He won't eat kind of food...

Buddy has gotten extremely picky lately. I went out last month and bought like 8 different brands, flavors and textures of food. He would take a few bites and walk away, or just sniff and walk away. I know he's not ill because he will eat human food or scarf down treats but I can't get him to actually eat a whole meal of wet food anymore. He has lost a tiny bit of weight and I am getting concerned.

I wanted to try even more brands but our specialty store only carries like 10 brands...most of which I have tried now. He even snubs the cheap stuff now.

I also tried to put some parmesan cheese. He licked some gravy up and left the rest. Today, he didn't even try it.

I wish I could count how many different types of food I have tried recently...There's too many but none seem to catch his interest. What do I do?

Do you leave it out? I've found my cats get really excited about being fed then take a sniff or lick or bite then leave. About 10-15 mins later they come back and eat it. Annoying as heck but they get it done eventually. I also found a few kibbles get em going. Loki really likes the sound of the kibbles even though he doesn't usually eat them...go figure.

It sits there all day, until his next meal. Even with some kibbles in it, he won't touch it. Heck, I tried treats too.

im in the same boat with cynder the past few days, same thing he has lost some weight and im scared. and i also donèt know what to do!!!!!!

What I did today, since Loki didnt eat his breakfast, I only gave him a spoonful at a time. Once he ate it he got another and so on. I still can't figure out what this cat will or won't eat. Changes daily. I'm throwing out a lot of food

Have you tried any brands like weruva? Looks very human like...or maybe the "oops-i-left-the-can-on-the-floor" trick, or "accidentally" drop some.

As other have said in other posts sometimes kitties will still eat treats (human food is probably considered this) even if they're not feeling good so a trip to the vet might be in order.

/shrug sorry nothing has worked yet

I haven't seen Weruva around here. I've tried Wellness, Chicken Soup, GO, Friskies, Whiskas, Felidae, Fancy Feast (a little anyway, not a fan of the amount of food for the price) and some other "human looking" brands at the specialty store. I even tried the Whiskas pouches that have real meat chunks in them. He doesn't seem interested in those.

He will eat dry food alone though too, so that's why I am thinking he is hating wet food in general and isn't ill. I just don't understand...he's eaten wet food for 2 years and just now decided he doesn't want it anymore. I already had problems with crystals in Parker when I got him, so not really wanting to give Buddy a dry diet.

I tried today, mixing some dry food in the canned food and he just picked out the kibbles and left the wet. Jerk! lol.

Any other recommendations for wet food that picky cats seem to like? I will hunt around if I have to.

My cats don't like upgrade food. Friskies is all. I tried heating it, that only made things stinkier. I surrender.

My cat likes wet food but only a tiny bit. The only way I can get her to eat more wet food is to feed her more often. She won't touch it after she walks away from it. I'm lucky if I can get her to eat an ice cube amount.

A neat suggestion I picked up somewhere is to freeze some of the wet food in an ice cube tray. Olive gets tired of eating the same flavor, so when I open a can, I leave only a few days worth out, freeze the rest in an ice cube tray, then I can take out a few cubes at a time to thaw out and feed. Then she gets variety and food isn't wasted as often.

She also really loves tuna flavor. So sometimes I try to mix the tuna flavors in with chicken so it will taste good to her. I usually save tuna juice and mix a little in with the non-tuna flavors.

Also, (yes I realize how ridiculous this sounds... hopefully this just shows that I love my cat, and not that I'm crazy!) But... a lot of times she will lick the gravy off the top and only eat the chunkier meaty parts left if I spoon feed it to her. I think maybe she doesn't like to get her face wet. I have already upgraded her food to a very shallow plate which helps, but she isn't good at licking up the last bits so spoon feeding is the best way to get her to eat more.

She also likes the Weruva, but she also likes "Tiki Cat" it has a texture that looks kind of like canned tuna. 

I also tend to warm up her food. Also, not sure if this is my imagination, but I read somewhere about the hunt(play), eat, then sleep order? I try to play with her right before I want to feed her, I think the article said that they will be in hunt mode from playing, then will naturally be ready to eat right after? She seems to eat better now that I play with her, warm up her food, and switch flavors consistently. Good luck!

OlivesMom said:

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I also tend to warm up her food. Also, not sure if this is my imagination, but I read somewhere about the hunt(play), eat, then sleep order? I try to play with her right before I want to feed her, I think the article said that they will be in hunt mode from playing, then will naturally be ready to eat right after? She seems to eat better now that I play with her, warm up her food, and switch flavors consistently. Good luck!

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These are good suggestions. Dr. Hofve's LittleBigCat.com site has a great article describing the many benefits of rotating canned foods: Switching Foods.

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It's frustrating, but many kibble addicts who know that kibble is in the house will hold out for it. It's often recommended that you toss the kibble entirely, but at least put it somewhere outside the main house (porch, closed off cellar, etc.) so the cats can't readily detect it.

There are several tricks that can be used to help a kitty transition to (or back to) canned. CatInfo.org has a great article (Transitioning) that goes into a lot of detail. I'm sure you'll find information in there that will be helpful, but in the meantime, here's a list of things you can try: Dripping a bit of tuna juice over the wet food, or sprinkle catnip, Parmesan Cheese, Forti Flora flakes, fish food flakes (weird, but it works), or some crumbled up freeze-dried meat treats (Whole Life's chicken works wonderfully on my kitties) over the food.

Good luck! It's a pain when our kitties fight us in the switch to a healthier food, eh?

AC

Auntie Crazy said:

These are good suggestions. Dr. Hofve's LittleBigCat.com site has a great article describing the many benefits of rotating canned foods: Switching Foods.

---

It's frustrating, but many kibble addicts who know that kibble is in the house will hold out for it. It's often recommended that you toss the kibble entirely, but at least put it somewhere outside the main house (porch, closed off cellar, etc.) so the cats can't readily detect it.

There are several tricks that can be used to help a kitty transition to (or back to) canned. CatInfo.org has a great article (Transitioning) that goes into a lot of detail. I'm sure you'll find information in there that will be helpful, but in the meantime, here's a list of things you can try: Dripping a bit of tuna juice over the wet food, or sprinkle catnip, Parmesan Cheese, Forti Flora flakes, fish food flakes (weird, but it works), or some crumbled up freeze-dried meat treats (Whole Life's chicken works wonderfully on my kitties) over the food.

Good luck! It's a pain when our kitties fight us in the switch to a healthier food, eh?

AC

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I'll read through that tomorrow, thanks.

I guess I will have to toss the dry food. I am in an apartment without a balcony, so I have nowhere to put it that he won't sniff it out. I did try the parmesan cheese, he just licked it a little and walked away. I have some fish food at my parents that I forgot about it, I will have to get it and see if that makes a difference.

I just don't understand why he's going back to dry when he's been eating wet food since we got him. I can't give it to him as a whole meal anyway because now it makes him vomit.

Where can you get the Forti Flora flakes at? I can try that too. It sure is a pain!!