So after looking around the forum, I realized that wet food is much healthier than dry food. But I have tried feeding my cat wet food and he does not like it. What do I do? Thanks!
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My cat won't eat wet food
- Thread starter bcpets
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What brands have you tried? Some cats have a brand or recipe preference - you may end up trying a lot of brands just to get them to eat one. Wet food tends to have a stronger smell already, but I know other people have luck getting their cats to eat wet food by heating it slightly. You can do this for a few seconds in the microwave, but I usually just pour a bit of warm or hot water on it (hot if the food has been refrigerated) since cats prefer room-temp or slightly warmer food. If they were to hunt their prey, they wouldn't wait and eat it cold, but they'd go for it warm and fresh.
You can also use toppers. Are there treats your cats can't resist? I find PureBites are very easy to use as toppers because the cats love them, and they're just literally dried meats, so they're very crumbly and pretty healthy in terms of treats. The smell is strong, so the cats will dig in. I use this for foods the cats aren't too fond of, but will begrudgingly eat.
Another option is to try topping with kibble. Be aware though, kibble can have some nasty bacteria on the exterior that doesn't flourish without moisture. Once kibble comes into contact with water, you shouldn't leave it out too long to spoil.
There are other types of wet food if texture is an issue. Some cats prefer pates, some cats prefer chunks, some prefer shreds... some cats will come up to wet food and lick up all the gravy and leave! Our older cat used to do this, but then I started wetting his wet food practically into a soup so he'd eventually end up lapping up all the food with it.
Here are some articles on TCS that talk more about choosing a good canned food, and how to go about transitioning:
What Makes the Best Canned Cat Food?
How to Compare Cat Foods & Calculate Carbs: Dry Matter Basis
Transitioning Your Cat from Kibble to a New Type of Food (Canned, Raw, or Homemade)
It can be a pretty heavy trial-and-error process, but once you find "the one(s)" for your cats, it's worth it! Good luck!
You can also use toppers. Are there treats your cats can't resist? I find PureBites are very easy to use as toppers because the cats love them, and they're just literally dried meats, so they're very crumbly and pretty healthy in terms of treats. The smell is strong, so the cats will dig in. I use this for foods the cats aren't too fond of, but will begrudgingly eat.
Another option is to try topping with kibble. Be aware though, kibble can have some nasty bacteria on the exterior that doesn't flourish without moisture. Once kibble comes into contact with water, you shouldn't leave it out too long to spoil.
There are other types of wet food if texture is an issue. Some cats prefer pates, some cats prefer chunks, some prefer shreds... some cats will come up to wet food and lick up all the gravy and leave! Our older cat used to do this, but then I started wetting his wet food practically into a soup so he'd eventually end up lapping up all the food with it.
Here are some articles on TCS that talk more about choosing a good canned food, and how to go about transitioning:
What Makes the Best Canned Cat Food?
How to Compare Cat Foods & Calculate Carbs: Dry Matter Basis
Transitioning Your Cat from Kibble to a New Type of Food (Canned, Raw, or Homemade)
It can be a pretty heavy trial-and-error process, but once you find "the one(s)" for your cats, it's worth it! Good luck!
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You can crush kibble and use as a topper, as pinkdagger mentioned. Me personally, I don't worry that much about bacteria since bacteria is already on the kibble and cats can usually handle bacteria well. While I wouldn't turn your cat's food into a science experiment by leaving it out days on end, it wouldn't bother me to leave it out all day for a normally healthy cat. My immune-compromised diabetic cat could handle hours-old wet food.
Parmesan cheese is an easy topper too.
Parmesan cheese is an easy topper too.
I agree with all pinkdagger's advice and wanted to add that using kibble as a topper worked well for weaning our two cats off dry food: I used a tiny bit less dry food each day over about a month. That worked well and faster than I thought it would. The cats had been fixated enough on dry food that they waited and whined for it at the end of the day... I stopped free feeding dry food fairly soon after we adopted them as underfed 10-month-old kittens, giving them just a dish of it at night and feeding only wet food during the day. Our vet, who's a big wet food advocate, had even suggested counting out pieces of kibble to ration it!
I also add extra water to our cats' pate foods, which they generally won't eat "straight." I serve them shred-style foods right out the can, though. Both our cats like a lot of variety, so I definitely recommend trying a range of food brands and types to see what your cat will eat consistently. It took a few months to settle on a good rotation for these two.
Good luck, BCPets!
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To transition my dry food addict to all wet, I had to first transition him to scheduled feedings. Now when he turns down a certain wet food, I just top it with Friskies Party Mix
There's commercial toppers, too, like Halo Dinner Party.
Some owners use Fortiflora, a probiotic, because it has animal digest in it. Animal digest is sprayed on kibble to make it appetizing to cats. True, you can just crush kibble, but Fortiflora provides an option if you don't want to feed additional carbs.
Does your cat like Temptations treats? Some cats are addicted to Temptations. You can try crushing Temptations if he's one of the addicts.
Is he eating wet at all? To give him the idea that wet food is good, you could try a bribe like tuna or sardines. Don't feed a lot of fish or fish flavored foods, though. No more than 10% of calories if it's not balanced food, and no fish flavored foods more than once or twice a week. Fish can cause addiction, and there are concerns about the phosphorus and mercury content.
There are also foods that are made as appetizers/snacks instead of food. Again, don't feed this in place of balanced meals, but if he's more open to the appetizer food, you might be able to make him more open to wet food in general.
Some owners use Fortiflora, a probiotic, because it has animal digest in it. Animal digest is sprayed on kibble to make it appetizing to cats. True, you can just crush kibble, but Fortiflora provides an option if you don't want to feed additional carbs.
Does your cat like Temptations treats? Some cats are addicted to Temptations. You can try crushing Temptations if he's one of the addicts.
Is he eating wet at all? To give him the idea that wet food is good, you could try a bribe like tuna or sardines. Don't feed a lot of fish or fish flavored foods, though. No more than 10% of calories if it's not balanced food, and no fish flavored foods more than once or twice a week. Fish can cause addiction, and there are concerns about the phosphorus and mercury content.
There are also foods that are made as appetizers/snacks instead of food. Again, don't feed this in place of balanced meals, but if he's more open to the appetizer food, you might be able to make him more open to wet food in general.
I use human grade fish flakes aka bonito flakes. It's much cheaper than the pet grade which is a total ripoff. If you're near an Asian (particularly Japanese or Korean) market, they'll carry it. They get the bonito flakes for breakfast, and mid-day snack, and for dinner they get a few kibbles sprinkled on top. Sometimes I break up the bigger pieces to gain more "coverage" of the wet food, but my cats prefer being able to bite the kibble. Crushing the kibble seems to work once or twice but then the cats start turning up their noses. My cats will eat their wet food within 2-3 minutes so I don't worry about bacteria growth.
Regarding wet food. My cats don't take to it too well and now one of my thin boys is turning his nose up to everything I offer. I'm worried that he will stop eating completely, he is only 7lbs. As of yet I have only tried "pate" styles. It seems like the stronger the smell, the higher his nose turns up.
Two questions:
How long do you leave out the sample portion before determining he is never going to eat it? Minutes, hours?
How long before trying another brand/flavor? Minutes, hours, days?
I'm afraid of turning him off to food completely and know that I created this by not giving him a variety when he was younger.
Two questions:
How long do you leave out the sample portion before determining he is never going to eat it? Minutes, hours?
How long before trying another brand/flavor? Minutes, hours, days?
I'm afraid of turning him off to food completely and know that I created this by not giving him a variety when he was younger.
Can you go to the pet store and 1 can each of several different brands ?
Try to get 3 oz cans and just divide between your cats to do like a taste test ..
Fancy Feast , Sheba , Friskies , Weruva all have some nice juicy shredded recipes . Maybe he would like something like that .. Good luck ..
Try to get 3 oz cans and just divide between your cats to do like a taste test ..
Fancy Feast , Sheba , Friskies , Weruva all have some nice juicy shredded recipes . Maybe he would like something like that .. Good luck ..
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Like a side by side, see which one they go for? or one every half hour/hour maybe?
Thanks, I'll need it!
It is #1 priority on my to-do list this weekend.
I would probably just do it at regular meal times . Just pick one brand , give them each a 1/2 can .. See if they like it .. If they do , write it down ..
Next meal do the same with another brand ..
If you can find at least 3 brands that they will eat and enjoy . You can use those 3 to alternate daily . ( different one at each meal ) ..
My cats were once very picky as well due to me feeding them the same food all the time but now since I have put them on 100% and have been feeding different brands they will eat just about anything ..
There are a couple flavors they still don't like though .
I think it depends on each kitty, but my kitty would come back after about 20 minutes and scarf down new food that she was previously tenative about. If it was left out 30 or 40 minutes, she probably wasn't going to eat it.
The cheaper foods usually smell more, so try some higher end foods.
