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Zee will not eat quality canned...grah!!!!!

post #1 of 10
7/15/11 at 5:31pm
Thread Starter 
I have been trying for what seems like forever to get my nakeds switched to higher quality canned foods. Yes I admit, they were Friskies junkies
I know its pretty much garbage, but it was wet food and they would gobble it up.

I have bought just about every brand, flavor, texture.....Zee turns his nose up at pretty much all of it. I got desperate to see him eat wet food, so the other morning I opened one of the last cans of Friskies, sure enough he fell on it like a starving man.

I have tried mixing it with the higher quality, I even tried to "wait" him out. Still no go, he just meows and walks away. At this point Im frustrated and worried about his over all health. I know he wants his "junk food" back, but I am trying really hard to hold on and force the newer and better diet.

I think this is more of a rant, rave and cry for sympathy than any real questions.

I just wish I had not made the mistake early on and let him have the Friskies *sigh*
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post #2 of 10
7/15/11 at 7:57pm
I can say as a vet tech I have seen MANY domestic cats that eat Friskies wet food and live into there late teens and early twenties! So I just want you to know it might not be as detrimental as some people on this board think.

Now having said that, I do of course think there are better foods on the market. The only thing I can suggest is pick another brand of wet (ex Blue Buffalo) food and mix that with there favorite flavor of Friskies.

At first use very little of the "healthy" food mixed with the Friskies. Over time add more of the "healthy" food to the Friskies. In time you will wean your cats off the Friskies Wet cat food. Please know this could take up to six months if your cats are stubborn.

Never try and "force" a cat into a dietary change. You can alter even the pickiest cats diet if it is done slowly.
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post #3 of 10
7/15/11 at 8:09pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you for the reply. Do you know if all Friskies is in the same trash heap? Maybe just the prime filets would be a better alternative while trying to change them over. His little brother Moe is happy to eat anything, so he is a pleasure at meal time

Cats..they really know how to work the nerves LOL
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post #4 of 10
7/15/11 at 10:00pm
Honestly, if he is that picky, I would not force it that much. You don't want him getting sick. I think if it were me I would go ahead and stock his Friskies and get him on a regular schedule of that and every time you're at the store maybe buy a can or two of something different and leave that out in addition once in awhile in the chance that he might like something even better one day. But I agree with the other poster, I don't think you're being bad or anything if that's the only thing he'll eat and there are cats who do okay on it. I feel like as long as it's wet food then that's half the battle and you're doing good by him
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post #5 of 10
7/15/11 at 10:03pm
I am in the exact same boat! I've been trying for weeks to get our youngest to eat something aside from Friskies. He turns his nose up at everything. I mix a bit of healthy stuff in with it and he eats around it, or wont eat it at all. Its so frustrating!

But we have Sami (who is ill now) but she is 18 and lived off Friskies her whole life. In fact, she NEVER had any quality canned food until recently.

Maybe you can throw in a high quality dry food to make up for it a bit? I hope you have better luck than I do!
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post #6 of 10
7/16/11 at 5:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by anita1216 View Post
Thank you for the reply. Do you know if all Friskies is in the same trash heap? Maybe just the prime filets would be a better alternative while trying to change them over. His little brother Moe is happy to eat anything, so he is a pleasure at meal time

Cats..they really know how to work the nerves LOL
I am NOT sure I would call Friskies a crap heap first of all. It is just NOT the BEST made food. But it is NUTRITIONALLY COMPLETE! So please do not get crazy over it .

I am not sure if one type/flavor of Friskies is better then another. I would assume the best way to check for difference in nutritional content is to read different labels.

Yes cats sure know how to work on the nevers . I am just used to it and you will be one day .
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post #7 of 10
7/16/11 at 5:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LuvMyParker View Post
IBut we have Sami (who is ill now) but she is 18 and lived off Friskies her whole life. In fact, she NEVER had any quality canned food until recently.

Maybe you can throw in a high quality dry food to make up for it a bit? I hope you have better luck than I do!
That is a great example showing how Friskies is at least SAFE/"GOOD"/NUTRITIONALLY COMPLETE!

I am sorry your Sami is ill. I hope she starts to feel better soon. As you know at her age and having medical issues this is NOT THE BEST time to try and change her diet. Unless you where directed to by a licensed veterinarian.

Yes a good quality dry food along with Friskies is a good suggestion to the OP.
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post #8 of 10
7/16/11 at 10:25am
Don't give up hope, Anita! Sometimes it takes a long time to help cats get over their addiction to certain foods. Kudos to you for your persistence!!! (And since you're currently feeding only wet, and actively trying for a higher quality wet, I'm assuming you already know that adding kibble to Zee's diet would be a definite step backward.)

Catinfo.org has a great article on transitioning cats that you might find helpful (Cat Info Transitioning Article), as does Rawfedcats.org (Raw Fed Cats Transitioning Article). The Feline Nutrition Education Society also has a couple of transition articles on their website (feline-nutrition.org).

Some of these articles reference raw as the final transition point, but you can ignore that part and just read them for their transition tips and tricks.

Good luck!

AC
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post #9 of 10
7/16/11 at 6:41pm
Thread Starter 
They do eat some raw, mainly as snackage I have kept cats for more than 20 years and never seen one as nitpicky as Zee. He just loves his Friskies. He did take an interest in Avoderm chicken chunks in gravy this morning....maybe there is hope
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post #10 of 10
7/16/11 at 6:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by anita1216 View Post
They do eat some raw, mainly as snackage I have kept cats for more than 20 years and never seen one as nitpicky as Zee. He just loves his Friskies. He did take an interest in Avoderm chicken chunks in gravy this morning....maybe there is hope
Gotta love the quirky cats, right?

AC
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