I have a 12 y/o cat that won't eat canned food anymore. The problem seems to be associated with her chronic dental problems, but the vet can't find any reasons as to why the cat won't eat canned food. She only has a few teeth left, and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with them. She had blood work done recently and it was normal, but we need to watch the kidneys as the BUN and creatinine are slowly climbing out of the normal range. We were not able to obtain a urine sample though.
I've tried feeding the cat different flavors, styles (pate, chunky, flaked, etc.), and different brands with no luck. The only thing she eats fairly consistently is the 9 Lives tuna, which I'd prefer not to feed her on daily basis. She eats dry food fairly well and eats it by swallowing it whole.
I suspect the problem may be that she either can't smell the food and/or that she can't eat it well due to her lack of teeth. She will lick the food to death, but won't eat it. I thought I'd be clever and puree the food, but she'll only lick/eat a small amount and that's it, so that doesn't work either.
She needs to eat canned food because she has hard, dry stools/chronic constipation. Plain canned pumpkin doesn't work and I can't give her anything else because it needs to be added to the canned food. Plus, if she would just eat the canned food, it would help with the constipation.
Does anyone know how to get her to eat canned food? The vet is totally stumped on this one. By the way, most of her siblings were picky about canned food as well.
The next time I fix chicken breasts, I'm going to fix some plain unseasoned pieces for her to see if she'll eat that. Maybe I need to try putting her on a home cooked or raw diet. I would of course check with the vet first. But I'd at least like to see if maybe she would eat that kind of food.
I've tried feeding the cat different flavors, styles (pate, chunky, flaked, etc.), and different brands with no luck. The only thing she eats fairly consistently is the 9 Lives tuna, which I'd prefer not to feed her on daily basis. She eats dry food fairly well and eats it by swallowing it whole.
I suspect the problem may be that she either can't smell the food and/or that she can't eat it well due to her lack of teeth. She will lick the food to death, but won't eat it. I thought I'd be clever and puree the food, but she'll only lick/eat a small amount and that's it, so that doesn't work either.
She needs to eat canned food because she has hard, dry stools/chronic constipation. Plain canned pumpkin doesn't work and I can't give her anything else because it needs to be added to the canned food. Plus, if she would just eat the canned food, it would help with the constipation.
Does anyone know how to get her to eat canned food? The vet is totally stumped on this one. By the way, most of her siblings were picky about canned food as well.
The next time I fix chicken breasts, I'm going to fix some plain unseasoned pieces for her to see if she'll eat that. Maybe I need to try putting her on a home cooked or raw diet. I would of course check with the vet first. But I'd at least like to see if maybe she would eat that kind of food.