How to introduce wet food

faganfamily1

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Hi all,

So, I just realized after Otis has been having problems with hairballs, that an all dry food diet isnt good- honestly, I really have had no idea. It's not like ive tried to introduce food from time to time- but the only thing I can get him to eat is beef baby food and tuna juice. Which I give him as treats. I dont want him to have constipation problems, and im worried about his water intake( we got our cats both a fountain and otis didnt touch it really) so I could really use some tips about how to get him eating some wet food.

Thanks.
 

kara_leigh

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The only way I could get Nora to eat it was to mash it up and add more water to it to make a soupy consistency. She prefers to lick it up rather than bite/chew it. Before I started doing that she would eat maybe a couple bites and walk away. Now she downs 3oz of wet food in one sitting in about 2 minutes. lol
 

motoko9

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Have you tried different textures? Some cats prefer shredded meat in gravy vs. the more common pate-style foods.

I had to try quite a few before I figured out which type my guys were most likely to eat.
 

grogs

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I'm still in the process of transitioning my guys to a half-and-half diet with dry food in the morning and wet food at night. When I started the process, I went to the pet food store and bout 1-2 cans of everything that looked halfway decent to see what they would eat. One food to try if he's just not into any wet food in general is Fancy Feast. It's not particularly good food, but it apparently tastes really good to most cats to the point that it's referred to as 'kitty crack'.

I also add a little water to the wet I feed my guys, though just a little bit. Then I stir it up and get a consistency close to a fairly thick applesauce. A couple of my kitties were turning their noses up at the food straight out of the can, but once I started stirring it first, I haven't seen a problem.

Since my guys have been pretty cooperative so far, I haven't had to get really tricky, but http://www.catinfo.org has a lot of good tips for dealing with stubborn kibble addicts. Just scroll down to the bottom of the "Tips for transitioning" section.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by motoko9

Have you tried different textures? Some cats prefer shredded meat in gravy vs. the more common pate-style foods.

I had to try quite a few before I figured out which type my guys were most likely to eat.


Some cats just wont no matter what ... most of these will eat a plain chicken breast or hamburger
 

ms.blackie

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My cat's favorite is fancy feast, gourmet chicken and a couple
others, some grilled,put mostly only pate style.
chicken mostly. But, she will eat a couple other brands also.
I add water 1 tbl or more to each serving, stir in.
Try putting a few pieces of the dry on top of the wet. Stick
them in like candles on top.

Only feed your cat on schedule. It helps when they are
hungry and have not eaten in 10 - 12 hours.
My cat also loves chicken baked and cooked hamburger.
 
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faganfamily1

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Thank you all so much!!!! That link really did have some helpful tips in there.
Thanks again!
 
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