Force Feeding Supplements?

[reena1]

Hi everyone. I need some advice. I rescued a Persian cat and she has been shedding a lot and doesn't have a great looking coat overall. She's been to the vet and got a clean bill of health but I think that the problem is that she's a very picky eater and she only eats dry food.

I got her VitaCoat supplement. It seems to be having really good reviews. But she won't eat the food once I put the VitaCoat oil in her food. I've tried wet food, I've tried dry food nothing works. I have another cat, she seems to be eating her food with the supplement in it with no problem.

She only needs to take about 1/2 teaspoon a day and I'm wondering if it's a good idea to force feed her the supplement.

Thanks!

 

[mizzely]

I would try to tackle her diet in general more, if possible. A supplement will only do so much for her coat if she isn't eating a good diet. What kind of dry food is she on?

Have you tried mixing the oil with something like tuna water?

 

[haleyds]

You could try boiled chicken or turkey. And getting her going on it without the supplement at first, then adding a little tiny bit in at a time.
You might already be doing this but breaking the 1/2 teaspoon up into multiple doses might help her to overlook it.
I have a persian I recently adopted as well and she was neglected previously and kept outside and all that jazz, her coat was absolutely horribly when I first brought her home, she has skin issues as well but it's been about two months and her coat is just now looking better. Lots and lots of brushing with a metal comb and getting her on a grain free kibble have done wonders.

 

[LTS3]

Can you try a different supplement? Maybe your cat just doesn't like the VitaCoat and no amount of coaxing or hiding it in food will help

Omega 3s are thought to beneficial for healthy skin and fur. Any supplement with that could help. Some are available in treat-form. Does your vet have any recommendation on a healthy fur supplement to use?

I wonder if posiepurrs know of other ways to help your Persian's fur in general

What dry food are you feeding? Some brands are pretty poor quality and a cat may not have the best looking fur as a result of the "junk" food.

 

[orange&white]

I would also try to encourage her to eat more wet food. Dry food = dry coat. Haleyds 's idea of adding a tiny bit of supplement at a time as an introduction is sound. Try adding one drop to her food, then slowly build up to the 1/2 teaspoon/day that she needs.

 

[posiepurrs]

I wonder if posiepurrs know of other ways to help your Persian's fur in general

I only know what works for us. I do not use dry food (kibble) at all so maybe I am not the best person to answer this. If a cat is eating a quality food I believe supplements are not needed.

 

[MeganLLB]

I feed my cat a quality dry food and good wet food, and her coat has improved, but only slightly. She still needs a supplement. My other cat eats the same exact diet and her coat is fine.

I give her salmon oil supplements and they come in little chewy treats and she eats them like treats. Just one a day. I get them at PetSmart or Petco might have them too.

 

[MeganLLB]

Also MissingLink did a pretty good job of improving her coat, but I can't remember if she ate it or not

 

[reena1]

I would try to tackle her diet in general more, if possible. A supplement will only do so much for her coat if she isn't eating a good diet. What kind of dry food is she on?

Have you tried mixing the oil with something like tuna water?

Yes, that's my ultimate goal but I haven't had much success so far. I will keep trying. I feed my cat Purina Cat Chow Naturals Indoor Dry Cat Food.

I tried mixing it into Trader Joe's tuna cat food that she seems to tolerate but I'll try adding more liquid to see if it helps.

 

[reena1]

You could try boiled chicken or turkey. And getting her going on it without the supplement at first, then adding a little tiny bit in at a time.
You might already be doing this but breaking the 1/2 teaspoon up into multiple doses might help her to overlook it.

Thanks! I haven't even thought about breaking the dose in multiple servings but that might help!
I've tried giving her boiled chicken before but for some reason she doesn't like it.

 

[reena1]

Can you try a different supplement? Maybe your cat just doesn't like the VitaCoat and no amount of coaxing or hiding it in food will help

Omega 3s are thought to beneficial for healthy skin and fur. Any supplement with that could help. Some are available in treat-form. Does your vet have any recommendation on a healthy fur supplement to use?

I wonder if posiepurrs know of other ways to help your Persian's fur in general

What dry food are you feeding? Some brands are pretty poor quality and a cat may not have the best looking fur as a result of the "junk" food.

Well, I'm thinking if the content is similar she won't be tolerating other supplements. And seeing how picky she is I don't know if I'm ready to spend money on something she won't eat. She doesn't eat treats either

I feed her Purina Cat Chow Naturals Indoor Dry Cat Food. I'd love to switch her to good quality wet food but had no luck so far.

 

[reena1]

Thank you for all your responses. Also, any advice on how to switch my cat from eating dry food to wet food is welcome. I've tried different types of wet food, boiled chicken, etc. She will not eat until I give her dry food.

 

[orange&white]

I just looked at the VitaCoat supplement. It looks like mostly soybean oil (and I wouldn't use it personally). The bottle claims to be rich in Omega-6 oil, which is the last thing cats on a commercial diet need.

I would invest in a good Omega-3 fish oil supplement and continue trying to get her to eat more wet food, or switch to a grain free dry at minimum.

Just to clarify, is this the supplement you are trying to get her to take? -

Ingredients: Soybean Oil, Fish Oil, Lecithin, Mono & Diglycerides, Safflower Oil, Flaxseed Oil, Zinc Stearate, dl-alpha-Tocopherol Acetate (Source of Vitamin E), Ascorbyl Palmitate, Choline Chloride, Propylparaben (Preservative), Artificial and Natural Bacon Flavor, Biotin, Vitamin A Palmitate, Mixed Tocopherols (Preservative), Citric Acid (Preservative), Rosemary Extract.

 

[LTS3]

Maybe a better dry food would be somewhat helpful? Purina Cat Chow Naturals isn't the greatest, full of poor quality ingredients: Chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, soy flour, brewers rice, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols, corn meal, chicken, turkey, powdered cellulose, natural flavor, soybean hulls, .....

A dry food that contains meat (not by product or meal) as the first ingredient and no grains at all would be ideal. Pet stores have decent quality brands that aren't too expensive.

There are tips on how to do a food transition here:

Transitioning Your Cat From Kibble To A New Type Of Food (canned, Raw, Or Homemade)
http://www.catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf

What brands of canned food have you tried so far? We can suggest other brands. Have you tried different textures? Some cats prefer pate / loaf, others prefer sheds and chunks in gravy or sauce.

 

[mizzely]

Thank you for all your responses. Also, any advice on how to switch my cat from eating dry food to wet food is welcome. I've tried different types of wet food, boiled chicken, etc. She will not eat until I give her dry food.

For my kibble lover I had to first switch to a higher quality dry food, then grain free dry food, then wet food mixed with the dry food. We also had to start with friskies canned food. Took us a couple years to make the full transition but we are 100% high quality wet food now!

 

[reena1]

I just looked at the VitaCoat supplement. It looks like mostly soybean oil (and I wouldn't use it personally). The bottle claims to be rich in Omega-6 oil, which is the last thing cats on a commercial diet need.

I would invest in a good Omega-3 fish oil supplement and continue trying to get her to eat more wet food, or switch to a grain free dry at minimum.

Just to clarify, is this the supplement you are trying to get her to take? -

Ingredients: Soybean Oil, Fish Oil, Lecithin, Mono & Diglycerides, Safflower Oil, Flaxseed Oil, Zinc Stearate, dl-alpha-Tocopherol Acetate (Source of Vitamin E), Ascorbyl Palmitate, Choline Chloride, Propylparaben (Preservative), Artificial and Natural Bacon Flavor, Biotin, Vitamin A Palmitate, Mixed Tocopherols (Preservative), Citric Acid (Preservative), Rosemary Extract.

Yes, that's the supplement. With many good reviews I assumed it was good stuff.
Thank you, I'll look for Omega-3 oil and will work toward switching the kitty to wet food.

 

[reena1]

Maybe a better dry food would be somewhat helpful? Purina Cat Chow Naturals isn't the greatest, full of poor quality ingredients: Chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, soy flour, brewers rice, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols, corn meal, chicken, turkey, powdered cellulose, natural flavor, soybean hulls, .....

A dry food that contains meat (not by product or meal) as the first ingredient and no grains at all would be ideal. Pet stores have decent quality brands that aren't too expensive.

There are tips on how to do a food transition here:

Transitioning Your Cat From Kibble To A New Type Of Food (canned, Raw, Or Homemade)
http://www.catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf

What brands of canned food have you tried so far? We can suggest other brands. Have you tried different textures? Some cats prefer pate / loaf, others prefer sheds and chunks in gravy or sauce.

What are some dry food brands you'd recommend? Thanks for the link, I'll look into it!

I've tried Trader Joe's, Halo, Fancy Feast, plain cooked chicken and Friskies. The last one she actually eats a little of but that's not something I'd want to keep her on.

 

[reena1]

For my kibble lover I had to first switch to a higher quality dry food, then grain free dry food, then wet food mixed with the dry food. We also had to start with friskies canned food. Took us a couple years to make the full transition but we are 100% high quality wet food now!

That makes sense. I guess we will have to take baby steps Thank you for your input!

 

[LTS3]

I like the Nature's Variety Instinct brand. There's a few different lines within the brand to choose from in both dry and canned. I feed the frozen raw but also feed a little of the Instinct canned.

Other often recommended brands are Orijen, Wellness, Blue Buffalo, Innova EVO and other brands found in chain and independent pet stores. I've seen Simply Nourish recommended a few times. I'm not sure what bigger name brands commonly found in big box stores and supermarkets would be good and affordable.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/choosing-the-right-dry-cat-food

There's nothing wrong wtih canned Friskies. It's a decent quality and affordable brand

Many cats love Weruva, Soulistic, and Tiki Cat. The foods look fgood enough for a person to eat Of the three, only Soulistic is sold at Petco. The other two are sold at independent pet stores.