New experiences with 2 cats

I rescued a cat about 4 yrs ago so that would make Ollie around 5ish.  I never had a cat like him before. He hates to be alone.  He would run after me when I was going out the door.  I got him a kitten.  I say that because I don't think I would have ever thought about getting another cat in my small apt.  I brought home a kitty about a month ago.  He loves that kitten.  He lets him have his toys, his food, his spot in the kiddy condo.  Its an amazing thing to see how Ollie has taken to the kitten (Sammy).

My main issue is the food.  Ollie is a picky eater.  I open a can of Friskies in gravy for him every morning.  He licks the gravy out and leaves the rest.  He mainly eats dry food and treats which he loves.  I was throwing the rest of the can out because he wouldn't go near it after he licked all the gravy out.  When I first got Ollie I bought every kind of wet food possible.  He would take a lick and that was it.  The kitten on the other hand is a eater.  I was thrilled to think I could give the rest of the can to Sammy after Ollie licked the grave out.  Sammy was ok with it for about a week or two but is now not wanting to eat the food.  He seems to like Fancy Feast.  Every time I open a can I let Ollie smell it so he doesn't think I am giving Sammy something that he is not getting.

They eat around 4 or 5am.  The longest they let me  I am thinking of still giving Ollie his gravy as he waits for it every morning.  Should I just give Sammy the Fancy Feast or see if he will get use to Ollies food.  Thanks...... 

my t

The kitten is learning to be fussy from his big buddy, Ollie. The thing for the kitten is to make sure he gets as much as he wants. The wet food is better for him, try to keep him on that.

Have you tried any premium food for Ollie? Buy a can and see if he will eat that. The Friskies pate selection is better than the Fancy Feast, and the gravy that he loves is full of carbs.

I think you are absolutely right.  Sammy seems to try to copy everything that Ollie does.  Except he won't let me brush him.  Ollie has been difficult with food from the beginning.  I have tried every wet food out there including all the premium foods and he walks away from all of them.  I really don't like opening up a whole can of cat food just so he can lick the gravy.  Thats why I was hoping the kitten would be interested in eating the rest.  I guess he is developing tastes of his own and is not crazy about the friskies.  I don't want to take away his gravy in the mornings because he waits for it and doesn't seem to enjoy any other foods at all (except his treats).  It makes me sad and frustrated because even though I know he won't eat it I still try bringing home some new wet food in the chance he might like it.  He never does

In January I had to take Ollie to the vet because he was scraching up his hole face.  The vet said he had allergies and wanted me to change his food to "grain free" so I gradually switched him from the Purina Special Blend to Blue Buffalo.  It wasn't easy and he still is not crazy about it but he eats it.  His eyes cleared up and he stopped scratching his face so I guess it was allergies.

I can understand why you feed him the BB. I don't know any alternative, but hopefully someone will have advice.

I have no advice, but I do admire your sweet pair.

I also have a four year old picky eater who likes gravey and a new kitten who likes to eat. My kitten is also becoming a little more picky and I think it is also because she sees how picky frank is and how much attention and treats he gets because of it.

My gravey eater will eat tiki cat and weruva and actually eats some of the meat (he also likes the wellness pouches but only for the gravey). I am sure you have tried but have you tried toppers or Fortiflora? This may work to get the kitten interested in the leftover food. What I do for feedings is I give Frank his tiki cat with freeze dried chicken and Fortiflora on top and I give the kitten her raw food with the same toppers. Frank licks the gravey and eats some meat and Ava eats most of her raw and when Frank is done I give Ava his food as well and my dog eats the rest of Ava's raw-it is quite the food chain in my house!

As for the BB I was giving their kitten food as a snack until I read a thread on here about BB and renal failure. I also had been worried because Ava's stool was really dark and it was actually the BB because it became a normal colour after I stopped feeding it to her. My picky eater will eat Orijen (and if you put Fortiflora it mimickes the junkier brands so that might work). I may try wysong epigen 90 for him because I am slightly worried about his fish intake and Orijen does have fish in it.

I found my six year old, Buddy, about a year ago. He looks and acts much like your Ollie. Even though I have a four room apartment, I got him another cat for company. Lily is about 12-18 months old, and was part of an outdoor colony. She was friendly, and outgoing, and the colony caretakers were trying to find home for the more people-friendly cats. It's worked out well. Buddy has almost no issues when I leave, now, and they're best friends.

Buddy is also the picky one. Lily will eat any cat food and just about any human food that isn't put away. She can smell cupcake frosting as soon as you walk in.

Buddy is pretty much a dry food addict. I initially switched him to grain free, and he was eating that pretty happily. But, he gained weight on it. It took some time to research lower-carb dry foods. He liked EVO, but it made them both sick, and it ended up being a batch on recall. He also like Nature's Variety. Now we've settled on Young Again 50/22. It's not their lowest carb option, but it's low for a dry he's lost some weight with it, he has fewer stools, and they are firmer, and his fur feels amazing.

. I should've known that grain free does not always equal low carb. I have a strong family history of diabetes, and am carb sensitive myself. I need a predominantly meat and veggie diet to maintain anything close to a reasonable weight.

If he insists on dry, I can at least try to find the best possible solution that works for him.

In the meantime, I've had Lily on canned and switched to Primal frozen raw. Buddy would only lick the juice, even with popular tasty kinds like Weruva. I used toppers like Bonito Flakes and Forti Flora, and he picked those out and left the rest.

He's finally learning a little from Lily, though and tried a few licks of the Primal frozen in the quail version. At first, it was just a few licks of Forti Flora coated food. Now, he'll eat 1.5 nuggets at night, and about 3/4 of a nugget in the morning. Buddy is a large cat; I suspect his is a Maine Coon mix. The bag recommendations for Buddy to lose weight are about 7 nuggets a day.

I also have to watch because Lily is a guzzler, and Buddy is a nibbles. Lily will inhale her food and then go try to eat Buddy's food. He will always give way to her, so I have to keep her distracted with play while he takes his sweet, nibbling, time.

So, for now, he eats some raw, and I supplement the Young Again. I measure out about 2/3 of what he should have and leave it out for him. He finishes it about half the time. The rest, he leaves some, which is hopeful.

It took a year to get him to eat that one Primal nugget. It's been slow. Very slow. But, he's picky. All I can do is keep trying.

In the future, I'd like to get him to eat more of the Primal, and I can reduce the amount of Young Again.

Curly,

Just a public note to say "Thanks" for your mentioning of Young Again cat food. I've never heard of Young Again. My male manx breed (Tiger) inside cat just turned 16 years old two days ago and he's been a kibble addict all his life. Even though he loves kibble, he's picky when it comes to his kibble. He likes Nature's Variety in two different flavors (Chicken, Limited Turkey Diet). I googled Young Again and the ingredients in it look very good. I'm going to try Young Again in the 8 pound bag to see if he'll eat it. If he doesn't care for it, I'll donate it to our small private local animal shelter where I live.
 

NightWing, you can also contact them for free samples. I tried them this way to make sure that Buddy would eat it.