Anyone else have an Only-Gravy-Licker?

csteen85

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My guy is about 7-8 months old and doesn't favor wet food as much as dry food. I have him on a grain-free dry food, but just to get some moisture content, I give him whatever wet food he'll eat, which happens to be Whiskas Entrees.

I've tried Blue Buffalo, Merrick, Newman's Own, B.F.F., Weruva, NutroMaxx, Friskies, Fancy Feast, Taste of the Wild... LITERALLY every brand out there.

I've learned a few things about his taste... he will ONLY eat pate textured food, because anything that is in a gravy/sauce... he will only lick up the gravy and leave whatever chunks were suspended it.

I can't for the life of me figure it out! Anyone else experience this? I look like a moron in the stores shaking a can of each variety of each brand just to see if it has sauce or if it's solid, lol.
 

nutrolori

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My Chester Cheetah is the complete opposite of your guy. When he eats wet food (he prefers dry more too) he only likes the Gravy/Sauce varieties. He will not eat the pate style. He looks at me like I am crazy if I accidentally get the wrong variety.
I suppose each cat has his or her own taste just like people do.


I believe in all the Nutro variety of cans, Natural Choice and Max Cat, if it has a sauce/gravy it will say so on the label. All others should be a pate style. Maybe that will help in your next search and not require as much can shaking.
 

jamasmom

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My girls do the same thing. I give them Merrick's once in a while and they lick off the gravy and leave the meat.
 

catsallaround

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I have that here to but I also have the ones that prefer to just eat the chunks. I have enough cats that they divy it up pretty well. Feeding time means about 100 oz of food going down so I let them sort it out
 

luvmyparker

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All three of our cats will lick off the gravy and leave the meat, especially Parker. So I only buy pate as well. I find the chunky stuff to be a waste anyway, since its almost half liquid, you just get more from the pate.

Don't feel weird about shaking the cans, I do it too. I even had the lady at the store doing it
 

kara_leigh

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Nora is like that. She won't eat anything chunky. Even with the pate, I have to mash it and mix it with water until it is slightly runny like the gravy AND warm it in the microwave before she'll eat it. If I don't get it just right she won't eat it. HAHA Picky turd.

I bought a can of the gravy food to see if the boys like it, and Thomas is a gravy licker also. He prefers pate food made the same way I do for Nora. *sigh* At least I'm already doing it that way. lol Walter could care less. He eats it all.

I bought Merricks once, and when I realized it wasn't a pate I just smashed everything up with a fork until it was pate-ish and Nora actually liked it.
 

rad65

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I also shake cans in the store, though I am usually looking for the opposite effect. With pates I have to add some water to make it more to their liking, so they prefer things with gravy in them since the real gravy tastes better than water mixed with pate.

Memphis prefers to lick the gravy too, and sometimes it seems food going in his mouth is completely incidental when he's trying to lick, but he rarely leaves food on his plate.
 

misty8723

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Cindy will only lick the gravy if I give her food with gravy. She's very, very picky and I finally gave up and gave in and caved and got her fancy feast classic (pate), which I alternate with other better stuff, which she might or might not eat. She'll only eat pate style, or only lick the gravy. And she has to sniff very part of it before she'll start eating.
 

februa

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Manytoes will only eat pate style, and MAYBE will lick the gravy of "the other kinds" if I make him suffer the indignity of being served one of those.

Daisy on the other hand, will not touch any wet food of any variety EXCEPT the gravy. This was a huge PITA when she had her teeth pulled, as we were wasting so much food keeping her nourished with juices. lol. Even now, with only her canines and some incisors, all she wants is dry food/treats. She appreciates a weekend morning treat of juice, but barely eats the juice from one small can before playing again...... I shake all the cans for her trying to find the juciest!
 

white cat lover

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Hey! I am the moron in the store shaking all the cans to hear if they have gravy in them!!


I found most pouches have gravy, as do many of Petco's Soulusitic (or whatever it's called). Twitch is just in it for the gravy - so I mash the chunks or whatever into as close to pate as I can & put it on her plate w/ the gravy, she'll eat it like that.
 

cruisermaiden

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Mulder eats anything but starts with the gravy, and then only goes back for the chunks once he decides he can't talk me into more gravy. Spooky only likes gravy. I've been doing like Kara said, mixing the pate with water til it is liquid-y and then giving them that, so they can just lick it which is what they like.
 

ritz

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Ritz hates pate, will eat chunks only if there is some gravy in it (Nutro?); prefers Soulistic and/or Wellness pouches with gravy. Hate gelee.
Interestingly, the feral/stray cats I fed (eight+) also prefer the gravy kind, which is just as well because they need all the water/moisture they can get. (I also free-fed the strays dry food.)
 

bastetservant

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In the last couple of weeks 3 of my 4 cats who get it (Claudio gets diet canned with a tiny bit of the what the others have on top) have started only eating the gravy from TOTW canned food. They only get this food every 4th or 5th day in the rotation, and before that they gobbled it all up like it was ambrosia.

It really makes me mad.


Robin
 

mrsgreenjeens

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Sven will only eat the gravy off of chunks or shredded meat, forget pate, and when he finishes, then I take the meat, add some water and stir it up to try to get a little more gravy out of it, then "the boys" polish it off. Callie hates anything that isn't kibble, unless it's human grade tuna, which she doesn't get very often.
 

kittykatt23

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my cat nellie is like that she will only lick the gravy and leave the chunks if i give her gravy and chunks canned food. but then shes very picky will only eat the fancy feast classic varities.
 

nekochan

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Some of my cats will only lick off the gravy if it is chunky, but if it's pate they will eat the whole thing.
I have been using mostly Nature's Variety rabbit canned food because that is what my cat with allergies likes the best. It is pate type (kinda like crumbs really) but it also has juice in it, and he likes to lick the juice and leave the crumbles in the bowl. Unfortunately there isn't that much juice and usually it's only juicy when first opened, so he won't eat the rest of the can. I tried getting the smaller 3 oz cans but they hardly have any juice in the first place.
 

currymonster

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Yes our cat of 16 only licks the gravy and leaves all the meat so we thought liquidise the whole pouch and it works! now she licks/eats it all. We found out she lost a lot of teeth and probably got some dental pain we rescued her from a centre.
 
 

joyoverflowing

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My "Blue" is exactly the same way. I have tried so many different kinds of food, including fresh raw hamburger and chicken, but he just turns his nose to it, unless it has gravy! He licks the gravy and leaves the rest. He's got a long slim, athletic build... but I worry about his nutrition. I want him to be around as long as possible, which means a healthy balanced diet, not gravy and dry food. Sigh! Glad to hear I'm not the only one dealing with this conundrum! :0)
                                                                                               "Blue" my finicky feline 
 
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