getting very frustrated with little Sheila

[lonelykitten]

So little Sheila is on a mix of dry and canned food.  Either she gets 1/2 a 5.5 ounce can in the morning or a whole 3 ounce can in the morning and than dry food throughout the day to nibble on.  We have been feeding our girls the costco dry cat food which they have been doing good on but we just can't afford the $50 annual fee right now so our membership has lapsed for the time being.  

So being the good kitty mommy that I am I am trying to transfer them over to Wellness Core indoor formula but Sheila says no.  She now won't eat canned food from the 5.5 ounce cans the next morning when I have to microwave it and if I mix the old costco food and new wellness core together she refuses the whole bowl(Samara could care less).  

I don't know what to do to get her to try the Wellness I'm at my wits end she has gone a week with only eating her canned food and demanding it be fresh not microwaved.  She seems to be having a diva week this week as she never had a problem with microwaved food before but since I started transferring them to the CORE she has just gotten this big additude about her, I guess expressing her dislike.

Does anyone have suggestions to get her to eat?  Her vet said wait it out she'll eat when she's hungry but I know that is bad for cats but I also don't want to feed her extra canned food and have her obnoxious butt refuse dry food all together.  Even when I just offer her her old food now she snubs it.

 

[finnlacey]

I can't believe your vet said that, it's a complete lie. A cat will starve themselves to death rather than eat something they don't like. And Wellness Core is not a good brand. It's been known to cause crystals in cats. Isn't there another brand you can try? Does it HAVE to be Wellness? There are plenty of grain free out there. 

 

[margaretl]

Have you checked with Costco about the possibility of getting the food through their pharmacy (possibly with Rx from your vet)? I think you as a non-member can enter by telling the door person you wish to use the pharmacy. Good luck!

Rescue groups can take advantage of Costco pricing for veterinary meds too.

 

[Willowy]

You can get a CostCo day pass for, oh, $5, I think, and pick up a few bags, enough to last a while. Or have a friend with a membership pick up a bag next time they go. You'll never win arguing with a cat about their food! If that's absolutely not an option, 4Health (Tractor Supply Co brand) seems fairly comparable to Kirkland. If no TSC in the area, I think Diamond Naturals is close enough, too.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

None of my cats liked Wellness Core kibble!  So that was a big waste of money for us.  I agree with just asking a friend with a Costco membership to pick up a bag or two for you, or try one of the alternative brands suggested above. 

And none of mine will eat leftover canned either, just so you know you are not alone.  And I'm with finnlacey in that I can't believe your Vet would say that...may be time for a new Vet! 

 

[lonelykitten]

well I went to the feed store and picked up some sample bags, I got earthborn holistic, innova, and felidae.  She picked a few pieces of felidae and snubbed the rest.  I'll have to check about going to tractor supply and trying the 4health food.  She is driving me CRAZY!  She never had a problem with microwaved food before she is so finnicky!!!

As for my vet I wouldn't say their the most knowledgeable when it comes to nutrition and stuff and I always double check stuff after they tell me(such as medications they prescribe and everything else).  They are just the most affordable around but I have definetely looked at the other vets in the area as well just need to find one i'm comfortable with.  The thing I like about my vet is lets say my dog gets sick on a tuesday and needs to be seen asap but I don't get paid until friday they'll see my dog no questions asked and I can just go in on friday and pay them.

We have asked about Costco passes just for a day they told me no they don't offer them???  I'm have to ask again because I heard someone else mention that before and seeing as we make a costco run once every 2-3 months that would be worth it.  We did ask a co-worker of my husband to pick up the food and even gave him the money plus a little extra, this was before I got my membership a little over a year ago and we are STILL waiting on that bag of cat food he said he'd get us...

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Sounds to me like your hubby's co-workers forgot all about this and just needs a reminder! 

 

[finnlacey]

Are you mixing her old food with her new one and trying to switch slowly? Most kitties won't go for a cold turkey switch like that. 

 

[lonelykitten]

Are you mixing her old food with her new one and trying to switch slowly? Most kitties won't go for a cold turkey switch like that. 

Yes we are mixing her foods she gets 1/8 cup new food and 1/2 cup her regular food. Our older cat eats it readily Sheila won't touch it. I offered her just a bowl of her regular food and she won't even touch that. 

 

[lonelykitten]

So I decided to get 4health a try. Emptied and washed Sheila's dish so there was no stench of the wellness core left. I mixed just 2 tablespoons in with her half cup of dry. She got really excited and ran to her dish, sniffed and walked away, but yet scarfed down a can of purina one. I seriously want to cry why is she being so stuborn!

 

[smitten4kittens]

You mentioned you don't want to feed her extra wet because then she won't eat the dry at all. In my opinion this is a good thing.

 A wet diet is better for cats anyway, and you wouldn't have to stress about whether or not she eats the dry.

I think she is trying to tell you something when she snubs the dry buts scarfs down the canned food,

 

[lonelykitten]

Well it's not that I don't want to feed her more canned I just simply can't afford to. I've been feeding her extra canned now because she just won't eat dry.

We've had some success with purina one dry food. She was eating that this morning, picking around her costco food and eating the purina one. I was so desperate and Sheila really liked the purina one canned so I got the dry and she seems to enjoy it.

 

[ritz]

Lonely kitten, what canned food are you currently feeding Diva, I mean Sheila?  Maybe there is canned food out there that is cheaper.

Fancy Feast Classics come to mind, not the greatest, but not the worst either.  And I second Smitten4Kittens:  an all-wet diet is better for cats anyway.

You could really freak out Sheila and throw her a piece of raw chicken!

 

[lonelykitten]

Lonely kitten, what canned food are you currently feeding Diva, I mean Sheila?  Maybe there is canned food out there that is cheaper.
Fancy Feast Classics come to mind, not the greatest, but not the worst either.  And I second Smitten4Kittens:  an all-wet diet is better for cats anyway.
You could really freak out Sheila and throw her a piece of raw chicken!

o

Right now she loves purina one canned foods but she only likes shredded foods not the pate type of food. Chicken and turkey are her favorites followed by beef than fish and she only gets fish like once a week.

I have tried foods such as sheba and she didn't care for it but she did eat it. Foods like friskies and lower quality canned food makes her tummy sick. I stick with the purina one because I know she likes it and I know her tummy likes it. I spend about .76 a can on it at walmart. She gets some fancy feast if after three stores I can't find enough purina one to get her through the week I improvise with the fancy feast morning medleys.

She has started eating her dry food now. I broke down and bought purina one senstive stomach food for her and mixed it with the costco food and she ate. I was so happy! She ate nearly her whole 1/2 cup of dry food today.

I did offer her canned wellness which she didn't like at all, I got her the shredded cubed and flaked variety and she didn't like them at all. She is just a purina one girl I guess...I wish I could find a better quality canned food she'd eat but I need pouches or 3 ounce cans since she doesn't like microwaved leftover canned food. And nothing costing $2 a can either the wellness cost me $1.86 for the 5.5 ounce cans!

 

[just mike]

Well it's not that I don't want to feed her more canned I just simply can't afford to. I've been feeding her extra canned now because she just won't eat dry.

We've had some success with purina one dry food. She was eating that this morning, picking around her costco food and eating the purina one. I was so desperate and Sheila really liked the purina one canned so I got the dry and she seems to enjoy it.

Hmmm... She is a Diva isn't she :lol3: Do you have a friend with a Costco card? You can always go with them to pick up some food or have them pick it up for you. For canned you can go to less expensive brands. Fancy Feast classics come to mind. If you have a Petsmart nearby you might want to check out the Nutro Max Cat kibble. It is an economical dry kibble. The canned is great but on the pricey side. Not sure what your budget is like. You can check out the Max Cat at http://www.nutro.com/natural-cat-food.aspx to see what you think.

I'm pretty surprised the vet said that. Cats need daily nutrition and especially daily hydration.

When switching dry, try to transition it slowly. Over the course of at least a week. Preferably 2 weeks. Switching canned is okay anytime.

 

[lonelykitten]

Hmmm... She is a Diva isn't she

Do you have a friend with a Costco card? You can always go with them to pick up some food or have them pick it up for you. For canned you can go to less expensive brands. Fancy Feast classics come to mind. If you have a Petsmart nearby you might want to check out the Nutro Max Cat kibble. It is an economical dry kibble. The canned is great but on the pricey side. Not sure what your budget is like. You can check out the Max Cat at http://www.nutro.com/natural-cat-food.aspx to see what you think.

I'm pretty surprised the vet said that. Cats need daily nutrition and especially daily hydration.

When switching dry, try to transition it slowly. Over the course of at least a week. Preferably 2 weeks. Switching canned is okay anytime.

Thanks.  She does seem to be eating now but is strictly wanting the purina one dry and canned...so if that's what she is going to eat than so be it.  Purina pro plan is running a sale on canned 3 ounce cans I may try.  It's not much of a sale I can get the purina one cans for .76 and the purina pro plan is 10/$8 so .80 a can.  But it is so hard for me to find enough of the shredded purina one canned food for her.  Like I said I have to go to 2-3 stores sometimes to find enough and usually than I don't even find enough their always out or only have the fish flavored ones which is her least favorite of the flavors.  I wish I could buy it in bulk at the local feed store but they don't sell it and can't order it all they have is the higher quality foods.

I think the FF classics are all pate type foods though which she doesn't like.  I am not a fancy feast expert though she eats the gravy lover variety and the morning medley(which to me looks disgusting but to each their own), she eat the FF with the green label too I forgot what that's called elegant medley or something?  We really don't have a petsmart closeby it's about 40 minutes from us(it's right by the costco that we go to).

We did have a costco card but we're waiting until income tax to pay our membership fee.  We tried giving one friend(well more of a co-worker of my husband) the money to buy the food over a year ago(this is what prompted me to get the membership to begin with) after reminding him for four months about it(after we gave him the money) he never got it so we just got the membership and bought it ourselves.

We have been trying to slowly adjust the food but she either has been refusing to eat it or she just eats the new food.  She is only eating the purina one now, decided she'd like that more than the costco food.  As long as she is eating i'm happy I am not going to try to push her to try another food and go through this all over again!