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How to make a fussy cat eat?
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My cat appears to be a bit of a fuss pants when it comes to eating. I've had her for over a year, but she seems to be getting a lot worse lately.
She generally only tends to eat fishy flavoured food and occasionally chicken/poultry flavoured. Beef etc is a no-no, as is anything in gravy. I've tried everything from generic Whiskas/Felix to the more exotic Felix Sensations, As Good As It Looks, Whiskas Simply & Oh So Fishy, even Sheba and the only ones she seems to go for are those with real meat/fish in them. Which also happen to be the most expensive, costing me almost a tenner for 2 boxes of 12. The only food she always seems to eat are her Go-Cat biscuits. Oh and the chicken leftovers and ham bits from our meals :rolleyes:
Any advice? I don't particularly want to start buying her real chicken, tuna, ham etc and just giving her that as she's only young and i see that kind of food as a treat, not something she should have for every meal.
Or should i throw in the towel with the wet food and just feed her dry stuff? I've never had a cat this fussy before!
She generally only tends to eat fishy flavoured food and occasionally chicken/poultry flavoured. Beef etc is a no-no, as is anything in gravy. I've tried everything from generic Whiskas/Felix to the more exotic Felix Sensations, As Good As It Looks, Whiskas Simply & Oh So Fishy, even Sheba and the only ones she seems to go for are those with real meat/fish in them. Which also happen to be the most expensive, costing me almost a tenner for 2 boxes of 12. The only food she always seems to eat are her Go-Cat biscuits. Oh and the chicken leftovers and ham bits from our meals :rolleyes:
Any advice? I don't particularly want to start buying her real chicken, tuna, ham etc and just giving her that as she's only young and i see that kind of food as a treat, not something she should have for every meal.
Or should i throw in the towel with the wet food and just feed her dry stuff? I've never had a cat this fussy before!
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Sure, let her have as much tuna as she can catch herself.
If she's healthy with no kidney problems, go for the dry stuff (best brand you can get, James Welbeloved is excellent), and don't beat yourself up - no cat ever voluntarily starved to death! My Maine Coone rarely eats meat - he started on kibble as a kitten, and he's now quite convinced that this is what cats are supposed to eat! Use the dry stuff as a base, and maybe vary it with some fish- or poultry-based food. I give my outdoor cats half a sachet of "wet" food twice a day and the rest of the time, they have a bowl of kibble there when they want it.
We used to go round supermarkets when they have reductions and used to get any fish they had reduced too, mixed into a normal food used to get her eating.
IMO the answer is not to keep chopping and changing and constantly trying to tempt her with different food. At the moment she knows if she doesn't eat one thing, another one will be along soon, and too much choice will just encourage her to be fussy. Stick to one type of (good quality)wet food and one type of dry.
My vet recommends a diet of no more than 50% dry food. Too much dry food can be implicated in the cat developing urinary tract problems, and also to becoming overweight and developing diabetes.
Go Cat is very palatable - the McDonalds of the cat food world - but not good quality and I agree with susie I would change to a brand like Royal Canin or James Wellbeloved.
I basically back up what Lippincote said! Sound advice which makes for a happy cat. Contrary to popular belief cats needn't be the centre of the universe and have their every whim met by their human slaves, there is room for discipline.
if it goes off and hard, replace it with the same kind of food ....
Sounds like if your cat was any sharper it would cut its bloody self
Anyway, down to one brand, the girl is quite fussy as to which flavours. Like the poster above, beef is a no-no, as is lamb. Now finding out turkey and chicken aren't favoured as much anymore either.
So, this is how I fool them if I don't give in to their protests. They sniff, lick, turn their nose up and walk away. Then cry for food. I first ignore them and then if they persist I pick up their bowls, get a sachet out of the cupboard and go through the motions as if I'm forking out the contents and mashing it up. I then put down their bowls and lo and behold, they gobble it up. I haven't the faintest reason why they won't eat it the first time except that they have me wrapped around their little finger and are trying it on until I give in and give them a treat. The funny thing is is that if I feed them and then go out, on the odd occasion I've come back in because I've forgotten something, they're happily gobbling up the food.
I really think they are just like children and if they don't like beans on toast they will cry until they get burgers and chips so to speak. Perhaps the odd treat of chicken they get doesn't help matters. :rolleyes:
They're funny little things (part Siamese also).
Though importantly, the other thing I've noticed is that my little girl likes to eat far away from her brother as he tends to gobble up first and then loiter, staring at her until she gives up and walks away. I make sure their bowls are out of view of one another.
Edit: Oh and wrt to dry food, I haven't fed them this for a long time (the reasons for which I've gone into in other threads) but I know if she could, the little girl would eat only crunchies and would eat and eat and eat. She became a real little porker when she was young so she was completely weaned off them. But I know if I gave her a bowl now she would turn her nose up completely at the wet food.
My brother and his wife have a fussy cat, and Lorraine panders to his fussiness, buying all manner of expensive foods and treats. John hates this.
Lorraine recently went on holiday with a friend, leaving John at home with the fussy cat.
John decided he wasn't going to be dictated to by an animal, so he fed the cat on the 'normal' cat food that he won't normally eat.
After a day-and-a-half, the cat stops whingeing and wolfs down the food. The cat now eats normal food regularly.
Remember, give a cat an inch and it will take a mile. A few years ago we fell for the same thing. We took in a semi-stray cat, who was in poor condition. At first he ate anything, but over the years he manipulated us (by using the same tricks as your cat) into buying better and better food until he was eating only M&S thinly sliced roast turkey, John West red salmon and all the rest. Don't fall for it. Ordinary Whiskas cat food is very balanced and full of vitamins and trace elements that a cat needs.
I don't know if that's spoiling him, but it works!
Yep 100%