Kitten stopped eating wet canned food

We have two kittens who turn one beginning of April. One has been turning her nose up at wet food lately. She sniffs it and walks away. She did this occasionally but now it's all the time. Our other kitten loves it. We give wet and dry Healthy advantage kitten wet and dry food.
We will be switching to cat food when they turn one what is a good brand that is on the cheap side like Iam's price? The vet stuff is expensive. I am in Canada.

newkittyowner said:

We have two kittens who turn one beginning of April. One has been turning her nose up at wet food lately. She sniffs it and walks away. She did this occasionally but now it's all the time. Our other kitten loves it. We give wet and dry Healthy advantage kitten wet and dry food.
We will be switching to cat food when they turn one what is a good brand that is on the cheap side like Iam's price? The vet stuff is expensive. I am in Canada.

Click to expand...

is she eating her dry food still, having a good appetite? is she drinking water, peeing/pooping what you'd consider normal amounts?

it may be that your little girl kitten is bored with that particular brand/flavor of canned cat food. it's generally a pretty good idea to do a rotation of at least 3 or more brands of canned cat food, that way if there's ever a recall or the recipe changes a bit and kitty no longer likes it you'll still have canned foods that kitty will eat. or if kitty just decides out of the blue that she no longer likes that brand/flavor, you'll have others to serve her that she does like.

on the other hand, it could be that your little girl is like my girl -- a picky eater. my snick is a very picky eater and one thing that really helps is to have variety for her in her canned food. i figure it's just like with people, we would get bored with our food if we ate the same exact thing every day. even my snick's very favorite canned food i don't serve her every day, because it could soon become "the same ole" and no longer something she enjoys eating. snick's brother, mickey, was never a picky eater -- which i appreciated every single day.

you might try buying one can each of a bunch of brands/flavors that are new for kitty, that you think she might like. make note of the ones she likes, or likes the most. then rotate between 3 or more brands/flavors as part of your normal routine.

mickNsnicks2mom said:

 
is she eating her dry food still, having a good appetite? is she drinking water, peeing/pooping what you'd consider normal amounts?

it may be that your little girl kitten is bored with that particular brand/flavor of canned cat food. it's generally a pretty good idea to do a rotation of at least 3 or more brands of canned cat food, that way if there's ever a recall or the recipe changes a bit and kitty no longer likes it you'll still have canned foods that kitty will eat. or if kitty just decides out of the blue that she no longer likes that brand/flavor, you'll have others to serve her that she does like.

on the other hand, it could be that your little girl is like my girl -- a picky eater. my snick is a very picky eater and one thing that really helps is to have variety for her in her canned food. i figure it's just like with people, we would get bored with our food if we ate the same exact thing every day. even my snick's very favorite canned food i don't serve her every day, because it could soon become "the same ole" and no longer something she enjoys eating. snick's brother, mickey, was never a picky eater -- which i appreciated every single day.

you might try buying one can each of a bunch of brands/flavors that are new for kitty, that you think she might like. make note of the ones she likes, or likes the most. then rotate between 3 or more brands/flavors as part of your normal routine.

Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply!

Yes I think she is still eating the dry food. Today I tried her with a small scoop of Wellness Kitten I had. I had this from when we first switched them to what they were eating at the Animal aide we adopted them from. We had to switch due to health problems and the vet thought  may be the food? Turns out it wasn't but it was solved with medication. Also it's very expensive. Both my kittens went to the new wet food I put down and had a few bites then low and behold the one that was picky and wasn't eating wet food went back to the old wet food and chowed down on it and wanted nothing to do with the new Wellness I put down. How strange is that? There is still some wellness on a plate and they bough sniff it and walk away! 

Do you have an advice on how I should switch them to  cat food? Come April they will be one and no longer on kitten food. I know Dry has to be done slowly over time giving them more of the new but what about Wet is that the same deal? I know grocery store brand is crap but we can't afford a lot. Is there a grocery store brand that is half decent? thanks! Oh and when I switch them is it normal for them to not eat the new at first? Or is that a sign that they don't like it and to move onto a different brand or flavour? they have only had chicken flavour as that is what the kitten vet formula comes in.

try to think of it as if your girl were a human, eating the same exact food every single day. of course she'd get bored with eating the same food every day!  ) variety in their cat food is also good for cats because if one brand is missing a little of some nutrient, another brand can make up for it. plus, i feel it's better to try to serve my cat a variety of proteins -- again, for better nutrition. but cat food choices can be a very personal decision.

that's right, dry food should be transitioned slowly from one brand to another -- otherwise, gastro upset, gas, diarrhea, vomiting could happen (this may or may not happen, depending on the individual cat). wet/canned cat food can be switched at every meal if desired, but that's provided kitty isn't prone to gastro upsets or have any medical reason to transition wet/canned foods. for example, my snick has IBD so i do slowly introduce new canned/wet foods, just to be on the safe side. but brands of wet/canned foods that snick has in her rotation, i switch those from day to day with no problems.

many people go by the saying, "feed the best you can (afford), that your cat(s) will eat". will your cats eat cold/from the refrigerator canned food? if they will, you could try buying some larger cans -- i know that bff, chicken soup, wellness, and some other brands offer large cans. that might save you a bit. but some of the larger cans are manufactured adding BHA and BHT, which are known carcinogens (if i understand correctly). the smaller cans (3 oz and 5.5 oz) don't generally have BHA and BHT added.

i think the best way to choose canned cat foods is to be educated about what should and should not be in canned cat foods. i learned by reading articles about this, then reading the ingredients on the labels of every brand and flavor of canned and dry cat foods that i consider for my cats.

i think it's common for cats to not recognize unfamiliar proteins as a food source, so not want to try eating them. but trying new brands of canned cat foods, i think it's either kitty likes it or doesn't. i would suggest that if kitty doesn't seem to like a brand/flavor the first time, wait and try it again -- wait a few days, a few weeks, or a few months. many cats prefer a style of canned cat food -- pate, chunks in gravy, in gelee, or shredded in gravy.  try to work with your cats to entice them to try different styles of canned foods. but cats are like people in that they have their likes and dislikes as far as their food goes.

some cat parents prefer to not serve their cat(s) any fish. again, i think this is a personal choice. it's my opinion that serving a variety of proteins is better for my cat(s), but this is just my opinion. my snick has never liked beef canned cat foods, though i've tried different brands of it. i do think that different proteins can provide more variety in their meals for cats too.

Thanks you for your in depth reply much appreciated! I agree that that might be what is needed is more variety as she may be bored in what she is eating. When we first got our kittens I was reading all the stuff about what should and shouldn't be in cat food. I got overwhelmed and think I well I know I annoyed my hubby who just said get whatever is cheap. We ended up giving stuff from the vet as my hubby said what vet recommends must be good. He now realizes its expensive and said once they turn one to go get a grocery store stuff that is cheaper. I feel torn on one hand I see its expensive to get better stuff but on the other hand I want what's best for them. He said they are pets not our children which I am sad he said. I feel more for our fur babies but my hubby and I have to get something we both agree on. I might look into presidents choice from real Canadian superstore as I shop there all the time. We thought may be Iam's but I read some horrid things about their company and I don't want to feed them what is equivalent to macdonalds for kids!
As for fish flavones I would be okay feeding that couple times a week but I read that fish all the time isn't good for cats.

newkittyowner said:

Thanks you for your in depth reply much appreciated! I agree that that might be what is needed is more variety as she may be bored in what she is eating. When we first got our kittens I was reading all the stuff about what should and shouldn't be in cat food. I got overwhelmed and think I well I know I annoyed my hubby who just said get whatever is cheap. We ended up giving stuff from the vet as my hubby said what vet recommends must be good. He now realizes its expensive and said once they turn one to go get a grocery store stuff that is cheaper. I feel torn on one hand I see its expensive to get better stuff but on the other hand I want what's best for them. He said they are pets not our children which I am sad he said. I feel more for our fur babies but my hubby and I have to get something we both agree on. I might look into presidents choice from real Canadian superstore as I shop there all the time. We thought may be Iam's but I read some horrid things about their company and I don't want to feed them what is equivalent to macdonalds for kids!
As for fish flavones I would be okay feeding that couple times a week but I read that fish all the time isn't good for cats.

Click to expand...

when reading canned cat food labels, i try to focus mainly on:  the first one to three ingredients should be real meat/poultry, no corn/wheat/soy, and definitely must have taurine in it. i avoid by-products (meat/poultry) and try to avoid carageenan. when reading canned cat food labels i'm familiar enough to know which added vitamins/supplements should be in them. for me, reading every brand/flavor label every time i buy it has helped me become confident about buying canned cat foods.

some of the high priced canned cat foods (like those sold in vet's offices, and iams and science diet) are definitely over priced, and if you read the ingredients on their labels they've got fillers in them. my "take" on cat food is that i'll save money by buying high quality canned and dry cat foods for my cats. feeding high quality cat foods means my cats will need to eat less to get the nutrition they need, so the grocery store brands won't save as much as the price difference. my cats will be healthier and will have less illnesses, therefore vet costs will be lower. of course, they may be genetically predisposed to develop some diseases (like chronic kidney disease, diabetes, etc) but that's something we can't do anything about. they'll make less poop in the litter boxes because they'll have less waste, from the fillers in lower quality cat foods. and less poop in the litter box means we're using less litter, so litter cost is less.

yes, our cats aren't our (human) children, but to many of us they're our furchildren -- every bit as important to us, and every bit as loved as our (human) children. and for me, my cats depend on and trust me to serve them foods that are healthy for them. i personally will make do with lower cost meals for myself in order to be able to afford high quality cat foods for my cats.

When we got our two kittens I was warming their food and they liked that. Then I stopped because they were eating it cold and liked it that way too. Well since one of them turned their nose up at the canned good lately I tried warming a portion and she happily ate it!! Funny though cause the other turned her nose up at it until I put down cold food and then she happily ate it! Lets hope this solves it although in April when we switch to cat food I am going to try more variety.

newkittyowner said:

When we got our two kittens I was warming their food and they liked that. Then I stopped because they were eating it cold and liked it that way too. Well since one of them turned their nose up at the canned good lately I tried warming a portion and she happily ate it!! Funny though cause the other turned her nose up at it until I put down cold food and then she happily ate it! Lets hope this solves it although in April when we switch to cat food I am going to try more variety.

Click to expand...

Some variety is good, and temperature is important. For best results, canned food should be served at room temperature. I have three, and my female will often walk away from canned if it is too cool so I warm hers up a bit. My two boys are not so particular and will eat virtually anything I put in front of them but I do pull the food out of the fridge in advance, so that it can come to room temp. The other consideration here is that some canned food will have more aroma than others so you may find yourself trying a few different varieties until you hit on ones they like.

Well for now I have figured it out. My kitten that was refusing to eat wet wants her food WARM. I was warming when we first got them but then they were eating it cold so I stopped. Well because of not eating it anymore I decided to try warming it again and she laps it up now! Funny cause my other one doesn't like it warm she turns her nose up at it. So I warm one portion up and not the other and they are happy with that for now. They are funny but it's good to have this solved for the time being. I do plan to give them variety once they are switched to cat food but I will continue to feed at the temperature they currently enjoy!

Good! Its great when the solutions can be this simple, huh?

It sure is!