Cat won't eat canned/wet food anymore

Hi Taco, just found this site and you could be speaking about my Mika except she's 10 and now won't eat canned food except a freshly opened one and the first serving only - about a teaspoon.  I've tried everything you have (as well as other suggestions here) and give her grain free/all natural canned food.  Lucky she eats pumpkin (only ED Smith, of course) so it keeps her BM's moving and moist. 

She has one chipped tooth since she was a kitten but it hasn't changed and there are issues with her gums.  She loves her dry food and chews it as well as the occasional dry treat.

I don't think she's getting enough calories and will not increase her dry food because it's not good for her.

Perplexed...

I'm thinking you might try in addition to the flavor sprinkles suggestion of Ducman's, trying a chunky in gravy type of food.  I use the 3.5oz cans of Nutro Max sometimes and it is chunky with gravy.  Or you could try moistening her wet with a little water or perhaps a small amount of milk substitute.  You could also do this with her kibble.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LDG 

milkafassie, I don't know if you'll be back to see this reply, but here are some tips that may help you: http://www.catinfo.org/#Transitioning_Dry_Food_Addicts_to_Canned_Food_
PLEASE do not wet dry food. If you look up recalls of dry foods, you can see that there are a lot of problems with bacteria and molds, such as aflatoxin. Making dry food wet simply creates a great environment for these contaminants to multiply.

Yes, if you leave it out all day.  If the cat immediately eats his/her food there is no reason not to wet it.  Yes, to leave it there will harbor bacteria and molds. 

Hi NutroMike, thank you for link.  Mika is liking a new flavour of Wellness can food...turkey & salmon.  She loves the first portion of a newly opened can...devours it and then eats less and less of the remaining food even tho I keep it in a tightly sealed container to keep it fresh.  Is Mika just fussy or am I missing something.

Do you heat up the second portion or is it cold from the fridge?

Heat it up in the microwave for 10 seconds to take the chill off.

Or leave it out a little before you server it so it gets to room temperature. 

My cat likes me to heat the wet food up in the microwave for a few seconds before he eats it. If I forget he whines at me until I do ;)

HOpe that helps....

I'm having the same problem lately, or rather my cat Mickey is.

She's 2 years old, and ever since I got her as a kitten, I've fed her half a can of food every morning, and she eats dry food the rest of the day. It's been a ritual, she's eager to get her breakfast, whether it's a freshly opened can, or leftover from the previous day in the refrig. And she eats all flavors, but only if it's Friskies - the other brands haven't been so appetizing to her, but she still ate most, except the cheap off-brands.

But about two weeks ago, she eagerly ran to the dish when I put it out, then sniffed it and slowly backed up, like it was about to attack her. She didn't eat any of it that day, and has repeated the performance every morning since, no matter the flavor. A couple of times, she has come back a bit later and nibbled at it, maybe eating half, but that's all. Before, she'd lick the platter clean in a matter of a minute.

She's active, an indoor/outdoor cat, and hasn't changed any of her other behaviors, has no fever, and eats her usual amount of dry food. She never has liked people food, so I haven't tempted her with that. I've looked in her mouth and doesn't seem to have any problems there - healthy gums, no missing teeth.

I'm at a loss to explain this. Anyone have an idea?

Hi Redvelvet Tone, sorry for delay.  I tried heating up Mika's canned food and it helped - she eats a little more than recently and I find if I change the flavour of the Wellness 3 pz can, every other can, this increases her interest and appetite.  Thanks

mikafassie

I figured out why Mickey won't eat the canned food I put out for her - I had a large variety of flavors and types of canned food, and after about a week of her snubbing my offerings, I happened to give her the type in gravy/sauce. Before, it was just the pate type, but the gravy type was scarfed down in less than a minute! I fed her the gravy type for 3 days afterwards, and she ate like a horse every time! Then just to check my theory, I gave her the pate type - snubbed again!

I guess she just had one of those weird, unexplainable cat things, and decided she liked gravy hereafter. So I expect that one day she'll snub the gravy and demand pate again - who knows?
 

Here is a weird case (at least it seems weird to me): Patricia used to want wet food every time Wilbur got it. She liked everything except 9 Lives, even the prescription food he was required to eat because of allergies.

In December, we moved from Ohio to Florida. I was feeding her the same food she did for several years - Royal Canin rabbit and pea - because I still had some left when he died. She stopped eating that. It made no sense to me because even after she adjusted to her new home, she was still not eating it. She continued to eat a healthy amount of dry food, so it was not a reduced appetite. I saw other changes, so it seems like her purrsonality changed when her location did. Has anybody witnessed this before? Yes, she does have dental disease, but she already had that before the move. She is almost 16.