Picky eater...when to worry?

To have come from an abandoned kitten to having his choice of expensive food, Marshmallow is certainly a picky eater. He turns his nose up at everything. The food Speck and the others wolf down like it's trying to escape. Marshmallow's a tiny cat, like a kitten, though he's full grown. (We do leave dry food down all the time and I see him nibble at it from time to time.)

In nursing school, we called this behavior having "food preferences." At what point should it become a concern?

when He stops eating enough to keep up growth

A cat should not go long without eating or you are risking hepatic lipidosis (aka fatty liver). This will mean a huge vet bill and having a feeding tube in your kitten. Sorry to be so blunt but I've seen too many cats come into the clinic where I work and the owner says it hasn't eaten in two weeks and wonders why the bill is so high. Good for you for asking!

I find that if a cat is fed cheap food for a while, it's difficult to wean them onto the good stuff. How about trying some of the cheap stuff like friskies or fancy feast and add a bit of the good stuff? Or try different textures...some cats prefer minced, others pate, and others chunky.

Unfortunately, cats are not like dogs who will eat when they realize nothing else is coming. And sometimes it comes to syringe feeding them small amounts several times a day. Sometimes, putting some on their nose gets them to eat.

Thank you for your answers. I think he may be eating mostly just the dry food. I'm going to try to watch him more closely. I don't think he likes canned food at all and wouldn't even consider taking a bite of "people" food, which is just as well.