At what point should I worry?

Originally Posted by Carolina

Sharky... She doesn't eat 1/2 can of wet a day... She barely eats a 1/4 can - see above quote...

Kara, is there another wet food she likes better? I remember a video of her licking her plate clean is seconds! I was actually impressed!

Was that a different food?

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I understood it too be multiple FEEDINGS see below...

'I'm lucky if I can get her to eat 1/4 of the bigger can at each feeding...'

Plus She seems to be eating up to 1/2 cup dry which alone is enough.. 1/3 a cup is roughly 179 calories so that with a bit of canned also is enough..

Originally Posted by Carolina

Sharky... She doesn't eat 1/2 can of wet a day... She barely eats a 1/4 can - see above quote...

Kara, is there another wet food she likes better? I remember a video of her licking her plate clean is seconds! I was actually impressed!

Was that a different food?

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Maybe I just don't remember, but I don't think that was me. I don't think I've ever posted a video here. I could be wrong and just don't remember, though. I've always had a hard time getting her to eat wet food. She goes through phases where she'll eat more, but for the most part she's always been picky. I've tried other brands, and usually if it's not Wellness she won't even touch it. If it's not pate she just licks up the juice and won't eat the chunks. I'm heading to Petco right now to grab a couple different brands and try again to see if she'll eat them.

does she eat the regular or core canned? Just give s me a bit more accuracie in calorie figuring

Originally Posted by kara_leigh

Maybe I just don't remember, but I don't think that was me. I don't think I've ever posted a video here. I could be wrong and just don't remember, though. I've always had a hard time getting her to eat wet food. She goes through phases where she'll eat more, but for the most part she's always been picky. I've tried other brands, and usually if it's not Wellness she won't even touch it. If it's not pate she just licks up the juice and won't eat the chunks. I'm heading to Petco right now to grab a couple different brands and try again to see if she'll eat them.

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oh it was you!!! I remember... you made it reaaaallly soupy.... and she licked it clean in a snap!

Originally Posted by sharky

I understood it too be multiple FEEDINGS see below...

'I'm lucky if I can get her to eat 1/4 of the bigger can at each feeding...'

Plus She seems to be eating up to 1/2 cup dry which alone is enough.. 1/3 a cup is roughly 179 calories so that with a bit of canned also is enough..

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I offer her 1/2c per day, but lately she has only been eating 1/4c, which is why I was concerned. On the weight chart of the Wellness bag she should be eating 1/2 to 2/3c each day, which I know she would eat slightly less than that, so I offer 1/2. I'm not so much worried about the amount per se, it's the fact that she has cut her consumption in half. If she had been eating only 1/4c this whole time I wouldn't think anything of it, but she usually eats 1/2c and now she won't.

I don't consistently offer her wet food b/c I get tired of wasting my money b/c she won't eat it, and I just end up throwing it away. At this point in our lives I can't afford to buy canned food just to throw it out, you know??

Originally Posted by kara_leigh

I offer her 1/2c per day, but lately she has only been eating 1/4c, which is why I was concerned. On the weight chart of the Wellness bag she should be eating 1/2 to 2/3c each day, which I know she would eat slightly less than that, so I offer 1/2. I'm not so much worried about the amount per se, it's the fact that she has cut her consumption in half. If she had been eating only 1/4c this whole time I wouldn't think anything of it, but she usually eats 1/2c and now she won't.

I don't consistently offer her wet food b/c I get tired of wasting my money b/c she won't eat it, and I just end up throwing it away. At this point in our lives I can't afford to buy canned food just to throw it out, you know??

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though "techinically " she is likely getting the needed calories... My three 2 year olds all cut back on food ( but they all ate 2/3 cup plus 2-5 oz of wet a day)... I would suggest a check up at the vet...

15 cal per lb is usually wt loss but some maintain at that and she would be getting that at least 150 cal.. DUMB question how do u measure her dry food out?

We keep a 1/4c dry measuring cup in her food container that is only for her food, and we fill it between even and slightly heaping.

So I ran to Petco and grabbed a few different types of food. I just offered her Soulistic chicken/pumpkin which has shredded chicken and small pieces of pumpkin in it, and she wouldn't even touch it. I even tried to warm it up, and still nothing. I then tried Wellness sardine/shrimp/crab b/c I tend to stay with the chicken/turkey/beef flavors and thought maybe she would love the seafood. I gave her 1/2 of the small 3oz can mixed with a bunch of water, and she ate barely half of it and walked away. Pretty much she just licked a bunch of the water out of it.



I also got a couple Wellness Healthy Indulgence to see if she'll like those, plus a couple others. I had recently tried some prepackaged "raw" stuff from the grocery store, but again she just licked the soup out of it and wouldn't eat the chunks.

She LOVES fresh fruits and veggies and raw chicken and beef (we call it cow for her...she loves eating cow lol) I know just meat and vegetables aren't enough for her, though. The night before last she had quite a bit of raw chicken breast. Last night she had some cantaloupe and peas.

NOT the best food in the world, but not the worst either.... Purina Proplan... Next time you go to the pet store, grab a few for her to try. If you find the Selects Naturals, even better, as it has no artificial flavors or colors... Cats really like that food, both regular proplan and proplan naturals. Sorry I didn't tell you this before you went to the store

Another thought: Are you able to afford a holistic vet consult? Just a quick one? If she loves raw food, that might be the way to go? It is not an expensive diet at all, and if balanced... yes, all she will need is meat, organs and bone... A vet will help you to get a good and balanced diet - it will be cheaper than canned... If you don't want to think too much about it, you can feed her commercial raw, from the petstore - a 2 lb chub (bravo brand) costs $5-7 and is a lot of food... (good for about a week) completely balanced, AAFCO nutritionally complete, and it is ready to go... all you need to do is divide it into portions and thaw it before giving it to her....

Just a thought...

In this case, NO dry food though...

After looking at the picture of that plate of food, I have something else to offer.

Try feeding only small amounts at a time.

Tolly will not touch his dish if it contains more that a tablespoon of food at a time, and Ootay (rb 5/09) was the same way. Some cats, especially picky eaters, or cats not all that interested in food to begin with, just seem to do better with smaller amounts offered.

Also, these cats seem t prefer to leave some, too. Ootay never ever cleaned her dish. If I gave her two kibbles she would leave one.

Tolly often leaves a scrap, even from such a small portion. After he walks away, I pick up the dish and make a production of (pushing it back to the other side of the dish) and then offer it to him again, where ever he happens to be sitting. He will usually finish it with the second offering.

Another thing to consider about wet food: Changing the location where you feed her...
Hope recently had a digestive problem and stopped eating - scared me to death! In trying to making her eating again, I noticed that she liked better eating at her "safe place" which is under my bed... That is where her bed is also... So her wet food is close to her... making her hungry.
So there is where I feed her now, and she is back eating a full meal again, but will not eat in the kitchen anymore. Is there a quieter place pehaps she could be fed at? a place where she hangs out a lot, so she is reminded all the time to eat?
Like otto said, she also does not need to eat all at once - she can go back to finish it later... So do not throw the food away, leave it there for her to finish it up...

It's interesting how they train us to feed them where they want to be fed isn't it?

I don't notice it in younger cats, only as they age and develop health problems.

Originally Posted by otto

It's interesting how they train us to feed them where they want to be fed isn't it?

I don't notice it in younger cats, only as they age and develop health problems.

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Ohhh yeah - and then we think WE are the smart ones in the house... Right!

I also agree on feeding smaller amounts. I feed Neko half a 3oz can at atime. She also will not finish it completely, I'll scoop the food that is on the verge of falling off the plate back to the center and seconds later she will return to finish the neatly fixed leftovers
I will also agree on trying Purina Pro Plan Selects Natural, Neko LOVES it. Mine is still a kitten so we only have one flavor to choose from. Can't wait to try some of the adult flavors. My picky eater also likes Nutro Max, Nutro Natural Choice, and Avoderm canned food, but likes the beef the least. Authority canned is good every other week... and we just discovered BFF, which she loved!!
Just read all this so good luck
Hope Nora finds some faves!

Originally Posted by silva_unt

I also agree on feeding smaller amounts. I feed Neko half a 3oz can at atime. She also will not finish it completely, I'll scoop the food that is on the verge of falling off the plate back to the center and seconds later she will return to finish the neatly fixed leftovers

I will also agree on trying Purina Pro Plan Selects Natural, Neko LOVES it. Mine is still a kitten so we only have one flavor to choose from. Can't wait to try some of the adult flavors. My picky eater also likes Nutro Max, Nutro Natural Choice, and Avoderm canned food, but likes the beef the least. Authority canned is good every other week... and we just discovered BFF, which she loved!!
Just read all this so good luck

Hope Nora finds some faves!

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In the picture, that is half of a 3oz can. It is just on a small salad size plate and I water it down b/c she won't eat it otherwise. It really isn't as much as it looks like. lol I do leave it down for her, but I don't like to leave it for TOO long for fear of her getting food poisoning. Once she walks away from it, though, she never goes back to it. No matter how long I leave it down for. Even if I leave it down all day, she won't eat any more. *sigh*

I would love to feed her raw but I don't know if she would handle it for long term, ie more than just treats. Last weekend we tried giving her a chicken liver and within a minute of eating it she vomited 3 times in our kitchen. Then the next day we tried giving her a whole chicken wing, and she ate just a bit of the bone and some of the meat, and the next morning we woke up with her having pooped 3 times on our kitchen floor. Son cleaned it up before we woke up so we didn't see it, but the poop I saw in her litter box was diarrhea. She has NEVER had an accident outside of the litter box in the whole time we've had her. She also has never had diarrhea. Her poops are normally firm and compact. After that she refused to eat any more chicken wings so now I have a dozen in my freezer. I don't know what to think of this whole thing with the chicken. lol

I'll have to look for the Pro Plan this weekend after I get paid. Thanks for the suggestion. Hopefully she likes it.

Originally Posted by silva_unt

I will also agree on trying Purina Pro Plan Selects Natural, Neko LOVES it.

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Really yummy stuff, and the ingredients are not bad at all... yes not grain free, but... not too grainy either, no corn, no soy... and great for finicky kitties! My kitties LOVE it too! I have only tried the Turkey and Wild Rice and The beef one. They also love the regular ProPlan, but the Naturals is much better ingredients wise.

Perhaps there is one ingredient that she doesn't like. Until I discover that it was all chicken base food that Kato was refusing to eat. Right now he is eating fish based wet food. I brought 2 meow mix,
& liver mix and he is eating that great. the label does say real chicken.