Cat refuses Dry Food

I adopted my cat a few months ago and she refuses dry food.  I've tried like 8 or 9 different kinds of dry food.  From the really expensive 30 bucks a bag kind to mid level variety.  I've tried mixing it with her wet food but she'll just lick off the wet food, leaving the dry food behind.  

I understand that many people have varying opinions on wet food vs. dry food, many think that an all wet food diet is great.  To those whom have that opinion I'm probably talking crazy talk.  My problem is that my cat has an insatiable appetite. (I'm talking it seems like giving her around 10oz of wet food a day satisfies her) As a result if she doesn't get enough she doesn't stop meowing until she gets more food.  It's made my sleeping situation really challenging (see my original thread).  However, feeding her extra at night seems to help with the sleeping situation and I get to sleep through much of the night. (YAY!) If I had all the funds in the world I'd just settle on feeding her lots of high quality wet food but unfortunately that is not my situation.  I want to buy grain free, high protein, no meat -by product food because I know it's better for the quality of life of my cat.  But i also can't spend hundreds of dollars on food for my cat every month.  I mean, she'd be eating better than me!  (And maybe that's callous…but it's the reality)

So my thus my original idea of trying to get her to like a dry food that I can supplement her wet food with.  I could leave it out all day to let her graze and then give her a cat of wet food at night.  So I can balance out my cost and make her food go further.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get your cat to eat dry food?  Brands to try?  It doesn't have to be super high quality but if it's appealing to a picky cat, that's my main concern.  I've also tried putting stuff on dry food, like a salmon flavored supplement but she wouldn't touch it.  HELP!  Thanks!!

what wet foods does she eat? i'm assuming you've tried the same brands in dry. 

detmut said:

 
what wet foods does she eat? i'm assuming you've tried the same brands in dry. 

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Her Foster mom was using California Natural and so I started her out on both the wet and dry variety.  She gobbled up the wet but refused to even consider the dry.  I noticed that the wet version was starting to make her stool a little loose so I slowly transitioned her to Blue Buffalo but I couldn't find big enough cans to satisfy her craving.  (I was giving her two 3 oz cans a day, which is also expensive) Now I'm on Newman's Organic just because it's a little cheaper. But I was looking at Innova 12 oz cans which I could make it stretch a little more…but even still that's roughly more than half a can a day for food. 

In terms of dry food I've tried: wellness, California natural, Blue Buffalo, Nature's Variety, Nature's Balance (and variation of flavors for all of these brands)  

**Sidenote her foster mom was surprised she wasn't eating dry food at all.  So I guess she's seen her eat dry food before but she also had over 20 cats in her house so she just may not have noticed her not eating the dry and just assumed she was.  

I would buy 13 oz cans of friskies Pate, still better than premium dry. I would feed smaller meals spread out better. One right before bed.

bonepicker said:

I would buy 13 oz cans of friskies Pate, still better than premium dry. I would feed smaller meals spread out better. One right before bed.

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I agree on all points, including the Friskies! As for feeding, we find that small meals spread through the day helps keep our insatiable cats satisfied, and feeding a particularly caloric food just before bed has been very helpful in getting sleep.