Switching dry to wet

mortalshare · Nov 24, 2015

Recently adopted a big fat kitty at the start of September. After doing tons of reading, I've decided to make the switch to wet after the 1st week.

She's adorable but it's been frustrating trying to feed her properly. Her original was all dry free feeding. It's almost 3 months now, and she's eating 98% wet. I divide a 5.5oz Wellness can into 4 equal sections, and give her a piece 3 times a day (approx 160 cal/day). Sounds like good progress right?

But the issue is, I have to prod her, chase her around, and this is getting tiresome.

Best case scenario, she'll eat a third of the plate. She'll get up and go pee. I'll go find her and put the bowl in front of her, sprinkle one crushed kibble on top, and she'll eat a little. She'll move to a different spot, I'll put the bowl in front of her again. Finally I'll feed her out of my hand.

I was afraid of hepatic lipidosis, so I try to make she sure she eats the entire portion I leave for her. After all, 160 cal/day seems too little? She's 7 years old.

After visiting the vet, she says it's OK to leave bowl out for 15 mins and then take it away. Supposedly the hunger will get her to do it.

I tried it (well, I gave in and chased her down just once, but stopped the hand feeding), but after day 3, she was eating 100 cal tops a day. So I was back to the old method for a few days to make sure she doesn't die.

Should I just give up and buy a bag of Evo? How much longer should I try?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

lisahe · Nov 24, 2015

MortalShare said:
Recently adopted a big fat kitty at the start of September. After doing tons of reading, I've decided to make the switch to wet after the 1st week.

She's adorable but it's been frustrating trying to feed her properly. Her original was all dry free feeding. It's almost 3 months now, and she's eating 98% wet. I divide a 5.5oz Wellness can into 4 equal sections, and give her a piece 3 times a day (approx 160 cal/day). Sounds like good progress right?

But the issue is, I have to prod her, chase her around, and this is getting tiresome.

Best case scenario, she'll eat a third of the plate. She'll get up and go pee. I'll go find her and put the bowl in front of her, sprinkle one crushed kibble on top, and she'll eat a little. She'll move to a different spot, I'll put the bowl in front of her again. Finally I'll feed her out of my hand.

I was afraid of hepatic lipidosis, so I try to make she sure she eats the entire portion I leave for her. After all, 160 cal/day seems too little? She's 7 years old.

After visiting the vet, she says it's OK to leave bowl out for 15 mins and then take it away. Supposedly the hunger will get her to do it.

I tried it (well, I gave in and chased her down just once, but stopped the hand feeding), but after day 3, she was eating 100 cal tops a day. So I was back to the old method for a few days to make sure she doesn't die.

Should I just give up and buy a bag of Evo? How much longer should I try?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to the Cat Site! It can be hard to switch cats over to wet food only -- good for you for trying! I think wet food's particularly important for overweight cats.

I have lots of questions but I think the biggest one is this: have you been feeding her just one kind of wet food? Lots of cats (like ours!) demand a fair bit of variety in their diet. Some have preferences for a specific type of food, like pates over shreds or vice versa. Ours tend to prefer shreds, though they'll eat both.

Another question: did you take your cat off dry food all at once or gradually? Lots of cats, particularly the kibble addicts, do best on a gradual plan. We took about a month with ours, starting by feeding them dry food only at night, in measured doses, then reducing the amount until it was just a topper for their wet food. At the end, there was a day when everybody forgot about the dry food; when we'd started the cats had a strong preference for dry.

The big thing is that yes, you're right that you need to feed the cat (what is her name, by the way?!) so she doesn't get sick. But I'd try some new kinds of wet food on her, too -- maybe there's something she'll like better than Wellness? -- and trying to reduce her dry food (again!) as you find wet foods she'll eat without you having to chase her down.

Good luck!

missmimz · Nov 24, 2015

Why not just leave the wet food out and let her nibble on it as she pleases? Some cats (a lot, actually) are grazers. I have an older cat that eats multiple small portions all day long.

mortalshare · Nov 24, 2015

LisaHE said:
Welcome to the Cat Site! It can be hard to switch cats over to wet food only -- good for you for trying! I think wet food's particularly important for overweight cats.

I have lots of questions but I think the biggest one is this: have you been feeding her just one kind of wet food? Lots of cats (like ours!) demand a fair bit of variety in their diet. Some have preferences for a specific type of food, like pates over shreds or vice versa. Ours tend to prefer shreds, though they'll eat both.

Another question: did you take your cat off dry food all at once or gradually? Lots of cats, particularly the kibble addicts, do best on a gradual plan. We took about a month with ours, starting by feeding them dry food only at night, in measured doses, then reducing the amount until it was just a topper for their wet food. At the end, there was a day when everybody forgot about the dry food; when we'd started the cats had a strong preference for dry.

The big thing is that yes, you're right that you need to feed the cat (what is her name, by the way?!) so she doesn't get sick. But I'd try some new kinds of wet food on her, too -- maybe there's something she'll like better than Wellness? -- and trying to reduce her dry food (again!) as you find wet foods she'll eat without you having to chase her down.

Good luck!

I've tried a lot of different kinds, and Wellness pate is the only one she will finish. Tried switch up beef and fish, but she seems to finish only the chicken.

So right now I"m switching between Core Chicken and regular Chicken.

I believe I tried gradual, but she would only eat the dry. I don't remember. I just recall one day she ate a third of the wet food, which seemed enough to remove the dry completely. Plus, she was flaking dandruff like crazy when it was a lot of dry (doesn't seem like she drinks much water).

mortalshare · Nov 24, 2015

missmimz said:
Why not just leave the wet food out and let her nibble on it as she pleases? Some cats (a lot, actually) are grazers. I have an older cat that eats multiple small portions all day long.

Is it safe to leave wet food out for so long? Especially when we get to the hot summer months?

A lot of the literature says grazing is a cause of obesity, so that's why I changed it.

missmimz · Nov 24, 2015

MortalShare said:
Is it safe to leave wet food out for so long? Especially when we get to the hot summer months?

A lot of the literature says grazing is a cause of obesity, so that's why I changed it.

Grazing only causes obesity if you leave out too much food (aka a full bowl of kibble). if you leave out the right amount it doesn't matter if they eat it now or in 3 hours. It's only "free feeding" if you leave out food at the time and you leave out unlimited food, but in your case your cat sounds like a grazer to me so it makes more sense to just leave it out. It's safe to leave wet food out. I leave it all out day sometimes (especially in the winter months). You can always add a little water to it so it doesn't dry out, or a lot of people use cooler bowls (like the Frosty Bowlz) to keep food cool.

I have a cat that just doesn't eat enough calories in his raw food to fill up, so i supplement with a small amount of high quality kibble. You could consider doing this, but it's a risk because some cats get obsessed with kibble and start rejecting their wet food altogether. I think adding perhaps some other flavors/brands might help perk his interest in his foods.

mortalshare · Nov 24, 2015

missmimz said:
Grazing only causes obesity if you leave out too much food (aka a full bowl of kibble). if you leave out the right amount it doesn't matter if they eat it now or in 3 hours. It's only "free feeding" if you leave out food at the time and you leave out unlimited food, but in your case your cat sounds like a grazer to me so it makes more sense to just leave it out. It's safe to leave wet food out. I leave it all out day sometimes (especially in the winter months). You can always add a little water to it so it doesn't dry out, or a lot of people use cooler bowls (like the Frosty Bowlz) to keep food cool.

I have a cat that just doesn't eat enough calories in his raw food to fill up, so i supplement with a small amount of high quality kibble. You could consider doing this, but it's a risk because some cats get obsessed with kibble and start rejecting their wet food altogether. I think adding perhaps some other flavors/brands might help perk his interest in his foods.

Valid point. Will try it out. Thanks!

missmimz · Nov 24, 2015

MortalShare said:
Valid point. Will try it out. Thanks!

Good luck! Some cats are just finicky eaters. My older boy is a terrible grazer but I have several other cats so I cant just leave his food out. I end up feeding him in a separate room, and half the time he eats a tiny amount and then wants to do something else. So I take his food away, and then offer it to him again later. This basically happens all day. Good thing i work from home

lisahe · Nov 25, 2015

missmimz said:
Grazing only causes obesity if you leave out too much food (aka a full bowl of kibble). if you leave out the right amount it doesn't matter if they eat it now or in 3 hours. It's only "free feeding" if you leave out food at the time and you leave out unlimited food, but in your case your cat sounds like a grazer to me so it makes more sense to just leave it out. It's safe to leave wet food out. I leave it all out day sometimes (especially in the winter months). You can always add a little water to it so it doesn't dry out, or a lot of people use cooler bowls (like the Frosty Bowlz) to keep food cool.

We leave small amounts of food out during the day and night, too, since one of our cats is a slow, deliberate eater. You're not feeding a high-calorie junky carby food, so I agree about obesity: it just shouldn't be an issue.

It does sound like you've tried lots of foods. Just in case you haven't already tried it, one brand a lot of cats seem to like is Nutro Natural Choice: our cats, who are moderately picky, love it, and I think missmimz has said hers do, too. FWIW, ours eat minced chicken, sliced turkey, and chunky chicken. Chunky chicken is one I've seen mentioned a lot as a favorite.

Switching dry to wet

mortalshare

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lisahe

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missmimz

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mortalshare

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mortalshare

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missmimz

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mortalshare

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missmimz

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lisahe

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