Both cats have stopped eating suddenly

Hello,

Hoping someone might have an answer/suggestion for us.

We have two cats (ages 8 & 9). Recently, one was diagnosed with allergies (to grass) and put on Atopica. To give it to her, we mixed it in with wet food and gave the second cats some wet food (w/o medicine) to be fair. All was fine. They'd eat that once a day, and twice a day (dispensed from a auto-feeder) they'd get their normal beloved dry food that they've eaten with great enthusiasm their entire lives.

THEN, last week, our vet suggested we try switching them to a hypo-allergenic food to determine if that was a contributing cause to the one cat's allergy symptoms. She warned us to transition slowly, so we did. We started by adding 1 or 2 kernels of the new food in with their old. Each day, we increased by another kernel. Now, suddenly they will not eat their dry food AT ALL. Never was there more than five kernels of the new food mixed in with their old. We've offered them their old food numerous times without the new food, but they still refuse to eat. 

I suspect they got upset with the new food mixed in their old and have decided it's no good anymore.

To keep them alive, we've resorted to giving them some wet food for the last several days. And in attempt to find a new dry food they'll eat, we have offered several new brands (vet gave us several samples). Several of the samples they ate once and so I ran out and bought a bag (twice now), but then they wouldn't eat either a second time.

Any ideas on A: what other causes could have contributed to the sudden change B: how I can entice them to eat their old beloved dry food again or a new dry brand consistently?

They're not outdoor cats and are really healthy--no other signs to suggest they're ill. 

Resorting to giving the wet food is not ideal for many reasons.

Thanks for your suggestions.

 Is wet not an option because of cost? It's better for them than dry food, they may just enjoy wet food more and could be why they are now snubbing their dry food.

Can you elaborate on the reasons why you don't want to feed wet food, or at least a combination of dry food and wet food?

You may find Dr. Pierson's website on feline nutrition enlightening; she discusses the importance of water in a cat's diet: http://catinfo.org/

Miagi's_Mommy said:

 
 Is wet not an option because of cost? It's better for them than dry food, they may just enjoy wet food more and could be why they are now snubbing their dry food.

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I agree: they may have just enjoyed the wet food so much that that's what they want now!

Another benefit of wet food is that simpler recipes generally make it easier to sort out what ingredient(s) may be causing a food allergy. Dry foods tend to have multiple fillers, like grains, peas, and potatoes, that can cause sensitivities. Our cats' digestive systems were much happier after we switched them to just wet food a couple months after we adopted them. They much preferred dry food but now love their wet foods.

Thank goodness!  I just want to say that this is a wonderful development.  So many adult kitties whose well-being depends on their making the transition to wet food seem unable to make the adjustment. 

Dry cat food was developed more for human convenience than for cats' nutritional needs.  For scientific reasons, the (upper) limits of the protein content possible for dry food pellets is not nearly what wet foods can deliver.  Depending on which wet foods are chosen, wet foods can also help head off development of Diabetes.  Cats at the life stage of yours are especially at risk of Diabetes, especially with dry cat food diet.

If you are concerned about spoilage of wet/canned type cat food because of absences for longer than the intervals between your cats' feeding times, you can freeze their wet cat food portions in little baggies and empty them (the clumps of frozen food) into their dishes to thaw by their next feeding times.