How to get a cat to eat wet food?

I'm having issues getting Nora to eat wet food. Milo will usually gobble it down, but Nora just doesn't seem to like it.

I give them each half of a small 3oz can each evening (any more and they don't finish it, I'm trying to work them up to more). Milo will usually eat most all of it, leaving just a small amount in the bowl. Nora, if I can get her to eat any, will only eat about 1/4 of a cans worth. She likes the chunkier stuff because she pulls it out and eats it on the floor (picking it up and chewing it, rather than licking it), but none of the kitten foods are chunky, they are all pate. I got an adult formula one night with chunks and gravy and she licked up all the gravy and then ate most of the chunks, I ended up even giving her more.

Is there something I can try to get her to eat the pate? Maybe mix it with dry food so there is something to pick up? Right now they are eating Iams kitten dry and Wellness kitten wet. She just turned 7 months old. When can I start giving her adult formula so she gets chunky food??

I just sent you a PM. I have a large word document that describes ways to do this and would need to e-mail it to you.

There are "all life stages" canned chunky with gravy style food. All life stage food can be fed to a seven month old.

Merrick's brand is one, I'm sure there are others. Mine like the pate' type so I can't recall the brands.

I know what you are going through. My rainbow bridge kitties loved *anything* wet, so I was amazed to see how picky my current cats are. Two of them rarely eat the pate-style foods, so I decided to experiment with different textures. Mine seem to like foods that are shredded, in gravy (Weruva is a brand they like, and they like Sheba as well, although the latter isn't nutritionally complete). Good luck finding a food that both will enjoy!

Today I started with set feedings instead of free feeding, and I'm going to give them wet food in the morning after the longest stretch without food. Hopefully that will help, and she will be hungry enough to eat it.

Today I put a small amount of her dry food mixed into the wet food so she had something to pick up and chew, and that helped a bit. She ate a little more, still not a full 1.5oz, though.

I have only checked at the Petco by my house, b/c it is convenient, and looked through all the "good" canned foods, and have yet to find a chunky kitten or all life stages food. Grumble. I'll have to go check with other places. I have never seen Merrick brand food before.

I think the reason Milo will eat it readily is because I started doing that from day 1 with him. I didn't even give Nora canned for for the first time until she was almost 7 months old. It may just take her a bit longer to get used to it.

I eventually stopped trying to give my cats wet food specifically for kittens, since they didn't like it (and I grew tired of throwing money away!). They were already getting dry food for kittens, so I didn't think it would matter if their wet food was formulated for adults. Again, good luck to you!

Originally Posted by kara_leigh

Today I started with set feedings instead of free feeding, and I'm going to give them wet food in the morning after the longest stretch without food. Hopefully that will help, and she will be hungry enough to eat it.

Today I put a small amount of her dry food mixed into the wet food so she had something to pick up and chew, and that helped a bit. She ate a little more, still not a full 1.5oz, though.

I have only checked at the Petco by my house, b/c it is convenient, and looked through all the "good" canned foods, and have yet to find a chunky kitten or all life stages food. Grumble. I'll have to go check with other places. I have never seen Merrick brand food before.

I think the reason Milo will eat it readily is because I started doing that from day 1 with him. I didn't even give Nora canned for for the first time until she was almost 7 months old. It may just take her a bit longer to get used to it.

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You are lucky... My baby doesn't eat ANY wet food... Tomorrow I will buy a whole bunch of different ones and see if she likes any - I hate to throw $$ on the trash though!
By the way: LOVE your new Signature!!!

The scheduled feedings seem to really be helping. So far they will only eat close to a 1/2 of a 3oz can each, so last night before bed I gave them another half of a can each and they gobbled it up.

This morning I gave them each another 1/2 of a can and Nora actually ate it really well. She gobbled it up pretty fast. They still won't eat a full 1/2 of a cat at one feeding, but they get pretty close. I feed them about every 4 hours, except the last feed of the night I hold off for an extra hour or two. They usually eat last at around 9 or 9:30, and then again in the morning at 7:30.

Carolinalima...thanks!

I'm glad things are working out.

I've come to realize that 1.5 ounces is Jack's limit and I'm okay with that. It's better than none at all.

Leslie

I don't get it...I just don't get it. I fed them last night with just dry food. This morning I get up and they act like they are starving to death. I put their wet food down and Milo won't even touch it, and Nora eats about half of it. I figured I'd see what would happen if I free fed them until around 4 or 5pm, and then try to give them wet food again before bed.

I put the food down as soon as Nora finished her wet food, acting like she was full. She wouldn't eat another bite of it. The second I put the dry food down she RAN over to it and starting eating like mad. She ate for probably another 5-10 minutes. I'm not giving up, but I just don't understand why she stops eating the wet food if she is still that hungry.

It was pretty funny, though. Nora is finally starting to at least TRY to prevent him from eating when she does. Whenever she starts to eat he runs in there and tries to push her away. When I see him doing that I put him in the cat carrier so she can eat in privacy. This morning when I put the food down she ran in there and then so did he. Whenever he would start to put his face close to the dish she would smack her paw onto the side of the dish between her and him so he couldn't. She did it over and over again. LMAO Eventually she gave up and moved to the side, so I picked him up and put him in the carrier.

Idk what i could suggest... Ive never had a problem getting mine to eat wet. They love their wet and dry too.

I know how frustrating it is. We're 6 months in and I'm still trying to convince Jack to eat wet. I'm not giving up though because I know its whats best for him--I'll fight as long as I have to for him.

Leslie

You might try taking pate type wet food and mixing it in with water to make a gravy, and then drizzling it over the dry food to get your cat used to the taste and smell.