Best possible choice (minimising the danger) for two cats who have refused all wet food?

All right; a little problem for which I'm hoping there might be a suggestion or two.

My two, Kîa and Nimrod (pictures stil pending; waiting for delivery of a new camera ), have a little quirk. Basically, at just over two years of age, they'll no longer eat wet food, of any kind.

when I got them as ten-week-old kittens, they were happy to eat both dry and wet. As the months passed however and they became increasingly disinterested in wet food, Assuming dry was safe enough, it became, quite simply, far easier to allow them an exclusively dry diet. The situation was not helped by the fact that I keep very bizarre hours (dodgy body-clock that does not respond at all well to typical day/night cycles, peaning my sleep can be absolutely all over the place). Had at the time I known more, I would have been more persistent. But with my being up or asleep at all hours, allowing them to graze on dry whilst ensuring they had a plethora of clean, fresh water-bowls both outside and throughout the house seemed the best option.

Being now though far more aware of the possible danger inherent in an exclusively dry-food diet, I'd like if at all possible, to get them eating at least some wet food, also to minimise the danger in any potential damage meanwhile from a high-dry-food diet.

As kittens, mostly they ate Royal Canin; as adults, mostly I've been feeding them Nutro Natural Choice Wholesome Essentials. They seem to be fine (healthy coats; clean bill of health from vet visits). Nonetheless, after reading a good many threads here, I'm no longer happy about all the fillers and garbage (grains etc.) in the Nutro, which, mistakenly, I assumed to be a premium dry food. Also, although they appear to drink plenty of water, I'm not going to have them suffer in years to come due to my being careless while still they're young enough for any potential damage not to be a problem.

So:

First: how to convince them again at least to try wet food. Note: they do appear to hunt, but never eat what they kill; just open up the mouse, lizard or whatever it is with forensic precision, and leave it as a present on the door-mat. All wet food I've tried is ignored, even with no dry for over ten hours. At the very most, I might get a sniff and a tiny nibble out of them.

Second: which food (both dry and wet/raw) best to keep them at the peak of health (note that cost isn't a factor; I'm happy to spend the extra for premium food). I am limited though by wat the on-line pet shop I use (www.mypetwarehouse.com.au) carries (I'm unable to drive due to some sight damage many years ago).

What they carry:

• ADVANCE
• ARTEMIS
• BLACK HAWK
• CANIDAE/FELIDAE
• DINE
• EAGLE PACK
• EARTHBORN
• EUKANUBA
• FANCY FEAST
• HILLS
• HOLISTIC SELECT
• IAMS
• MEALS FOR MEOWS
• NATURES GIFT
• NUTRO
• OPTIMUM
• PRIMAL
• PROPLAN
• ROYAL CANIN
• SCIENCE DIET
• SUPERCOAT
• VETS ALL NATURAL
• WHISKAS
• WOMBAROO
• ZIWIPEAK

Thus far, I'm leaning towards CANIDAE/FELIDAE for dry, but have absolutely no idea regarding wet, or how to entise them to give it a try. Also, as I'll be starting them on wet from scratch, would raw be a better entisement?

One last thing: so-called holistic is out of the question; I'm not convinced filling cats with a load of vegetable stuffing is a particularly good idea.

I found this info for converting cats to wet food. 

http://www.catinfo.org/#Transitioning_Dry_Food_Addicts_to_Canned_Food_

I heard good things about ziwipeak and fancy feast classic is ok food. 

Very interesting article. I'm not quite so concerned about cutting out all dry. In fact, given my eratic hours, I'm happy to allow them a little dry during the day.

As breakfast is the one meal I try consistently to have at a similar time each day (between Five and Six), this is that which I'll try to set for them as their definite, set morning meal-time. Cutting out all dry during the night should help.

Further, since usually they're fairly good at a set bed-time (between Ten and Eleven), I'm going to try to encourage this as the evening equivalent. If I can get them eating tinned food for a set morning and evening meal, then a little dry on which they can graze during the day shouldn't, I hope, be a concern.

The main problem is choosing premium dry and tinned that is as little processed as possible (without becoming absurdly paranoid ). Having had a childhood cat die of cancer, and another of sudden acute kidney failure at just over eleven (brought about, most probably, by garbage commercial catfood), I don't intend to make the same mistake again if at all possible, especially as I'm now so much more aware of potential risks. No cat deserves to suffer as did he, even though, mercifully, his end was quick.

From that list Nutru Natural Choice chicken loaf and Ziwipeak would be my choices.    I would try Nutro Natural Choice first.   I havent heard of too many kitties turning this food away.

If you're going to stick with dry, I would really cut down on it and try and make wet most of their diet. 

I'm hoping that once they are eating wet at regular times (at least early morning and late evening just before bed), they'll be a lot less interested in dry. I'm happy to let them have a little, but would like to get them at least to a 90% wet diet if possible.


The problem though, of course, is initially to get them at least willing to try wet once more. At the moment, I can't get them even to eat chicken directly from my hand, even though they love anything chicken-flavoured. I suspect they simply no longer recognise anything that doesn't crunch as food.


The only exception is Vegemite. I tried a little on my finger initially when Nimrod was a kitten, to encourage him to be more trusting, and discovered both of them absolutely love the stuff! They get a little as a special treat every few days.


Hmm; I wonder if it might be worth trying that with wet food: a little on a finger, alternating with a dab of Vegemite? I'm guessing that if once I can get them to taste it again, the battle will half be won.