kittens refusing to eat their canned food- only like whitefish and tuna

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haleyrose99

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Happy to help. And hey, we all get like that sometimes. Now that I know more, I've been very sad that Nobel's life didn't get off to as good of a start as our new cats. But I remind myself I did my best!

I like Purina Pro Plan personally. There's a few options for it. I also give my cats Wureva once to 3 times a week (they like the lamb). Calcifer was 100% eating Iams Perfect Portions for a solid 3 months after some random tummy trouble that never happened again and we never found the cause of (could have been the Wellness kitten food. I reported it but I suspect it just effected him).
I actually went out and bought a couple of cans of Purina One kitten (chicken pate) because of your and a few others' suggestions, but couldn't find any Weruva for their age range/all life stages if they even make that. I'll keep looking online, but I also got Royal Canin and Merrick to try. After what just happened I'm starting to suspect my kittens aren't actually fish addicts... they just don't like the chicken flavor of Wellness!
I bought a bag of bonito flakes too from Petco while I was out, so first I let them it (which they were averagely enthusiastic, I expected more actually) and I think they were just very curious. I put down chicken Wellness like usual and put bonito flakes on top to see if it would help and.... nothing. One kitten straight up turned away after one lick and the other ate some, but I don't think the bonito flakes did anything to make them want to eat.
Here's the crazy part: I opened the Purina One for them to smell and see if they would like it, and they went CRAZY! They started eating it straight out of the can!! I have never seen them so excited to eat wet food ever. I suspect the Wellness even more now because even with their enthusiasm for the Purina, when I mixed it into the Wellness they wouldn't eat it at all!
I know you're supposed to transfer food slowly, so I only let him eat a bit but if they are this excited to eat the Purina, can I give them a meal portion or is that too fast for their tummies? I don't want to wreak havoc, especially if they've had a couple of new foods in the last few days with the FF, but they liked it so much I almost couldn't stop them from sticking their faces in the can:flail:
 

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Bonito fish is a kind of tuna low in mercury. And very nutritious for your cats! Just an occasional treat,not a meal
I actually went out and bought a couple of cans of Purina One kitten (chicken pate) because of your and a few others' suggestions, but couldn't find any Weruva for their age range/all life stages if they even make that. I'll keep looking online, but I also got Royal Canin and Merrick to try. After what just happened I'm starting to suspect my kittens aren't actually fish addicts... they just don't like the chicken flavor of Wellness!
I bought a bag of bonito flakes too from Petco while I was out, so first I let them it (which they were averagely enthusiastic, I expected more actually) and I think they were just very curious. I put down chicken Wellness like usual and put bonito flakes on top to see if it would help and.... nothing. One kitten straight up turned away after one lick and the other ate some, but I don't think the bonito flakes did anything to make them want to eat.
Here's the crazy part: I opened the Purina One for them to smell and see if they would like it, and they went CRAZY! They started eating it straight out of the can!! I have never seen them so excited to eat wet food ever. I suspect the Wellness even more now because even with their enthusiasm for the Purina, when I mixed it into the Wellness they wouldn't eat it at all!
I know you're supposed to transfer food slowly, so I only let him eat a bit but if they are this excited to eat the Purina, can I give them a meal portion or is that too fast for their tummies? I don't want to wreak havoc, especially if they've had a couple of new foods in the last few days with the FF, but they liked it so much I almost couldn't stop them from sticking their faces in the can:flail:
Not until they are older like 1-2 yrs will slow transition be so important. Right now mix in some of both or see how they do. When my cats were kittens they ate different food every day. Now that they are senior I have to be more careful. That is why I try to not get them addicted to fish. As they get older they are more prone to allergies
 
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haleyrose99

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Bonito fish is a kind of tuna low in mercury. And very nutritious for your cats! Just an occasional treat,not a meal
I think I'll keep them for treats then!! Using it as a topper wasn't show stopping lol
Not until they are older like 1-2 yrs will slow transition be so important. Right now mix in some of both or see how they do. When my cats were kittens they ate different food every day. Now that they are senior I have to be more careful. That is why I try to not get them addicted to fish. As they get older they are more prone to allergies
Okay, that helps! I think I'll just give them their usual half a can with Purina for their last meal today then. Only slightly worried because I haven't seen my girl poop to determine if she was able to stomach FF or not, but she poops super late at night anyways. Thanks for your help!
 

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I actually went out and bought a couple of cans of Purina One kitten (chicken pate) because of your and a few others' suggestions, but couldn't find any Weruva for their age range/all life stages if they even make that. I'll keep looking online, but I also got Royal Canin and Merrick to try. After what just happened I'm starting to suspect my kittens aren't actually fish addicts... they just don't like the chicken flavor of Wellness!
I bought a bag of bonito flakes too from Petco while I was out, so first I let them it (which they were averagely enthusiastic, I expected more actually) and I think they were just very curious. I put down chicken Wellness like usual and put bonito flakes on top to see if it would help and.... nothing. One kitten straight up turned away after one lick and the other ate some, but I don't think the bonito flakes did anything to make them want to eat.
Here's the crazy part: I opened the Purina One for them to smell and see if they would like it, and they went CRAZY! They started eating it straight out of the can!! I have never seen them so excited to eat wet food ever. I suspect the Wellness even more now because even with their enthusiasm for the Purina, when I mixed it into the Wellness they wouldn't eat it at all!
I know you're supposed to transfer food slowly, so I only let him eat a bit but if they are this excited to eat the Purina, can I give them a meal portion or is that too fast for their tummies? I don't want to wreak havoc, especially if they've had a couple of new foods in the last few days with the FF, but they liked it so much I almost couldn't stop them from sticking their faces in the can:flail:
I had to give away my wellness because my 2 cats refused to eat it.
 

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I actually went out and bought a couple of cans of Purina One kitten (chicken pate) because of your and a few others' suggestions, but couldn't find any Weruva for their age range/all life stages if they even make that. I'll keep looking online, but I also got Royal Canin and Merrick to try. After what just happened I'm starting to suspect my kittens aren't actually fish addicts... they just don't like the chicken flavor of Wellness!
I bought a bag of bonito flakes too from Petco while I was out, so first I let them it (which they were averagely enthusiastic, I expected more actually) and I think they were just very curious. I put down chicken Wellness like usual and put bonito flakes on top to see if it would help and.... nothing. One kitten straight up turned away after one lick and the other ate some, but I don't think the bonito flakes did anything to make them want to eat.
Here's the crazy part: I opened the Purina One for them to smell and see if they would like it, and they went CRAZY! They started eating it straight out of the can!! I have never seen them so excited to eat wet food ever. I suspect the Wellness even more now because even with their enthusiasm for the Purina, when I mixed it into the Wellness they wouldn't eat it at all!
I know you're supposed to transfer food slowly, so I only let him eat a bit but if they are this excited to eat the Purina, can I give them a meal portion or is that too fast for their tummies? I don't want to wreak havoc, especially if they've had a couple of new foods in the last few days with the FF, but they liked it so much I almost couldn't stop them from sticking their faces in the can:flail:
Weruva is for every age,all life stages. There is actually no difference in nutrition except kittens eat more though my cat peaches is small so she doesn't eat much
 

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I actually went out and bought a couple of cans of Purina One kitten (chicken pate) because of your and a few others' suggestions, but couldn't find any Weruva for their age range/all life stages if they even make that. I'll keep looking online, but I also got Royal Canin and Merrick to try. After what just happened I'm starting to suspect my kittens aren't actually fish addicts... they just don't like the chicken flavor of Wellness!
I bought a bag of bonito flakes too from Petco while I was out, so first I let them it (which they were averagely enthusiastic, I expected more actually) and I think they were just very curious. I put down chicken Wellness like usual and put bonito flakes on top to see if it would help and.... nothing. One kitten straight up turned away after one lick and the other ate some, but I don't think the bonito flakes did anything to make them want to eat.
Here's the crazy part: I opened the Purina One for them to smell and see if they would like it, and they went CRAZY! They started eating it straight out of the can!! I have never seen them so excited to eat wet food ever. I suspect the Wellness even more now because even with their enthusiasm for the Purina, when I mixed it into the Wellness they wouldn't eat it at all!
I know you're supposed to transfer food slowly, so I only let him eat a bit but if they are this excited to eat the Purina, can I give them a meal portion or is that too fast for their tummies? I don't want to wreak havoc, especially if they've had a couple of new foods in the last few days with the FF, but they liked it so much I almost couldn't stop them from sticking their faces in the can:flail:
I have personally never moved a cat's wet food slowly and also never had an issue. You might see some loose poos.

I've only ever done the slow switch for dry food.

Yes a cat will be quite determined to starve if they don't like their food. I pushed mine to eat the wellness and Calcifer got sick. I'm not sure what's up with their new formula! I had Lily (late cat) and Nobel on wellness for years. My friend still uses wellness with no issues 🐱 it's just not working for some cats though!

Wureva only has 3 kitten foods and they are in cans. VERY hard to find if a store in your area doesn't sell them. Though, for just once or twice a week, it is an "all lifestages" formula. So it should be good to give just a couple times.
 
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haleyrose99

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Weruva is for every age,all life stages. There is actually no difference in nutrition except kittens eat more though my cat peaches is small so she doesn't eat much
Oh okay, I didn't know that! I was just going off what the can's label said but that makes it much easier
 
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haleyrose99

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I have personally never moved a cat's wet food slowly and also never had an issue. You might see some loose poos.

I've only ever done the slow switch for dry food.

Yes a cat will be quite determined to starve if they don't like their food. I pushed mine to eat the wellness and Calcifer got sick. I'm not sure what's up with their new formula! I had Lily (late cat) and Nobel on wellness for years. My friend still uses wellness with no issues 🐱 it's just not working for some cats though!

Wureva only has 3 kitten foods and they are in cans. VERY hard to find if a store in your area doesn't sell them. Though, for just once or twice a week, it is an "all lifestages" formula. So it should be good to give just a couple times.
Okay, that definitely makes me feel a bit better! I won't be so stressed about a little bit of the runs then. But oh no! Hope Calcifer is okay! I'm lucky my kittens haven't had a reaction, they've just turned their nose up at it completely at this point and refuse to eat it:smash:
They do sell Weruva near me, but only at Petco and they have a very limited selection (so no kitten flavors) which is a bummer. But I will look through what they have next time I'm there and pick a few for them to try! Thanks for the help! :blush:
 
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haleyrose99

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Great news if anyone is still watching this thread, the kittens have tried Purina One kitten chicken and liver and Merrick grammy's pot pie and loved BOTH! Members of the clean plate club over here :cheerleader: So far no bad reactions to either, crazy that both are chicken flavor but they can't stand the Wellness lol I have a few more flavors and brands for them to try but I finally have some hope! Thanks everyone for the help!!
 

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I will agree with @arr .
There's a LOT of information out there on cat foods and not a lot of science to back up what people say.

Commercial cat foods have helped us to make cats the only pet whose lifespan is extended rather than shortened. Because of that, we have learned that some cats develop conditions over time from certain foods and we can respond to those conditions by changing the diet. Very much like people!

Cats are individuals and there's no "right" or "wrong" diet, except what keeps your cat healthy and feeling good. No one can really tell you if there's "good" or "bad" food as there are NO longitudinal studies that state ANYTHING for cats without medical conditions. (except a single 9 year study by Purina showing that their Purina Pro Plan Prime Plus is better than their old formulas that no longer exist as they moved most formulas closer to that diet)

My advice: don't stress about it and feed her what they will like. Try to mix it up between similar formulas of different brands and flavours to keep their tummies strong and so you don't have issues if there are shortages.
Great post!
 

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Wonderful news! Yes Calcifer is doing great now. We just don't buy Wellness anymore.

I'm so glad to hear they are eating the Purina. I hope they enjoy having Wureva as a treat not and then too!
 
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haleyrose99

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Sadly, returning to this thread with some not-so-great news... I'm finding now that the kittens are possibly having an allergic reaction to one of the foods I've started incorporating but I'm not entirely sure which one/which ingredient it is. Symptoms are more frequent scratching behind the ears (so far no fur lost), chewing and grooming their backs and feet, and frequent back ripples like they are itchy. I also did notice a bit more eye-boogers (not discharge-like, more like just woke up from a long sleep type), though like I mentioned previously they have FIV so it could be related to that. I did recently move to a new apartment yesterday, so I considered it may be stress-related (though they appear fine besides all this) but honestly the itching started before I even started packing to move on Tuesday. I'm also still in the same building/area, so I don't /think/ it's environmental but I could also be wrong.

So I'm looking at their food, and I've ruled out gums/thickeners because they had no reaction to guar gum in Wellness, and both the Merrick and Purina have it. Then I thought it was the peas in the Merrick pot pie, but I haven't fed it to them in 5-6 days and they are still having a reaction to something, though I'm not sure how long it takes for allergic reactions to flush out. I'm thinking it is either the grain (rice) in Purina which is currently their absolute favorite, or maybe it's something in the beef pate from Merrick like the egg product, or just the beef itself. Or it could be chicken all together since they've been eating it for a while and I know allergies can develop over time, but not going to lie that would be a bit problematic because besides two or three Merrick flavors I have, everything else is chicken... The main problem is they are picky as we all know from my previous posts on the thread :sweat:They will not even touch the Wellness chicken, which I would have liked to use as my baseline because I know they can eat it with no reaction. I'm considering just giving them the whitefish and tuna again because I know they won't have a reaction to that either and it's so distressing seeing them itch. But I only have two more cans of that flavor so that's not plausible for more than two meals. Circling back to the first food they tried, Wholehearted by land and sea variety pack, one kitten had instant runs from all flavors but the only thing I can think of is the tapioca starch or sunflower oil because the rest of the ingredients minus the cranberries and carrots in the Wellness are all the same.

The Merrick beef, grammy's pot pie, and the Purina kitten chicken flavor are the only foods they've had so far so I guess if anyone has any advice on how to find the root of the food allergy with the food I have? I bought a bunch of cans about a week ago to prepare and I would hate for those to expire and be wasted. If not, I've seen LID foods like Merrick's own line and Dr. Elseys (though these have egg products so I might just od Merrick). But honestly, I also feel as though buying a whole new food/formula 24-pack of one flavor at a time is too much with all the food jumping they've been doing and with how picky they are... overall I really wouldn't want to waste any more cat food at this point. Also if anyone knows how long it would take to see a change in their itching while doing the testing? Just so I can gauge how much food I will need to prep for the process. Sorry for the long-winded explanation and any advice is helpful!
 
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Right now,my cats crave weruva fowl ball, chicken and turkey shredded in broth also pouches. At least they are getting 2 proteins,not one. Ff I would only give to my cat with no tummy issues. Coco eats what ever my other cats don't.
 

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It could literally be anything you fed in the last month OR they've had contact with.

Also, it could be seasonal allergies and nothing to do with food.

I would relax on adding any new food and start by removing one protein. Protein is the first allergens to look at and the most common.

If beef is the newest protein, don't feed beef for the next month. (4-6 weeks really) Then, add beef back to see if the itching resumes, if it had stopped. You can return the cans or keep them for testing depending on expiry date or donate them.
 
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haleyrose99

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It could literally be anything you fed in the last month OR they've had contact with.

Also, it could be seasonal allergies and nothing to do with food.

I would relax on adding any new food and start by removing one protein. Protein is the first allergens to look at and the most common.

If beef is the newest protein, don't feed beef for the next month. (4-6 weeks really) Then, add beef back to see if the itching resumes, if it had stopped. You can return the cans or keep them for testing depending on expiry date or donate them.
Okay, thank I will try that. I guess I'm worried because the Purina chicken flavor is the only chicken flavor they will eat since they don't like Wellness at all anymore, and if it is the problem a whole month on that food is probably bad right? I was barely into testing foods when this all happened so I feel in over my head a bit and I don't have any backups.

We also had a scare last night where I took one kitten to the emergency vet, she was so itchy all over that she was panting, breathing quick and shallow for well over 5-10 min, and then started pulling her fur out while itching and grooming... It really shook me up :( She came back fine and relatively healthy (she might have asthma or some other similar issue/disease but I will need to get her scheduled for a scope to know for sure), but she is still acting that way even after getting a Benadryl shot from the emergency vet last night. It's definitely the worst when my other kitten tries to play with her and they are running around, though I don't exactly what that tells us.

That being said though, the reaction out of the blue last night makes me wonder if it is environmental and maybe the cat litter I have. They are still using SoPhresh paper pellet litter unscented, but the formula changed entirely so the color is different and it has a really sickly sweet smell... attached photo is the color difference. I tried to use some for the first time yesterday and then this all happened so t's hard not to assume. I'm struggling to find a litter they can use in the meantime if that is really part of what caused the crazy insane itching that happened last night. I bought a bag of their Fresh Scent version that I can try (though I really hate to use scented, it's not as strong of a smell as the so-called 'unscented'), and I bought Oko Cat paper pellets but they don't like these very much at all, even mixed with the old litter.

Seems like one thing after another with these guys and I'm exhausted physically and mentally, to say the least. Trying to get my primary vet to call me back at the moment, but I just don't know what the problem even is, what to do or how to fix anything. Thanks for all your advice, though, I appreciate everyone for trying to help :)
 

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haleyrose99 haleyrose99 Hey! I get it. Being a new pet parent is nerve wracking sometimes. Take a deep breath!

Magnus was on beef food for over 4 weeks and he survived..so do most cats as their humans and vets figure out what the heck is going on. After that he was still being wiped down daily with pet wipes with milk in them as we didn't know he had a byproduct allergy too!

First things first. You don't know what it causing the reaction and it could be a number of things. You have the chicken and rice months worth of food so feeding that only for the month is the best start.

In my experience it can take some time for cats to get used to a new litter.

The best thing you can do right now is just simply make a decision regarding food and litter and stick to it for a few weeks. If you're quite sure it was the new litter formula remove it, and call the company to report the potential reaction.

Then just use what you have of the old litter. They aren't going to jump straight to the Okocat paper litter but I wouldn't write that one off. I had it in one of my boys' boxes for 2 weeks before they used it (just on its own). So if that doesn't have the "new" formula on top of it, I'd leave it down. A few weeks later they began to prefer it.
 
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