What's your cat's favorite canned food?

my kitty isnt really picky luckily She really seems to enjoy Wellness and Soulistic though O:

NV Rabbit and Venison

I have two kitties who'll eat anything I feed them and one who's a bit pickier.  They all eat Innova EVO cat & kitten, Turkey & Chicken, and Venison.  We have previously fed them the duck variety as well.  I have also fed Wellness grain-free and they liked that as well.

Thank you all so much for your responses. Surely, out of all of these he'll like something!

It is looking more & more like the pates are just not of any interest to him, even with the kibble next to it or on top of it. He simply won't even get near enough to the Fancy Feast or Friskies to even try it.  Of course if Bobby doesn't eat it immediately I have to beat all of the other little piggies off. I always lose that battle as they work in unison and outnumber me. I don't have any freeze dried treats, so I'll get some of those to sprinkle on top as Sivyaleah suggested.

Since Sheba, Fancy Feast & Friskies are the only brands mentioned that I can get locally, those are the only ones I've been able to try so far out of all of your suggestions. As so many of you mentioned, part of the problem could very well be texture. He did eat a few small bites of a chunky Sheba flavor tonight. Thankfully, it didn't make him sick like it did your kitty, CatPack.

Next step is a PetsMart run (25+ miles) this weekend. Per their website they have the Nutro Natural Choice, Wellness, Innova, and Simply Nourish brands. Those, plus the freeze dried treats might give us some kind of combination he'll like.

Petco is too far away, but I went ahead and ordered a case of the Merrick Cowboy Cookout. I just love the name and couldn't resist! Can't you just see all of the cats sitting around a camp fire wearing their little cowboy hats and little bandanas? 

JClark, is NV Nature's Variety? Do you buy that online?

Again, thanks so much everyone for your suggestions. I'm going to try everyone of them if I have to. Eventually something will work.

These websites sell single cans so you can experiment without having to order a whole case:

www.gohealthypet.com

http://wholepetsholistic.com/store/

That is fantastic, Raintyger. Thanks!

My Kitties' favorite is EVO 95% Chicken and Turkey.

I occasionally mix in some Natural Balance (Chicken and Liver or Turkey and Giblets or Ultra Formula)

which they also love.

You might also try Friskies Poultry Platter. It has Chicken as the first ingredient, and all Kitties seem to enjoy it.

I was going to suggest a few of the Soulistic flavors (Good Karma and Harvest Sunrise) but since Petco is too far away.

and their Internet prices are usually much higher then their store prices for this food,

you might try regular human grade canned chicken.

When I have a Kitty who suddenly decides not to eat canned food,

I'll try a "topper" as others have mentioned.

I usually go to one of the Soulistic flavors I mentioned above,

but if you can't easily get it,

try to find some canned chicken at your favorite grocery store.

A little of that on top of, or beside the canned food almost always works.

The only thing about canned chicken is that some brands have a lot of sodium,

and occasionally ingredients other than chicken. (In that case, I skip that brand.)

I buy the one with the lowest sodium, then I put a little in a bowl and rinse it a few times.

I either feed it in chunks or add a little warm water and mash it up a little,

depending on the Kitty.

Hang in there - it is worth the effort to get him off of the Dry food.  

I finally found a high end canned food that they like and my sensitive kitty can tolerate.  They both really like Nature's Variety lamb, of course it's one of if not the most expensive of the canned foods.  I don't think Petsmart sells it though.  I think Petco is the big box store that sells it.  They can't have a steady diet of it though it's just to darned expensive.  They probably would get tired of it if they got it daily anyway.

SevenWonders said:

 
My Kitties' favorite is EVO 95% Chicken and Turkey.

I occasionally mix in some Natural Balance (Chicken and Liver or Turkey and Giblets or Ultra Formula)

which they also love.

You might also try Friskies Poultry Platter. It has Chicken as the first ingredient, and all Kitties seem to enjoy it.

I was going to suggest a few of the Soulistic flavors (Good Karma and Harvest Sunrise) but since Petco is too far away.

and their Internet prices are usually much higher then their store prices for this food,

you might try regular human grade canned chicken.

When I have a Kitty who suddenly decides not to eat canned food,

I'll try a "topper" as others have mentioned.

I usually go to one of the Soulistic flavors I mentioned above,

but if you can't easily get it,

try to find some canned chicken at your favorite grocery store.

A little of that on top of, or beside the canned food almost always works.

The only thing about canned chicken is that some brands have a lot of sodium,

and occasionally ingredients other than chicken. (In that case, I skip that brand.)

I buy the one with the lowest sodium, then I put a little in a bowl and rinse it a few times.

I either feed it in chunks or add a little warm water and mash it up a little,

depending on the Kitty.

Hang in there - it is worth the effort to get him off of the Dry food.  

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Soulistic is cheaper online for me then in store




You could try crushing freeze dried food (like salmon) On top of the kittys food, I know my kitten is instantly more interested in something with freeze dried treats on it.

Update on the Great Canned Food Bobby Battle: We're still losing.

Thank you all so much for your suggestions. Perhaps once a week the food (seemingly random types, brands, and flavors) will grab his attention strongly enough that he'll pause a moment to take a few bites, but then off he goes.  We're convinced now that the issue isn't so much his lack of interest in the food as it is that he's afraid of "being caught" eating. Sometimes he'll sit down about 6 feet away from the food and just stare at it longingly for a few seconds. We'll keep trying, rotating the selections and just give him time. He's pretty comfortable with his indoor life-style now, so hopefully the eating problem will get resolved eventually.

nwfn said:

 
I just won the canned food battle against a stubborn kitten who did not like any of the brands I gave her until I tried Nutro Natural Choice (chicken flavor, soft loaf, for kittens). She has inhaled every can I've given her over the past couple of days. Note however that some flavors contain carrageenan, so check the ingredients carefully.

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My picky eater loves this brand as well - after multiple brands, she's been very consistent with this one, thank god - Boo was a kibble addict.

I have read the ingredients for nearly all the flavors Nutro makes in this line.  There is a pattern:

1. the main muscle meat (chicken, duck, etc)

2. liver (usually from the same animal)

3. pork broth!  Nearly all flavors have pork broth, chicken flavor has both

4. "Natural flavors"

5. Vitamins/minerals and other minor stuff generally take up the rest...

I swear, that one-two punch of pork broth + "natural flavors" has GOT to be the attraction.  I wonder if "natural flavors" is animal digest or some other flavor enhancer?  I really should call them to find out.

Anyhow - I have NEVER gotten Boo to eat any kind of chicken.   Cooked, raw, home made. On a hunch - I gave her the chicken flavor of Nutro....darned if she didn't eat it - all of it!!!  Wow.

Yeah....there is something about that pork broth + natural flavor combo they have come up with....

I agree the pork broth in the Nutro somehow makes the difference with my cat. For three years I tried to get him to eat a good grain free brand of wet cat food and it was always a "no go". None of those brands had pork broth in them either.

When I first tried one can of Nutro minced chicken on my cat for a taste test, he was all enthusiastic just a few seconds after the can was opened. He could really smell it and he was very vocal in telling me, "I want it......NOW!" He had never done before this with any other brand of wet canned cat food.

Another thing which I immediately noticed about NNC, any can not fully eaten during the day, the refrigerated NNC doesn't get a white film on the gravy for the next morning's feeding.

Nutro Natural Choice has a great thing going for wet canned cat food. I sincerely hope they don't change their wet canned cat food formulas.

I think many cats like pork.  The Hills A/D for sick kitties has pork in it and my kitty loved that stuff when he was recovering from an illness.  It isn't good for long term feeding though.  Along with the price I have read that it isn't good for their kidneys.  It could well be the pork that makes it so delectable for kitties.

Cats are picky critters most of the time.

The long term resident cats all seem to like Wellness turkey and salmon best but also like their other choices like chicken and turkey. They hate the seafood varieties and will have nothing to do with the beef varieties. They like the Fancy Feast classic pate. Of those the cod, fish and shrimp have no other ingredients but cod fish and shrimp. However, seafoods usually also  have fish bones and so might have more minerals than you want for a kitty with UT issues...not sure on that one though.

The rescue cat, Boo who is 6 weeks today inside with us, really loves the Stella and Chewy's freeze dried raw food. I think probably because it more closely resembles some of his wild days food. It's expensive, $22.00 for a bag but lasts about a week and I think roughly works out to $1.50 a meal. Boo is a 12 pound cat though so it might be a bit more expensive than that. It calls for 1 cup of food with 1/2 cup warm water. Soak and then smoosh it up with a fork. Boo gobbles it up. The others...want nothing to do with it.

Anyway, I am pleased because I know he's at least getting a 1/2 cup of water with his meal! He has some residual urinary and stool issues from his previous life as a stray (got hit by a car likely) and is recovering from a broken pelvis. So...he has a few crystals (no blockages) and a bit of bacteria in his urine but none of it enough to merit prescription or antibiotics for the bacteria. Just careful attention to mineral content in the food.

So I wrote to Stella and Chewy's and got the mineral content for the food.

"Below is the information you’ve requested.  I’ve included all flavors for your comparison.  Something to keep in mind is that these levels are as-fed, meaning after rehydrating with the recommended amount of cool or warm water."

But then I've also been recently reading that the PH level is what is important in kitty's urine. Slightly acidic keeps crystals from becoming a problem. Overly acidic produces the calcium crystals, struvite crystals are when the urine is too alkaline.  Mineral content is measured by "ash." The length of time it takes to burn the minerals---or something like that.

 I
Anyway as you can see the Stella and Chewy's seems like a healthy level and the control over adding warm water might create a tasty broth (as it does for Boo) which has magically increased his water intake which is pretty much just from the canned food because he will not drink water out of the dish or any dish as I have been learning.

Other canned foods the kitties love is Tikki "fowl ball" which is a broth heavy chicken food.

Boo also likes the Grammy's Pot Pie by Merrick. The long term resident cats eschew almost all of the premium choices except the Wellness. I pretty much can say that if I buy one can of something to try they love it, but when I bring home more cans of that same food it is a guarantee that they will decide they don't love it. Cats are so emo.

Night Wing said:

 
I agree the pork broth in the Nutro somehow makes the difference with my cat. For three years I tried to get him to eat a good grain free brand of wet cat food and it was always a "no go". None of those brands had pork broth in them either.

When I first tried one can of Nutro minced chicken on my cat for a taste test, he was all enthusiastic just a few seconds after the can was opened. He could really smell it and he was very vocal in telling me, "I want it......NOW!" He had never done before this with any other brand of wet canned cat food.

Another thing which I immediately noticed about NNC, any can not fully eaten during the day, the refrigerated NNC doesn't get a white film on the gravy for the next morning's feeding.

Nutro Natural Choice has a great thing going for wet canned cat food. I sincerely hope they don't change their wet canned cat food formulas.

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The duck flavor stinks to high heaven - just FYI in case you have not fed that one. That is Boo's favorite.

I know what you mean about worrying about changes in cat food formulas - I have been wanting to find a back up she'll like.  As if just finding ONE she will eat is bad enough. I was trying to "reverse engineer" this food by making a pork broth...but I got lazy.

Also - NNC has a decent amount of calories as well - most at 33 cal an ounce.  Boo needed to put on a touch of weight, but she'll eat about 5 ounces max...getting her to her 172 calories a day is tough with a lower calorie canned food.

susank521 said:

Please share what your cat's favorite canned food is.

My Bobby won't touch canned food. Could be because of a bad association with it (it took me 10 months to catch him for neutering and the little hooligan never did go in the trap, but that's another story) then 9 months later he became very ill with a urinary tract blockage and I had to syringe feed him. Maybe he just doesn't like canned food, but he really does need to eat it. Fortunately, he does drink a lot of water.

I feel like we've tried every kind of canned food imaginable, but I'm open to and welcome all suggestions. Just to demonstrate my level of desperation I have even considered trying the home-made route. I don't even cook for the humans in my family, for which they are all very grateful! Please, for Bobby's sake, to spare him any attempt by me to make food for him, share with us your cat's favorite and we'll give it a try.

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My kitties always eat Fancy Feast ~ their ultimate favorite is Fancy Feast Delights with Cheddar "Grilled Tuna with Cheddar Cheese Feast in Gravy" ~ it's the one flavor they never get tired of!!! Good Luck!!!

Olive eats almost anything, but we have two kibble addicts that are tough sells.

Gohan requires silence and stillness when eating. If he loves it (Applaws
Chicken and Asparagus treats) I can feed them together. He seems to hate pates, so even food he likes he won’t eat much. It’s like it gets stuck in his teeth or something. He also gags at food he hates, which is most of it. He absolutely loves

• Applaws Chicken and Asparagus (not nutritionally complete),
• Life’s Abundance Pate (very popular, available at lifesabundance.com in single cans or cases)
• Natural Balance Pouches
• Lotus Pates

He would never finish a whole bowl of anything, usually because something distracts him and he walks away. We have him sequestered in one room to recover from an injury at the moment and the solitude is letting him take his time. We give him the Natural Balamce pouches and he’s been licking the plate clean!

The other kibble cat loves cooked chicken and will eat most wet food topped with that.

This thread is nearly five years old, but I wasn't a member then, so I'll join in now (though I hope the OP found an acceptable food for her cat a long time ago!).

Sylvie's current menu consists of a few varieties of Rawz canned food. She likes the Turkey and the Beef, and loves the two newer varieties that she's tried, the Duck and especially the Rabbit. I just ordered a case of the Rabbit ... fingers crossed that she keeps loving it!

I'd like to try the new Turkey & Salmon variety of Rawz as well, if I can find some individual cans to test out with Sylvie. Since she likes the Turkey and loved the one can of the Salmon that I fed her, this combo seems like a pretty sure bet.

She also really likes the Wellness Complete Health Beef & Salmon, so there might be a case of that in our future. I'm trying to limit the amount of fish in her diet, but a semi-fishy food would be good to keep on hand for times when the non-fishy flavors seem to lose their appeal.

All of these are pate-texture foods, which suit Sylvie's preference and her limited number of teeth. I know some cats don't like pate, though.

Update (yes, since just yesterday!): I'm reluctantly concluding that Sylvie really can't digest turkey well. This morning she ate Rawz Turkey for the first time in a couple of weeks, and her resulting BM was mostly solid but included one mucus-y stool. And then she didn't want to eat the rest of the food in her dish. It's the same thing that my sitter reported happening when I was away for a weekend earlier this month and left the Turkey (and also the Salmon) out for her to feed Sylvie. Makes me sad because it cuts out so many options from a field that's already severely limited by her chicken intolerance.

On the upside, she still seems to be handling the Duck well, so I'm not ready to institute a "nothing with feathers" rule.