Ragdoll kittens won't eat wet food - HELP!

My husband and I just added two ragdoll kittens to our household last Thursday. Initially Jack was a voracious wet food eater (pro plan kitten). Charlie never ate much wet food, he'd had a few bites, but he stuck to the dry food (eukanuba kitten). Yesterday Jack was not interested in eating the wet food initially although he ended up eating some about an hour after we put it out for them. I did find some throw-up, but it appeared to be only fuzz or a hairball. They don't appear thin, or emaciated. They are both still drinking water. They are both also still playfull and bright-eyed. I plan to take them to the vet tomorrow to get them checked out.

But any ideas? Could they still be settling in? We have two dogs and two other cats. Everyone got along VERY well. Could they be overwhelmed? They are in their own room with their own water, food, and litter box.

I am also interested in changing their food to chicken soup...kitten food and EVO. How early can I do that? I wonder if they don't like the other food?

Any advice appreciated!
Thank You.

I think you are smart to get them to the vets. You don't mention how old they are, or if you have taken them for a physical yet. You might try mixing the wet food with warm water and making it a bit more liquid. Are you feeding them the same food that they were getting from the breeder? If you search the forum threads you will find alot of information on introducing kittens to their new home and also about feeding them. Most importantly though, get them to a vet ASAP. Kittens don't really have enough weight yet to store nutrients, etc. They need to eat every few hours as they grow. I am not a breeder, but again, do some searching of threads here on the forum and you will find alot of information!
And welcome to TCS - I, too, have a new Ragdoll kitten! Please keep us posted on how they are doing! Oh, yes, we love photos!

[font= "Comic Sans MS"]The above advice is very good! If your kitten won't eat wet food, you could try mixing it with some warm water to dilute it some. Also, some cats don't like the "loaf" style of cat food. Try using some of the "price cuts", which is actual meat in gravy or broth. Meow Mix is pretty good and inexpensive as well. I also think it's very excellent that you will be switching to a higher quality food in the near future! Chicken Soup is very decent food, for a good price as well, and most kitties find it tasty. EVO is, IMO, of exceptional quality, one of the top-notch foods, and I'm sure your new companions will do well on it. Some cats really never do like wet food- Zoey loves it! Try sprinkling some of the tasty dry kibble in with the wet, and mix it up, that's a good way to do it as well. By the way- welcome to TCS and congratulations on your new friends! Hope to see you around the forum! [/font]

Hi and welcome. Sometimes it is just a simple matter of trying different foods. When I was introducing Bijou and Mika to a wet diet (because it is a healthier diet than all dry), I tried at least 8 different kinds/brands of food before I found one they would eat. We settled (they settled) on Merrick's which are a good quality food - a bit expensive here in Canada but they are worth it. Even then, they will only eat two of the flavours - Thanksgiving Day Dinner and Granny's Pot Pie. They don't like anything fishy or with seafood.

If you have a store that you frequent for your cat food and other needs, get a couple cans of each of the better quality foods to try and ask the store if they will take back any unopened cans. That's what I did at our store and it worked out well for us.

And finally, I do hope you'll share some pictures of your beautiful kitties with us. We love kitty pictures here.

Jack and Charlie are both 11 weeks old. I am feeding them the food that the breeder had them on. I've added a handful of chicken soup kitten food and EVO cat/kitten food into their dry food to start the switchover as of last night.

I was able to get Jack to eat some chicken last night. I plan to try to get him to eat some chicken soup..wet kitten food tonight mixed with the pro plan kitten food. I also am picking up some fresh chicken and canned tuna for them tonight just in case they won't eat the wet kitten food.

I made a vet appointment for tomorrow, so hopefully they will be fine!!

I'll post photos as soon as I figure out how!

Originally Posted by FedLawyer

Jack and Charlie are both 11 weeks old. I am feeding them the food that the breeder had them on. I've added a handful of chicken soup kitten food and EVO cat/kitten food into their dry food to start the switchover as of last night.

I was able to get Jack to eat some chicken last night. I plan to try to get him to eat some chicken soup..wet kitten food tonight mixed with the pro plan kitten food. I also am picking up some fresh chicken and canned tuna for them tonight just in case they won't eat the wet kitten food.

I made a vet appointment for tomorrow, so hopefully they will be fine!!

I'll post photos as soon as I figure out how!

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I personally would stay away from the canned tuna (people tuna) as even humans shouldn't be eating much of it due to the mercury levels these days. A little bit once in awhile won't hurt, but not much.

Are you cooking the chicken before giving it to them?

I would also suggest just putting a few pieces of the dried food on top of the wet for them to smell and draw them to the wet food rather than mixing the two together.

I also have ragdolls. It could just be the wet doesn't appeal. I know my female is still not a big wet food eater and i have tried numerous brands over the years to tempt her

good luck, hopefully you can find a wet that is appealing!

My cat Max will not eat wet food. I talked to the vet about it and he said that was a good thing, because wet food is often filled with sodium. He is now 7 years old and only eats dry cat food that is specially formulated for indoor cats.

You may be able to get your cat eating wet food by pouring some tuna water from a can of tuna on it. It works on my cats whenever I serve a can of wet food they're not crazy about. The truth is that a cat's sense of smell is stronger than their taste buds so something that triggers a strong smell is likely to entice a cat. You will eventually have to wean your cats off of the tuna water as you probably will get tired of tuna sandwiches or throwing cans of tuna in the trash if you're not eating the tuna. But if you have no qualms about this it's worth a try. However another reason to wean them off of it is because cats can become very addicted to tuna. But just the water poured over a decent can of cat food is better than feeding tuna.

You can also try liver powder from www.felineinstincts.com. This is sold to get cats to eat a raw diet. I sometimes sprinkle it on my cats wet food if they're reluctant to eat a certain brand or flavor. I had to stop feeding my cat Rosie raw though because this high fat diet made her gain so much weight. The supplement alone has 35% fat.

Originally Posted by Nora

My cat Max will not eat wet food. I talked to the vet about it and he said that was a good thing, because wet food is often filled with sodium.

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Fortunately, that's not true. Some vets still believe that wet food is evil and dry food is the best thing for them. IMO, and many others...the only benefit that dry food provides is the convenience factor - for humans.

www.catinfo.org - has a lot of good related info

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...dcleantheteeth

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...needcannedfood

My vet prefers wet diets for cats. Although I'm a lawyer and not a vet, so what do I know...but, I prefer a dry and wet diet. The cats that I have had that eat some dry and two wet meals a day seem to do the best.

Jack and Charlie are still VERY picky. Much more so than Lucy and Lily, who will eat anything. Jack really likes EVO, chicken soup, and felidae chicken and rice - all wet. But Jack will not eat anything dry. Charlie will eat some EVO wet and felidae chicken and rice wet but he really likes the chicken soup dry and EVO dry. He doesn't eat nearly as much wet as Jack. They both look MUCH better.

I've used the TCS method of emailing companies for samples and I'll be trying different food on them so find a variety they will eat. I am also trying anything that is all stages on Lucy and Lily and they continue to be willing to eat anything.