Natural Wet Food that is NOT Pate

emilyatl

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Nov 14, 2012
Messages
13
Purraise
0
Hi all!

My 2 adult cats are not picky at all about dry food.  I currently have them on Innova dry for mature cats (they've also been on Royal Canin and Nutro, but they seem to like the Innova the best).  They are, however, very picky about wet food!  I've been trying to get them off of Meow Mix Market Selects Tuna & Crab (I know, it's horrible), but they will not give it up (I've been trying for over a year!).  I just give them wet food in the evening (one cup between the 2 cats, so it's not the majority of their diet) and they get very upset if/when they don't get their wet food in the evening.  Neither of them like mushy/pate type food.  One will throw it up, and the other will eat 2 or 3 bites, and just leave it.  So I'm trying to find a healthy/natural alternative wet food that is chunky, not pate like, and something that is not mostly fish-based.  I've tried the Nutro Max Hunter's stew and they were not crazy about it. Does anyone else have any recommendations?

Thanks in advance!

Emily
 

gooned

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Mar 3, 2006
Messages
139
Purraise
10
Location
New Orleans
Good luck getting them off of Meow Mix. My cats went nuts over Meow Mix but then I realized all of the flavors were fish-based. I have somewhat weened all but one onto Wellness. We are having a battle of the wills now. No dry food down and the only thing I offer is Wellness. So far I am losing but the battle is in it's early stages. 

If your babies have no health issues, there are plenty of chunk-style choices. On the lower end is Friskies and the old favorite Fancy Feast. On the high end is Wellness and Royal Canin among others. Petco has their own brand which is pretty good called Authority. And Nutro Natural Choice is also pretty good. Since they are adult cats, I would pick a couple that are low in carbs and see if they like them. You budget will determine which end of the price spectrum. Here is a link to a chart that lists the values for a lot of choices

http://www.catinfo.org/docs/Food Chart Public 9-22-12.pdf
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

emilyatl

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Nov 14, 2012
Messages
13
Purraise
0
They are not picky at all about dry food, which is good.  I know a lot of people have problems with that.  I've tried feeding them dry food with some homemade chicken stock added and they didn't go for that either.  They LOVE turkey - but real, homemade plain roasted/poached turkey (so they will be very happy tomorrow :) ).  I've done the battle of the wills before too on wet food and lost several times, they'll just leave it untouched.  It's amazing how stubborn they are.  Fortunately, it does not go to waste because there is a stray kittie (yes, he is neutered!) who stays outside and he will eat absolutely anything.  So he is definitely enjoying their pickiness!  I did try making food for them and they just ate the turkey and broth out and left the veggies behind (I know some people don't use veggies in their food, so I guess I could leave it out especially since this is not their only source of food, just an evening meal/supplement).  :|  I may have to revist that at some point if I don't find one they'll eat...

Thanks so much for the chart - this helps!  If anyone else has had any similar experiences with addictions to Meow Mix Market Selects, please let me know! 
 
Last edited:

mrsgreenjeens

Every Life Should Have Nine Cats
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
16,391
Purraise
7,130
Location
Arizona
When I first switched mine from kibble to canned, we tried every canned food known to man, including the Meow Mix Market Selects, Fancy Feast, Friskies, Wellness, BG, and on and on, and what really worked for mine was Soulistic, also sold by Petco.  Don't get me wrong...one of their favs was the Meow Mix Salmon and Shrimp (I think it was), but Soulistic won them over.  Unfortunately, most of their flavors contain fish, but they do have TWO that are chicken.  (no turkey though).  Also, many, many cats love Weruva, although it's kind of hard to find.  I still use Weruva in a pinch (mine are now eating raw most of the time), but order it via the Internet.  They have several chicken flavors, and I'll bet even some turkey.  If you have any natural pet food stores in your area, they might sell Weruva, so you could pick up a couple of cans just to try it before ordering a case of it.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

emilyatl

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Nov 14, 2012
Messages
13
Purraise
0
Well, it looks like the Merrick Thanksgiving Day Dinner might be the winner.  I tried one can of this on Thursday (very fitting) and they both scarfed it down and no one threw up!  And I really like the ingredients - you can actually see the veggies and chunks of meat in it (though it does smell a bit like potted meat to me!). I tried the Merrick Truducken and Southern Delights as well, and they did not like those as much.  I also tried Nutro Max Turkey and Chicken Liver and they only ate about 1/3 of it.  They don't carry Werruva at any of my local stores and I couldn't find any turkey flavors anyhow, so unless I can find single cans of that somewhere, I probably won't go that route. I still have to try the Blue Buffalo Turkey & Chicken, so I'll see how they like that...

Thanks for the help everyone!
 

mrsgreenjeens

Every Life Should Have Nine Cats
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
16,391
Purraise
7,130
Location
Arizona
Well, glad you found something that works.  That Merrick food smells good enough to eat (myself)
, but NONE of mine would touch any of the flavors, and I think I bought all of them!  Boy, are the cat rescue places around here happy to see me coming, because I've always got my arms full of canned food my pickies won't eat
 

mewlittle

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Oct 20, 2012
Messages
1,633
Purraise
127
Location
usa
Well, glad you found something that works.  That Merrick food smells good enough to eat (myself)
, but NONE of mine would touch any of the flavors, and I think I bought all of them!  Boy, are the cat rescue places around here happy to see me coming, because I've always got my arms full of canned food my pickies won't eat
so you saying you donate cans of wet that your cats dislike? that is sweet of you :) i don't have a problem with food going to wast if ALL my cats don't like something i give it to the outside kitty's that hang around but its rare thou
 

mrsgreenjeens

Every Life Should Have Nine Cats
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
16,391
Purraise
7,130
Location
Arizona
Yes, I donate them, because I normally order them via the internet, so returning them would be too expensive (shipping costs
), and certainly the shelters can use them.  And we don't have any ferals in our neighborhood that I am aware of (our neighbor's son  actually adopted the only one we had, and DH paid for his Vet visit).  But I'm not completely altruistic, since I can write it off on my taxes.
 

kattiekitty

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Oct 2, 2009
Messages
271
Purraise
13
Location
Tacoma, Wa
Hmm I just gave my cats the Thanksgiving Day Feast tonight and they sniffed and walked away lol. Both my kitties prefer chunks in gravy to pate style too. I find that one of the best gravy type foods is the Wellness Cubed/Slices/Minced in gravy. They absolutely always eat it never fail, and my male is a dry food junky. It has no glutens or bad stuff and comes in a few different flavors. They have Chicken, turkey, tuna and Salmon and I think a few others. Way better than fancy feast (though I feed that too lol) and they like it. It also comes in the 5.5 oz can so you can get a  little more bang for the buck. Another one my kitties like is the avo derm chicken in gravy, and some of the soulistic and wurerva flavors. Pate is a hit or miss. My female will eat it more readily but my male will a lot of the time walk away from it.
 
 
Top