Canned Food

I've been offering my boys some canned food with their normal dry food, but they aren't eating it very well.  I got them Fancy Feast Classic.  Connor eats it better than Murphy - he devoured some of it yesterday morning and ate a halfway decent amount this morning.  Murphy kinda nibbles at it then goes back to the dry food.  Should I stop offering the dry food for a while?

If you want to, sure. But don't let them starve if they don't eat the canned food. Cats can get a deadly liver condition if they don't eat everyday my vet told me. Switch gradually. Maybe put a smear of canned food on top of the kibble to entice the other one to try it?

oldgloryrags88 said:

If you want to, sure. But don't let them starve if they don't eat the canned food. Cats can get a deadly liver condition if they don't eat everyday my vet told me. Switch gradually. Maybe put a smear of canned food on top of the kibble to entice the other one to try it?

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Or put a few pieces of kibble on the canned food.

Some cats like the canned food watered down a little. You could try that.

^^^^

Agreed. I do that with my cats.

Many cats don't like pates, others cuts, grilled, shreds, filets. Maybe try all gradually? Also different brands and flavors. With and without gravy/sauce. Try the cheese added varieties. There's plenty of fish in the sea.

You can also try adding "toppers" like freeze dried chicken or turkey:

https://www.chewy.com/purebites-chi...es&utm_term=&gclid=CNOGlcSl4M4CFUmRfgodn1gMAw

Or Bonito flakes:

https://www.google.com/search?q=bon...X&ved=0ahUKEwjohrLhpeDOAhVY92MKHbPqBMYQs0wIHg

Or as others have suggested: dry food

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Connor ate the beef flavor ok, Murphy barely nibbled it.  Neither of them seemed to like the turkey much - just nibbles on that.  Today, it was chicken and they ate the crap out of it.  I'll try the turkey and beef one more time to see if maybe they were just still a little "off" from the neutering, but if they don't like it, I'm sure I can find someone to give it to.  No use letting it go to waste.

Sometimes it takes trial and error to find what flavor and type (i.e. Pate, shredded, with or without gravy etc) [emoji]128580[/emoji]

I'm sure a local rescue or humane society would gladly take any extra cans you have on hand that they won't eat!

I'm sure they would!  I gave them the beef one again this morning and they both ate it, but not as well as they did the chicken.  I split a can between the two of them - no point in giving them a bunch if they won't eat - and most of it is gone.

I finally found a food that everybody (all 6 cats) would agree on and although it's kind of pricey, the ingredients are really good.  It's Nature's Logic in the chicken formula.  I actually buy the dog food version because it's the same formula as the cat version, just in a bigger, more economical can.  I rotate them between that one and the rabbit to prevent them from developing any food allergies.  I have found the cheapest place to get it is chewy on their subscribe and save option.  I do believe if you contact Nature's Logic they will send you a sample, though, to try, if you are interested.

Thanks, I might have to do that.  I'm not sure I can afford to get something that's really pricey, though.  My boyfriend is trying to get a job at a local factory.  Starting out, he'll be making $5 an hour more than he's making now and he'll get A LOT more hours.  So, if that happens, we should be able to afford better cat food but for now, we can't.  They had him do a tour a ran a background check and said they would call him in a month or two when they could extend job offers.  They're currently expanding.  I want to think they were saying he has the job without making it official until they're allowed to, but I don't want to get my hopes up too high.

Plus, it offers full family benefits.  So as soon as we get married, I'll be covered!

Yes, it's kind of pricey, (chicken varies around $27 to $32 for a 12 pk of 13 oz. cans) but the way I look at it, if you feed your animals a good, quality food, you have less health issues down the road.  Not saying what you're feeding them isn't healthy, but after having had to go through numerous foods trying to get my very first rescue to eat something consistently, longer than a week and then having an issue with my second rescue having severe diarrhea for the first three months I had him, to finally, after many, many hours of research, determining it could be from eating the same protein (chicken) in any form for too long, I found Nature's Logic Rabbit which has absolutely no chicken of any sort in it.  After about a week, he stopped having any issue and now I rotate them between the chicken (everybody's favorite) and the rabbit formula.   All cats are different though and I have a friend who tried it and her cats weren't big fans.  I think the important thing is to just look at the ingredients and try to stick with ingredients that are more along what a cat would eat in the wild...no corn, wheat. stuff like that.  Also, be wary of carrageenan, which has been shown to cause inflammation.  I used to feed Wellness brand until I did research and found that out. 

I'll keep that in mind.  I got the Fancy Feast because the first several ingredients were meat.  I had never even heard of carrageenan so now I want to run to the kitchen and check the ingredient list again!  But I'm working and I don't have a break for another hour and a half.

Well, you have to do the best you can do, so don't stress too much about the carrageenan or whatever.  I think it's probably just more important to get your cats eating wet food since they rely so heavily on their food to keep them hydrated and not tax their kidneys.  Honestly, one of my little males prefers the hard food over the soft and I wish he didn't.  I see him drinking a lot more too, which bothers me because I don't want any kidney issues down the road.  My cats are indoor/outdoor though, so he's getting other food sources like mice that will help supplement the moisture in his diet with the little canned food that he does eat. 

Murphy seems to prefer dry food, too.  I don't get it.  And neither of them drink much water.  They won't touch their water if it's been sitting out for more than 10 minutes.  And I have to wash it very thoroughly with dish soap every time I replace their water or they turn up their noses at it.  They're not spoiled at all.

Well, maybe they do, and you just don't see them. lol   I've caught Cooper drinking out of the toilet and the shower, which gets a little pool of water around the drain because the yahoos who built my house didn't put the drain in right.  I guess it's all worked out though, because for some strange reason, the cats love drinking that little bit of shower water.  I even turn it on for them sometimes just so they can have that water.  This is despite having at least 4 water buckets/bowls around the place AND a pond in my front yard.  The shower and toilet is also convenient for them since I keep their cat door in the window in my bathroom at the end of the house since it's not exactly aesthetically pleasing.  This is also the cat that if at the other end of the house, will go to the front door and ring the dog's bell on the door to be let out, instead of walking on down the hall and going out his own door.  In conclusion, cat's are weird.  lol

Alicia88 said:

Murphy seems to prefer dry food, too.  I don't get it.  And neither of them drink much water.  They won't touch their water if it's been sitting out for more than 10 minutes.  And I have to wash it very thoroughly with dish soap every time I replace their water or they turn up their noses at it.  They're not spoiled at all.

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If I gave my cat a choice, she would eat the dry over the canned [emoji]128580[/emoji] But she has a history of uriniary crystals so dry is not an option for her. A lot has to do what they are used to. This article may help:

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/transit...-to-a-new-type-of-food-canned-raw-or-homemade

I agree with whatsonemore that it's most important to work on transitioning the boys to wet food first and then you can fine tune their menu and worry about things like carrgeenan. Once they are eating canned, they will primarily get their water intake through the canned food and you can even add extra water by mixing some in with the canned food.

I think it's great you want to work on getting the boys eating canned food. It's a good thing for their long term health in a lot of ways. I can tell they are very loved and cherished [emoji]10084[/emoji]️

That's the understatement of the century.  We borrowed a cat carrier from my boyfriend's aunt to take Connor and Murphy to get neutered.  You would think they would be absolutely terrified of it.  We haven't had a chance to return it yet.  The day after we brought them home, my tire went flat.  I know how to change a tire, but I don't have a jack and I can't find anyone to borrow one from.  The knowledge doesn't help you.if you don't have the tools.  Anyway, they're always sleeping in it.  They race to it and whichever one gets there first hogs it.  Reminds me of my sisters and me racing to the car to get the front seat.

HelloMissKitty said:

If I gave my cat a choice, she would eat the dry over the canned [emoji]128580[/emoji] But she has a history of uriniary crystals so dry is not an option for her. A lot has to do what they are used to. This article may help:

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/transit...-to-a-new-type-of-food-canned-raw-or-homemade

I agree with @WhatsOneMore that it's most important to work on transitioning the boys to wet food first and then you can fine tune their menu and worry about things like carrgeenan. Once they are eating canned, they will primarily get their water intake through the canned food and you can even add extra water by mixing some in with the canned food.

I think it's great you want to work on getting the boys eating canned food. It's a good thing for their long term health in a lot of ways. I can tell they are very loved and cherished [emoji]10084[/emoji]️

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Thanks for linking that article.  I just skimmed it for the moment because I'm working, but I bookmarked it for later.