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She refuses to eat wet food

post #1 of 17
12/7/10 at 7:43pm
Thread Starter 
I have tried all kinds of different wet foods, and Pixie will not touch them she won't even eat treats if they aren't the crunchy ones. She will not touch cat lax either to help with her hairballs and I gave up on that. So since she will only eat dry food I found her a good quality food that is formulated to help with hairballs, so is there anything else I need to do for her since she will no touch wet food?
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post #2 of 17
12/7/10 at 7:49pm
You can get a pet fountain to increase her drinking, since dry food kitties are basically always dehydrated.
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post #3 of 17
12/7/10 at 8:02pm
Lucky will not eat wet food either. Gus will occasionally.
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post #4 of 17
12/7/10 at 8:02pm
Thread Starter 
I will look into that, she does drink quite a bit though and we have two bowls of water down one for her and one for dad's chiuhauha. She just will not eat canned or pouch food. And I am worried about if she is missing out on any vitamins.
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post #5 of 17
12/7/10 at 8:38pm
The main benefit of wet food is right in the name, the water content. Lots of dry foods are just as nutritionally sound as wet food, just without the water cats normally get in their diets. In nature, cats don't drink water frequently, it is more natural for their food to give them their hydration as well.
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post #6 of 17
12/8/10 at 12:07am
No nutrition is missing just the "prey" moisture
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post #7 of 17
12/8/10 at 1:53am
Jamie is like that, too. He gets wet food in the evening, but will only eat one or two brands in very small cans (70 - 85 g), and even then I sometimes have to put "crunchies" on top. I've given up on cat fountains, but find he drinks enough provided he has water bowls spread throughout the house.
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post #8 of 17
12/8/10 at 9:14am
I'm having the same problem with Midnight. He needs to eat can food. He'll eat 1/2 a spoonful if I'm lucky. It's very hard to change his food. We tried that once before, he refused to eat for a week. He's a very stubborn kitten.
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post #9 of 17
12/8/10 at 5:55pm
As long as she's drinking water, and is thriving, I wouldn't worry. Maybe continue to offer her various wet foods (maybe in teeny little portions), but I wouldn't stress her, or yourself, by trying to force the wet food.
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post #10 of 17
12/8/10 at 6:18pm
What brands have you tried? There's been at least a couple of people with picky cats that like the small Blue buffalo spa select wet food. Having fed it to my cats, some of the flavors do smell nice (actually smelled like chicken) and don't have the cat foodish smell to them. It may just be a matter of trying more brands and flavors.
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post #11 of 17
12/9/10 at 12:09pm
My GF's daughter has 3 very happy, very healthy cats. None of them has ever eaten wet food
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post #12 of 17
12/9/10 at 12:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
There's been at least a couple of people with picky cats that like the small Blue buffalo spa select wet food.
It could be the food itself or simply small cans. I mentioned Jamie's insistence on small cans on another forum, and a guy who works for a pet food producer said it didn't surprise him, because the food is heated after canning. Smaller cans = less heat/time = more taste. Pouches don't seem to keep their taste as long as cans do.
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post #13 of 17
12/9/10 at 12:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jcat View Post
Pouches don't seem to keep their taste as long as cans do.
Maybe it's just me, but pouched wet food doesn't smell right to me. And the tuna that you can get in pouches taste terrible. (yes, human food tuna, I don't eat cat food)

And I remember you and some others mentioning the smaller cans. I don't recall if the other picky cats on here specifically got the smaller cans, but I suggested it just in case that's part of the problem.
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post #14 of 17
12/9/10 at 12:59pm
cans are lined with a non absorbing lining... the packets are usually plastic on the inside hense they taste different
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post #15 of 17
12/9/10 at 1:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jcat View Post
It could be the food itself or simply small cans.
My guys are the other way around. They love the big cans, but if i try to feed them the same label from the small cans they won't go near it.
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post #16 of 17
12/9/10 at 2:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by KyleW View Post
My guys are the other way around. They love the big cans, but if i try to feed them the same label from the small cans they won't go near it.
That's a new one to me, but I have observed some odd (at least from my point of view!) eating preferences in my cats as well.

I have three cats, all of whom seem to prefer kibble, which I give them. I also feed canned food, but finding one that all three will eat can be a challenge.

There's one brand that two of the three accept without issue. The third cat won't eat it unless I put some kibble nearby (not on top of the canned food, mind you, but in a separate dish). Then he will alternate bites between the wet and dry food. I guess he likes his cookies with milk! It took me a long time to figure that one out.

Tavia'smom, I guess the point of all this is that you might want to keep trying! Sometimes a different texture will work. I've also heard some members here say that their cats will eat anything that has some bonito flakes sprinkled on top.
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post #17 of 17
12/10/10 at 11:13pm
Thread Starter 
I have been trying to find her different foods. She is a very picky cat, but my previous cat was as well. Pixie doesn't even like the moist treats but if they are the crunchy temptations ones she loves them and will cry for them. She does like her water and she always has her bowl and the chi's bowl available. I keep forgetting to take the pouch food over to my aunt's house since Pixie doesn't like it so she can give it to her cat or let her daughter give it to her two cats.
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