cats not willing to eat dry food

Simba is 6 months old and ah choo is 4 months old.. i've had simba for 4 months now and ah choo just about a month..
simba has always been reluctunt to eat dry food but he'll eat it if theres nothing else
but ah choo since i got him from my friends place, he will just eat whatever i give him, coz i think he's been fed dry food before anyway.
but now, ah choo just refuses to eat the dry food too!!
i dont know if its because of simba's influence, but its really annoying me, everytime they want canned food, they just meow at me and i dont want to spoil them for them knowing that whenever they meow at me they'll get canned food...
please help me to get them to eat dry food again

Smart kitty ... wet is far far better for kitty than dry

I agree...smart kitties. Homecooked diet or a quality canned food is better for them, imo.

Definitely smart kitties to prefer wet over dry.

umm... those responses did not exactly answer what i asked or helped me at all..
can i just leave the dry food out, if they dont want to it, its their problem, they'll have to eat it if they are hungry

Originally Posted by jeffreyli7

umm... those responses did not exactly answer what i asked or helped me at all..
can i just leave the dry food out, if they dont want to it, its their problem, they'll have to eat it if they are hungry

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If the cat doesnt like it they will starve first .... or theyll get fatty liver trouble and that can be fatal quickly...

Try several different drys if you insist on going against kitties wishes... they know what is best for them and they are telling you....

From my experience..........once a cat eats the wet food......they will almost always prefer it over the dry. Would you rather eat your cereal with milk or without? From what I have learned.....more vitamins, minerals and ingredients can be put into a dry cat food then a wet food My Vet says wet food is bad for the cats teeth over the years compared to the dry Wet food supplys more water to the cats diet over the dry food. Is wet better then the dry? My cats drink plenty of spring water daily. This argument has been going on for years My 3 full grown cats eat a 15 pound bag of Solid Gold dry food every 5 weeks I pay $25.00 out the door for the dry food All 3 cats weigh beween 10-12 pounds each and are free fed and healthy. That comes out to $5.00 a week to feed 3 grown indoor only cats 2 are purebred female Ragdolls A good quality wet food will cost about twice as much to feed the same amount of cats a wet cat food alone diet Just my 3 cents worth.

Originally Posted by jeffreyli7

umm... those responses did not exactly answer what i asked or helped me at all..
can i just leave the dry food out, if they dont want to it, its their problem, they'll have to eat it if they are hungry

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Honestly, I agree with what's been said, and I'm sorry if that's not what you were looking for. Wet overall is much healthier for them than dry. I know dry food is more economical, but in the long run, an all dry diet has the potential to create much more cost in the way of vet bills. I wouldn't worry so much about your cats not eating dry food, and allow them to eat what they want Count yourself lucky, most people have the problem the other way around! They want their kitty to eat wet food for their health, and the cat has become addicted to the dry, so wont touch wet!

Here's some interesting reads for you, about wet and dry food:
http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...needcannedfood
http://cats.about.com/cs/catfood/a/canned_food.htm/
www.catinfo.org

thanks..
Simba doesnt eat dry at all... only a bite or two..
but Ah Choo eats absolutely everything, anything that you put infront of him or inside his bowl he will eat it

Originally Posted by Slave2_Ragdolls

From my experience..........once a cat eats the wet food......they will almost always prefer it over the dry. Would you rather eat your cereal with milk or without? From what I have learned.....more vitamins, minerals and ingredients can be put into a dry cat food then a wet food

My Vet says wet food is bad for the cats teeth over the years compared to the dry

Wet food supplys more water to the cats diet over the dry food. Is wet better then the dry? My cats drink plenty of spring water daily. This argument has been going on for years

My 3 full grown cats eat a 15 pound bag of Solid Gold dry food every 5 weeks

I pay $25.00 out the door for the dry food

All 3 cats weigh beween 10-12 pounds each and are free fed and healthy. That comes out to $5.00 a week to feed 3 grown indoor only cats

2 are purebred female Ragdolls

A good quality wet food will cost about twice as much to feed the same amount of cats a wet cat food alone diet

Just my 3 cents worth.

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to be honest.. i eat my cereal dry a lot

Have you tried mixing wet food with dry? You can gradually increase (over some months, mind you) the dry food, and it might work that they can be switched.

Try mixing for a few weeks, and let us know how it goes. If they sit and only lick off the wet food, try leaving the dry there for the rest of the day (and hiding the wet food cans in a cabinet off the floor...make sure they don't witness where it's hidden). You won't be starving them...they've just decided stubbornly on a preference, and will soon change their tune once they realize that's how things will go.

Another thought...if they still refuse to eat it, and wait to eat only in the morning (or whenever you put down a new bowl of wet mixed with dry), you can just flat-out switch to dry. They will have to switch.

Don't worry...they won't starve...they're just being stubborn. They might hold their ground for a day, but not much longer.

You'll REALLY have to hold your ground, though. They'll both probably meow like crazy, and try to irritate you into giving them back their wet food.

Mine eat almost exclusively dry food, and even get picky with that. I hold my ground and finish the bag. They're smart...they won't go without food. They might be stubborn for a day...but they'll eat it, I promise!

Let us know how it goes, ok?

Originally Posted by vanillasugar

I know dry food is more economical, but in the long run, an all dry diet has the potential to create much more cost in the way of vet bills.

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That's not true. I've had over 20 cats in my life, and NONE of them have been on an exclusive wet food diet...and NONE of them had health problems because of it. I've had cats live their whole adult lives on only dry food, and also...NO PROBLEMS because of it.

Yes, it helps a cat's digestion to have wet food maybe once a week...but it isn't something that should be required all the time. They get just as much needed nutrition from dry food...and are completely healthy from it.

Originally Posted by sharky

If the cat doesnt like it they will starve first .... or theyll get fatty liver trouble and that can be fatal quickly...

Try several different drys if you insist on going against kitties wishes... they know what is best for them and they are telling you....

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This isn't true, either. They will not let themselves starve. I've had to do just what I advised above...with MUCH success, and NO problems. I have had a particularly stubborn cat try for two days to be stubborn about it, but no more than that...and she was just fine after. Nothing happened healthwise...her health was not harmed in any way whatsoever.

Please don't worry about this...kitties won't starve for stubbornness.

Originally Posted by Slave2_Ragdolls

From my experience..........once a cat eats the wet food......they will almost always prefer it over the dry. Would you rather eat your cereal with milk or without? From what I have learned.....more vitamins, minerals and ingredients can be put into a dry cat food then a wet food

My Vet says wet food is bad for the cats teeth over the years compared to the dry

Wet food supplys more water to the cats diet over the dry food. Is wet better then the dry? My cats drink plenty of spring water daily. This argument has been going on for years

My 3 full grown cats eat a 15 pound bag of Solid Gold dry food every 5 weeks

I pay $25.00 out the door for the dry food

All 3 cats weigh beween 10-12 pounds each and are free fed and healthy. That comes out to $5.00 a week to feed 3 grown indoor only cats

2 are purebred female Ragdolls

A good quality wet food will cost about twice as much to feed the same amount of cats a wet cat food alone diet

Just my 3 cents worth.

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I COMPLETELY agree...and your statements are completely true.

All else fails, ask your vet...and possibly get a second opinion to be sure. If the two tell you opposite things, I would get even a third opinion. Research it online, and make your own deduction from it, even. Ya know?

There are a lot of people who have the money for constant wet food that'll tell you it's VITAL for kitty's health to eat wet food all the time...but it's not true. Like I've mentioned...I've NEVER had health problems with ANY of my cats...and ALL of them ate hardly any wet food at all...just as a treat every now and then. And we're talking cats that have eaten Wiskas food at one point! No health problems!! (In fact, to be perfectly honest, this is the first time I've EVER heard, vets' information included, that it's vital to a cat's health to have wet food instead of dry.)

Now, yes, for kittens that are growing (and kitties grow until they're about two years of age), it's good that they about half a can of it a day, but it's also important that they have their constant supply of dry food in bowls. The adult cats that I've seen exclusively eat wet food have ALWAYS been overweight...wet food has A LOT more fat than dry.

Anyway, I hope that all helps. Sorry for so many posts... Just trying to help!

Originally Posted by maherwoman

This isn't true, either. They will not let themselves starve. I've had to do just what I advised above...with MUCH success, and NO problems. I have had a particularly stubborn cat try for two days to be stubborn about it, but no more than that...and she was just fine after. Nothing happened healthwise...her health was not harmed in any way whatsoever.

Please don't worry about this...kitties won't starve for stubbornness.

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You have been very lucky and I am glad about that ... but those who have lost animals for letting them get hungry if only for a few days would find offence at you hypothesis

Originally Posted by sharky

You have been very lucky and I am glad about that ... but those who have lost animals for letting them get hungry if only for a few days would find offence at you hypothesis

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I hope you made note that this was part of the final part of what I originally wrote...if you read what I wrote the first time around.

My suggestion was NOT to let your cat starve...and not have the food out for more than two days. It was that kitty will eat. I have NEVER known a cat to starve themselves because they didn't like the food they were being served. If you have, I'm sorry for you...but it's not the norm, and shouldn't be presented as such.