Cami just will not eat any wet food

cats5

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Cami, which is our new addition to our household & maybe about a yr old for some reason does not like wet food at all which really surprises me as every cat I have ever owned has loved wet food as well as dry. I have tried numerous kinds of different brands & different flavors to no avail. She only will eat dry food which is ok but I know they need the moisture content from the wet food to prevent UTI's.  Has anyone else had this problem with their cats?
 

2cats4me

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Cami, which is our new addition to our household & maybe about a yr old for some reason does not like wet food at all which really surprises me as every cat I have ever owned has loved wet food as well as dry. I have tried numerous kinds of different brands & different flavors to no avail. She only will eat dry food which is ok but I know they need the moisture content from the wet food to prevent UTI's.  Has anyone else had this problem with their cats?
Been there , doing that  !  My cats will not eat wet food either .. Well they will eat Fancy Feast but I had to stop it because it started making sick for some odd reason . Now they are fine but only eating kibble . They alternate Dr.Tims  & Natures Variety Instinct .  I am still trying with the wet food but have not found one yet .. On that issue I can't offer any advice I'm afraid .. I would say just keep trying till you hit the right one .. 
 

cprcheetah

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I have had a couple of kibble addicts who turned their noses up at canned.  With a lot of patience and some tips and tricks I learned on a couple of sites, I learned how to get them over it and now have 4 cats on raw and 2 on strictly canned.  You are correct that wet/canned/raw food is the best for preventing UTI's in cats.  Here are a couple of links that may help you transition your cat to canned.  With a lot of patience it can be done. 

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/transit...-to-a-new-type-of-food-canned-raw-or-homemade

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

kaysy

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add a little tuna juice to the wet, to get them into it.  or nuke it for about 5 seconds.
 

fhicat

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Have you tried toppers? You can crush her kibbles and sprinkle it over her wet to entice her to eat. You can also try adding tuna water, or treats like bonito flakes.

You probably already know this, but I want to caution you not to try to force her to eat wet. It's better for her to eat dry than not eat at all, and all the moisture-laden wet food in the world won't help if she refuses to eat them.
 
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cats5

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Thanks for the info. I will keep trying to find something she might like. She was a rescued but I believe she may have had a previous owner as she is definitely not feral & since she is older, maybe all she got was just dry food & that's all she knows. I'm not going to give up on her by no means. I do not care for Fancy Feast or some of the other grocery store brands as they have a lot of additives & preservatives & a lot of junk that should not even be in foods so I only buy good quality, organic food. I just got her Stella & Chewey's a frozen food morsels that you let thaw & it becomes moist, hoping that she would like that but for now, she hasn't touched it but my others love it. I, already, have bonita flakes which my other cats love so I might try sprinkling a little of that on her food. Haven't heard of Dr. Tim's before, I'm assuming that only comes in dry? She really seems to like the Holistic Blue Buffalo dry food. Oh, I know not to starve her to eat as I know that is definitely not good. Also, will try the tuna water, too. Thanks you guys for all your suggestions.
 

fhicat

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I do not care for Fancy Feast or some of the other grocery store brands as they have a lot of additives & preservatives & a lot of junk that should not even be in foods so I only buy good quality, organic food. 
I agree with grocery store brands, a lot of them are pretty bad. Fancy Feast, however, has a Classics line that is the exception. It's not the best, but there are a lot worse out there. The Classics line isn't filled with corn and gluten, and their first few ingredients are meat. It's a pretty good choice for tight budgets.

As for additives and preservatives, many things unavoidably come with those. Even premium canned food and dry food has to have some sort of preservative in order for them to have such long shelf lives. @pinkdagger  wrote an excellent post here about stuffs found in food. Bottom line is, unless you want to own and run your own organic farm, these are things that will be present (and not all are necessarily horrible).
 
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cats5

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Good to know about the Fancy Feast. I understand that not all products that claim they are natural & organic are legit so you do have to do your own research. However, the less ingredients the better & also, the ingredients that are listed, you should be able to understand what they mean. Unfortunately, all these additives & preservatives that they put in pet food, they, also, put in human food to extend the shelf life of the product. However, this also shortens your shelf life as well. I realize that not many people can really afford natural & organic food so you have to do the best you can with what you can afford, you just have to be smart about it. Thanks for the imput.
 

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@cats5  What you say about doing the best you can with what you can afford is so true, and so is what Fhicat said about your cat eating is the most important thing of all.

I have a kibble addict.  At most I can get Mouse to eat a teaspoon  of one or two types of pate foods, and he won't do it all the time. I don't force it on him, I just give him a little of the one he seems to like and give it to him like a treat.   He'll take liquid treats so I also give him one of those from time to time as well, but with caution as I've heard some say their cats start to refuse other food if they get them too often and Mouse has the look of an instant addict when he's licking away at one....   I also make sure my boy has constant access to water and remains interested in it - drinking from the tap is what gets him going so drinking from the tap is what he gets.   Some cats just won't eat wet food - my theory with Mouse is he remembers being really sick with a sore throat and mouth and associates that with when he was eating wet food (he went on to a dental prescription dry afterwards).   

With the dry food I try to keep it that Mouse does not always have food in his bowl, and the amount he should have is weighed out each day as there are 3 of us who feed him and I need to know how much he is getting because if left to his own devices he would be a spherical cat.
 
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cats5

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I'm thinking whoever owned Cami before, must have just given her dry food only so that's all she knows & never was introduced to wet food. We estimate her to be about a year maybe even a little older. She is very sweet & loving so that's why I know she was not a feral cat. I'm going to keep trying different wet foods in hopes that maybe I will find one that she seems to like. So, I've been putting down a small amount of dry & also, some wet for her for breakfast & dinner as that is how the rest of the family eats. When I first got her & she was secluded from the others, I just left dry food out for her so she could nibble thru-out the day with some wet food in a different bowl. So, leaving dry food out all day is not going to solve the problem so now I just give her enough twice daily. She's going in tomorrow to get spayed & I will be glad when that's over & done with & she's back home with us again.
 

mservant

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That sounds like a useful plan @cats5  . Hopefully she will discover some flavours or varieties she likes over time.    Hope all goes well with her op' and she recovers quickly.  
   When you get her home let her eat what ever she will take for a day or two as some cats are off food after they have had anasethesia and it takes a bit of coaxing to get them started again.
 

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Some cats unfortunately prefer cheap store brands to the good organic stuff, so you might be able to use the former to "kickstart" her, then gradually introduce her to better brands.

Our last cat was a kibble fiend, too. I finally managed to get him on 50% wet & 50% dry when I discovered that he'd eat small (3 or 4-ounce) cans - absolutely no pouches, trays or larger cans. That was a bit mysterious till a guy who worked for a major pet food producer told me it didn't surprise him at all since the food is actually cooked in the can. The smaller the can, the less cooking time and the greater the flavor.
 

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I don't think it could be used long term but it might get them into canned food... but I was told the Hills Prescription diet food A/D is practically irresistible to cats. It worked with a kitten who was not eating for me many years ago. Maybe that would get them into the habit of eating canned food then you could slowly switch over to a different brand. it's pretty expensive and I think you have to go to a vet to purchase it, but at least as of 8 years ago it could sold over the counter.
 
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cats5

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Oh yes, will definitely let her eat what she wants after surgery as she will need extra TLC for sure. However, I never had any issues with any of my cats after they had surgery regarding food. They were glad to be back home in their safe zone  & back to eating as usual. I have bought the tiny little cans, too but haven't gotten one she likes. I don't think she even tries it as I see no indication that the food had a little bit taken out. My vet that I use to work for (was the office manager for him for 35 yrs) has the a/d so I might pick some up when I bring her home on Thurs. Thank goodness, I worked there all those many yrs as I get everything at cost & he usually doesn't charge me much of anything. All services are done at 50% off & never charges me for an office visit. He still misses me & would love to have me back. All my girls still work there, too & so I do get special attention when I go.
 

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Have you thought of letting her eat the food she likes but making her water yummier so she's motivated to drink enough to compensate? I put some skinless chicken breasts into a baking dish then almost cover them with water and bake/poach till cooked through. The resulting liquid is a hit with all the cats I've tried it on. You can either use the chicken yourself or cut it up for cat treats.
 
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