Picky eaters on L.I.D refusing pate...Help?!

cupcakebreath

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Hello all. 

I just joined and hope to find some answers, so I'm sorry if I'm in the wrong category by some chance.

I have four DSH cats, ages 1-4 years old. The youngest was just diagnosed with food allergies so they are all now on a L.I.D diet. They're on Natural Balance salmon/green pea dry and for canned I have them on canned NB L.I.D and Merrick L.I.D. They were previously used to shredded food and, unfortunately, the majority of L.I.D canned that I have found for them (and can afford) is pate...Which they are not happy about. They'll each eat a bite or two but then wander off. I then bought a few cans of Merrick's Cowboy Cookout (grain and chicken free) which is morsels and their portions were all gone within ten minutes.
 

I'm just curious if anyone has any suggestions? Aside from being patient, of course, haha. My husband keeps telling me that I should just wait it out and they'll adjust to the new pate, but I was curious if anyone had any other suggestions for us.

Thank you!
 

Columbine

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You might find this article helpful. It's aimed at switching to a totally new type of food, but the tips still hold good.[article="31138"][/article] Toppers of some sort can often help. A lot of people find Purebites treats really useful for this - they crumble to a pretty good power to sprinkle over the food. If fish isn't an issue, bonito flakes can work well too. The ultimate topper for many (when it comes to tempting cats to eat) is FortiFlora. Again, it depends exactly what allergy issues you're working with though.

Warming the food up can help too. I had a shreds/gravy addict. I got him eating paté food by mixing in a little hot water to make a thick gravy texture. I gradually reduced the amount of water to a more reasonable quantity, and he now eats paté food with enthusiasm...well...unless he can smell chicken in the oven :rolleyes: :lol3:

Good luck with getting your guys adjusted. It can be done :)
 

missmimz

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Are you feeding the Merrick chicken LID? The texture of that one is def more soupy/minced than the other pates they have. I agree with the other comment through, try adding some treats on top to entice them. The other issue is that if you're feeding dry food cats will often protest wet food for the dry, so you may need to cut back on that or eliminate it until they adjust to their new wet food. 
 
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lisahe

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The other issue is that if you're feeding dry food cats will often protest wet food for the dry, so you may need to cut back on that or eliminate it until they adjust to their new wet food. 
I agree about limiting or cutting out the dry food!

But at least you have something they like with Cowboy Cookout... one they're enthisiastic about is a start. Have you tried Tiki's Gourmet Carnivore? It's expensive but they have two flavors that are chickenless--it sounds like you can't feed chicken, right? They are pretty rich and caloric, and they're either shreds or chunks or both, I don't remember, with some broth. (Our cats love the slurp and pieces in the Gourmet Carnivore foods.)

Good luck!

PS. Just after I posted, I looked at our cats' food collection and saw Nutro Natural Choice sliced turkey, which is morsels like Cowboy Cookout. Our cats love it. It does have egg product in it, pork, too, but no chicken.
 
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