Enticing Hugo to eat Grainfree Wet again

So... the story goes is that Hugo went off his wet food (Mostly Merricks and a bit of wellness in between) over the last 2 days. He's still eating his dry food and he's just not interested in his wet food anymore even though I rotate 4 different flavours through the week.

I'm a bit stuck here because I usually buy his cans in bulk and there is a bit of a budget issue as well since I would love to keep feeding him at a certain budget  for grain free without buying into stuff like whiskas and friskies.

So far, he has turned his nose up at Wellness Core chicken liver, turkey liver, Wellness and Merricks (even though he has ate it for like the last couple of weeks).

Any suggestion to get him eating wet again? Or is it better to switch it up to freeze dried (Primal) with water?

lucentstreak said:

 
So... the story goes is that Hugo went off his wet food (Mostly Merricks and a bit of wellness in between) over the last 2 days. He's still eating his dry food and he's just not interested in his wet food anymore even though I rotate 4 different flavours through the week.

I'm a bit stuck here because I usually buy his cans in bulk and there is a bit of a budget issue as well since I would love to keep feeding him at a certain budget  for grain free without buying into stuff like whiskas and friskies.

So far, he has turned his nose up at Wellness Core chicken liver, turkey liver, Wellness and Merricks (even though he has ate it for like the last couple of weeks).

Any suggestion to get him eating wet again? Or is it better to switch it up to freeze dried (Primal) with water?

Click to expand...

I have read on here that some people have luck with sprinkling Feline Fortiflora on wet food to entice the cat to eat ..

Maybe you could try that ..

Will Hugo consistently eat Primal? If so, it might be worth trying. FWIW, our cats love Primal, also freeze-dried, in various combinations: they get Primal every day and canned food every day.

I'm not sure about feeding dry food and raw food at the same time, though I don't remember why it's not a good idea. (We weaned our cats from dry to canned, then added in raw so it was never an issue.) You might want to ask on the raw feeding forum about that!

Good luck!

LisaHE
The reason it's not wise to feed both raw and kibble simultaneously or within a close time frame of each other is because of digestion times; raw usually digests quickly, cats having a short digestive tract and acidic environment to process the food quickly. Kibble takes the longest time to digest, you don't want to have raw meat in the digestive tract slowed down by kibble, that can create the risk of a bacterial infection.
BTW, thanks so much for your feedback a few weeks back re: Rad Cat. I decided to give it a try, despite the eggs, Mikey loves it and hoping I can get his fussy sister to like it as well. The VP of RC said that egg yolk has a "different protein structure" than egg whites so maybe Mikey won't react (he's allergic to chicken and we think eggs).

Lucentstreak:
I had a lot of luck reconstituting Primal FD turkey with water, both cats inhale this food. Have you tried Weruva or Nature's Variety Pride? I can't use Pride any more BC of a possible egg sensitivity, however Rock star Rabbit and Diva's Duck were favs. For a while I was doing a combo of FD Primal and NV canned, if the cats get finicky I sprinkle either Pure Bites FD Raw on top (dog version more economical, it's just meat) or Origen's FD bison treats, a little goes a long way. Sometimes it's the texture of the food the cats don't like, e.g., some don't care for pate but like chunky meats with gravy (even though gravies tend to add carbs even if the food is grain free). But I wld try it regardless just to get kitty to eat wet again.

Lucentstreak:
PS: Primal FD is very affordable, I cut my food bill down considerably (canned food) when using Primal. It takes less raw to feed them, cats typically feel more sated. Be sure to rotate proteins, however, if you go down this road, lessens the chance of kitty developing an allergy and becoming fussy with the food. Only problem with Primal FD is the two flavors besides turkey contain fish, not a good choice for cats

I'll second @LisaMarie12's comment that Primal is affordable: I find that it costs about the same as grain-free canned foods and the cats are less picky about it so hardly waste anything. I'm not thrilled about the fish, either, though at least it's salmon and not the primary protein ingredient! I also think the cats like the turkey (without fish!) best so wish they'd make more with just meat.

I'm also glad, LisaMarie12, that Rad Cat seems to work!

Thank you all for the suggestions. It's just that Hugo has been given some FD chicken and duck as treats and as I can see, he devours and whines for them as treats.

Hugo has Weruva and NV very rarely (mostly because of cost). I'm located in Hong Kong so the selection and price can be a little steep.

I'll see what I can do - it might be just another fluke.

I didn't realize you were in Hong Kong.

Are you referring to Stella & Chewy's freeze dried foods that you have been giving as treats?  Maybe you might want to try a combo of S&C and Primal freeze dried; again, I think it could be more affordable in the long run (S&C's makes duck, duck, goose - which is a combo of duck, goose & turkey) and then maybe Primal's turkey.

If that's what he likes and what he will readily eat, reconstituted with water, well then, who needs canned food, maybe if only as a back-up? 

S&C's is a little more expensive than Primal FD, however, again, a little goes a long way in helping kitties feel sated.

Good luck, keep us posted.

lucentstreak said:

So... the story goes is that Hugo went off his wet food (Mostly Merricks and a bit of wellness in between) over the last 2 days. He's still eating his dry food and he's just not interested in his wet food anymore even though I rotate 4 different flavours through the week.

I'm a bit stuck here because I usually buy his cans in bulk and there is a bit of a budget issue as well since I would love to keep feeding him at a certain budget  for grain free without buying into stuff like whiskas and friskies.

So far, he has turned his nose up at Wellness Core chicken liver, turkey liver, Wellness and Merricks (even though he has ate it for like the last couple of weeks).

Any suggestion to get him eating wet again? Or is it better to switch it up to freeze dried (Primal) with water?

Click to expand...

Do not free feed dry. He will go back to eating wet with scheduled feeding times of wet or dry. Like a kid they prefer chips to broccoli if given the choice.