Food aversion and vitamin supplementation

Originally Posted by asntp

Due to a bad case of food aversion developed when my cat was nauseous from being ill, he now will only eat a very limited range of food. None of what he will eat is very nutritious, and they can all be classified more as treats than food. His diet consists of mainly Gerber's baby food, Fancy feast appetizer, and NOW! grain-free treats. He is not getting enough calcium from the baby food, and not enough vitamins that would go into regular cat food.

I am looking into supplementing his diet with vitamins and calcium. Do you have any recommendations on the brand/product, and amount to use? There are so many brands of products, and it is not clear which ones are reputable and save. Other than vitamins and calcium, what else should be supplemented? Thanks!

Click to expand...

Originally Posted by asntp

"That's not a diet I would make any recommendations against."

Is this because the diet is OK or is it because you cannot make any suggestion on how to supplement it? I am now adding "Balance IT" to his baby food.

One of the reasons for the bad aversion is because I made the mistake of presenting him with many different types of dry and canned foods when he was sick and nauseous. Consequently, he developed aversion to a broad range of common commerical dry and canned foods. I have tried most brands (a long list) that are available on in pet stores. I probably need to find something that is rather different from most. Since many commerical dry and canned foods smell a bit alike, once he is adverse to one he will not accept the others that are similar in smell or taste.

Click to expand...

Originally Posted by Auntie Crazy

It's because what you're feeding is so far outside what a "normal" diet would look like that - while I understand the reasons you've given for feeding it - I'm not comfortable validating it by offering suggestions for supplementation (if I even had any ideas for supplementation!).

Have you tried a commercial raw? That might be different enough from what you've tried previously that he'll give it a try.

Also, there are many ways of tempting cats to eat something... perhaps some of them will help him get over some of his aversions? Here's a quick list: Freeze-dried 100% meat treats sprinkled over the foods (Whole Life makes several flavors that never fail to entice my cats to eat), Parmesan cheese, the juice from cans of water-packed, no-salt-added tuna and sardines, catnip, and strangely enough, flaked fish food.

Good luck!

Click to expand...