Picky eaters! What should I do?

As some of you may remember, I have been posting here for a while and trying to find a workable diet for my 2 kitties. Calvin does not tolerate dry food much and they do get a tiny bit dry and then mostly wet.
The kitties were mostly on Wellness and Merrick canned and some once in a while Fancy Feast Fish and Shrimp. I was not aiming for grainfree but food without wheatgluten, soy, brewer's rice. Rice was ok. So one day my cats woke up and decided they would not eat anything pate. I got Blue flaked chicken and turkey and they loved it. Then they decided they've had enough. I was at no time feeding them exclusively 1 kind - always had a rotation going but they would then just eat 1 kind and not eat the others. Now my problem is I have trouble seeing them not eat and so I tend to try out different things since i want them to eat - especially Hobbes since he has health issues and his vet wants him to be eating well. Also them not eating means they are not getting their l-lysine. So I tried Tikicat (Hobbes will eat, Calvin won't), raw (Hobbes will eat but Calvin won't), authority (no one will eat), Soulistic (no one will eat), plain boiled chicken (both love it - their absolute favorite) and nutromax - the chunks (they both love it - will mainly eat the venison one). They will still eat FF fish and shrimp. Now I am not totally happy with NutroMax since it has wheat gluten but i am tired, to be totally honest. I will be out of town for 6 weeks and DH will care for the kitties, so I will have to have an established system running. I see I can 2 options:
1) give them what they want to eat - which is nutromax, sometimes blue buffalo flaked ones, boiled chicken a couple times a week and Fancy Feast fish and shrimp
2) give them the wheat gluten free canned food with the idea that when they are hungry, they will eat whatever they get (as the vet's office, though not the vet himself, suggested).

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

I don't know about all the things you need to avoid, as I don't have that problem, but I feed several brands of canned food to my 5 cats, and the ones they all eat best are: Wellness, Natural Balance, and Taste of the Wild. I go to Tractor Supply Co. just fot the TOTW canned food and the chick feed I use for litter.


Robin

Honestly...if they're eating Nutro et al and doing well on that, I'd go with it. The most 'perfect' food in the world isn't perfect if kitty won't eat it.

I wouldn't push the 'they'll eat when they're hungry'. When you leave, their appetites may act up because their world has changed, and you don't want to take the chance they'll go on a hunger strike.

Originally Posted by bastetservant

I don't know about all the things you need to avoid, as I don't have that problem, but I feed several brands of canned food to my 5 cats, and the ones they all eat best are: Wellness, Natural Balance, and Taste of the Wild. I go to Tractor Supply Co. just fot the TOTW canned food and the chick feed I use for litter.


Robin

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They are on no special diet as such but since Calvin had tummy troubles, we tried to avoid giving them the more "common" allergens like wheat, soy and corn.
The issue is most of the food that you get without these are pates, which they will not eat anymore AT ALL. So that makes my choice restricted. The ones you are feeding are the brands I would love to feed them but they are pates unfortunately.



Darlili: I hear you. I was unconvinced about the 2nd solution too but I do want to feed them what I want to and their taste buds do not agree with me, I guess.
I was gone for 2 days last week and had someone come in twice a day to feed them and they were such good boys. The pet sitter had previously come (she works at my vet's office) and became friends with them and gave them treats. Calvin, especially, was very loving. I am so hoping that they will be okay with my absence and with hubby being with them (they love him and love to hang out with him).

TOTW is not pate. It's chunks in a light gravy.

My cats eat any type of food, if it tastes good to them.

And, yes, no matter what, a food is only a good food for your cats, if they will eat it.

If I were in your situation, I'd probably give them the range of foods you arr currently giving, rather than try to transition to something new now.

Robin

Originally Posted by bastetservant

TOTW is not pate. It's chunks in a light gravy.

My cats eat any type of food, if it tastes good to them.

And, yes, no matter what, a food is only a good food for your cats, if they will eat it.

If I were in your situation, I'd probably give them the range of foods you arr currently giving, rather than try to transition to something new now.

Robin

Click to expand...

Thanks so much for letting me know. I will get some TOTW too and see if they like that. I learn so much from everyone here
So I will have them eat what they are "eating" well right now. Maybe by the time I'm back, they will have had enough of this and want grain free pate??!!

I feel your pain!!! I too am having problems with wet food and picky eating. Gilbert is nearly a year old and is on a nearly raw diet. (PLEASE this is NOT a debate on wet/dry verses raw feeding ) However as i cannot source heart meat at the moment, he still needs to have a wet meal a day to ensure he is getting all the nutrients he needs.
Its my fault from when he was younger but - he likes junk food when it comes to wet. I brought back some very expenive premium food when i was last in the UK. Alas it is pate style... He ate it a couple of times, then refused. I discovered organic premium chunks at a health food store (soooo expensive) and he ate them for around a week. He then began to only eat a little and then refused again.
The crunch came last Monday. I was in the store but didnt have any cash. To be able to pay on my card (they have a minimum spend on plastic) i would have to have bought 14 tubs!!!! I thought no chance, i dont want to be left with all that. So that evening i put down the pate and left it thinking he will not eat it - no pleading or fussing around him as usual. He has now been eating it since then.... That cat has been playing me
Seriously, i think he was picking up on my anxiety. As soon as i just thew it down and walked away like his other meals he ate it I know how much you care for your kittens - maybe they are doing the same as my naughty Gilbert?

I'm going through the same thing..Mine can only eat patte or else it has to go in the blender. They are all putting there nose up to everything. If a person saw what I throw away in cat food...I throw at least a 1/2 can 5.5 oz can daily. I am holding a can of Instinct Rabbit at the moment. I'll see how that goes. They had a few bites of Friskies Chicken and gravey earlier. I don't get it.

Hey, I got mine as adults so their tastes were already well-formed...now that Dante is on C/D, they both get that and thank goodness, both of them like it and are doing well....but before that, every now and again I'd have the 'mommy, I don't like that food any more'.

Ritz too is a picky eater. She'll eat one brand of wet food and only that brand of food from weeks or months; and suddenly overnight, turn up her nose/mouth. No rhyme/reason why. The only consistent factor is that she strongly prefers fish to poultry, and will not touch pate, only gravy or sauce based foods. I do buy only mid to high quality food, such as NutroMax and, once upon a time, Soulistic and Wellness when she liked those brands. She hated BG and the really rich, high quality types of brand food.
This is a cat who lived on the streets for the first six months of her life (rescued, formerly feral).
SO I go to PetCo/PetSmart and buy different brands of fish based cat food and see which ones pleases Her Majesty.
I feed her two teaspoons of dry food in the evening as her treat/dessert. She'll eat any kind of dry food.
I wish Ritz liked poultry; I worry about feeding her too much fish and carbs. But you all are correct: the best food is the one your cat will eat.
My only trick is to leave out food while I'm gone that she kind of likes and/or is really good for her. If she gets hungry enough, she has and will eat it.
Good luck!

My boy cat was a picky eater for a long time and refused all types of wet food. Recently, I found that he likes soulistic. I was so relieved. It has great ingredients and comes in many flavors. You can try it.

Appreciate all the advice. I think we are sticking to what they are eating. It may not be our first choice but they are not too bad either. No need to rock the boat now. As long as they are eating, I should not complain.

Hi everyone:

I have been reading all the posts about picky eaters and I'm so glad that I'm not along.  I have a male and female (siblings) 1 1/2 year old tabby's. Charlie and Sasha.  They are driving me crazy with their pickiness. I have tried every conceivable wet food on the market, only to have them eat a few bites and then walk away.  The high end food doesn't interest them either.  When I say I've tried EVERY wet food, I'm not joking.  I have a least 4 different brands sitting on my kitchen table as we speak, and I know they won't eat any of them.  I took away their dry diet to see if that would make them want to eat more wet, but that isn't the case.  I will not be giving them any more dry food though as I have read too much negative things about it.  I don't give them ANY fish flavored foods, they get chicken, turkey, etc....

I'm throwing so much money away on cat food cans and don't know what to do. They certainly can't be bored with their food, as they get such a combination of style and brand.  They won't even touch Friskies, 9 lives, or any lower end foods, but they aren't happy with anything in between or higher either.  I don't know what to buy anymore, I'm at a crossroads.  Should I just stick to one brand and give them only that?  They only eat a little bit of anything anyway.

Thanks for listening, sorry so long.