So frustrated! Pickiest cats ever!

hazzaram · Jun 28, 2015

I have 2 cats, both young adults and they are driving me crazy with their pickiness! Both were strays and I adopted them from the humane society. I love them to bits, but I am super frustrated!

They will only eat fancy feast.

They will not touch pate (including warmed, mixed with water etc.)

They will not touch fish flavours.

They will not eat any (tried them all) of the better quality brands available at Petsmart or Petvalu in Canada (not even mixed in with fancy feast).

I'm on a budget and while FF definitely fits in that budget, I want them to eat better quality food. I just can't seem to get them there. I've tried all the tricks and nothing is working! I feed them a higher quality dry food to try and make up for it. They're eating Nature's Variety Instinct, the chicken with the raw freeze dried bits and they eat it pretty well but I feel wet food is better for them.

Right now, they each get a 85g can of FF in the morning and I leave dry food down for them all day. I know that's not very much wet food but when I feed it to them at night as well, they don't eat it all and I can't afford to waste food right now.

I guess I have no choice but to keep up with the FF, even though I really hate giving it to them

knic · Jun 28, 2015

I have no advice, just commiseration haha my cat is the same way. He has a history of crystals so he can only have wet food. He doesn't like any rx wet foods, but they're super expensive anyway. He is also gluten intolerant which makes things harder (and makes it so he can't have dry rx food, although I know wet is much better than dry). I am on a budget too, but I have still tried almost every higher quality food. He doesn't like chunks, shouldn't have much fish because of his urinary problems, and is allergic to salmon. So, the only things he will eat are Friskies pate (non-fish flavors), Iams flaked (only tuna flavors), and Canidae grain free chicken...and all have to be mashed up. I guess the one thing I am lucky about is that he prefers his food mixed with a lot of water. However, he will randomly get sick of them at different times and refuse to eat them lol I feel your frustration.

I would not worry about having to feed Fancy Feast, in my opinion, any wet is good! I felt bad about having to give him mostly Friskies which is why I kept searching for higher quality wet foods, but it is one of the only foods he will eat and he has been on it since January with no problems. Only thing I can suggest is keep looking out for new foods to try at different pet stores (that's how I found Canidae)..I understand how frustrating it is to spend money on food that then goes to waste though.

Kat0121 · Jun 28, 2015

hazzaram said:
I have 2 cats, both young adults and they are driving me crazy with their pickiness! Both were strays and I adopted them from the humane society. I love them to bits, but I am super frustrated!

They will only eat fancy feast.

They will not touch pate (including warmed, mixed with water etc.)

They will not touch fish flavours.

They will not eat any (tried them all) of the better quality brands available at Petsmart or Petvalu in Canada (not even mixed in with fancy feast).

I'm on a budget and while FF definitely fits in that budget, I want them to eat better quality food. I just can't seem to get them there. I've tried all the tricks and nothing is working! I feed them a higher quality dry food to try and make up for it. They're eating Nature's Variety Instinct, the chicken with the raw freeze dried bits and they eat it pretty well but I feel wet food is better for them.

Right now, they each get a 85g can of FF in the morning and I leave dry food down for them all day. I know that's not very much wet food but when I feed it to them at night as well, they don't eat it all and I can't afford to waste food right now.

I guess I have no choice but to keep up with the FF, even though I really hate giving it to them

I understand how you feel as well. I have 2 picky eaters myself. FF has gotten something of a bad reputation that I don't think it really deserves, Are there better, higher quality foods out there? Yeah, sure. Are there also worse things they could be eating? Yes. Definitely. The bottom line is this. You can buy the most expensive, highest quality food that there is and if your cats won't eat it, it's worthless. You've tried the high end brands and they have told you what they want. The want the FF. Many people here have FF in their rotation. If it is in your budget and your cats like it then it's the right food for you. My cats eat FF. They also eat Sheba and Friskies. They also get some of the higher end brands but not all the time because they are so picky. Lilith used to adore the Wellness Divine Duos. I got a GREAT deal on some recently through coupons and a sale. She wouldn't touch it. It ended up in the trash. Thankfully I only bought 2

You have to do what's best for your cat and your household. If they are healthy and happy then that's what matters. The FF classics (pates) are generally lower in carbs than the other ones but if they don't like them, they don't like them. I'd just try to avoid the ones that have a lot of gravy because a lot of the carbs come from that. If you have a Petsmart near you, they have their own line, Grreat Choice that might have something they like and it's quite affordable.

queenofcats · Jun 29, 2015

I can relate to having a fussy cat! My cat will only eat Dine Desire or chicken breast, he likes the junk food dry biscuits but I refuse to give them to him, and boy does he complain! In the end I had to mix in the cheap dry food with the grain free, do you have Dine Desire in Canada? I also found new dry biscuits my cat Blade absolutely loves,the ACANA range from Orijen. I feel for you having picky cats! I hope you get a solution soon!

2cats4me · Jun 29, 2015

@hazzaram , I have two very picky cats as well . I can relate . My cats will not eat any wet food at all except Fancy Feast but they ONLY like the pate/classic formulas .. However they can only eat it diluted with water (1/2 can with 1/2 can of water) or it makes them sick so I also give them kibble for one meal to insure they get the proper nutrition ..

hazzaram · Jul 1, 2015

Kat0121 said:
I understand how you feel as well. I have 2 picky eaters myself. FF has gotten something of a bad reputation that I don't think it really deserves, Are there better, higher quality foods out there? Yeah, sure. Are there also worse things they could be eating? Yes. Definitely. The bottom line is this. You can buy the most expensive, highest quality food that there is and if your cats won't eat it, it's worthless. You've tried the high end brands and they have told you what they want. The want the FF. Many people here have FF in their rotation. If it is in your budget and your cats like it then it's the right food for you. My cats eat FF. They also eat Sheba and Friskies. They also get some of the higher end brands but not all the time because they are so picky. Lilith used to adore the Wellness Divine Duos. I got a GREAT deal on some recently through coupons and a sale. She wouldn't touch it. It ended up in the trash. Thankfully I only bought 2

You have to do what's best for your cat and your household. If they are healthy and happy then that's what matters. The FF classics (pates) are generally lower in carbs than the other ones but if they don't like them, they don't like them. I'd just try to avoid the ones that have a lot of gravy because a lot of the carbs come from that. If you have a Petsmart near you, they have their own line, Grreat Choice that might have something they like and it's quite affordable.

Thank you for mentioning Great choice. I had stayed away from that food before because I figured it was worse than FF but I went out and got a few cans to try, just to give them a bit of variety and they both ate some of it!

hazzaram · Jul 1, 2015

QueenofCats said:
I can relate to having a fussy cat! My cat will only eat Dine Desire or chicken breast, he likes the junk food dry biscuits but I refuse to give them to him, and boy does he complain! In the end I had to mix in the cheap dry food with the grain free, do you have Dine Desire in Canada? I also found new dry biscuits my cat Blade absolutely loves,the ACANA range from Orijen. I feel for you having picky cats! I hope you get a solution soon!

No, we don't have that kind here. I have never heard of it! I have never seen orijen here either.

So frustrated! Pickiest cats ever!

hazzaram

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knic

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Kat0121

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queenofcats

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2cats4me

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hazzaram

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hazzaram

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