Getting Finicky - What to do?

Ok, first let me say that this is entirely my fault, for spoiling my boy and letting him have what he wants all the time! I take full blame, lol.

Riley has decided that he no longer likes 2 of his flavors of can food (turkey, and turkey&duck).

He has eaten these consistently for 4 months until now. I think the reason he is turning his nose up, is because lately, he's been getting more "treat" foods such as Wellness pouches, fish flavored foods, things I don't want to include in his regular diet, but like to give him as a treat now and then. I think he has decided he wants these all the time now, so won't eat his regular food.

How can I get him back on track? Should I give him the food, and if he doesn't eat it, just wait until his next meal and keep offering it until he starts eating it again, for lack of anything better being offered? I feel bad and want to give him what he likes but I know that only makes it worse. He does have dry out all the time, so its not like he will starve.

I just give mine what they want. They will completely stop eating wet altogether if I try to make them eat something they don't want. The first day, they might take a few bites. Second day, a nibble or 2. The third day, it gets buried immediately and they walk away disgustedly.

Now with Raven's appetite so unpredictable, I just want him eating regularly. What he will eat can change every few days.

Well, my guess is: it is all your fault!!!
I have always heard that a cat will eat when they get hungry, so I would put out the food and keep doing so, until Riley gives up and eats! My kids frequently decide that they will no longer eat what (generally) I have just stocked up on!
Also, since Riley has dry food out, maybe you could restrict that for a bit, so that he does actually get hungry to eat what you give him!

I just give mine what they want. They will completely stop eating wet altogether if I try to make them eat something they don't want. The first day, they might take a few bites. Second day, a nibble or 2. The third day, it gets buried immediately and they walk away disgustedly.

Now with Raven's appetite so unpredictable, I just want him eating regularly. What he will eat can change every few days.

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I have two finicky females, and I have to give them what they'll eat. I can't MAKE them eat what they don't want to.

I have the same problem. I've been trying to get my gang to eat more wet. It's really frustrating when you think you find something they like and then they stop eating it.

As a way of getting them to stop being so finicky I'm considering stopping the dry entirely. So they either eat the wet or go hungry. I would only put down wet that they have eaten in the past so it wouldn't be like they would be forced to eat something they don't like.

Hopefully they will start eating eating the wet consistently and I can reintroduce dry.

What does everyone think of this plan?

Well, I can't take up the dry food, because that is all that my foster cat eats and she is a nibbler, and doesn't eat "meals" so it has to be left out all the time for her.

Thing is, he loved his turkey and duck for FOUR months and only quit eating it last week when I started giving him better stuff, lol.

I may try to be a mean mommy for a few days and tell him its "that or nothing". If he still won't eat it after a couple days of no wet food, then I guess I will give in and give him the other. I wish he had decided to do this BEFORE I bought 2 cases of it!!

I have been soooo frustrated the last few days too! After buying a case of Wellness kitten canned which I have been putting in Zoe's mix of food for months now....she's not eating it...or any of the usuals. I put the plate down, she sits there like "you're kiddin' right?"
I guess my mistake was letting her try a Whiskas pouch...that's all she wants! I even put a bit over her better foods...but no go! She occasionally takes a bite or 2 of the wet before she walks away and is still eating her dry pretty well when I put it down..but I've tried not letting her have anything else but the "good" stuff ...I have thrown more away than I want to admit...she's not giving in
It looks like a lot of us are in this together


Oh and I guess I should add that after refusing a plate of food a couple nights ago, my son was taking it up to throw it away...he drops it and it goes splat on the floor....my cat runs over and eats the food off of the floor like it was a PRIZE! WHAT IS UP WITH THAT??!

maybe I should act like I'm eating it, and just give him "bites off my plate" Then he would want it!

Originally Posted by RaggieKitty

Oh and I guess I should add that after refusing a plate of food a couple nights ago, my son was taking it up to throw it away...he drops it and it goes splat on the floor....my cat runs over and eats the food off of the floor like it was a PRIZE! WHAT IS UP WITH THAT??!

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If it's on a plate--it's food. If it's on the floor it's not. I tried to give Raven his treats on a plate and he wouldn't eat them.

Originally Posted by RaggieKitty

Oh and I guess I should add that after refusing a plate of food a couple nights ago, my son was taking it up to throw it away...he drops it and it goes splat on the floor....my cat runs over and eats the food off of the floor like it was a PRIZE! WHAT IS UP WITH THAT??!

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Sometimes when Toby won't eat a food that he previously scarfed up I put it in a different dish and then he'll the eat it. That's what makes me think that if I put down nothing but wet that they have eaten before that they will eventually eat it.

I would cut out the treat food and give him the kind you want him to eat. You might try mixing a spoonful of the treat food in with the regular food - so he can't just pick it out and leave the rest.

I will try mixing it and just keep giving it to him until he eats it (or not). I started giving him such a variety to get him used to eating several brands and flavors to PREVENT being finicky, but I guess it backfired because he only wants certain ones now

Thank goodness I've never owned a finicky cat! Mine eat whatever is put in front of them.

The only food they really didn't like and I won't buy it anymore is the "sliced" meats with gravy - but any other brand/type they will eat.

Why not give him a "break" from those foods for a few weeks/months, and then offer them again? I find Jamie gets sick of his "favorite" flavors after about three months, so I give him others till he decides he doesn't want them any more, and switch back to the "retired" food. He does it with dry food, too.

I considered that. He has been eating them for 4 months and I know I would be tired of them I just can't afford to "waste" two cases of food. I figured if he didn't go back to eating them now, then he never would.

I guess if he doesn't start eating them in the next few days I will have no choice but to keep them back for a month or so and try again.

He only eats Merrick and Evo wet though really, so if he stops eating the Merrick, he would be getting only the Evo since I can't afford the Wellness pouches as a regular diet.

How about other Merrick flavors? He may now decide to eat a flavor or two he wasn't interested in before.

I use tricks to get Jamie to eat poultry, which he has never liked. I get chicken cat food with a little bit of shrimp, calamari, surimi, or mussels. Maybe you could try thawing out a few (3 or 4) cocktail shrimp, chopping them up, and mixing them in with the turkey or Turducken. Clams would work, too, but frozen shrimp or calamari are easier to portion. A little bit of chopped hardboiled egg, grated Mozzarella or Parmesan, or half a teaspoon of lox might entice Riley, too. I get really tiny jars of chopped lox in vegetable oil, and they keep for at least a week in the fridge.

Originally Posted by jcat

How about other Merrick flavors? He may now decide to eat a flavor or two he wasn't interested in before.

I use tricks to get Jamie to eat poultry, which he has never liked. I get chicken cat food with a little bit of shrimp, calamari, surimi, or mussels. Maybe you could try thawing out a few (3 or 4) cocktail shrimp, chopping them up, and mixing them in with the turkey or Turducken. Clams would work, too, but frozen shrimp or calamari are easier to portion. A little bit of chopped hardboiled egg, grated Mozzarella or Parmesan, or half a teaspoon of lox might entice Riley, too. I get really tiny jars of chopped lox in vegetable oil, and they keep for at least a week in the fridge.

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I have no idea what lox is! Riley has always loved poultry so his latest refusal to eat it is simply him being the spoiled brat that he is. He does still eat other Merrick flavors, he eats the Surf & Turf and the Cowboy Cookout (both of which he refused to eat previously). I'm starting to see a pattern here... lol

He also refused to eat the Instinct Rabbit over the weekend. The previous 2 times he had it a couple months ago, he loved it. Not sure why he is suddenly reversing all his preferences!

I used to switch out Ginger's foods when she was a little younger, and her favorite was always the salmon ones.

One day she started refusing the salmon ones (right after I'd bought 2 cases!) Over $60 in wet food sampling later, we have ONE flavor of ONE brand that she will eat, and that's IT.

Honestly, good luck!

Originally Posted by GingersMom

I used to switch out Ginger's foods when she was a little younger, and her favorite was always the salmon ones.

One day she started refusing the salmon ones (right after I'd bought 2 cases!) Over $60 in wet food sampling later, we have ONE flavor of ONE brand that she will eat, and that's IT.

Honestly, good luck!

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Oh yikes, I hope he doesn't do that! He has already turned down about 7 other brands, there isn't much left without going to low quality. At least he still likes his Evo and the Merrick Surf & Turf! (for now anyways )

Originally Posted by AlleyGirl

Oh yikes, I hope he doesn't do that!

He has already turned down about 7 other brands, there isn't much left without going to low quality. At least he still likes his Evo and the Merrick Surf & Turf! (for now anyways

)

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See, that's why I feed the expensive high quality Nature's Variety Raw Instinct - because Ginger will only eat Meow Mix Tuna & Shrimp. So I make sure that the treats I give her are at least 70% protein.

I feed Ferris the MM because he kept eating Ginger's, and now Max is eating Ferris', so... *sigh* ...I figure, at least they are eating SOME kind of wet!