Struggling with dry to wet transition

missmindy · Oct 24, 2014

I have posted about my difficulty getting my kitty to eat wet food. I have no idea what she ate for the 5 years before I adopted her. She was overweight when I adopted her 3 months ago, so she likes to eat something. My vet feels she may have been VERY overweight at one point as she has a lot of loose skin rolls. She weighs 12.5 and should be closer to 10ish.

Anyhow, I have tried honestly about 100 different types of cans and brands. I've read through many of the threads on here and got all the brands folks said their kitties love. I had some luck at the very beginning with fancy feast chunky, but no more. She will only eat iams canned tuna or chicken and tuna mixed. I tried transitioning her onto just chicken, but no dice. She seems to really like the almost slimy texture of the fishy food. I can't find that texture in any other type. She will also only eat about a tablespoon of it at a time and walk away.

Here is my dilemma- right now she 's eating about 1 3oz can a day of the above mentioned iams. That means she 's getting at least some fish every day. I also have her on halo grain free dry because I know that 1 can is nowhere near enough for her. She really doesn't care for the halo, but will eat it. I've tried taking up the dry and she will tuck into her wet food, but if it isn't the iams fish, she will just lick the gravy off until it becomes all dried out or mashed down into a pattie in the bottom of her dish. I want to do what"s best for her, and I keep reading an all fish diet is no good, and of course all dry isn't desirable either. I'm not sure what else to try. Any others been through this? Have we just not been trying long enough yet?

goholistic · Oct 24, 2014

I'm sorry you're having such a hard time, but do appreciate that you're making such a valiant effort.

Have you tried toppers? Freeze-dried treats, parmesan cheese, etc? I stopped feeding my Boo dry food due to his chronic constipation and boy was he upset. He doesn't always want the wet food I offer him, or he'll only eat a little and then walk away. I let him take a break while I "refresh" the food with a little warm water, stir it up, and crumble some freeze-dried treats on top. I offer it again and he'll usually finish it. My cats love the Orijen freeze-dried treats and it's rare that all three like the same thing.

2cats4me · Oct 24, 2014

MissMindy said:
I have posted about my difficulty getting my kitty to eat wet food. I have no idea what she ate for the 5 years before I adopted her. She was overweight when I adopted her 3 months ago, so she likes to eat something. My vet feels she may have been VERY overweight at one point as she has a lot of loose skin rolls. She weighs 12.5 and should be closer to 10ish.

Anyhow, I have tried honestly about 100 different types of cans and brands. I've read through many of the threads on here and got all the brands folks said their kitties love. I had some luck at the very beginning with fancy feast chunky, but no more. She will only eat iams canned tuna or chicken and tuna mixed. I tried transitioning her onto just chicken, but no dice. She seems to really like the almost slimy texture of the fishy food. I can't find that texture in any other type. She will also only eat about a tablespoon of it at a time and walk away.

Here is my dilemma- right now she 's eating about 1 3oz can a day of the above mentioned iams. That means she 's getting at least some fish every day. I also have her on halo grain free dry because I know that 1 can is nowhere near enough for her. She really doesn't care for the halo, but will eat it. I've tried taking up the dry and she will tuck into her wet food, but if it isn't the iams fish, she will just lick the gravy off until it becomes all dried out or mashed down into a pattie in the bottom of her dish. I want to do what"s best for her, and I keep reading an all fish diet is no good, and of course all dry isn't desirable either. I'm not sure what else to try. Any others been through this? Have we just not been trying long enough yet?

i am sorry you are having such a difficult time getting your kitty to eat wet food . I know how you feel . I am in the same position with my two . I finally found two brands they will eat . Fancy Feast Kitten Turkey & Pro Plan Braised Chicken Tomato . Maybe you could try one of those .. It really is a struggle getting picky cats to eat wet food if they do not want it but you are doing your best .

lokhismom · Oct 25, 2014

You've probably come across this but throwing it out there in hopes that its helpful to you

http://www.catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf

xcourtney3 · Oct 25, 2014

My cats eat Friskies wet. Transitioning them to scheduled feedings of dry is what really helped switch them to wet. For my stubborn one, topping with Friskies Party Mix treats helped a lot.

nirvarna · Oct 25, 2014

My cat found a taste for wet food when he was really hungry. Not free-feeding is really important but I assume you don't do that anyway.In my opinion, if the cat likes fish, let him eat fish. A lot of brands have chicken with fish. My cat is a gravy licker as well and only eats pate style completely. I've tried everything and I've found that the Fancy Feast Classics (non fish) are his fav which is good because the Classics line has the lowest carbs, no grain, and highest protein.

Also, if I'm trying to get my cat to try something new, I always hide it in his absolute favorite food: Deck Hand tuna cat food from Whole Foods. It is pole and line caught which are smaller fish with lower mercury and has zero carbs, very high protein. Anyway, if he tries it with his favorite food, he seems more likely to associate the new smell and taste with a positive experience, i.e. eating his fav food. Good luck!

missmindy · Oct 28, 2014

Thank you all SO much for the replies. I've been out of commission with a bug the past few days, so we lost some ground with the transition.

I did have some success with "toppers"-thank you for that suggestion! I used crushed up temptations treats and that at least encouraged her to dig in a bit. I'm out of cheese, but I'll try that too since she likes a little cheese snack now and then. I free fed her dry while I've been sick since I live alone and couldn't count on someone else to feed her for me. So, now we go back to trying wet again. II do think I need to let her get a little hungrier to encourage her to eat, but sometimes she's a stubborn girl and will try to out wait me all day! That transition article is very helpful and it's nice to know that even an expert had trouble transitioning at first. I guess I need to remember it's a journey and not a race!

I've read that it's not good to feed fish all the time. KeKe LOVES her Iams chicken with tuna. Are there health risks with doing this? My vet said it was fine as long as it was cat food tuna and not a regular can of tuna fish.

Thank you ALL again SO much! This is such a great place

2cats4me · Oct 28, 2014

xcourtney3 said:
My cats eat Friskies wet. Transitioning them to scheduled feedings of dry is what really helped switch them to wet. For my stubborn one, topping with Friskies Party Mix treats helped a lot.

Is the Friskies Pary mix tiny pieces ? I am having trouble getting my cats to stay with wet food . They eat it a couple time and then refuse ..

I am wondering if the treats as a topper will help as they love treats ..

slykat12 · Oct 28, 2014

All I can say is keep trying. It took me awhile as well. Makes me wonder what they put in temptations treats and kibble that makes cats so insane. Can't be just Animal digest can it?

2cats4me · Oct 28, 2014

My cats love Temptations Treats but if I put them on top of wet food they just eat the treats .. I tried crushing them and sprinkle on but they were not amused .. I guess I will try the Friskies Treats and see if they like those .

I am going to try Friskies Pate next . I bought one cat of the Ocean Whitefish & Tuna and they ate about 1/2 . Thankfully they grocery store is only a few minutes away so I can go get a few can at a time ..

missmindy · Dec 9, 2014

Just wanted to update that after about 6 weeks now of trying, we are having some more success in transitioning. We had a 2-3 week period where I had an extremely erratic schedule and couldn't stick to planned meal times, but we are back on track now. @GoHolistic the parmesan cheese suggestion was a hit. It seems to stick better to the wet food and it's harder for her to eat just that off of the top.

goholistic · Dec 9, 2014

MissMindy said:
Just wanted to update that after about 6 weeks now of trying, we are having some more success in transitioning. We had a 2-3 week period where I had an extremely erratic schedule and couldn't stick to planned meal times, but we are back on track now. @GoHolistic the parmesan cheese suggestion was a hit. It seems to stick better to the wet food and it's harder for her to eat just that off of the top.

Glad to hear you're making some progress!

It's so funny how all cats are different. My cats didn't go for the parmesan cheese at all!

june lennon · Dec 10, 2014

No sure if this is the best place to post a I'm not sure if this is a behavior issue or nutrition:

I brought in a smi feral 4 months ago- a female about 9 months old. Obviously cared for and discarded. She is fearful and I've only been allowed to per- in the morning, when feeding. She had a hearty appetite and would reliable eat 1 can of Fancy Feast in a.m and again p.m with a handful of dry as a treat.

About 2 weeks ago she became a lot more finicky: sometimes not eating a.m. food and not eating p.m. food until the wee hours of morning.

To complicate things my vet talked me into taking a 4 month old kitten found in a dumpster. He is exuberant ! He has no fear of the more adult kitty and happily prances around the house while my original fur baby hides. Not that, this is unusual behavior, as in 4 months I am not allowed to touch or pet, save that 15 minutes in the morning.

But I am concerned about the lack of appetite! Ive tried different brand, flavors, textures; tuna and baby food- all ignored. She will nibble her dry food, but we all know dry isn't appropriate.

I did hand feed her yesterday, but that didn't work this morning. HELP

lokhismom · Dec 10, 2014

June Lennon said:
No sure if this is the best place to post a I'm not sure if this is a behavior issue or nutrition:

I brought in a smi feral 4 months ago- a female about 9 months old. Obviously cared for and discarded. She is fearful and I've only been allowed to per- in the morning, when feeding. She had a hearty appetite and would reliable eat 1 can of Fancy Feast in a.m and again p.m with a handful of dry as a treat.

About 2 weeks ago she became a lot more finicky: sometimes not eating a.m. food and not eating p.m. food until the wee hours of morning.

To complicate things my vet talked me into taking a 4 month old kitten found in a dumpster. He is exuberant ! He has no fear of the more adult kitty and happily prances around the house while my original fur baby hides. Not that, this is unusual behavior, as in 4 months I am not allowed to touch or pet, save that 15 minutes in the morning.

But I am concerned about the lack of appetite! Ive tried different brand, flavors, textures; tuna and baby food- all ignored. She will nibble her dry food, but we all know dry isn't appropriate.

I did hand feed her yesterday, but that didn't work this morning. HELP

Have you tried toppers to put on top of her wet food to try and entice her? Something that she likes to eat. Or Fortiflora is something a lot of people suggest since cats can't seem to resist it.

ps. thank you for taking in the little furbabies

june lennon · Dec 11, 2014

I did try but to no avail. I put kitten back into the safe room. That is a little sad as the wee one is alone a lot.. Decided this morning to return the kitten to the vet and hope the more adult kitty gets better

Struggling with dry to wet transition

missmindy

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goholistic

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2cats4me

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lokhismom

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xcourtney3

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nirvarna

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missmindy

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2cats4me

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slykat12

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2cats4me

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missmindy

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goholistic

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june lennon

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lokhismom

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june lennon

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