one flavor = boring?

nyanchan

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Do you all think cats get sick of one flavor? I've been feeding my one cat prescription royal canin so (wet food at night and dry food in the morning) for the past year due to his urinary tract issues, and then i think he started to get tired of the same flavor so he stopped eating it all. i took him to the vet and she said we could take him off of the rx food. i've been feeding him nutro natural senior formula for the past 2 months. at first, he loved it because it prolly was a yummy change from the rx food, but now, i think he's getting tired of the same flavor every night. What do you think? is he just being too picky, or what?!?! also, my little bengal kitty is THE MOST finicky eater ever! she will suck the juice from the chunks and the she'll go run around and play for awhile before she comes back to eat some more! seriously, it takes her like 2 hours to eat her whole dinner! i swear its like a war zone because while my kitty runs around, my older cat is trying everything in the book to eat her food*because he won't eat his food!*. i literally have to take her food bowl in the bathroom with me while i shower so that the older cat won't eat the other's kitty's food!...all while the kitty is running around having a good ol time! my fiancee's family is pressuring me to hurry up and have some kids (im only 23!) but i have my hands full with my two kitties!!!
 

hell603

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no I don't - Loki also a Bengal has been eating I type of dry and 1 Kind of wet every day of his life and never ever had a problem.
 

jcat

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It depends on the cat. Jamie, unlike Loki, wouldn't dream of eating the same brand of food more than twice a week, so yes, it's quite possible that he gets sick of eating just one flavor. That's probably why he's so intent on eating the Bengal kitty's food.
 

moggiegirl

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If your cats don't need to be on a prescription diet anymore I think it's fine to feed variety. I feed only one dry and stock up on a variety of canned foods from different companies and different flavors. That's because it's my personal belief to feed cats variety. Cats have their own funny eating habits. As long as your cats eat something every day and are maintaining weight there is nothing to worry about. I have a cat that eats her food when she wants to and at other times I'm throwing wet food down the garbage disposal because she didn't want to eat it.
But as long as I know my cats are eating some food every day I don't worry about them occasionally skipping a meal and I don't give in to them by opening another can if they don't eat what I put in front of them. By not giving in, your cat's hunger drive will take over and they will likely eat what you feed them at the next meal. I only worry if my cat(s) don't eat for 2 days, which is not happening. But if your cat is stealing food from your other cat you definitely should feed your cats separately and keep an eye on them. It's complicated with multiple cats. Sometimes my cat Rosie finishes her bowl of wet and then eats Spotty's because Spotty walked away from his bowl. When that happens I figure Rosie had her breakfast and don't feed her until night time and put some dry food out just for Spotty. I let my cats eat according to their preferences and I'm flexible but not too much of a human slave.
 

sharky

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I have one who requires many flavors like Jamie does and one that doesnt realize anything but chn exists
 

kittylove1

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A very wise vet once told me that "we" make cats finicky...."We" think they need different flavors of food so that's what we give them...and then after a while that's what they expect..
 

Moz

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The only food Scratch likes is seafood flavour. So I guess she doesn't get tired of that since she always gets excited when we feed her.
 

blue ash

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I try to rotate my cats diets every 3+ months. And change their vit/min supplement (aka treats) every month or so.
My cats seem to be happy with that routine.
 

babyharley

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Harley always gets the same flavor dry food, but we get the variety pack of wet food. He gets the 3 different flavors rotated at each of his 3 wet meals a day.

I accidentally picked up a different flavor of dry one time and he didn't touch it, guess I know better now!
 
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nyanchan

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yah, i'd prefer to get my cat different flavors (within the same brand cat food) but nutro only makes one flavor of the senior formula! I think one flavor of the pouch and i found one flavor of the can max nutro! ....not much to choose from when it comes to senior formulas!
 

krissie

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My cat prefers consistency. She gets fussy when there is anything different or unexpected (brand, flavor, consistency) in her bowl.
 

jcat

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One problem you could encounter if you feed just one brand is that your cat will refuse to eat a prescription diet if it becomes necessary. Also, what will you do if the ingredients change, or that brand becomes unavailable? That's a common occurrence in the E.U., e.g., Serengeti isn't available currently, and Natural Balance wasn't available anywhere for about 3 months. I used to feed Innova and California Natural, which are no longer sold in the EU at all, due to changes in regulations.
My parents had a cat that would only eat one flavor of one brand of canned food. They had a terrible ice storm in their area followed by a blizzard, and stores ran out of many items, including that cat food. Ginger refused all other kinds, and my mother ended up calling everybody she knew (plus some referrals) to scrape together enough food for the cat until stores stocked it again.
 

moggiegirl

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I really believe that feeding only one brand and flavor of cat food will make the cat even more finicky than feeding variety because the cat will learn to eat only that one brand and flavor of cat food and will refuse anything else. I'm totally in favor of variety unless the cat must be fed a prescription diet, or has a sensitive stomach. And some cats are just finicky no matter what.

I have fun planning my kitties menus and I simply feed them whatever they like to eat that doesn't have any artificial additives in them like dyes and artificial flavorings because companies that add those to the food do not play fair, then the cat learns to prefer foods with those additives rather than the foods that are made to be more natural. It's good that we have varieties of cat food and dog food. Back in the old days when commercial pet food was in its infancy, dog food was made out of horsemeat. Well guess what? Many dogs became allergic to horsemeat. And thank god, we can now let the horses live. And another reason to feed variety to get them used to it, what if your cat becomes allergic to chicken(it's rare but you never know) and you have to switch to rabbit or venizon? You want your cat to accept rabbit or venizon right?
You don't have to give variety when it comes to dry food though because the textures of those tend to be the same and cats can easily be switched over a 7 day period with dry.
 
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