New Kitten doesn't like wet food

[meekabookitten]

So I have run into an issue. My 11 week old kitten doesn't like wet food! Before I got him I ordered a variety pack of Nature's Variety Instinct. When I tried to feed him the lamb and duck he tried to bury them and then ran away from them and refused to touch them. With the beef and chicken flavors he will take a couple of bites and then leave the rest. I also feed him raw chicken instinct which he really enjoys but is too pricey to feed him more than once a day (I'm a college student!), Stella and Chewy's Duck Duck Goose (also pricey) and he gets Nature's Variety Instinct duck kibble. He is a sweet little boy, and I want to make sure he is getting enough water. After my Instinct canned food trial failed I went to the pet store and grabbed some other assorted cans to try. He has tried kitten blue wilderness (he finished about half of this one time), kitten blue regular (wouldn't touch it), wellness core turkey (wouldn't touch it), a couple of kinds of canidae that he hated, wellness kitten original that he doesn't like and Merrick chicken. When he decides that he doesn't like a wet food even adding Parmesan doesn't help. He also is appalled by anything fish.   Does anyone have any ideas on what the next step should be? I have had a picky cat before, but he didn't turn picky until he was at least 17. I want to try to get him used to wet food now so I don't have 20 years ahead of me of a terribly picky cat :-(

 

[bonepicker]

So I have run into an issue. My 11 week old kitten doesn't like wet food! Before I got him I ordered a variety pack of Nature's Variety Instinct. When I tried to feed him the lamb and duck he tried to bury them and then ran away from them and refused to touch them. With the beef and chicken flavors he will take a couple of bites and then leave the rest. I also feed him raw chicken instinct which he really enjoys but is too pricey to feed him more than once a day (I'm a college student!), Stella and Chewy's Duck Duck Goose (also pricey) and he gets Nature's Variety Instinct duck kibble. He is a sweet little boy, and I want to make sure he is getting enough water. After my Instinct canned food trial failed I went to the pet store and grabbed some other assorted cans to try. He has tried kitten blue wilderness (he finished about half of this one time), kitten blue regular (wouldn't touch it), wellness core turkey (wouldn't touch it), a couple of kinds of canidae that he hated, wellness kitten original that he doesn't like and Merrick chicken. When he decides that he doesn't like a wet food even adding Parmesan doesn't help. He also is appalled by anything fish.   Does anyone have any ideas on what the next step should be? I have had a picky cat before, but he didn't turn picky until he was at least 17. I want to try to get him used to wet food now so I don't have 20 years ahead of me of a terribly picky cat :-(

Try nutro natural balance chunky chicken loaf (no carageen) try merrick duck pate, try weruva paw licken chicken. Mt fussiest girl like nutro natural loafs and minced and merrick duck pate. My boy loves weruva shreds. Do not free feed dry or it is a losing battle, sprinkle a few bits of dry on wet to get him going.

 

[lokhismom]

I 2nd trying Nutro Natural Choice.  They have kitten soft loaf.   It seems even picky cat like this one.    Worth a try if you haven't. 

Not sure if you read this but it might be helpful

http://www.catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf

 

[LTS3]

Maybe it's a texture thing? Instead of pate foods, try food that comes in chunks or slices. Weruva is a good one. Sometimes regular Fancy Feast or Friskies or some inexpensive brand is all a kitten or cat will eat. There's nothing wrong with these brands and they're easier on your wallet than the premium brands. Just try to choose the ones with few to no grains.

You say your kitten likes the Raw Bites. Raw is great for cats and kittens

NV is pricey, though. Have you signed up on the NV web site to get coupons? NV sends out coupons about once a month. Sometimes Petco has a sale on NV. Maybe you can feed mostly canned food with some raw food.

 

[khayr]

My cat is also picky about texture- he wasn't super thrilled with pate at first either, but seems to like minced (but not flaked, those are much too big apparently haha)... now that I got him started on mixing raw in though he seems to have taken to a pate-ish texture much more readily. It's a work in progress, haha.

If you can find a food your kitty does like, I found it was easier to mix a little bit of a new texture or flavor in with ones that he seemed to like already.

 

[meekabookitten]

Thank you all for your help. I just bought a few more of those cans to try out. I am signed up for NV coupons so I hope to be getting one soon!

 

[meekabookitten]

After trying all of those foods I realized that it wasn't the food at all but rather that eating out of a bowl bother him. As soon as I served wet food on a plate the problem was solved! Huh, silly kitties

 

[raintyger]

Glad you found that one out! What was the bowl made of? Maybe it is the material rather than being a bowl. I heard some kitties don't like stainless steel.

Homemade raw is cheap to make, if you're interested you should head over to the raw and homecooked subforum.

 

[LTS3]

 After trying all of those foods I realized that it wasn't the food at all but rather that eating out of a bowl bother him. As soon as I served wet food on a plate the problem was solved! Huh, silly kitties

Cats sure are strange

I've heard that some cats don't like their whiskers touching anything while they eat. A plate or wide shallow bowl would work for these cats. Sometimes the material the bowl is made of is the problem.