Kitties suddenly turning their noses up at wet food?

fierceflawless

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We got our 2 kittens about 3 months ago, they are now 9 months old. They have been eating and enjoying grain free wet food as their primary diet (one of them is a bit of a kibble junkie and does get 1/4c. of orijen each night). We have been feeding a rotation of EVO cat & kitten, Evo 95% meat, Instinct 95% meat, with some other grain-free foods thrown in as well. We usually buy the 13 oz cans as they are cheaper per oz, and we always mix them with warm water after they've been refrigerated.
About a week ago, they started showing disinterest in what we put down for them--- they'll meow like they are starving and as soon as the food goes down, have a few bites and then wander off. We usually leave the food out if there is a lot left, and they might finish 50-60% of what we put out by the next "meal".
Their litterbox habits are totally the same, they are still behaving exactly the same- lots of energy and interested in play.
Should we be worried? Today I fed Merrick's turducken and they actually finished the whole 5.5 oz within 2 hours.
I don't really want to keep wasting so much food, but I also don't want to switch them to cat "junk" food just to get them to eat.
We are going to transition to raw at some point in the next 2 months after doing a little more planning.
I'm just worried they aren't getting enough to eat!
 

snake_lady

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Maybe they were tired of the kind that they refused (since they ate a different kind), maybe they are not as hungry as they were when younger (kittens start eating less as they get to be about a year old) or maybe something was off with the one can?

(of course 2 of my maybe's are irrelevant if it was different kinds offered)

Could be many things....but overall they sound fine. As long as they are healthy, active, using the litter box, etc. then I would not worry.

Cats around 9mos tend to start slowing on their growth (depending on breed) thus eating less.

So you aren't wasting as much, put out smaller amounts....start with a couple tablespoons...if they eat that, give them more (till you find the amount think will eat)....that way you'll save on wasted food, as well as it won't spoil.

 
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fierceflawless

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They've done it with several kinds of food now, so I'm not sure. I did start putting out less.

They wolfed down the raw chicken tenderloin I put down, so maybe they are trying to tell me they are sick of eating from a can!
 

misskalamata

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This happened with my adult cats...they really enjoyed it when I started buying them cans of Friskies. Then, after about 2 or 3 months, two of the cats started eating less and less of it. Now those two just flat out refuse to eat any. I'm going to try out different wet foods, but for now the cats who refuse the Friskies will just eat dry.


You say you split a 5.5 oz can between two cats? I would split a 5.5 oz can into four and give a quarter to each cat...and only one of the cats would actually finish her portion (hers and everyone else's
). Maybe they'll just eat less as they get older.



(by the way...I really like your username!)
 

hwc

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My two kitties also stopped eating wet food. Didn't matter the brand. We had always given then a large variety of brands, which they gobbled down until they hit about 8 months or so. Then they just turned up their nose and ate the dry food.

One day, we put down some Friskies something or other with Egg. They loved that and starting eating wet food again. I think they are just like teenagers.

BTW, they eat much much less. Really, one decent tablespoon of wet food for each of them is enough. There's no point in leaving more down if they aren't going to eat it.

I'm not terribly concerned one way or another.
 

althekitty

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This is such a saga in our house with my one mega spoilt kitty! I try to buy a variety of foods as he gets bored so quickly, and I find wet foods that he loves and then the next time I give it to him, he might sniff it, maybe have a nibble and then walks off! Like the above post, my kitty could also be making a noise for his food and still walks away! I buy decent quality food but I seem to waste so much. He does have dry too which I put down that he loves and as he is so active, he does burn off the extra calories and starts to look thinner if I just feed wet. It is a nightmare though as his favourite wet food is the purina duck in garden vegetables but that is the lowest quality food that I have in the house and he adores it! Its not good for him though. Its like having a child
Not that I would be without him
 
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fierceflawless

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Glad to know mine aren't the only ones! We only feed a quarter cup of orijen kibble between the two cats, we had been feeding primarily wet food. Our calico isn't interested in kibble really (and she has started to eat more wet food again...Halo's Spot Stew got her interested again!) but the black kitten has apparently decided that she prefers kibble OR raw chicken to any wet food.
I don't get it...we were tapering her off the kibble and I guess she wanted to boycott!
 
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