PJ has been playing games with me over her food choices, being a real princess like her name implies(PJ = Princess Jasmine) If you've got any advice or input that might help improve the situation a bit I'd be grateful. Let me explain how I've been managing PJ's diet for the last couple months:
PJ gets 3/8 cup of kibble every morning, which she snacks on throughout the day. I put out a different flavor or brand of kibble every day. If she gets the same flavor every day, she will grow tired of it within a week and start losing weight because she'll eat very little of it. Right now there are 3 brands in rotation: Orijen, California Natural, and Merrick's Purrfect Bistro. She is starting to get tired of the Orijen and Merrick's, but still loves the California Natural. I might try getting different flavors of Orijen and Merrick's, or a new brand like Spot's Stew Grain-Free. PJ's poop has been normal, so I think she's okay with having different kibble each day as long as the formulas aren't too extremely different, but it's frustrating having to buy so much food all the time just because she's bored of the taste...is there a better way to go about this?
PJ's evening meal is a 1/4 cup of a home-made mix, and I alternate this between 2 slightly different flavors. She is starting to get bored of one flavor. My recipe consists of cooked ground turkey(all fluids conserved), TC Feline premix, egg yolks(cooked with the turkey), krill oil, glucosamine, chondroitin, (vitamins dosed according to vet recommendations, based on a usual recipe output of 25 servings/25 days), and a can or two of smelly cat food for flavor. The recipe itself seems to be doing good things for PJ, and I can make different flavors by using differing kinds of canned cat food, but I don't want to be filling my freezer with several batches of cat food.
The dietitian at PJ's vet clinic has approved of this plan, as well as my home-made recipe, only cautioning that I not choose any drastically different kibble formulas for PJ's breakfast. So far PJ's health and mobility has been fantastic, and the only time she ever vomits is when she eats plastic bags(I haven't quite trained my roommate not to leave them out where PJ can get at them). But PJ's tendency to get bored of her food is a bit of a problem. When she gets bored of a flavor, she'll start eating less and less of it until she won't touch it at all. At that point, I have to stop offering it for a few weeks before she'll touch it again, and she still won't show the same enthusiasm as when it was brand new. I'm concerned that I'll be accumulating cat food that will go uneaten for long periods of time and possibly expire before I can get my money's worth. I have tried sprinkling crushed treats and other flavor enhancers over food that PJ is losing interest in, but that only works for a couple days.
Does anyone else have cats who do this? Any advice that might help me get PJ to eat consistently?
PJ gets 3/8 cup of kibble every morning, which she snacks on throughout the day. I put out a different flavor or brand of kibble every day. If she gets the same flavor every day, she will grow tired of it within a week and start losing weight because she'll eat very little of it. Right now there are 3 brands in rotation: Orijen, California Natural, and Merrick's Purrfect Bistro. She is starting to get tired of the Orijen and Merrick's, but still loves the California Natural. I might try getting different flavors of Orijen and Merrick's, or a new brand like Spot's Stew Grain-Free. PJ's poop has been normal, so I think she's okay with having different kibble each day as long as the formulas aren't too extremely different, but it's frustrating having to buy so much food all the time just because she's bored of the taste...is there a better way to go about this?
PJ's evening meal is a 1/4 cup of a home-made mix, and I alternate this between 2 slightly different flavors. She is starting to get bored of one flavor. My recipe consists of cooked ground turkey(all fluids conserved), TC Feline premix, egg yolks(cooked with the turkey), krill oil, glucosamine, chondroitin, (vitamins dosed according to vet recommendations, based on a usual recipe output of 25 servings/25 days), and a can or two of smelly cat food for flavor. The recipe itself seems to be doing good things for PJ, and I can make different flavors by using differing kinds of canned cat food, but I don't want to be filling my freezer with several batches of cat food.
The dietitian at PJ's vet clinic has approved of this plan, as well as my home-made recipe, only cautioning that I not choose any drastically different kibble formulas for PJ's breakfast. So far PJ's health and mobility has been fantastic, and the only time she ever vomits is when she eats plastic bags(I haven't quite trained my roommate not to leave them out where PJ can get at them). But PJ's tendency to get bored of her food is a bit of a problem. When she gets bored of a flavor, she'll start eating less and less of it until she won't touch it at all. At that point, I have to stop offering it for a few weeks before she'll touch it again, and she still won't show the same enthusiasm as when it was brand new. I'm concerned that I'll be accumulating cat food that will go uneaten for long periods of time and possibly expire before I can get my money's worth. I have tried sprinkling crushed treats and other flavor enhancers over food that PJ is losing interest in, but that only works for a couple days.
Does anyone else have cats who do this? Any advice that might help me get PJ to eat consistently?
