I finally tried better food, did not go well

I finally saved up enough money to buy a small bag of Acana Wild Prairie cat food. I have been slowly mixing it with the grocery store brand food they normally get. They don't like it, they will eat the stuff they like and leave the good food. I feed 6 outdoor semi feral cats and all but one will spit it out and eat around it. I give them dry and canned food and live on a very tight budget. Now I have to go buy food again and not sure which kind to try next. I also don't think I could actually afford the Acana on a regular basis even if they did like it.

I don't want them to go back to eating the Purina Cat Chow but I can't keep wasting money on the expensive stuff. I think one of the reasons they don't like it is because the size of the pieces of food. They have never liked anything I buy that is very tiny pieces of food. Was thinking of trying the Simply Nourish because the pieces are bigger. Any thoughts on how to get them away from Purina Cat Chow and not cost an arm and a leg.

Thanks

Do you still have the receipt for the Acana? Many stores will take back opened bags of food.

If you go to higher end pet stores or independent pet stores (i.e., not Petsmart or Petco) often they will have free sample bags.

Petco will also take it back.  We never did it but they said they would.  Our cats did not care for the Blue Buffalo we got (forgot which kinds). Now I'm not recommending it, but both cats adored the Royal Canin.  Right now I'm feeding Wellness but plan to try NVI but I don't feed very much dry.  It is expensive (NVI).

Good luck.  Try somewhere that you can return it if it's a flop. Petco also has their reward system which does add up a bit. It's the only place we have.

I was only able to find this food at a little family owned pet store and they won't let me return it because they have a 14 day policy. I was changing real slow and trying to finish up the grocery store brand so it's been longer then 14 days since I bought it. I was thinking of trying the Blue Buffalo but found out it is very tiny pieces also.

Today I was at a little family owned Nutrition store and they sell some cat and dog foods. I got a sample of Taste of the Wild, it's Roasted Venison and smoked salmon. The pieces were small but not as small as Acana. I mixed that with the grocery store brand just a few minutes ago and they all ate it up and didn't spit any of it out. Where I am from this dry food does not have very good reviews so not sure if I want to buy a bag or not.

I have not tried the Royal Canin  well except my only indoor cat is on Royal Canin in the high fiber from the vet. Maybe I should stick with Petsmart and Petco so I can take it back. I would think the feral cats would be happy with whatever I fed them but they seem to be as picky as my indoor cat these days.

I also don't feed a lot of dry but with so many cats I can't do canned only. My indoor cat has some health issues and her food is expensive so the feral cats have to have some dry.

I don't know if the feral forum would be more helpful.  It may be a little different transitioning ferals than indoor cats.

Our Buttons is certainly not feral, but she is an outdoor cat.  She used to nip indoors and eat a bit of the Royal Canin (indoor/outdoor formula). I mentioned in another thread that after my indoor kitty died, I noticed that Buttons was very thin and I thought she had something very wrong with her.  We finished the bag of RC on her and she gained weight.  This is NOT a RC ad because it's really expensive and I think there are likely better foods for the money or less money but the cats liked it. Buttons is one who did not like the Blue Buffalo (I ran into the BB person at Petco when I was looking for better food for her and couldn't get away).

The point here is that ferals are likely supplementing their diet so it's not entirely controlled by you anyway.  I don't know how slowly you were transitioning, but maybe you can move along a little faster. I would definitely investigate the return policy at Petco (or Petsmart).  Our Buttons is a healthy cat despite all those dire warnings about outdoor cats; of course, we live on an isolated farm so she isn't exposed to the hazards of town/street life.

This may be a really bad idea, but I keep reading here that the cheapest canned food is better than dry food.  I'm not sure where she got it, but the person who "bred" my kitten had canned food from some warehouse or something. The labels were removed and the pull tabs were broken off.  I assume it was very cheap so maybe scouting around somewhere like that might help with the bills? (Of course, Dandy thought she was in heaven when she got Fancy Feast...)

This morning I went ahead and gave them the Acana dry food and canned food without the grocery store brand mixed in it. Low and behold they all ate it without spitting it out. I think they just wanted to eat the grocery store brand. Maybe they thought if I saw them spitting out the good stuff that I would give up with the good for you food and continue with the junk food.   I will continue with the Acana and see how they do.

Could be!  They are manipulative

Snugglecat said:

 
This morning I went ahead and gave them the Acana dry food and canned food without the grocery store brand mixed in it. Low and behold they all ate it without spitting it out. I think they just wanted to eat the grocery store brand. Maybe they thought if I saw them spitting out the good stuff that I would give up with the good for you food and continue with the junk food.

  I will continue with the Acana and see how they do.

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I just sent you PM, before seeing this. Great news!

Many kibble diets have flavor enhancers sprayed onto the food which keeps cats hooked to the taste. I've gotten the sense with the grain-free stuff that this sort of thing is not so common which may explain why some cats don't take to it as readily?