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That IS super news!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO BO!!!!!!!!!! :bigthumb: This is a HUGE accomplishment !!!UPDATE: Bo ate an entire can of Fancy Feast (about 3oz)! This is amazing! Just thought I would let you know. Very excited! :nod:
It is a huge accomplishment! I am just so happy ill start with one small can per day- kibble in the morning and the can in the evening. Then I'll start trying to get him to do 100% wet.... wish me luck!That IS super news!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO BO!!!!!!!!!! :bigthumb: This is a HUGE accomplishment !!!
And I love Carolina's suggestion about freezing the canned foods in ice trays. IT REALLY WORKS!!!!!!!!! It is always fresh that way and less waste. I also would suggest trying the Fortiflora. I buy it on Amazon. I still have to use it for Perla
YOU GO, BO!!!!!!!UPDATE: Bo ate an entire can of Fancy Feast (about 3oz)! This is amazing! Just thought I would let you know. Very excited!
So Bluebo, here we are....
Can you give me a rundown of what have you tried? Please don't just say "everything" that doesn't help :lol3:
Is he eating on a schedule?
I give him a half a cup of Healthwise (a chicken/rice formula) kibble at about 9am and let him graze until 4pm when I take it up (I put it up and cover it so that he can't smell it) then at about 7-8pm I give (or attempt to give) a 3oz can of Fancy Feast.
What times does he eat?
He eats his dry intermittently from 9am-4pm and then his wet at 8pm.
How much wet, how much dry in each feeding?
Dry is a half cup (he never eats it all) and his wet is 3 oz.
How long does the feeding last?
He eats his dry several times during the day for about 2 minutes at a time. His wet he'll either completely ignore and try to cover up (like poop) or he'll eat the whole thing.
Is food available for grazing?
Yes from 9am-4pm
What types/flavors of food have you tried, what does he like, what doesn't he like?
do you mean dry or wet?
What dry is he eating now?
Healthwise Chicken and Rice
How much does he weight?
He weighs almost 8 pounds and he is at a healthy weight
what treats does he like - I mean LOVE - would scratch your eyeballs for? :lol3:
Temptations
Is he food driven?
No. Unless its sandwich meats :S
What is your budget for canned food?
If he liked a certain food I would make it work. It's more about accessibility to certain brands (I don't shop online, I'm too oldschool lol)
Please let me know what you have tried and worked, what you have tried and has not worked :when
thats a loaded question- we can't do fish (not great for him which works out) because he will just throw up. He mostly prefers chicken items but will do turkey. Mainly any poultry and sometimes beef. He is even fussy with dry! He ate Royal Canin Gastro for a long time (I was dumb and thought it was good for his constipation when it exacerbated it) and he loved it and Healthwise. These are the only two he won't reject.... I've tried almost every wet under the sun but he always ends up rejecting it! He did take Wellness for a while... Fancy Feast is the longest standing food that he will tolerate....
He'll like chunks, pâté, and sliced alternately (meaning hell like it for a little bit and then reject it soon after).
So Bluebo, here we are....
Can you give me a rundown of what have you tried? Please don't just say "everything" that doesn't help
Is he eating on a schedule?
I give him a half a cup of Healthwise (a chicken/rice formula) kibble at about 9am and let him graze until 4pm when I take it up (I put it up and cover it so that he can't smell it) then at about 7-8pm I give (or attempt to give) a 3oz can of Fancy Feast. Ok - here is the first red flag - and your first home work..... To make this transition successful, the very first thing you will have to do, is to put him on a schedule feeding. He will not eat 100% wet if he has dry to graze on throughout the day. Which is why he eats some at night when he is hungry. We need to work with his hunger - NOT starving him I would never ever do that..... And we can do that very gently and slowly - he will not even notice.... I promise you, ok? But he has to be on a schedule.
What times does he eat?
He eats his dry intermittently from 9am-4pm and then his wet at 8pm. Your goal will be 3 feedings - in the am, pm, and before bed. Do you work full time? What times can you feed him?
How much wet, how much dry in each feeding?
Dry is a half cup (he never eats it all) and his wet is 3 oz. This is too much food too.... He might not be hungry enough for an 8lb kitty.... 1/2 cup a day is plenty for him.... the 3oz of wet is extra.... he isn't hungry for the wet :nod:
How long does the feeding last?
He eats his dry several times during the day for about 2 minutes at a time. His wet he'll either completely ignore and try to cover up (like poop) or he'll eat the whole thing.
Is food available for grazing?
Yes from 9am-4pm no mas - has to stop
What types/flavors of food have you tried, what does he like, what doesn't he like?
do you mean dry or wet? for wet
What dry is he eating now?
Healthwise Chicken and Rice since we are going to be transitioning him to a schedule feeding, it would be good to transition him to a high protein/high calorie food - EVO is excellent for that. Reason is, even if he eats a little bit during his scheduled meals, he will be covered with his nutritional needs. Homeworks #2 - Transition him to EVO
How much does he weight?
He weighs almost 8 pounds and he is at a healthy weight Excellent!
what treats does he like - I mean LOVE - would scratch your eyeballs for?
Temptations Good - keep these handy as you might need to crumble some over the wet food to make him eat a full meal :nod:
Is he food driven?
No. Unless its sandwich meats :S You can use this too on the top of the wet food..... Have you tried Halo treats? Does he like it?
What is your budget for canned food?
If he liked a certain food I would make it work. It's more about accessibility to certain brands (I don't shop online, I'm too oldschool lol)
Please let me know what you have tried and worked, what you have tried and has not worked :when
thats a loaded question- we can't do fish (not great for him which works out) because he will just throw up. He mostly prefers chicken items but will do turkey. Mainly any poultry and sometimes beef. He is even fussy with dry! He ate Royal Canin Gastro for a long time (I was dumb and thought it was good for his constipation when it exacerbated it) and he loved it and Healthwise. These are the only two he won't reject.... I've tried almost every wet under the sun but he always ends up rejecting it! He did take Wellness for a while... Fancy Feast is the longest standing food that he will tolerate....
He'll like chunks, pâté, and sliced alternately (meaning hell like it for a little bit and then reject it soon after). Ok, great, so then a variety, but no fish, which is good, anyways! :bigthumb:
This is a good point and something I never thought of. I feed him out of a bowl. The bowl is stainless steel and does kind of smell weird when I wash it (I wash it after every meal). It gets a type of metallic scent when ever there is moisture in it... could this be the possible cause I wonder!?This may sound like an odd question, but do you feed the wet in a bowl or on a plate? I had to switch Abby from the wet food she loved to one she hated, because of her allergies. I eventually got her to accept to, only if I fed it to her on a paper plate. I mentioned it to my vet one time and she said that cats do prefer to eat off of flat surfaces.
While that might help.... Kibbles are coated with fat and animal digest. They are way more enticing to a cat than canned diet. It is like offering a hot dog vs a salad to a child, when both are available side by side. The child will alway go to the hot dog, no matter in what type of plate you serve it.This is a good point and something I never thought of. I feed him out of a bowl. The bowl is stainless steel and does kind of smell weird when I wash it (I wash it after every meal). It gets a type of metallic scent when ever there is moisture in it... could this be the possible cause I wonder!?
I would recommend 3 times a day - however it works with your schedule and with his antics :nod:Carolina- what kind of scheduled feeding would you recommend? I am home 90% of the time (as I am a stay at home mom) and aside from doing chores and going to appointments etc - I can create a schedule pretty easily.
How do I start removing his kibble WITHOUT starving him?
How much dry would you recommend me putting down for him?
He likes mainly poultry type foods (although I haven't tried duck or venison on him yet). He has always preferred Fancy Feast over any other kind but did enjoy Wellness Chicken (enjoy for him anyway).
I can buy a bag of Evo (we live quite a ways from a store that sells it but will be going into town next Friday, unfortunately the earliest I can grab some).
I've tried quite a few brands but I'm not sure about Halo... he's rejected pretty much everything besides Temptations-- even those freeze dried chicken treats!
Ok so do I just start with switching the kibble over to Evo? Leave my routine as is and just switch the dry as the first step??I would recommend 3 times a day - however it works with your schedule and with his antics :nod:
Here is how I feed mine, since I work full time, and so do my sitters:
a bit before 9am - before work
around 6pm - after work,
and before bed, around 11:30 pm
You don't need to feed that late in the night.... Just try to space them out as evenly as you can.... So he doesn't have two meals too close together, and doesn't go too long in between the last meal and breakfast. You do want him to be humgry too, so you want quite a few hours in between meals.
You don't need much EVO at all for him, which makes it the nicest food for a transition
EVO is so calorie dense, that even if he eats a little bit on these 3 meals, he will be covered. Lucky for example, was 12lbs when I was transitioning her - all she needed was 3/8 of a cup for the entire day - 1/8 cup per meal! FAR less than any other food :nod:
Halo is quite different from the other freeze dry treats..... While my cats HATE the others, they will go bananas for HALO. (or Whole Life Chicken, essentially the same thing).
Another GREAT tool to have with you, if you haven't tried, is the probiotic Fortiflora - it's main ingredient is animal digest awful, but highly addictive and the majority of kitties go gaga over it!
So, if you haven't tried, I suggest buying a box - Amazon.com has the best price - at the vet it's too much $$$$
And yes, I will teach you a GREAT trick to transition him to a schedule he will not even notice - the same I used to transition Lucky Totally tricked her, and she was a free-fed kibble girl all her life - she did just fine in no time :nod:
See my post above- you can do both at the same time :nod:Ok so do I just start with switching the kibble over to Evo? Leave my routine as is and just switch the dry as the first step??