switching to wet only, a few Q's....

Well....vegas will eat ANYTHING wet I've learned...so far at least. Charlie is the finicky one I am worried about. Right now Vegas eats Purina Pro Plan natural...but i'm not fond of all the ingredients and would prefer to order a grain free wet food as mentioned in previous threads I have read. So I should just feed Vegas the appropriate amt. as if she were on an all wet diet...assuming she won't graze on the dry? I think she may graze anyways and might get fat if i do let her eat the dry....but I guess its better than her starving if the wet isn't satisfying enough.

With Charlie though I really have no idea how to transition him to the wet from the dry....if the dry is out he will eat it, and will turn his nose up at the wet...its only once in a great while he seems to WANT the wet and will try to nibble from vegas (in which case i give him some in a separate dish which he will lap up)...

I also prefer wet food to dry - it's much more comparable to a cat's natural diet in terms of water content, carb content etc. I also agree that dry food doesn't benefit teeth (Jaffa swallows dry food whole anyway). Dry food is convenient for the guardian but not so good for the cat.

Jaffa used to have an issue with vomiting on an empty stomach (esp in the morning before breakfast) and despite moving his last meal later so that he ate just before bed, he was still vomiting. Since I switched to 100% wet food the vomiting has finally stopped. There may not be a connection but he's certainly thriving on wet food. I use logic gel and plaque off for his teeth.

So you think I should just boom take away the dry food immediately?

Hmm...no actually I don't think I would. I think I would start by feeding Charlie his dry at set times. That way he at least gets used to eating at a certain time rather than grazing. Some cats do fine with grazing, but as much as he likes the dry, I don't think you'll be able to get him to eat very much wet without eliminating the free feeding. I hope that makes sense. I wouldn't push it with the wet immediately, just switch to meal times w/his regular dry - as a first step. Maybe as a next step, when it's time to eat offer him a tablespoon or so of what Vegas is eating before offering him the dry food.

What if I feed them the wrong amount? NOt enuf, too much?

For my own peace of mind, I weighed them a lot in the beginning. I still do - but just once a week or so. The scale doesn't lie...but cats do sometimes.

Should I just mix the dry w/ the wet for Charlie?

Hmm...I wouldn't exactly mix it. One trick that has been very effective for me is to just push some kibbles down into the top of the wet food. If they can still smell the dry, they'll probably want to dig it out. Once dry food gets wet, though...you don't want it laying around very long. It gets yucky (bacteria, etc) quickly. My cats find a little sprinkle of brewer's yeast very tempting. I swear they would eat rocks if I dusted them with BY. It's yummy.

I think he may end up picking out the dry too..or not eating it at all...if he doesn't eat it, what am I to do? Let him starve?

No I wouldn't starve him...but on the same token, in 12 hours or even a bit more they won't faint.

I'm worried about Charlie getting the runs from the wet.

With mine, I noticed that their poo was extra stinky AT FIRST. It was a little soft sometimes but nothing severe. It just smelled bad. After they got used to the food, that went away. Now I have to get my nose right over it to even smell it.

I've been reading a bit about people trying the grain free...haven't been able to find it locally...so i guess I should order it online...for U.S. customers, any suggestions on where to buy online?

I found some local stores that I didn't know about by checking some of the store locators on the food co. websites. I found most of them to be fairly accurate. Some of the feed stores, etc carry some good foods and may not have obvious ads in your yellow pages.

I have only ordered online once, just recently...because usually I can get a better price locally. There are exceptions, though. I used Petfooddirect.com and it arrived quickly with no problems....saved me a few bucks too, even with the shipping.

The By Nature cans are available at Petsmart now, if you have one in your area. I noticed that the price at petfooddirect is better than PS, though...even w/shipping.

So I should just feed Vegas the appropriate amt. as if she were on an all wet diet...assuming she won't graze on the dry? I think she may graze anyways and might get fat if i do let her eat the dry....but I guess its better than her starving if the wet isn't satisfying enough.

Hmm, because it sounds like Vegas loves to eat, and Charlie needs some help learning to be a team player, I would do away with the grazing. For Vegas, I would start with the recommended amount on the can and go from there. I wouldn't rush Charlie or it may just be frustrating. In my experience, the "appropriate" amount varies quite a bit.

With Charlie though I really have no idea how to transition him to the wet from the dry....if the dry is out he will eat it, and will turn his nose up at the wet...its only once in a great while he seems to WANT the wet and will try to nibble from vegas (in which case i give him some in a separate dish which he will lap up)...

I would start with dry "meals" for Charlie. I'm not totally against the idea of free feeding, but if the dry is available 24/7, I don't think he'll cooperate.

I like this article

http://catinfo.org/#Transitioning_Dr...o_Canned_Food_

thanks for all your help beandip....you have been very helpful. I am going to stop the free feeding tonight. I'll take the dry away after Vegas eats dinner. Then, I'll start feeding Charlie his dry food meals in the morning, and at night, and try to squeeze in the wet a little more every day - transitioning him to wet. I'm going to look at the food labels, but should I be feeding two or three times a day? I leave at 7:30am and get home around 6pm....so 7am and 6pm are my usual feeding times (for vegas)....should I add a before bed feeding too?

I am going to finish up w/ the wet food cans I have for vegas right now....as I said i'm sure getting her to eat a new wet food will not be hard...she's NEVER EVER turned her nose to any single wet food brand. I am definitely going to switch to the wellness brand...and buy online either at petfooddirect.com or at healthypet.com (which is like $1.00 cheaper) however w/ the coupons at pfd, I may just go w/ them - esp since they seem like they have more products to offer on their site.....I'm also thinking of having our dog try the wellness food....tho we just switched him to benefuls dry and AvoDerm for wet - and he is just LOVING IT!

thanks again!

I started with 3 meals. When the weather warmed up, they lost interest in "lunch", so now we do 2 meals. I would just see how they do. At first, some of mine wouldn't eat very much in one sitting but as they got more used to it they did better.

Originally Posted by beandip

I should let others speak. LOL But anyway...

You probably told me, but I forgot. Is their dry served in meals, or free-fed?

I wouldn't starve them (and I know you wouldn't either.

) ...None of mine skipped more than 2 meals (at the time I was doing 3 a day)...so if breakfast and lunch flopped, they did eat dinner.

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Hi, beandip!

They're fed set meals, either 2 bigger meals or 3 smaller meals per day.

Right now we try to make at least one meal per day a wet meal (leave it there for about 1 hour, if no takers, then dump!

). We tried 2 per day, but Doc just wasn't interested & hunger-striked & moped until we gave in . Doc can definitely go a day w/o much, just a few licks of gravy...but if we can't convert him to full-wet, maybe we'll try the NV Freeze-dried in place of dry kibble, since he'll attack the Dr. Harvey's Whisker Smackers treats -- the freeze-dried chicken or salmon ones.

P.S. I'm going to check out the rest of the posts you answered & the links. Doc has some food allergies potentially & Munchie had the crystals issue earlier, so we'd love to go wet & raw (beandip's crystals story totally made me a believer! ).

Originally Posted by DesignVHL

Great suggestions for sure! So you think I should just boom take away the dry food immediately? Or is there a way to ease into this? I'm so afraid they are going to starve if I just take away the dry! What if I feed them the wrong amount? NOt enuf, too much? Should I just mix the dry w/ the wet for Charlie? I think he may end up picking out the dry too..or not eating it at all...if he doesn't eat it, what am I to do? Let him starve? Or just give him a few kibbles? Not sure where to start! Vegas will be easy to transition...she'll be happy to get on an all wet food diet...one of the only times she purrrs is when she's happily eating her wet food. She IS hungry a lot but I really think she just LOVES TO EAT! I'm worried about Charlie getting the runs from the wet. I've been reading a bit about people trying the grain free...haven't been able to find it locally...so i guess I should order it online...for U.S. customers, any suggestions on where to buy online? I have been wanting to try the wet food your suggested for some time now. Both cats would benefit....just not sure how easy it will be for charlie to take this....I guess I should just save the dry food for when i go out of town? Even tho my mom comes over to feed/care for the cats....i would still feel better about not leaving them to starve, lol!

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when I switched my cat over to an all wet diet, she did not like the "mush" kind at all. SHe preferred the chunky stuff w/ gravy, but the food i had to feed her (Purina DM recommended by the vet to get her to lose weight) only came in mush. FOr the first few weeks, i fed her 3 times a day (splitting a can into 3rds) and mixed in dry kibbles and at first tuna water. Sometimes a little tuna. I started cutting back the tuna water (Luna LOVES Tuna...go figure) then the amount of crunchies i mixed in. Now she eats the wet food w/ no problem. she still loves dry, but i only give it to her very rarely (trying to use up what i have. haha)

On another note, I have read in this post that wet is good for intestinal health and stuff. I've noticed w/ Luna that her #2s smell worse now that she is on an all wet diet (and in all fairness, the food doesn't smell that great either). She's been to the vet recently and been found healthy (if overwieght, the reason she was switched to wet food). SInce she's been on the food she's gone from 18.2 lbs to 15 lbs! and I'm hoping to slim her down a little more (she's not big boned at all).

also, I heard that wet food cuts down on dandruff. I have actually noticed an increase in dandruff on Luna. WHat are the other reasons for dandruff? Thanks

Originally Posted by miao_kitty

On another note, I have read in this post that wet is good for intestinal health and stuff. I've noticed w/ Luna that her #2s smell worse now that she is on an all wet diet (and in all fairness, the food doesn't smell that great either). She's been to the vet recently and been found healthy (if overwieght, the reason she was switched to wet food). SInce she's been on the food she's gone from 18.2 lbs to 15 lbs! and I'm hoping to slim her down a little more (she's not big boned at all).

also, I heard that wet food cuts down on dandruff. I have actually noticed an increase in dandruff on Luna. WHat are the other reasons for dandruff? Thanks

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Is she still on the Purina DM? If not, what food does she eat now?

I never seem to know what canned food my 3 cats like. I have a diabetic 12 year old and so I get the prescription DM dry food, which my 2 non-diabetics do like. As far as giving them canned food, I've tried all sorts of different brands: the better quality, such as Felidae and Innova, and less expensive brands and all three have turned their noses up and walked away. Right now, I'm feeding them the Fancy Feast brand -- they seem to like some of the seafood types and will not touch the chicken, turkey or beef foods.

I don't mind spending for the better quality foods if the cats will eat it. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Originally Posted by beandip

Is she still on the Purina DM? If not, what food does she eat now?

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Yes she is. I would like her to lose another pound or two and my vet says this stuff really works for that. (also she was potential pre-diabetic when she was so big) [haha, she was potentially a potential diabetic... )

Originally Posted by miao_kitty

Yes she is. I would like her to lose another pound or two and my vet says this stuff really works for that. (also she was potential pre-diabetic when she was so big) [haha, she was potentially a potential diabetic...

)

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LOL @ the potential potential...seriously, though it's good that she lost the weight...not so much potential potential for bad stuff now.

I'm not an expert on analyzing the effect of ingredients...but the soy, corn, and cellulose jumped out at me as being potential stinky-makers. I think it's just the ingredients of that food making the stinky poo, that's what I'm trying to say.

When you're able to switch to something w/comparable figures (protein, fat, etc), but with better ingredients, I think the stinkies will fade away. That's great that she's slimmed down.

Dandruff-wise, I think that will improve with a food that has some better ingredients too. Another remote possibility is itchiness or excessive grooming, from an allergy of some kind. I know Beandip's skin and fur got dry real quick when I used some litter that he turned out to be allergic to (corn stuff)...he was miserable. He's fine now that I gave him his regular litter back.

Originally Posted by JanieC

I never seem to know what canned food my 3 cats like. I have a diabetic 12 year old and so I get the prescription DM dry food, which my 2 non-diabetics do like. As far as giving them canned food, I've tried all sorts of different brands: the better quality, such as Felidae and Innova, and less expensive brands and all three have turned their noses up and walked away. Right now, I'm feeding them the Fancy Feast brand -- they seem to like some of the seafood types and will not touch the chicken, turkey or beef foods.

I don't mind spending for the better quality foods if the cats will eat it. Any suggestions are appreciated.

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In addition to some of the tricks (bribe toppings, no free feeding, etc) I mentioned earlier in the thread, I would recommend reading this...it helped me with the frustration when we were switching to wet - hehe Jean44 beat me to it.

http://catinfo.org/#Transitioning_Dr...o_Canned_Food_

I found all of the info at that site very helpful.

So thought i would share an update on my kitties switch to all wetfood...

Vegas is a whole new cat!!! No more vomiting - AT ALL!!! ]She's on all wet food right now (i just ordered Wellness cans from PFD) and couldn't be happier! She's acting more social than usual, letting me pet her little head more and enjoying it...AND she even came and slept up by my head on my pillow - something she has NEVER EVER done! She stole charlies spot one night, lol i woke up expecting to see charlie next to me, and it was vegas! I had to blink a few times!

Anyways the Transition w/ charlie Is not working...he just won't eat the wet food...so I had to start feeding him dry food when vegas gets the wet....just a little bit...but he's so used to grazing...he lost A LOT of weight and that scared me so i don't want to force him to keep on eating wet food if he doesn't like it....though the Wellness should be here any day now, and I am hoping he really likes it enough to eat a can at a time....I am going to try to slowly transition him to that again and see how it goes.....but that is a lot of food for him as a grazer....where vegas can take it all down at once...he doesn't want to....

That is great news about Vegas!! I've had some "whole new cats" so I know what you mean! Good luck with Charlie. Keep trying different foods, hopefully you'll find one that he gets more excited about...despite being a grazer.

You know, it can take a while but I think after a while the hunger instinct is so strong that cats give up the hunger strike, and I do not suggest starving them but letting them get hungry before a meal 8-12 hours perhaps is a good idea and putting down the wet food before you put down dry and waiting an hour or two so you cat has the chance to eat it can help.

I have seen Rosie cover up her food bowl of some natural canned food that doesn't appeal to her as much as Purina Pro-plan and after an hour or so she comes back and eats it as if to say, "Oh well, I'm hungry and I can't train my human today so I'll just have to eat this."

I also find that my cats eat more wet food if it's left out for at least 2 hours. I don't believe you have to pick up wet food after a half hour because cats know when food is not fresh enough for them. My family, grandparents, aunt actually left wet food out all day and their cats never got sick. I was just grossed out when it attracted flies. But just like most people free feed dry food, you can free feed canned food for about 2 hours or more in colder weather. You know when it starts to dry up and is no longer fresh. Try it and work with their hunger instinct. Maybe try some tuna water from a can at first if you have to. See what happens.

Originally Posted by DesignVHL

Anyways the Transition w/ charlie Is not working...he just won't eat the wet food...

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Have you tried sprinkle a little parmesan cheese on the wet? My cats will eat anything with that on top. Some members use brewer's yeast and their cats love it.

Where in Chicago are you? I'm also in Chicago but besides ordering from PetFoodDirect I also pick up canned foods from Pet Stuff, Petco, & Kriser's.

good suggestions moggie..thats exactly what I've been trying to do w/ charlie....cept Vegas my little piggy will eat his portion too if we leave it out...and I now have to stop feeding vegas on the floor of the kitchen and put her food up high because our dog has a new thing where he stands behind her while she eats and non-chalantly nudges her out of the way so he can eat her food...while quite comedic, it is still annoying...I have to watch all three of my pets during mealtime! But I think you are right, charlie is just STARTING to get on the same schedule....tho i have started to just leave him w/ a little more than a portion of dry food...but i'll stop that and as soon as the wellness comes...get back on track...he was eating about a half a can of this EvoDerm food (which they both really liked but got sick of - and is the replacement until the wellness comes from PFD) - I hope it is here today tho!

Originally Posted by Rone

Have you tried sprinkle a little parmesan cheese on the wet? My cats will eat anything with that on top. Some members use brewer's yeast and their cats love it.

Where in Chicago are you? I'm also in Chicago but besides ordering from PetFoodDirect I also pick up canned foods from Pet Stuff, Petco, & Kriser's.

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Rone, I'm in da burbs...Mundelein...near Vernon Hills....I hate our PetCo! But the PetSmart near us is pretty great....we found Blue Spa and AvoDerm foods there to be good...but w/ PFD i can buy in bulk, and it comes to my door..tho i am concerned w/ it coming and sitting outside in the heat all day......

On the subject of leaving the wet food out...I'm not hard-core about the time frame either, but with this many cats I can't leave it sitting there. If I did that I'd have 3 very fat cats and 5 starving cats. ...or maybe that's one fat cat and 7 starving ones...Paisley is pretty pushy.

As time went on, these guys have gotten a lot better about just eating and getting it over with. It took a long time to break all of them of the "hmmm...maybe later" syndrome. I let Leopold come and go to finish his, but he has to wait for me because I have to stash his food so the vultures don't get it.