Won't Eat Wet - what would you do

alleygirl

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 2, 2006
Messages
11,814
Purraise
24
Location
hiding in the bathtub
My foster cat Akasha is about 3 years old. She had been eating cheap food at the pound and her fur was pretty rough and coarse. I've had her just under two weeks now and she's improving some.

She is eating only dry food (2/3 Cal. Nat. mixed with 1/3 Evo) and seems to be doing well on them. She won't eat any of Riley's wet food (Merrick and Evo). I've tried her on several flavors of Meow Mix and Sheba but she won't eat them either.

My question is: Would it be better for her to have the permium dry with some wet, even if its Fancy Feast or something, assuming she will eat it, or should I just let her continue eating dry only? Just not sure if wet is important enough for her to eat to keep trying and end up feeding premium dry with cheap wet, or just stick with the dry only.

Opinions welcome
 

consumerkitty

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 4, 2005
Messages
2,708
Purraise
9
Location
AJ, CC, & MS's Apartment
I think it's better for them to eat wet food because dry food is too high in carbs. Wet food helps prevent urinary problems. Cats need more meat and there's more in canned food. I'd read the ingredients first, though. Fancy Feast has unidentified "animaL" ingredients in it. Personally, I insist on knowing exactly what kind of animal it comes from. My cats eat Innova canned (the regular kind, not Innova EVO).

I read on here that putting brewers yeast on the wet food will get most finicky cats to eat it.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

alleygirl

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 2, 2006
Messages
11,814
Purraise
24
Location
hiding in the bathtub
Riley eats some Evo canned but wouldn't touch the regular Innova. I guess I could get 1 can each of all the ones Riley refuses to eat and see if maybe she will eat them. Where can I get the brewer's yeast?

I really want to get her on some canned, but would "bad" canned be better than none?
 

suni

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Sep 21, 2007
Messages
95
Purraise
1
Location
Vienna
Originally Posted by AlleyGirl

but would "bad" canned be better than none?
Yes, I think so. Dry food has no water inside, and no cat is able to drink the
quantity of water they require!
 

white cat lover

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Nov 17, 2005
Messages
22,206
Purraise
35
I feed Friskies wet food to Twitch quite a bit. IMO, crummy wet is better than no wet at all!
 

mechanicalman

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Sep 4, 2007
Messages
115
Purraise
1
Location
Missouri
Originally Posted by ConsumerKitty

I think it's better for them to eat wet food because dry food is too high in carbs.
I don't pretend to be an expert on cat nutrition, but to be fair to EVO dry, it's only 7% carbs.
 

moggiegirl

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Sep 7, 2005
Messages
673
Purraise
130
Location
San Diego, CA
But dry EVO has no water and it's high in calories to be feeding exclusively for many cats. Cheap wet is better than no wet. Once you have your cat eating any wet food, even Friskies or Fancy Feast you can switch them to higher quality canned later. Have you tried tuna water? You can gradually reduce the tuna water as your cat eats more canned. Some cats like chicken or turkey flavored baby food. You can use it as a gravy.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #8

alleygirl

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 2, 2006
Messages
11,814
Purraise
24
Location
hiding in the bathtub
The dry is a mix of 1/3 Evo and 2/3 California Natural chicken & rice.

Haven't tried tuna water, but I can get some. Hate to buy it just for the water though (I don't eat tuna). I'll try some this weekend though and see if that helps.
 

cloud_shade

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 19, 2004
Messages
2,807
Purraise
17
Location
Oregon
If she ends up liking the tuna water, you could try one of the tuna cat foods. Solid Gold makes a good one that's complete, as does Whiskas (though it has more preservativess). Sheba has one that isn't complete, but since you would probably just be feeding it as a supplement, it shouldn't be an issue. You might also look at the Meow Mix pouches--they tend to have fewer byproducts than some of the other grocery brands. Also, you could try starting her on cheap cans and then mixing in a little of the higher quality stuff over time to see if she can eventually be converted. Other people have also had success with putting a few of the dry food pieces on top of the canned food, so that the cat ends up tasting the canned and may begin eating it on their own.
 

sharky

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Messages
27,231
Purraise
38
Originally Posted by cloud_shade

If she ends up liking the tuna water, you could try one of the tuna cat foods. Solid Gold makes a good one that's complete, as does Whiskas (though it has more preservativess). Sheba has one that isn't complete, but since you would probably just be feeding it as a supplement, it shouldn't be an issue. You might also look at the Meow Mix pouches--they tend to have fewer byproducts than some of the other grocery brands. Also, you could try starting her on cheap cans and then mixing in a little of the higher quality stuff over time to see if she can eventually be converted. Other people have also had success with putting a few of the dry food pieces on top of the canned food, so that the cat ends up tasting the canned and may begin eating it on their own.
Yeah


Cheap or fish ladened wet is FAR better than the "SUPPOSED " best dry in my book...

but yes cheap wet and premium dry is a okay mix
 

stephanietx

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
14,768
Purraise
3,490
Location
Texas
One of my cats turns her nose at almost every offer of wet food. Believe me, I've spent lots of money buying all kinds of wet food! I think she doesn't like the consistency of it. However, she LOVES cooked chicken, so I boil a chicken tender for her in about 1 cup of water. After it's cooked, I shred the chicken and add a bit of the broth so it's about the consistency of chicken salad. When I serve it to her, I add extra broth (about 1 teaspoon), and she laps it up. Sometimes I add a bit of canned pumpkin on the side and she'll eat that, too!

You might want to boil some chicken and add that to the wet food as an enticement.

Stephanie
 

madaboutrags

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Sep 19, 2007
Messages
88
Purraise
1
Location
Boondocks, Maine
I don't know a whole lot about nutrition but when I first brought Bails and Isis home, I wanted to be sure I was doing everything right. So I asked the vet what foods he recomended. He said a good quality dry food would be more than enough. He said he doesn't recomend moist food or treats and actually doesn't even give them to his own. He has some of the most beautiful ragdolls I have ever laid eyes on... He said it's a personal choice meaning it isn't going to hurt anything if I gave both it just wasn't necessary
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #14

alleygirl

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 2, 2006
Messages
11,814
Purraise
24
Location
hiding in the bathtub
Thanks for all the advice. The wet food would be just a supplement to the dry so I will try tuna and some of the "kitty crack" brands, to see if I can get her interested. If she will eat it, then I can start mixing it with decent brands.
 

littleraven7726

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 1, 2002
Messages
3,339
Purraise
12
Location
Next to the World's Largest 6-pack
I use cheaper wet foods (FF, Friskies, and Meow Mix) but feed a good quality dry. My cats have nice coats, shiney eyes, and frisk around. So it works for us.


My cats will only eat the occasional high quality canned, and even so they only like a couple kinds.
 

luxum

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Jan 23, 2007
Messages
176
Purraise
2
Location
Tampa, FL
I have a dry junkie. I've offered her what feels like every type of wet food under the sun, but so far she only liked one - Nature's Variety rabbit. Due to allergy issues i couldn't let her continue to eat it and i'm still trying to find a dry that she's not allergic to. After i work that out i'll start trying to find a wet she'll eat, but i'm not real hopeful that i'll find one. I beleive it's not ideal to have her on dry only, but i can't force her to eat wet.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #17

alleygirl

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 2, 2006
Messages
11,814
Purraise
24
Location
hiding in the bathtub
She has started scratching bald spots on her head and neck so I'm thinking she's allergic to something I've been trying to feed her. I got approval from the rescue to get her a vet appt for this week, but until then I'm just going to continue feeding her the dry and not try to give her any wet until this situation is taken care of.
 
Top