Switching wet food

I am switching my 3.5 year old cat to wet food from dry.  He loves his wellness indoor health dry food, but I believe wet food is better for him, so I decided to make the switch.  He is slowlyyyy adapting to the wet food; he has always been a very slow eater, but now he is taking hours to finish a small amount of the wet food.  Regardless, my main concern is his weight.  He has lost a decent amount of weight during the switch.  He is not eating enough wet food, but all of the websites say to stay strong and not feed him dry.  What should I do?

A few thoughts- I have another cat who eats everything, so free feeding wet food is not an option.  

I am giving him wellness chicken wet food, and have tried a few others which he has not seemed to favor.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

I know they say stop the dry cold turkey but that doesn't work well for some cats. Try grinding his dry food into a powder and sprinkle it on top of the wet. Or you can mix in a little Kitty crack with his existing wet foot. That being fancy feast classics only. No fish flavors. With each you'll reduce the amount of sprinkles or feast once a month until they are on the canned all the way. But don't feed the same canned food all the time either. Cats often refuse food if they eat the same thing every day.

To stop the weight loss, keep feeding kibbles once a day until your cat is eating a whole 3-ounce can of wet food (does not have to be in one sitting). If necessary, mix the wet and dry foods together. Whoever said you should stop feeding kibbles cold turkey is wrong.

Are you leaving the wet food out/available for the hours it takes your cat to consume it, or are you offering small amounts to him over the course of several hours?

If it's the latter, remember that temperature is a big deal to cats in regards to wet food - if they're not used to eating wet food, be sure the food is as close to "warm" as you can get it - or at least room temperature! :}

Stir in some of his favored kibble in WITH the wet food, or try scooping some of the wet food directly on top of a small pile of kibble. That way, your kitty will have to eat more of the wet food to "get to" his kibble. He may become very clever and scrape off or otherwise avoid the wet food with this method, though.

Is it possible that you seperate your other cat from him for a couple of hours while you're trying to encourage him to eat more of the wet food? That way, you could "free" feed a little easier - but don't leave any wet food out for longer than 30-60 minutes. It dries out pretty fast and I imagine it starts looking pretty gross to the cat. ;}

I'd keep trying a few other brands too, if you are able to. My cat went through a variety of canned brands before I found one that I was happy with AND that she liked as well. She has been nuts for Weruva and Ziwipeak, if you're looking for other brands to try. They're both very meaty brands.

Good luck!

EmilyMayWilcha said:

To stop the weight loss, keep feeding kibbles once a day until your cat is eating a whole 3-ounce can of wet food (does not have to be in one sitting). If necessary, mix the wet and dry foods together. Whoever said you should stop feeding kibbles cold turkey is wrong.

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I second this, except I wouldn't mix wet food and dry food together. They digest at different rates, and dry food swells in the stomach so it could cause some digestive issues.

kittylover23 said:

I second this, except I wouldn't mix wet food and dry food together. They digest at different rates, and dry food swells in the stomach so it could cause some digestive issues.

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I don't buy the argument that just because two foods are digested at different rates, the cat is going to have problems. It is just like eating your own food. If you eat a hamburger, the bun and the beef will not digest at the same rate, but you eat them in the same bite. How is it different if a cat eats wet and dry food in the same bite?

Of course, I am not mixing wet and dry foods here. I already knew Patricia loves wet food, so that was not necessary. I just need to do a taste test with her, then figure out how many times a day she gets hungry before putting her on a schedule.