Cat Officially Quit Wet Food. Anyone Experience This?

[hazzaram]

I hate posting this. My kitties were fed 3 wet meals per day and it seemed to work really well for them. But my one cat now just refuses all wet. It's like she's sick of it. She's been on it for 3 years now =\

I've tried different brands. I literally went to the pet store and got 1 can of each brand to try. No go. I've tried toppers, treats, using real salmon, chicken, chicken baby food, gravy, broth... I can't entice her to eat wet! She also will not touch raw. I've tried taking her dry food away (it was just there to nibble on, just a tiny bit a day) but no. She just won't eat anything but the dry. Gah!

My male will still eat wet but frig. It's so frustrating. I think I need to pick up a better quality dry food for her to eat at least. I'm hoping if I keep offering wet, she'll get back on it.

Has anyone had this happen? Did your cat go back to wet?

Edit: I forgot to mention that I have tried timed meals as well. Taking away all dry and just feeding specific meals per day. She just holds out =\

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
Sometimes this happens and it really is frustrating!

You do need to keep feeding her whatever it is she'll eat, because she is one of those cats that will starve if she's not getting a food she wants, and that will not work. Keep an eye on her weight.

You could add broth or water to the kibble on occasion to add hydration, just don't leave it out for very long due to fast bacteria growth.
Also try probiotics, and add a raw egg now and then, (the white must always be cooked).

Maybe there's something in this;
Transitioning Free-fed Kibble Kitties To Timed Meals

 

[daftcat75]

Dry will cause other problems down the road. Be more stubborn than her in the transition. But also more clever. When it's time for her wet meal, grind up a whole lot of the kibble into her wet. Make it more kibble than wet at first. If she'll eat that, adjust the proportion of dry to wet over a week or two until the kibble is a topper and then finally gone.

 

[Furballsmom]

Be more stubborn than her in the transition.

...just to mention again, don't allow her to not eat

 

[Pjg8r]

Could you try feeding in a different type of dish or in a different location?

 

[daftcat75]

...just to mention again, don't allow her to not eat

Right! That's why I recommend starting with a kibble with wet mixed in. Allow her to eat what she'll eat but mix a little wet into it. But also only offer it at the timed feedings and take it up after 30 minutes. Do not leave out wet kibble.

Adjust the ratio of dry to wet over a few weeks until the dry is a topper only and then finally gone. Although as long as it's used very sparingly, like a teaspoon or two of powdered kibble, I see no reason why you couldn't keep using it as a topper if that's what's bringing her to the plate.

 

[Furballsmom]

All the best of luck with this, let us know how things go

 

[maggiedemi]

Has anyone had this happen?

Yes. I go through this every single day. I leave the pate canned food out for an hour and then give them their dry food. I do this at 7am and 7pm.

 

[1 bruce 1]

Odds are this is a cat that's latched onto kibble and has decided they like the flavor best.
If you're concerned, a vet visit wouldn't hurt!
Have you tried forming the wet food into small, bite sized balls and coating them with kibble fed through a coffee grinder? (It sounds labor and time heavy, but it's really not.)

 

[SiberianCat]

Sounds like my cat, but she is even worse. She eats wet food just one month or two, but only half to one 100g pouch a day, in two meals. I tryed ALL foods on the market in my country, take away her kibbles, but she would rather starve to death than eat what she wants (kibble). She loves cat tuna, I buy sometimes Cosma thai or Miamor feine filets on Zooplus. She loves to be hand feed or she will leave half of the food. When she ate Miamor pate pouches (only duck&turkey flavour), i had to mix food in the mixer and spoon feed her with SILICONE spoon!!!
I don't understand her, I literally tried eveything so she will eat wet, but no success so far
She eats the best kibble I can get for her, only 3% carbohydrates (power of nature-fees favorite).
I dont know what to do anymore...

BTW, Sorry for my english.

 

[lisahe]

Could you try feeding in a different type of dish or in a different location?

Oh, yes, this can make all the difference! One of our cats needs to be fed from a (flat) plate or very shallow, nearly flat bowl. She also frequently changes her mind about where she prefers to dine. This can be utterly annoying but, well, I've learned to just go with it. (@cheeser has a cat who does similar things...) I also put toppers on many of her meals: chicken Pure Bites are good and so are small bits of freeze-dried raw food.

This is a little off-topic for this thread but I'll mention it anyway: you didn't say how old your cat is but we've noticed that our cats' appetites have decreased a little in recent months. Usually they start eating more when the weather cools down but I think the reason behind this is that the cats are now about 5.5 years old and, well, lazier! They just don't need as many calories or meals as they used to. It doesn't really sound like that's the case with this cat but it's worth keeping in mind.

 

[Vega's Dad]

I've tried different brands. I literally went to the pet store and got 1 can of each brand to try. =\

Fancy feast classic tender liver would be my last card to play.

 

[duckpond]

My little white cat was all about the wet food, then she just totally stooped eating it. I tried everything, with my vets help, and she just would not. Finally, after several months, my vet said feed her the kibble, we will make her sick if she does not start eating better, and with less stress. Stress over food, or anything, is also very bad for a cat. Cats do not deal with stress well.

So i started not worrying about it, i kept a bowl of Evo dry out for her at all times, and she was happy. Then Evo discontinued, and as that was the only dry she had been willing to eat i panicked. Luckily Dr. Elsesy came out with their Chicken dry, before i ran out of evo. She loved the Dr. Elsey's dry from the start, and thats what she still loves.

This whole time i would offer her a small bowl of wet when i feed the other cats wet twice a day, she would not touch it. Then after a few years of only dry, she ate some almo nature salmon and apple wet food one morning. Tried a few others over the next few days, she would not. But every time i offered Almo salmon and apple she would eat it. So now she eats a whole can of the salmon and apple for breakfast every day, and her Elseys kibble at night. These are the only two foods she will eat, no matter how hard i try with other brands or flavors.

Basically my advice is that a vet visit is always a good idea. Then feed her the food she will happily eat, if its kibble then so be it. Continue to offer the wet foods you want her to eat, a small bit of what you feed your other cats, and maybe someday she will. You cant force a cat to eat what it does not like, and they must eat, tough love will not work on a cat like it can with a dog. The others have all given good advice on things to try, and hopefully something will work with her! And keep fresh filtered water in several areas around the house, if she spends much time in a room i would have a water source in that room.

 

[TreehouseCat]

Similar thing here, and still working on it so I appreciate the suggestions too. Gonna try the grinding dry food and rolling wet kibble balls.

My kitten would eat any wet food I put down for him, had a voracious appetite, and I fed him a variety of brands/flavors in attempt to keep him from being a picky eater. Then at about 5 months he rejected ALL food. I had estimated he went 48hrs without eating and ended up taking him to the vet. They offered him baby food and some other "tasty" stuff that he would have none of. They ran fecal and blood tests, everything came back negative (other than levels effected by not eating). They gave him IV fluids and instructed me to syringe feed him until he'd eat on his own. I tried a bunch of stuff and finally found that he would eat some dry kitten food.

Honestly I think he had over-eaten, got an upset tummy, and decided to reject what he thought caused it (wet food).

I've been continuing to try different wet foods but the only one I've had mild success with is Fancy Feast "Tender Liver and Chicken."

Fancy feast classic tender liver would be my last card to play.

Seriously, is this a cat thing?
I've tried beef and chicken liver, turkey giblets and liver, anything with liver and/or chicken in it and nothing! What is it about this one flavor?!

Anyways, he currently is eating dry (Nature's Variety Instinct Original) with wet offered for breakfast 2-3x a week. I'm not giving up on wet food, but I'm also tired of wasting money on food that ends up in the trash. Really hoping that with time his prejudice will fade away...

 

[maggie101]

My cat Maggie will eat anything but only if it's mixed with Weruva Double Dip. If I give her her usual wellness core without Weruva she will sniff my other 2 cats bowls then walk away! I have to be sure I always have her "special food" in stock or she won't eat!

 

[BlueJay]

When my kitten was sick she refused to eat anything, until I tried spoon feeding her wet food. Maybe she just likes it because I did this to lure her into her harness when we was younger? Might be worth a try... Have you tried mixing in real meat, or scrambled eggs, or anything like that?

 

[CatLover49]

Hi!
Sometimes this happens and it really is frustrating!

You do need to keep feeding her whatever it is she'll eat, because she is one of those cats that will starve if she's not getting a food she wants, and that will not work. Keep an eye on her weight.

You could add broth or water to the kibble on occasion to add hydration, just don't leave it out for very long due to fast bacteria growth.
Also try probiotics, and add a raw egg now and then, (the white must always be cooked).

Maybe there's something in this;
Transitioning Free-fed Kibble Kitties To Timed Meals

Can you add wet toppings like tiki cat to dry to make it have moisture???I mean like mixing it all up with the dry..

 

[Uncled]

Has not happen to me ,my two have only eaten wet food for every single meal their entire lives,what did happen when one would walk away not finishing his food I found out after looking on this site is that he had whisker fatigue from the bowl I was using, I switched to a plate and now he eats all his food