6 months later, Fancy Feast apparently 'sucks'

FeebysOwner

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I have only been feeding Fancy Feast pates to Feeby for just about 6 months, and it would seem she is getting 'over them'. She was eating 6 flavors - beef, chicken, turkey & giblets, beef & chicken, beef & liver, and chicken & liver. The latter 3 are essentially out of stock at most local stores - for at least two weeks. Whether or not that has anything to do with her lack luster desire for FF, I don't know. I haven't been feeding her much of the fish related ones as she doesn't seem to like them as well (or, didn't). I haven't resorted to ordering on line, as one has to order at least a case (24 cans) of a single flavor - with the exception of a variety pack of the beef, chicken, and turkey. There is no variety pack for the latter 3 flavors, so if she is going to stop wanting to eat FF altogether, it is not my desire to buy over 70 cans of food to offer her the other three flavors she was used to getting.

So where do I go from here?

The reason I started feeding her FF is because she also got tired of her urinary care canned foods. She will eat Sheba Perfect Portions so far, but they are really a bit ridiculous in price to solely buy her those, given she should be eating about 250 calories per day. Bone broths and bonito flakes are a non-starter for her in so far as adding toppers to her current food. She will also NOT eat any texture besides pate.

Help...
 

bluebklyn

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Nishi regularly turns up her nose at food that she normally would scarf. Tuna: terrific on Tuesday, never again on Wednesday. Beef: spectacular on Sunday, never again on Monday. I've had to try a lot of different flavors and brands with her over the years. Another of my cats refused to touch any fish or seafood flavored food for her entire 18 years, regardless of brand. I think some cats just have strong preferences and also get tired of the same thing.
 
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FeebysOwner

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Thanks, I knew I wasn't alone. I was really looking for advice on what to do and if I need to get other foods, how to get ones that are pates and comparable to Fancy Feast.
 
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artiemom

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I heard that Tiny Tiger---from Chewys is similar... But you have to buy a case..

Did you try Hound & Gatos--pricey..

Unfortunately, unless there is a speciality store near you, it may mean that you have to buy a case... most places will refund for the returns... you can check ahead of time...

Trying to think what I tried for Artie. He was so darn fussy, especially towards the end.

Red Barn?
Ziwi
Rayne is kangaroo and very expensive.


I wish you so much luck.. Yes, Artie got tired of FF, also.

Have you searched what Petco is currently carrying? They are supposed to have better foods, supposedly...
 

lisahe

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Yes, Tiny Tiger is pretty similar, probably the most similar; I think the ingredients are a little better than FF. But it's probably a dealbreaker, FeebysOwner FeebysOwner , isn't it, that the case of small cans is 24! The price is very reasonable and of course Chewy's great about refunds. Our cats love the turkey flavor.

The cats also like some of Weruva's BFF pates. They're soft, a little like an upscale Sheba :), and there are options like chicken/lamb and chicken/turkey/duck. Some are in cans, others in pouches. I think some of the Soulistic foods at Petco are pretty much identical. I can list the ones we feed, if you like, FeebysOwner FeebysOwner . If I remember correctly, there are considerably more than we feed but some of them have a bit of potato, which one cat can't eat.

The cats also used to like Wellness Core pates but I stopped feeding them for some reason. Probably because the cats stopped liking them! Plus I think they're expensive for what you get.

Good luck!
 

fionasmom

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In a pinch, I have had the best luck with Weruva's BFF and Cat in the Kitchen. They are pricier though. I have found that the local Petsmart is not well stocked in some areas and friends have complained about the Petsmart in their areas.
 

Krienze

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So in addition to the tiki cat I feed mine, I alternate at night between fresh pet and fancy feast now since I noticed the variety will keep them from snubbing something after awhile. >.< not sure if you are a fan of fresh pet or if it's something your cats will eat but I noticed if I mix it with -some- dry food and put bone broth on it, my picky eater will gobble it up
 

mrsgreenjeens

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I have noticed that ALL the Fancy Feast pates contain fish, so even if the label says Chicken Classic, it's got fish in it. My boys won't touch iit anymore, and I think it's because of that.

There's always Friskies, if you are price restricted. Not as good as FF, but you can only do what you can afford. I was going to recommend Sheba,, but you already know about it. I would suggest maybe just go to your local grocery store and pick up a few cans of whatever pates they have (after first looking at the ingredients if you need to omit any of them because of possible urinary issues) and go from there.

BTW, have you tried lately to get her to eat something other than pate? I ask because one of my guys only ate pate for the past 10 years, then suddenly he WON'T eat it! Now he wants anything but pate. Everything I try to give him some that i have laying around (several cases, as a matter of fact, he refuses, no matter how many toppers I use. It's infuriating.
 

artiemom

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I used to mash up the non-pate food, into a semi-pate form, adding a bit of water.

I do not really care for Petsmart food, but Petco seems to have a tiny bit better variety.
 

EmersonandEvie

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I'll put in another vote for Tiny Tiger from Chewy. They sell a pate variety pack of beef, chicken, and turkey, and it's a bit cheaper than FF. If she hates it, Chewy will refund you.

Also consider the Poultry Platter from Friskies. Out of all of their formulas, that is the one I have the least grief with and feed it regularly in my rotation. Another one that all of my cats enjoy is Purina Pro Plan's True Nature Turkey and Chicken formula. It's a bit pricey but it comes in 5.5oz cans vs 3oz.
 

Zylalove18

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Nishi regularly turns up her nose at food that she normally would scarf. Tuna: terrific on Tuesday, never again on Wednesday. Beef: spectacular on Sunday, never again on Monday. I've had to try a lot of different flavors and brands with her over the years. Another of my cats refused to touch any fish or seafood flavored food for her entire 18 years, regardless of brand. I think some cats just have strong preferences and also get tired of the same thing.
I think cats get tired of the same food just like humans. I switch my cats wet food up every few months so she doesn’t get bored. She hates seafood but loves chicken and beef. I usually buy her meow mix grain free wet food or friskies wet food. She seems to like the roaring flavors and brands
 
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FeebysOwner

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Thanks all! I have a list of things to try with her now! I might give a non-pate style another try, but when I last did that she didn't want to try to eat anything chunky. She licked the gravy and left the food. She has only been on canned food for around 3 years, and she is still more of a licker/lapper than actually eating bites of it.

Up until about 3 years ago, she ate the same dry food (urinary care) for nearly 10 years!! After I decided to introduce her to canned food, and she slowly weaned herself off the dry and will not touch it any longer. The canned was also urinary care food, and she was OK with that until just about 6 months ago. So, I began to mix it with FF and she did pretty well with that until about a month ago. She has only been on FF exclusively since then, so it seems she has tired of it fairly quickly.

Checking PetSmart, PetSupermarket, and PetCo - all of which have local stores to see what they offer and maybe I can pick up a few cans of each before I order any cases online.
 

lisahe

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If you have a Tractor Supply store nearby, FeebysOwner FeebysOwner , another possibility that's similar to Fancy Feast is Paws & Claws Kitchen Selects, which can also be purchased one can at a time, at least at our local store. (I think the ingredients in this one are also better than Fancy Feast -- no synthetic vitamin K, at least when I bought it a couple years ago.) Our cats we're enthusiastic about Paws & Claws so I didn't buy more, but they did eat it.
 

Tobermory

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Oh, boy, do I feel your pain. I’m having issues with Mocha refusing food as well. I know you’re looking for alternatives to FF, but here are a few more topper ideas while you experiment. (I have to stand by Mocha while she eats and add a new topper after she eats the top layer of food with topper. Our record is five toppers to see her through the meal.)

In addition to bonito flakes, which are a no go for you, I use Fortiflora, crushed Dr. Elsey’s dry, crumbled Northwest Natural freeze-dried raw, and the dust from Northwest Naturals freeze-dried pork liver treats.

With the freeze-dried raw, I sometimes rehydrate a tiny amount and use that as a topper in addition to trying it dry. The NW Naturals pork liver treat dust is her favorite. I haven’t found that the treats crush well. I have to shave them into dust with a pair of scissors or with a kitchen grater.

If you have a good indy pet supply place nearby, they might carry Rawz which comes in several flavors in pâté. Very high quality. Mocha used to love it but refuses it now. Another brand is Dave’s which is pretty good. Mocha says no.

She also says no to PureVita and Dr. Elsey’s canned, both of which she used to eat. And walks away from the homemade food she’s been eating for two and a half years.

Good luck. Let us know what you find. I’ll try it, too!
 

lisahe

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If you have a good indy pet supply place nearby, they might carry Rawz which comes in several flavors in pâté. Very high quality. Mocha used to love it but refuses it now.
Yes, it's the same story here with Raws pates for our cats: they loved them now they hate them. Probably because it's such high-quality food. And they're cats.
 
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FeebysOwner

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Well, for Round #1 - I ended up ordering curbside pickup from Pet Supplies Plus, primarily because they said had the 3 FF flavors I haven't been able to get locally at any other stores. That limited what else I could get within the confines of their stock. I did get some Nutro Perfect Portions to try, and another flavor of Sheba that I hadn't seen elsewhere. And, just 2 cans of Wellness Core Turkey/Duck pate, since she has never had duck before. Turns out one of the 3 FF flavors I thought I was getting was out of stock by the time they were collecting my order. It seems anything with liver in it is harder to come by right now.

I was surprised that many of the of the brands mentioned above were out of stock at most of the stores. And, some are just not offered at all other than through the internet - in large quantities, of course.

I did feed her a FF salmon today (I bought a few fish flavors to try when on my last shopping trip). She ate it better than either of the FF chicken or turkey/giblets I offered her before that. Now I have some of both of those sitting in the fridge - which maybe I will try to mix with something 'new' to see how that goes.

I suspect she will eat all of what I got, just because it is new. So, we will see. Still lots more ideas above to work through over time!!
 
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FeebysOwner

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Feeby ended up eating the FF chicken and also FF turkey/giblets after all. So, I started going back through the FF pates one more time to see if I can determine what she actually will not eat of those. As it turns out, the only one she is outright rejecting is the beef & chicken. She seems to still be OK with beef, chicken, beef & liver, turkey/giblets (still cannot find the chicken & liver in the stores).

And, guess what? ALL but the beef & chicken contain liver! Even the savory salmon that I fed her has liver in it. I also tried the chopped grill which she wasn't too keen on either - and it is another one that does NOT contain liver.

A few contain fish, but not all, so that isn't the 'difference'. The only other slight difference I noticed is that the beef & chicken's - and, the chopped grill's - first ingredient is meat-by-products - unlike any of the others. Still think it is the liver. Go figure.
 

Tobermory

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Mocha isn’t wild about the chopped grill either, although she’ll eat most of it. And she doesn’t love the turkey, but again, she’ll eat most of it. I haven’t tried any of the fish flavors.

I’m baffled about the run on FF pâtés. I’ve looked in three grocery stores and one pet store, and the pâtés are mostly gone.
 
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