Finicky cat, picky with food!

Hello all!

First post, first cat experience!  I have had my cat for 5 years now.  She was rescued from a shelter when she was about 2 or 3.  When I got her, she was pudgy, and, her being my first cat, has continued to be pudgy!  I know very little about cat foods, so when the vet told me to put her on Science Diet Light, Hairball control (found out fast she gets those)  I did as I was told.  She still got hairballs, and was pretty pudgy.  In fact she had to have medicine twice to get out her hairballs, not fun!  Anyways, I recently decided to start her on some wet food.  I have heard it is better for cats, and healthier.  I was giving her a bit of dry food and a bit of wet food.  In the process I found out she will ONLY eat non-pate style foods.  Why is beyond me.  After figuring that out, I soon learned how stubborn she could be.  I left for a weekend, and left her with a lot of dry food and water.  When I returned, the dry food had not been touched, I mean not a piece moved!  I gave in and switched her to all wet food.  At the time I was experimenting with Friskies, since she seemed to enjoy that, and would NOT touch the science diet food.  Well, she ended up getting kitty diarrhea from any food that was not the indoor formula.  Everyone told me it was the fact that I was feeding her Friskies, and to switch her, but I did not want to waste time/money/or food on stuff she would not eat.  I put her strictly on Friskies Indoor formula.  Since then (about 6 months) she has not vomited, hair balled, or had bad poops!  However lately, she has not been eating all of her food, specifically the flaky fish type.  Oddly I gave her some fancy feast that a friends cat would not eat.  She ate that stuff so fast I was in shock!  Ok long story but i wanted to give the details.  My questions are as follows:  I am a bit poor right now as I was just laid off for 6 months, and just moved.  If there is a better than the other cheap food that I can give her to keep her tummy happy, that would be great!  Is it bad to switch my cats food as her taste changes?  I remember hearing/reading/being told that changing food types will upset their stomach, and after the smell of an upset stomach litter box, I NEVER want to go through that again.  Is there really a difference between indoor and just regular here is the meat food?  Does anyone have recommendation on what and how to feed my cat to help her lose weight? (She gets no treats!)  Do cats often change their taste in food?  Any other advice you could give me about keeping my cat happy?  Like I said before, she is my first cat, and while I am pretty sure she is happy, I will always try to make her happier!  Sorry for the long post!!  Thanks for any help!  Also please keep in mind I want whats best for my cat, and if I can get away with cheaper stuff, that would be great!  I never skip on the vet though, that I always find a way to pay!!

Thanks a bunch!

Many cats don't like to eat the same food daily mine are like that, then some cats don't seem to mind.  I think the main difference between indoor formulas and other formulas is extra fiber.  It would be nice if he would eat pate type food, they are generally lower in carbs which will help with weight loss.  You could set a rotation with the Friskies, Fancy Feast, and I have heard good things about another grocery store brand called Sheba.  I haven't tried the Sheba so can't speak from personal experience.  The general rule of thumb is 20 calories per pound of a cat's ideal weight per day.  You can find the calories per can on the companies web site.  Usually one 6 ounce can spread across 2 or 3 meals a day is about right.

Usually there aren't too many problems switching up wet food unless there is something in a particular food that disagrees with a kitty.  Switching dry foods can cause problems if done too quickly.

There are some good brands sold in pet stores that aren't too expensive.  Petsmart has a brand called Authority and Petco's brand is called Soulistic.  

You could try adding a small amount of pumpkin, plain pumpkin not pie filling, to the brands that aren't indoor food.  You would basically be adding that bit of fiber to the food yourself.

I recommend Fancy Feast Classics. They're inexpensive, generally on sale at either the grocery store or the dollar store for between 50 and 60 cents per 3.2 ounce can. You can also order them on Amazon for a good price (for some of the flavors) if you find your kitty likes them. It's important to get the Classics line, though. The others (grilled, sliced, with gravy, etc.), as Denice noted, have carbs added that aren't good for your cat, especially if you're aiming for weight loss. 

When serving the pate food, do you serve it whole or break it up a bit? I take a spoon and break the pate up into about six pieces for Oliver. He'll eat it either way, but he tends to drag bigger pieces out onto the floor to eat them, and I'm not fond of that approach! You may also try adding some warm water and stirring it in. That may change it to a texture she prefers. 

As for variety, I've read and been given conflicting information. The first vet he saw told me "variety is not the spice of a cat's life." But meh. I think there are a lot of good reasons to offer variety. If you stick to just one, what happens if you find it sold out, recalled, or for some reason discontinued? I don't want to create a picky eater that's going to go on a hunger strike if he doesn't get that one flavor he's used to! So I offer him the chicken, beef, chicken + beef, and turkey & giblets varieties of FF Classics, and I give one to two cans of a fish variety each week. And I mix those flavors up, too. They really don't need fish every day, just a time or two a week.

I hope you find something that works for her. And if you're able to weigh her, do so once or twice a week. Adjust the amount she's eating based on her weight loss. Here's a guide to help you with that: http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pe...le/animal-health/weight-reduction-in-cats/391

And please update us on your progress!

$.50 - .60 cents for FF?  Dang, must be nice - they're .68 here, or .58 on a sale day. That's PetSmart or Walmart; I'll have to check out the grocery stores. 

Walmart tends to be pretty consistent here (we live near none, so we visit several). When we started they had a "rollback" and I think it was .55 and then it went back to .58. Sometimes the grocery stores will have a promotion and you can get it cheaper. They go through those little cans pretty fast.

Marc999 said:

 
$.50 - .60 cents for FF?  Dang, must be nice - they're .68 here, or .58 on a sale day. That's PetSmart or Walmart; I'll have to check out the grocery stores. 

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They retail for .65 or .68 here, but between Food Lion and Dollar General (the two stores closest to me), they're on sale almost every single week in at least one of them for either 10/$6, or 10/$5 on lucky weeks!

And you can also get them on Amazon in that price range for many of the Classics flavors. 

I'll have to expand my search to dollar stores.  Although, I did find quality canned cat food surprisingly at my local grocery store (house brand) for a similarly low price.  

I assumed grocery store brands would be crap, yet I think some are beginning to know what customers are looking for, or looking to avoid in the ingredients.

Thanks for all the advice!  I now don't feel as bad for feeding my kitty what some consider cheaply made food.  Yes it is cheaper than the pricey stuff... that's redundant but you get the idea haha, but if it agrees with her tummy, it can't be all bad right?  I did not know that the gravy food contained more carbs.  I will definitely try the idea of water and pate style food.  I do break it up for her, but its almost like a sight thing, she doesn't even really sniff it.  Still worth a shot to get her although cute, chubby belly down.  I have since been trying other style foods that do not have too many different types of treats in them, it seems the more stuff they have, like cheese and what not, the crankier her stomach.  So far, she will not touch anything beef, or fish.  Just chicken and turkey.  I did find however that she enjoys 9 lives!  I guess you never really know a cat, no matter how long you have had them!  Being a rescue, she still surprises me everyday with how she either becomes braver, or scared of certain things.  I know nothing of her past, but watching her grow and change, even after 5 years, has been a great fun experience.  Now if only I had the means to adopt another one!!