11 Month Old Will Only Eat Dry Food

[Meekie]

I've had her since April. She was a picky eater she but did eat about 50% wet food. Since then she has been eating wet food less and less. I've tried everything: different brands, different flavors, toppers, heating it, chilling it, different bowls, different locations, different feeding times. I would allow her to nibble on dry food during the day, but took it away at night and only left out wet food. She'll eat maybe 10-20% of it, if that much, but that's it. Most nights she barely touches it.

The thing is, she used to eat wet food. She used to love Fancy Feast grilled chicken and Chicken and Tuna. Now she won't touch it. I tried Friskies, even Nine Lives. She scoffs at Blue Buffalo Tastefulls, and now she won't even eat tuna. She's rather go hungry than eat wet food, and her vet told me that a cat will starve itself to death rather than eat something she doesn't like. I don't think she has been holding out for the dry food, because I never made it always available. I could be wrong, but even so, she's going to eat what she likes. I cannot reason with her about this because, well, she is a cat.

She was getting to be underweight. I couldn't stand to see her underfed, so after nearly six months of trying everything I could think of to get her to eat wet food, I've given up. I don't know what else to do.

So I'm feeding her Blue Buffalo WIlderness (chicken flavor). She loves it. It's nice to see her eating so well. The vet said it that's all she'll eat, then there's nothing I can do.

I did not want this for her. Luckily, she's a big drinker. Her fluid intake has remains good, so at least I don't have to worry about hydration. Still, I give her some Churu 3-4 times a week.

I won't ask how to get her to eat wet food because I've tried everything. Despite this, I still put it out because I have hundreds of dollars worth of cans and trays and packets. If I'm lucky, she'll nibble at it a little but that's it.

What I do want to ask is how I can maximize healthy eating with only dry. Is there a better brand I should try? Is there anything I can do to offset potential health problems that could be caused by a dry diet?

 

[Gary O]

The only wet food my two will eat is Purina Gourmet Perle, not sure if you get it in the States, I'm in the UK. They also like raw chicken and chicken jerky (I make the jerky myself as a lot of animal quality jerky has caused illness). Raw is very good for them but it has to be fresh or kept frozen till the day its served, and if you make it yourself in needs additives. Timmy is 10 months and Shani 9 I had a major diarrhoea problem with them, so tried all sorts of different food and going to vet. Hope you get her eating something wet soon, good luck!

 

[Astragal14]

What I do want to ask is how I can maximize healthy eating with only dry. Is there a better brand I should try? Is there anything I can do to offset potential health problems that could be caused by a dry diet?

Our veterinary nutritionist's top recommended dry food is Instinct Ultimate Protein. Instinct is a good brand overall, I recommend considering their other dry options. They seem to use more animal proteins in their recipes vs plant proteins like peas and chickpeas in other brands. Dr. Elsey's is also a good choice with high quality ingredients.
INSTINCT Ultimate Protein Grain-Free Cage-Free Chicken Recipe Freeze-Dried Raw Coated Dry Cat Food, 10-lb bag - Chewy.com
INSTINCT Ultimate Protein Grain-Free Cage-Free Duck Recipe Freeze-Dried Raw Coated Dry Cat Food, 4-lb bag - Chewy.com
Dr. Elsey's - Free shipping | Chewy

Have you tried freeze dried foods? Some foods have a texture that is still palatable when dry. Our veterinary nutritionist's top recommendation is Vital Essentials Turkey mini nibs - the texture is closer to dry food and it's one of the rare foods that both my cats will eat. I've tried the chicken mini nibs as well as their food toppers but no one has liked them (I plan to try other mini nibs, just haven't gotten around to it).
VITAL ESSENTIALS Turkey Mini Nibs Freeze-Dried Cat Food, 12-oz bag - Chewy.com

Meat Mates, Feline Natural and Instinct are also more palatable when dry.
Meat Mates for Cats - Free shipping | Chewy
FELINE NATURAL Chicken & Lamb Feast Grain-Free Freeze-Dried Cat Food, 3.5-oz bag - Chewy.com
INSTINCT Raw Meals Cage-Free Chicken Recipe Grain-Free Freeze-Dried Kitten Food, 9.5-oz bag - Chewy.com

I won't ask how to get her to eat wet food because I've tried everything. Despite this, I still put it out because I have hundreds of dollars worth of cans and trays and packets. If I'm lucky, she'll nibble at it a little but that's it.

One of my cats was addicted to dry food when we adopted her at age 2 1/2. We finally transitioned her diet to 50-70% wet food after YEARS of trying, all thanks to a tip mentioned below. So don't give up! I'll be honest, we still struggle with wet food from time to time, but her diet overall is so much better than it used to be. And like you, we also dealt with unintended weight loss in the beginning and gave her all the dry food she could ever want, just so she'd eat something!

One source that was incredibly helpful was Dr. Lisa Pierson's blog, catinfo.org. There is a very very long section about food; the section with transitioning is available as separate pdf and the transitioning tips start on page 5:
https://catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf

The entirety can be found here (it's long but very informative):
Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition – Common Sense. Healthy Cats.

The tip that ended up being the key to our transition was using Forti Flora! Dr. Pierson mentions how scent is crucial to some cats and she lists a few fragrant options as toppers and Forti Flora worked like magic! We used to sprinkle it on her food before serving it to her, now we only add it when she doesn't finish her wet food to encourage her to eat the rest, some days we don't need to use any at all. One box (30 packets) will last us a few months.
PURINA PRO PLAN VETERINARY DIETS FortiFlora Powder Digestive Supplement for Cats, 30 count - Chewy.com

Another point to mention is that my picky cat has severe allergies and flare ups greatly affect her sense of smell. I can usually tell when her allergies are getting bad because she'll start refusing more of her wet food and requesting more dry. It's just another aspect to consider when figuring out how keep her interested in wet food!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

To me, if you have found something she'll eat, just stick with it. I, too, have an extremely picky cat and he has gone from eating raw to eating canned to barely eating anything. Yet he gets a clean bill of health at every Vet visit, even got a clean ultra sound because I simply could not believe there was nothing wrong with him. I serve him three meals of different varieties of wet food every single day, and I'm lucky if he finishes any of them. We have tried using toppers, they used to work, but no longer. Often he won't even take one single lick. I've gotten so desperate that now at night I put out a bowl of freeze dried raw (Feline Naturals) in case he's starving. Some mornings that bowl is empty, other times it looks like it hasn't been touched. The funny thing is, he isn't losing any weight, so I guess when he does eat that freeze dried raw, he eats enough to maintain. So, just be thankful you have one thing at least that your furbaby enjoys!

 

[Meekie]

VITAL ESSENTIALS Turkey Mini Nibs Freeze-Dried Cat Food, 12-oz bag

Very helpful. Thank you!

I will keep trying. She's still young so hopefully her tastes may change. I'm glad I've already been trying multiple brands and flavors as well as withholding dry (or all) food to get her to eat the wet stuff. This way she's not set in her ways as far as diet is concerned and may be more accepting of change.

No more than 30 minutes after I made this post I went through the usual "What will I give her to snub today?" search through her cat food cabinet and settled on a can of Wellness shreds. As if to prove me wrong, she ate it pretty well. I have one other can but I will wait a day or so; I've found that on the rare occasions when she does eat a can of food, she won't eat another of the same kind right away.

This makes me wonder if their appetite is strongly dictated by their tastes at that particular moment. How many times have I offered fish when she was in the mood for chicken?

I also question the effectiveness of the fruits and vegetables in cat food. Many foods such as berries (which are frequently present in dry food brands) lose their nutritional antioxidant powers when processed. I once tried a brand with pomegranate. Pomegranate! For cats! You could see the whole seeds! What's next, lemon wedges?

Actually I think I will try the Wellness again tonight. Maybe I overlooked it before and finally found something she'll like? The suspense is killing me.

 

[Astragal14]

What's next, lemon wedges?

This makes me wonder if their appetite is strongly dictated by their tastes at that particular moment. How many times have I offered fish when she was in the mood for chicken?

Oh I can't even tell you how often we've ended up with several bowls of barely eaten food! My picky girl definitely does best with variety, she won't eat the same wet food two days in a row, even her favorite flavor! This is why we only buy small cans, so we don't waste too much if she wants something different for dinner.

Good luck with the Wellness!

 

[Meekie]

UPDATE
I finally found something she really likes: Soulistic, Petco's brand. It's finely shredded the way she likes it and comes with lots of juice or gravy. It's been a few weeks now and she's still eating it! I first tried a pouch of chicken in pumpkin puree but now she prefers the chicken in the chicken broth. I'm about to open a pouch of salmon, tuna and chicken to see how that goes over.

She still expects variety, so between the various brands and flavors that she will eat and the various toppers, I always have something to try. But most importantly, she's down less than a quarter cup of dry food. I feed her a little less of it each day.

I discovered that she's more likely to eat her wet food if there's some dry food out. Very often I'll spot her moving over to eat the wet food after nibbling on some kibble.

I also wonder if her age has something to do with it. She's 13 months old now, and it seems the older she gets the more appetite she has.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

UPDATE
I finally found something she really likes: Soulistic, Petco's brand. It's finely shredded the way she likes it and comes with lots of juice or gravy. It's been a few weeks now and she's still eating it! I first tried a pouch of chicken in pumpkin puree but now she prefers the chicken in the chicken broth. I'm about to open a pouch of salmon, tuna and chicken to see how that goes over.

She still expects variety, so between the various brands and flavors that she will eat and the various toppers, I always have something to try. But most importantly, she's down less than a quarter cup of dry food. I feed her a little less of it each day.

I discovered that she's more likely to eat her wet food if there's some dry food out. Very often I'll spot her moving over to eat the wet food after nibbling on some kibble.

I also wonder if her age has something to do with it. She's 13 months old now, and it seems the older she gets the more appetite she has.

Glad you have found some foods she will eat. Cats! Gotta love 'em