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Food dilemma

post #1 of 6
2/20/11 at 8:12am
Thread Starter 
I adopted a 1 year old tabby about a week ago from the shelter, he is fed 2 times a day. I was told he would eat just about anything. I have an 8 year old torti at home who has been eating TOTW food for a few months. My new cat did not seem to like the TOTW so i gave him some purina healthful life as a stop gap til i could get some other type of food (ironic name considering the high amount of corn and other garbage) He has eaten most of purina bag as well as a can of wet food. I picked up some Chicken soup for cat lovers soul but he is sticking his nose up at that as well. I intend to free feed both cats but i cant if he wont eat this high quality food. I cant have my torti eating grains as she throws up a lot after eating corn/wheat.

Should i give in and get him some more purina despite the crummy ingredients or should i leave the other food in his dish for a day or two and see if he eats any. I mixed some of the old food with it but he still seems very uninterested despite his formerly voracious appetite and not having food since last night.
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post #2 of 6
2/21/11 at 6:32am
Thread Starter 
Guess i don't have to worry, he started to eat the other healthier food last night and this morning.
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post #3 of 6
2/21/11 at 7:51am
Glad it worked out.

There are quite a few choices of high quality dry cat food at the pet food stores, should you have to experiment more.

The thing about free feeding is that a lot of cats get obese that way. Giving them a measured amount in their dishes can combat that, rather than letting them have as much as they want. That's what I do.

Also, I give them one small (1 oz. each) canned meal a day, mixed with 2-3 teaspoons of water, to increase their fluid intake.

Congratulations on your new addition. I love tabby cats!

Robin
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post #4 of 6
2/21/11 at 9:15am
Thread Starter 
My original kitty gets about 1/4 of food a day, but she rarely eats it all. Before switching to TOTW she would eat a cup+ a day. My new kitten was eating almost 1-1/2 a day and now he only eats 1/2 cup. Guess the better quality food sticks to them better. A 5 pound bag seems to last 2 months instead of 3 weeks with a 10 pound bag of cheap stuff.
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post #5 of 6
2/21/11 at 9:42am
Sometimes they "fall for the good stuff" if you mix in some of the junk. Then you can slowly increase the "good stuff" & decrease the "junk" over a period of days (or weeks if needed) to get them to eat. Not all cats fall for it - but it may be worth a shot if nothing else works for you in the future.
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post #6 of 6
2/21/11 at 10:07am
Good tip from white cat lover!

For what it's worth, my 5 get 1/2 cup of dry a day, in addition to the 1 oz. of canned. They get this dry in 2 feedings, 6 a.m. and 9 p.m., approximately. There are some hours when no food is in the dishes, but they are fine with that. They all have access to all the bowls of dry food, so some may eat more than others. Since their weights vary from under 8 lbs. to 17 lbs., that is to be expected. When I give them canned food (about 6 p.m.), they are isolated from each other for about 30 minutes, and then the bowls are dumped, if any food is remaining. If I didn't do that, my big guy, Claudio, would eat up all the remains. Since I've not allowed him to do that, and after putting them all on diet dry food and him on diet canned, he has lost a pound in 2 months (I have a scale). And none of the others have lost weight, which is good (they eat regular canned for their 1 oz. a day - not diet).

Robin
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