I rescued a cat about 3 years ago. He had belonged to an old lady who apparently spoiled him rotten. He has begged for people food and refused to eat most of what I feed him. However, I was most surprised that when I fed him New Balance the past two days, he has eaten with gusto and has finished off the can by the end of the day. I am very pleased but hope there is not some hidden ingredient he likes that isn't good for him. I got it at Walmart and understand it is new there. He does not like Friskies up the ladder to Purina Pro Plan. Any ideas?
-
Too many ads? Join our community of cat lovers now to reduce ads by 90%! Click here to join for free!
Best Cat Food For Picky Eater.
- Thread starter CatLadyCA
- Start Date
Hi and welcome! 
I fully understand what you are going through as I have TWO very picky eaters. I have to keep a fairly wide variety of foods around since they change their minds about what they like on a regular basis. Usually right after I buy a case of something. I don't know where you live but if you are in the US, here are some suggestions:
I recommend a trip to Petco. They have Soulistic. It's a food made by Weruva and it's Petco's house brand. The big favorite is Good Karma. It's in the green can and it's shredded white meat chicken in a broth like gravy. My cats have NEVER turned this one down. You can also try the Harvest Sunrise in the orange can. It's Good Karma with bits of pumpkin in it. They love this too. There is a reason why these 2 flavors sell out faster than any of the others. Cats love them.
If you have not checked out Chewy.com I recommend them highly. One of the best things about them is the customer service. I do not know of any other company that will take food back simply because the animal doesn't like it. They will. I order new food from them without hesitation because of this. They have
I also recommend Wellness. They have cubed, sliced and minced varieties of different proteins. My girls love the chicken and turkey in all 3. They also really like the Wellness Divine Duos.
Merrick is also a favorite. Grammy's Pot Pie, Thanksgiving Day Dinner and Chicken Divan are favorites but they also like their LID pates.
They also like the Fancy Feast classics (pates). They love the poultry varieties especially the turkey & giblets. I know you said that he does not like Friskies but their poultry pates are a BIG hit with a lot of cats- mine included. If you haven't tried them, pick up a can or 2. You may be surprised.
What I do a lot of times when they are being ESPECIALLY fussy is to add toppers. Pure Bites chicken treats are purrfect for this. They are made from nothing but freeze dried chicken breast and can easily be smashed up to use as a topped to all kinds of wet foods. I buy the big bag for dogs from Amazon as they have the best price. The only difference between the treats for dogs and cats is the size. I take a meat tenderizer to the bag to smash the treats and sprinkle them on foods. It works like a charm. They have other flavors too. I also use plain cooked chicken or turkey as a topper to wet foods.
I fully understand what you are going through as I have TWO very picky eaters. I have to keep a fairly wide variety of foods around since they change their minds about what they like on a regular basis. Usually right after I buy a case of something. I don't know where you live but if you are in the US, here are some suggestions:
I recommend a trip to Petco. They have Soulistic. It's a food made by Weruva and it's Petco's house brand. The big favorite is Good Karma. It's in the green can and it's shredded white meat chicken in a broth like gravy. My cats have NEVER turned this one down. You can also try the Harvest Sunrise in the orange can. It's Good Karma with bits of pumpkin in it. They love this too. There is a reason why these 2 flavors sell out faster than any of the others. Cats love them.
If you have not checked out Chewy.com I recommend them highly. One of the best things about them is the customer service. I do not know of any other company that will take food back simply because the animal doesn't like it. They will. I order new food from them without hesitation because of this. They have
I also recommend Wellness. They have cubed, sliced and minced varieties of different proteins. My girls love the chicken and turkey in all 3. They also really like the Wellness Divine Duos.
Merrick is also a favorite. Grammy's Pot Pie, Thanksgiving Day Dinner and Chicken Divan are favorites but they also like their LID pates.
They also like the Fancy Feast classics (pates). They love the poultry varieties especially the turkey & giblets. I know you said that he does not like Friskies but their poultry pates are a BIG hit with a lot of cats- mine included. If you haven't tried them, pick up a can or 2. You may be surprised.
What I do a lot of times when they are being ESPECIALLY fussy is to add toppers. Pure Bites chicken treats are purrfect for this. They are made from nothing but freeze dried chicken breast and can easily be smashed up to use as a topped to all kinds of wet foods. I buy the big bag for dogs from Amazon as they have the best price. The only difference between the treats for dogs and cats is the size. I take a meat tenderizer to the bag to smash the treats and sprinkle them on foods. It works like a charm. They have other flavors too. I also use plain cooked chicken or turkey as a topper to wet foods.
I second the Merrick. They make a rabbit pate that mine will absolutely inhale, even my Emerson that usually just picks at his canned food (Evie has no issues with pickiness 
)
Toppers, like kat said, are good too! When Emerson got sick, the only thing that would make him eat was grated Parmesan cheese on his food. So that is something to try too.
) Toppers, like kat said, are good too! When Emerson got sick, the only thing that would make him eat was grated Parmesan cheese on his food. So that is something to try too.
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2017
- Messages
- 3,905
- Purraise
- 4,348
With Cats the best food is the one they will eat, and that can change on a daily basis..lol. If he likes the one, i would continue to feed it.
Mine are fairly stable with what they will eat now, but we still have hard weeks, where they snub their nose at everything
One thing i like to do is go to a good petstore, pick up a can or two of this and that. different brands, different proteins, and different textures. Then try them and see what you guy seems to like best. Chicken or beef? minced, shreds, or pate? Loves Merrick, but hates Wellness. that kind of thing. I also find that a topper helps. My guys love freeze dried chicken, but any treat would work. Crumble a bit of it up on top of the wet food, i think this gives them consistency between different foods, and a reason to at least try it
Right now my guys are eating a lot of Tiki cat, some weruva, some nutro minced flavors, cans only, they hate the single serving containers? yours may like it? And the Nulo minced flavors. American journey minced that i get on chewy. Almo nature complete foods, they love the chicken and green beans.. who would have thought?. and some fancy feast classics. They are boycotting most everything else this week
Mine are fairly stable with what they will eat now, but we still have hard weeks, where they snub their nose at everything
One thing i like to do is go to a good petstore, pick up a can or two of this and that. different brands, different proteins, and different textures. Then try them and see what you guy seems to like best. Chicken or beef? minced, shreds, or pate? Loves Merrick, but hates Wellness. that kind of thing. I also find that a topper helps. My guys love freeze dried chicken, but any treat would work. Crumble a bit of it up on top of the wet food, i think this gives them consistency between different foods, and a reason to at least try it
Right now my guys are eating a lot of Tiki cat, some weruva, some nutro minced flavors, cans only, they hate the single serving containers? yours may like it? And the Nulo minced flavors. American journey minced that i get on chewy. Almo nature complete foods, they love the chicken and green beans.. who would have thought?. and some fancy feast classics. They are boycotting most everything else this week
Hi! Welcome!
Is it New Balance, Pure Balance or Natural Balance? I'm not finding New Balance, but did find, as an example, Natural Balance grain free turkey pouch, and it's not a bad cat food. Pure Balance Starters pouches is one I have in my pantry - it's not a bad food/treat. The Pure Balance grain free chicken sweet potato does have carrageenan.
As
duckpond
said, if your cat is eating it, that's the food you want to get
However with that said, things happen, such as manufacturer's changing the recipe and then the cat hates it.
You've received a wonderful list above of foods to add to your rotation/keep in mind for future.
Here's what I would do if I were you. I'd keep the food he's eating now. I'd take a look at the foods in the above posts and see which ones I haven't tried, and see if he'll touch any of them, then add those to a rotational menu.
You can also give him green beans, freeze dried treats, asparagus, baby peas, cheddar cheese, to help him still feel like he's getting people food this thread might have a couple ideas in addition for you Low Carb Snacks That Don't Include Poultry, Fish, Or Liver?
Is it New Balance, Pure Balance or Natural Balance? I'm not finding New Balance, but did find, as an example, Natural Balance grain free turkey pouch, and it's not a bad cat food. Pure Balance Starters pouches is one I have in my pantry - it's not a bad food/treat. The Pure Balance grain free chicken sweet potato does have carrageenan.
As
duckpond
said, if your cat is eating it, that's the food you want to get However with that said, things happen, such as manufacturer's changing the recipe and then the cat hates it.
You've received a wonderful list above of foods to add to your rotation/keep in mind for future.
Here's what I would do if I were you. I'd keep the food he's eating now. I'd take a look at the foods in the above posts and see which ones I haven't tried, and see if he'll touch any of them, then add those to a rotational menu.
You can also give him green beans, freeze dried treats, asparagus, baby peas, cheddar cheese, to help him still feel like he's getting people food
this thread might have a couple ideas in addition for you Low Carb Snacks That Don't Include Poultry, Fish, Or Liver?
CatFoodDB - Cat Food Reviews to help you find the best cat food for your cat and also
Pet Food Guide provides another database to look at regarding bad additives and which brands have them, (the last update for petfoodguide was Nov 2017 and some manufacturers have made changes since then, so keep an eye on the ingredient lists of whatever you decide to purchase).
To clarify in case you're unfamiliar, additives that people typically do not like are agar agar, carrageenan, the various glutens(such as wheat gluten, etc), menadione bisulfate which is a synthetic vitamin K, and some people find that their cats don't do well with the starches (pea starch, potato etc), or they try to avoid grains, or some vegetables.
Other ingredients that aren't liked but can be found in cat foods are artificial colors, sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate, BHT, BHA, Ethoxyquin, sodium selenite - selenium, sodium, glucose, sucrose, corn syrup, propylene gycol, propyl gallate.
Rendering products are a challenging additive/ingredient since the consumer has no real way of knowing by looking at a label - I'm hoping that someone else creates a database we can use since I heard back from the people at Cornucopia regarding the Pet Food Guide, and they're not going to continue maintaining it. Reviews . com also has a cat food page that might be of use.
Depending on what you can afford and what concerns you the most versus the least, the VERY most important thing is what will your cat eat - that is the best food.
Many members try and offset the bad additives by rotating foods, some expensive with some that is not, some with one bad ingredient, then the next day or two feeding something that doesn't have that bad thing but might have something else.
The idea is to give the cat's system a better chance to deal with bad stuff. Also, a variety can help if the manufacturer discontinues a favorite brand, which happens more frequently than it should.
Pet Food Guide provides another database to look at regarding bad additives and which brands have them, (the last update for petfoodguide was Nov 2017 and some manufacturers have made changes since then, so keep an eye on the ingredient lists of whatever you decide to purchase).
To clarify in case you're unfamiliar, additives that people typically do not like are agar agar, carrageenan, the various glutens(such as wheat gluten, etc), menadione bisulfate which is a synthetic vitamin K, and some people find that their cats don't do well with the starches (pea starch, potato etc), or they try to avoid grains, or some vegetables.
Other ingredients that aren't liked but can be found in cat foods are artificial colors, sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate, BHT, BHA, Ethoxyquin, sodium selenite - selenium, sodium, glucose, sucrose, corn syrup, propylene gycol, propyl gallate.
Rendering products are a challenging additive/ingredient since the consumer has no real way of knowing by looking at a label - I'm hoping that someone else creates a database we can use since I heard back from the people at Cornucopia regarding the Pet Food Guide, and they're not going to continue maintaining it. Reviews . com also has a cat food page that might be of use.
Depending on what you can afford and what concerns you the most versus the least, the VERY most important thing is what will your cat eat - that is the best food.
Many members try and offset the bad additives by rotating foods, some expensive with some that is not, some with one bad ingredient, then the next day or two feeding something that doesn't have that bad thing but might have something else.
The idea is to give the cat's system a better chance to deal with bad stuff. Also, a variety can help if the manufacturer discontinues a favorite brand, which happens more frequently than it should.
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2015
- Messages
- 1,954
- Purraise
- 3,150
Yikes, he must have some seriously good teeth to be able to chew through the rubber! He's going to have some scary poops!
Sorry, I couldn't help myself.
My cat Peaches is very picky. Shredded chicken all my cats come running as soon as I stat to open a can of Purely Fancy Feast I use it as a topper. Only way Peaches will get her pepcid ac
I had the same thought! That may be partly because one of our cats chewed off my New Balance laces. And yes, it is pretty easy to know when things are working their way out. Cats.Yikes, he must have some seriously good teeth to be able to chew through the rubber! He's going to have some scary poops!
Sorry, I couldn't help myself.
