How do you know if they're rejecting a new food?

Hi all.
Just wondering, how exactly do you know if your cat is rejecting/doesn't like/won't eat a new food? What i mean is, do they just not finish their bowl of food now if they used to before? could it be due to anything else?
When you guys say that your cats won't eat a certain brand/type, how do you know that's happening? do they just hold out until you find the right food?
i have only switched foods once (from Science Diet to Wysong) and while no diarrhea and stools are regular and firm, she just doesn't finish her bowl EVER even though she used to all the time with SD?

Mine just refuse to eat it. It sits there on their dishes until I remove it:-).

One reason your girl may not be finishing her food is that Wysong is supposed to be a much better quality food so it may be nutritionally 'more dense' which means that she meets her caloric and nutritional needs on less food than with Science Diet. Does she leave a lot of it, or just part of it? If you are worried that she is thin or losing weight, try offering her extra meals and see if she eats then. If her weight is fine, her activity level is fine and she is healthy it may just be that she eats until satisfied and isn't hungry after that.

Kathryn

It may be you are feeding to much. My vet has a saying, feed the cat, not the bowl. A good thing to remember.

Um, no I don't think I am feeding too much. I measure it. And I don't just fill the bowl. I am just wondering how "stubborn" cats are if they don't like a type of food. Do they just refuse to eat if that's the only type that's available? or do they eventually "give up" and eat the food?

Originally Posted by anooshka

Um, no I don't think I am feeding too much. I measure it. And I don't just fill the bowl. I am just wondering how "stubborn" cats are if they don't like a type of food. Do they just refuse to eat if that's the only type that's available? or do they eventually "give up" and eat the food?

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Is your baby eating anywhere near the amount suggested on the package?? Did you make sure the flavor of the new food was similiar to the old food?? I find that to be important.Do you feed canned or meat with dry??

I agree that eating a lesser amount may just be due to the new food, perhaps they are satisfied with less. When you say you are measuring it out, how much are they leaving? Most feeding guidelines give a range ie. feed 1/2-3/4 cup food if cat is 10-12 lb.s etc.

If my guys are going to refuse a food, they simply try it, and then leave most of it in the bowl. It isn't a question of stubborness. I would not advise expecting your cat to eventually begin eating a food it really does not like, switch to something it will eat.

When I changed Jameson's food from Iams to Wellness, I used the feeding guidelines on the bag, and he'd always leave some food in his bowl. When I started adding wet food, I decreased the amount of dry like the bag said, and he'd still leave a little bit. He was not loosing weight though. He didn't start that until I bought the, "I'm a fat kitty" food and added it to the regular food I give him.

Jamie will absolutely refuse to eat certain foods after sniffing at them, and will yowl and get into his food cabinet until the "disgusting" food is removed and he's given something he likes. When he begins to tire of a food, he'll eat half or three-quarters of it, and leave the rest. He'll only eat wet food out of small cans, and generally supervises when I'm putting it in his bowl. If I buy a large can of one of his favorite foods and manage to put it in his bowl without him watching, or give him something out of a ouch, he can still "sniff" the difference. That sounds insane, but our "part-time" cat, who lives at a neighbor's house, but eats here, has been doing the same thing for a couple of months. The way it was explained to me by somebody who works in the pet food industry was that the food is heated in the cans, and the smaller cans are obviously heated for a shorter period of time, and at a lower temperature, so the food is tastier.
From personal experience, I've found that measuring dry food in 1/2 cups, etc., isn't as accurate as using a postage scale. I have one with a removable plastic dish on top, which measures in grams and ounces.