Suddenly won't eat wet food

Sorry if this is too long. I hope it makes sense. I just didn't want to leave anything out.

I adopted Meilyr in last June. He's a year old and had only been at the shelter for a couple weeks; before that he was an owned outdoor cat. When I first brought him home, he had a pretty nasty URI, so I had to syringe feed him for a few days until he started eating on his own. After that, he adapted to the meal schedule my other two cats were already on pretty readily.

They all eat canned food (or sometimes raw) for lunch and kibble (with freeze-dried Stella and Chewy's mixed in) from puzzle feeders for the bedtime meal. This has been the schedule the entire time I've had Meilyr and it's never been a problem until about two weeks ago. 

He suddenly started turning his nose up at eating canned food on his own. He'll sniff it, maybe (if I'm lucky that day) take one or two mouthfuls, and then walk away. I've tried different brands, textures, flavors, toppers, bowls/plates...everything I can think of. I can't leave it down indefinitely because my other two will eat it, but I've tried separating Meilyr for mealtime and he still won't eat, even if I leave the food down for him for over an hour.

Yesterday I let him walk away and skip lunch, thinking that by supper time he'd be hungry enough to eat the canned food. He still wouldn't. I literally had to spoon feed it to him to get him to touch it. And that's the weird part: on the spoon, he was clearly  interested. He ate it immediately. The same thing happened last week when I let him lick it off my fingers. But in the bowl, he wants nothing to do with it. I really don't want to spoon feed him every day, but I also don't want to put him back on an all-kibble diet.

To be clear, he is still eating his nightly kibble. He's at a decent weight and, if anything, he could stand to gain  a pound, so I really don't want him skipping meals, even aside from hepatic lipidosis concerns. I haven't taken him to the vet because A. money and B. he's still eating some/still has an appetite. What can I do to get him interested in eating canned food again?

Originally Posted by lemondrop  

I literally had to spoon feed it to him to get him to touch it. And that's the weird part: on the spoon, he was clearly  interested. He ate it immediately. The same thing happened last week when I let him lick it off my fingers. But in the bowl, he wants nothing to do with it. I really don't want to spoon feed him every day, but I also don't want to put him back on an all-kibble diet.

Click to expand...

What kind of bowl are you using to feed the canned food? Is it deep and narrowly curved?  It's possible that the bowl is too beveled and maybe it's causing Meilyr "whisker stress", hence, possibly the reason why he will eat the food via a spoon or your fingers, but not the bowl.

It doesn't sound like it's the food itself that Meilyr doesn't like. Why don't you try feeding the canned food either on a flat plate (like a dessert plate or espresso / cup plate), or a wide bowl - observe to see if his whiskers touch the tip of the bowl.

If it has nothing to do with whisker stress -- and he just likes the extra attention being spoon fed or eating from your fingers   try adding a pinch of freeze dried meat toppers, e.g., Pure Bites, Whole Life or Orijen meat treats, may work.

Good luck.

My 12 year old suddenly started with that last year.  I eventually (after trial and error) had to change his wet food to a small salad plate and he did fine.  I have no clue what made him do this at his age, but apparently he decided he wanted it in a plate.  Now I put it on the salad plate, mush it up with a fork, then pile it up into a pile.  If I don't do it exactly that way he won't eat it!  But apparently he doesn't want his curb-feelers touching anything while he eats!  It started when I got him a set of new dishes.  Now I have a whole stack of salad plates just for his use in my cabinet.

I realized what was up when I saw him eating a big hunk that had plopped out on the floor.  He ate it but not what was in the bowl.

Oh yeah--oddly enough he will let his whiskers touch the sides of his water dish.  I don't get it.

Thanks for the replies. I've tried serving his food in two different bowls (his usual shallow ceramic one and the shallow stainless steel one for his raw food) and on a saucer plate. Still not interested. He also wouldn't eat the pieces off the floor that fell from the spoon.

As for toppers, I've tried kibble, Orijen treats, parmesan cheese, sardine oil, Stella and Chewy's...all to no avail.

Oh no!  I was really hoping it was something simple like what I went through with Wurp!  I know the struggle.  I have one big boy rescue who has just become an inside kitty I am transitioning to wet.  Luckily he is a chunk that doesn't turn much down, but he prefers crunchy and I have to really watch it.  I had to do the toppers to get him started eating wet, but he dove in no problem after that.  He still demands crunchy, so now instead of meow mix he gets Merrick weight formula.  He doesn't care for it but if he wants dry, that's what there is.

Hey, just remembered---at first when I was trying to get Shortstack to eat wet I put some chicken baby food on top of the wet cat food.  You might try that too.  I think he would live on baby food.  It must have a really strong flavor or something, they all love it.  Just make sure it has no onion or garlic--some do.

Can you try warming the canned food slightly to release the aroma? Maybe that will help. Or adding some crunchies on top of the wet food? 

You may just need to sit with him and pet him while he eats. He may just want the attention?

I haven't tried baby food. Maybe that's worth a shot.

I've tried warming it and adding every topper under the sun, but he still won't touch it.
As for petting him, he either gets really into being petted or he walks away, so either way he's not eating.

This might sound a little funny, but can you try mixing (just a little) of a kibble he doesn't like in with his normal dry? I found out rather accidentally that doing that suddenly made my cat a little more amenable to eating canned food. Might be worth it. Just make sure its a dry food he really doesn't like, so it doesn't backfire. [emoji]128521[/emoji]

Another thing to consider is whether he might have a stuffy nose or uri, as that can make (even with people) foods smell funky.

More evidence that he's just being a brat: 

I put kibble in his regular dish. He ate it. I put a raw egg, a little bit of pumpkin, and some kibble in his steel dish. He ate it. I put some canned food, a tiny bit of pumpkin, and some kibble in his steel dish. He sniffed it, looked at me like I was crazy, ate the couple kibbles I dropped on the floor, and walked away.

He doesn't seem particularly stuffy or sneeze-y, so I'm thinking it's not a URI. As for kibble he doesn't like, I'd be up for trying that if I already knew of a kibble he won't eat. As far as I can tell, he likes anything crunchy.

I can't help lol-ing. That sounds exactly like Shortstack. He loves crunchy so much his nickname here is Big Crunchie! But believe me, I feel your pain. I play the food game with Wurp every night, but with wet food. It's either the wrong dish, the wrong flavor, temp, something. I told my hubby tonight I feel like I have 3 toddlers in the house.
Give the baby food a shot. I swear mine will eat it no matter what, especially the turkey or chicken. I have to keep it to give Wurp his Zyrtec in every day. Baby food has been a lifesaver around this house.

hbunny said:

I can't help lol-ing. That sounds exactly like Shortstack. He loves crunchy so much his nickname here is Big Crunchie! But believe me, I feel your pain. I play the food game with Wurp every night, but with wet food. It's either the wrong dish, the wrong flavor, temp, something. I told my hubby tonight I feel like I have 3 toddlers in the house.
Give the baby food a shot. I swear mine will eat it no matter what, especially the turkey or chicken. I have to keep it to give Wurp his Zyrtec in every day. Baby food has been a lifesaver around this house.

Click to expand...

I love your cats' names!

I'll pick up a thing of baby food next time I go grocery shopping.

What would you think about giving it a rest for a couple days and giving him kibble for lunch, then trying to reintroduce canned food from a fresh start? Would he be happy for the variety or just hold out for more kibble?

Oh me, I don't know. I've seen other threads on here where people were advised to give it a break. But I'm kinda like you--would it make him want it more?? Lol I don't know. I'm kinda relentless in my pursuit of a good diet with mine, but if the won't eat sometimes you gotta give in. I'd keep experimenting! I do give in sometimes. Lol their names---Wurp is named after the noise he makes. He rarely meows, just wurrrrps. Shortstack is, well, vertically challenged! Huge kitty, short chubby legs!

Do you warm his canned food? I just put the cans in very warm water for 10 minutes, tops.

misterwhiskers said:

Do you warm his canned food? I just put the cans in very warm water for 10 minutes, tops.

Click to expand...

I've never tried that method of warming!  I've got to try that.  I normally just microwave it for about 20-25 seconds.  That seems easier and would probably get it at a better even temp!  When I microwave I have to poke my finger in it to make sure it doesn't have "hot spots"...and I hate touching it.

I usually serve it at room temperature, but I've also tried warming it in the microwave with no success. 

I gave him a quarter cup of kibble with a little bit of Weruva and pumpkin over it for lunch today and he ate about 3/4 of it. Maybe we'll just have to start from scratch with transitioning him to canned food. Hmph.

Yes, sounds like a plan. Not a good idea to force it on him, it would add to his stress.

Might not hurt if you oohed and aahed over your other cats as they eat the canned food lol.

My cat will completely look canned food the other way if so much as a bite is "off". I'm wondering if possibly his food was too hot, and he got his tongue burned? Or food in can just a little off?

My guess is a few weeks of no canned and he might actually choose to eat it again on his own. But I'm not an expert, that's just my take on it.