I found some cans of Sheba, Pro Plan Selects and even by Nature Pouches at Petsmart. I tried the pouch which had big chunks of meat in it and she wouldn't touch it...and you'd think with the meat she'd dive right in!....but
I shall keep plowing forward until I find something they'll eat without a fuss. I'm just not buying cases of it anymore until I'm sure.
 

mygypsy

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Apr 29, 2006
Messages
18
Purraise
0
Location
San Jose, CA
My cat is an incredibly picky eater, too. I tried all kinds of "good" wet foods with her and she refused to eat any of them. I don't want her on all dry food, so I go ahead and give her half a can of Fancy Feast everyday. I try to make sure she has a quality dry food, so it balances out.
 
Top