New Cat Is Super Picky

I've very recently adopted a new cat. She's just over one and doesn't seem to like any of the wet food I'm feeding her. First I gave her the performatrin (picture of which one below) same as my other cat eats (except he gets the weight management). My first cat eats pretty much anything even though he has a sensitive stomach. The new cat took a few bites the first day and wouldn't touch it after that. Afterwards I gave her some pride by instinct (picture also below) which I tried with my first cat but it did not come out well... Two days in a row she's licked the gravy but won't touch the meat. I do leave some go! dry food out for them throughout the day but I'm at work most the time so I can't be sure she's eating it. The place I got her from said she wasn't a very big eater but I still think she should be having more than just the gravy from one tiny can a day. I'm not really sure where to go from here. I want to make sure she's eating but I don't want to be running to the pet store for a different kind of wet food every night trying to find something. Any tips or suggestions on what to get would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone for your time.

I know all too well about dealing with a picky eater. I have THREE of them. My girls Lilith and Sophie have been picky for a while. Henry WAS a good eater until the diva sisters got a hold of him and talked him out of that. 

Have you tried other brands? Most cats really like Fancy Feast and Friskies. I keep the poultry based pates of both in our rotation. I even keep some of the FF turkey kitten food handy for when they are being extra finicky. They aren't the best but they aren't bad if you stick to the pates.

What about switching proteins? The Pride line has a good variety. Mine like the rabbit, duck, chicken and lamb (unless they decide that they DON'T like it which is usually right after I buy a case of it.  ). 

I often put foods on the back burner if they are reluctant to eat it and then re-introduce it later down the line. That almost always works. Are you in the US and shop at Petsmart/Petco? Here are the foods I would try (one can at a time until you get a rotation that works). It's a pain to do this. I know that all too well. I don't even want to think about how many cans of food there have been that have gone down my garbage disposal. It would be too depressing. Unfortunately, this comes with the territory when you have a picky eater. 

Mine like:

Friskies poultry pates

Fancy Feast poultry pates

Pride by Instinct  lamb, duck, chicken and rabbit

NVI chicken and LID turkey

Merrick pates (chicken, turkey and duck- both regular and LID)

Nutro Natural Choice - they like the soft loaf (pate), chunky loaf, minced and sliced varieties

Wellness minced, sliced and cubed chicken and turkey

Sheba poultry pates

Weruva Paw Lickin Chicken

Merrick Grammy's Pot Pie

Soulistic Good Karma and Harvest Sunrise (Petco's house brand made by Weruva- it's shredded white meat chicken in a broth like gravy. HS has bits of pumpkin)

I don't keep all of these foods on hand all the time. I try to keep the rotation varied. I also use toppers such as crushed Pure Bites freeze dried chicken breast treats and I use dry food as a topper also. It's not the main part of their meals. The dry food I use is Orijen Cat & Kitten but if the dry you're using now is working, I'd stick with it. Fortiflora is often used as a topper. Some cats like it some don't. 

Another food you can try is the 4Health line from Tractor Supply Company if you have one near you. They have a grain free line that a lot of cats like and is quite affordable at .69 cents for a 5.5 ounce can. 

Good luck. I feel your pain. Mine have been EXTRA picky lately.    I really think that they get together and try to figure out how to drive mom nuts. I know Lilith loves it when I get upset when she rejects yet another food and leaves the table in a huff with me hot on her heels saying, " But Lily, you liked that food just the other day". I can hear her thinking, "That was then and this is now and I want something else. Let me know when you find something edible". Divas. They always win.   

Believe me, I know what Kat0121 is saying. Katy was a shelter cat, all they fed them was that Hills Science Diet. I was able to wean her off that dry food and onto Meow Mix, which is not great, but at least she will eat it. I, of course would prefer her to eat wet food. My ferals love Friskies wet, all flavors. I read on TCS to try Sheba, which she does like the chicken and ESPECIALLY the turkey pate flavors. She will dabble with the beef and salmon pate as well. I tried the Tractor Supply 4Health Line of pates, all flavors, would have nothing to do with them. Fancy Feast, she does not like, nor Friskies, and believe me I tried all flavors, forms of the food, (pate vs shreds vs bits), you name it. I found she will eat the SHEDBA brand, the others do not go to waste, my feral will eat anything!!! They just are grateful to have someone who cares enough to feed them. Divas, unfortunately do not see food that way. Good luck, I am sure you will find something she will like. I would try some of the other brands Kat0121 mentioned, only in shopping on line, the ones I looked up are too expensive for me. If you are not in that same boat, the better, go for it. I do appreciate the SHEBA brand, works wonders for the picky eaters!!!!

mazie said:

Believe me, I know what Kat0121 is saying. Katy was a shelter cat, all they fed them was that Hills Science Diet. I was able to wean her off that dry food and onto Meow Mix, which is not great, but at least she will eat it. I, of course would prefer her to eat wet food. My ferals love Friskies wet, all flavors. I read on TCS to try Sheba, which she does like the chicken and ESPECIALLY the turkey pate flavors. She will dabble with the beef and salmon pate as well. I tried the Tractor Supply 4Health Line of pates, all flavors, would have nothing to do with them. Fancy Feast, she does not like, nor Friskies, and believe me I tried all flavors, forms of the food, (pate vs shreds vs bits), you name it. I found she will eat the SHEDBA brand, the others do not go to waste, my feral will eat anything!!! They just are grateful to have someone who cares enough to feed them. Divas, unfortunately do not see food that way. Good luck, I am sure you will find something she will like. I would try some of the other brands Kat0121 mentioned, only in shopping on line, the ones I looked up are too expensive for me. If you are not in that same boat, the better, go for it. I do appreciate the SHEBA brand, works wonders for the picky eaters!!!!

Click to expand...

ITA about the Sheba turkey. It's a good one and Wal Mart has it for .50 cents a can. You can also often find coupons online and on the cans in store. Mine also like the chicken and the chicken and liver Sheba pates but the turkey is the hands down winner from that brand. They do not like any of the cuts. Just the pates. 

Thank you Kat0121, I appreciate your reply!!

Thanks so much ladies!! That at least gives me a starting point of which to try. Guess its just time to play trial and error to see what she goes for. I've only had Leeloo for four days so I haven't tried to much yet. For the Pride line she had the chicken and then tuna. She seemed to eat the tuna a bit more but still barely anything. She's still a bit nervous so I know her appetite could get better later on, my Frank isn't very happy with the addition to the family so he's being a bit of a bully. I make sure to feed them at the same time and give them space but she still is constantly watching him while she eats. But she is still licking up all the gravy so I think if she wasn't eating because of nerves she wouldn't even be doing that. I'm in Canada and I don't think we have a Petco but we do have a Petsmart which I'm going to go to today to try and find more food for her. I'll just start with one can for a few different types and see which she goes for more. I know cats are allowed to have tastes but it can just be frustrating. This must be my punishment for being a picky kid

Maybe I'll make a little chart a rate different types of wet food (pate, minced, bits), brands, and proteins. I do like nerding out on things like that lol. 

Veya said:

 
Thanks so much ladies!! That at least gives me a starting point of which to try. Guess its just time to play trial and error to see what she goes for. I've only had Leeloo for four days so I haven't tried to much yet. For the Pride line she had the chicken and then tuna. She seemed to eat the tuna a bit more but still barely anything. She's still a bit nervous so I know her appetite could get better later on, my Frank isn't very happy with the addition to the family so he's being a bit of a bully. I make sure to feed them at the same time and give them space but she still is constantly watching him while she eats. But she is still licking up all the gravy so I think if she wasn't eating because of nerves she wouldn't even be doing that. I'm in Canada and I don't think we have a Petco but we do have a Petsmart which I'm going to go to today to try and find more food for her. I'll just start with one can for a few different types and see which she goes for more. I know cats are allowed to have tastes but it can just be frustrating. This must be my punishment for being a picky kid

Maybe I'll make a little chart a rate different types of wet food (pate, minced, bits), brands, and proteins. I do like nerding out on things like that lol. 

Click to expand...

My DD is one of the pickiest eaters on earth. When I got the girls, she was away at school. She came home for spring break shortly after and when she went back to school, the girls were almost as picky as she is. I always wonder if she conducted a seminar while I was at work. How to be a picky eater and drive mom crazy 101. They both aced the class and then forwarded that knowledge onto their new brother Henry. The girls were not bad eaters before Queen Picky showed up.   

Henry's a little better than they are but NOT MUCH. 

There's a whole thread about Gravy Only Lickers.  My two won't touch anything with "chunks" - they'll lick the gravy and that's it. They will however, lap up pate food if I add a little water to it. My girl is a super dainty eater, and so the mushier the food, the better for her. She doesn't "bite" food, she just licks it to death. lol

Paiger8 said:

There's a whole thread about Gravy Only Lickers. My two won't touch anything with "chunks" - they'll lick the gravy and that's it. They will however, lap up pate food if I add a little water to it. My girl is a super dainty eater, and so the mushier the food, the better for her. She doesn't "bite" food, she just licks it to death. lol

Click to expand...

Oh I never thought of that! She doesn't really seem to take bits either so I'll definitely try to mush up some pate.

My picky boy Ghibli likes a lot of what @Kat0121  's cats like too! I find that the brands she mentioned are what a lot of picky cats like. 

Especially: 

Nutro natural choice poultry pates

Sheba chicken and turkey pates

Weruva Paw Licken Chicken

Fancy feast poultry flavors (the classics) aka pates

Merrick's Grammy's pot pie

Ghibli eats all of these very consistently  

I got a variety of cans from nutro in all different forms and proteins to experiment lol. She seems more interested in fish over chicken but time will tell hopefully some of these are a winner and I can branch out from there. Going to mush up the rest of the can that I gave her this morning and see if she's just to delicate for bites. Oh the joys of a new kitty