Cat Only Eats One Brand, One Flavor

[tewing84]

I need some help or opinions to try and get my cat to eat more than one food. Merrick limited ingredients chicken. When she was younger she got diarrhea a lot. Vet couldnt figure it out, thought it might be food allergies. So I tried several different foods and finally found one she liked that didnt give her diarrhea, and shes been eating it ever since. I tried other foods to see if her system could tolerate it, but she didnt care for anything else. She is so picky she wont eat cat treats, dry food, or even human food. Only thing Ive ever seen her try was a few bites of canned tuna.

Ive been trying to switch all our cats over to a grain free diet, so have had some different foods over the last few months. There was one food she started to take a liking to, and even gave her a couple meals of that. But she didnt eat the whole bowl, and that didnt last too long.

Do any of you all have a cat like this? Am I feeding her wrong?

 

[tabbytom]

To get your kitty to eat other flavors of food is a slow transition. You cannot just change the food and expect her to take immediate change. Switch food gradually.

 

[5starcathotel]

My 4 cats get the same brand/flavor every day for breakfast, same brand but a different flavor for dinner (I actually vary this one between 2 different flavors), in addition to supplemental dry. So a total of 4 different flavors of food.

Then again, momma kitty was a stray with 2 kittens in tow, looking very skinny and mangy, when she showed up at my back door....so they learned to eat whatever was available whenever it was available.

The 4th is my resident cat...who can be finicky if I buy food that is too "good" (read: expensive). So yeah, it took some effort to find food he would eat that had ingredients I was comfortable giving him.

 

[jcat]

Have you tried mixing another limited-ingredient food in with the Merrick in ever greater proportions to gradually get her used to the new food? The problem with her eating just one flavor of one brand is that at some point it may be unavailable (due to a recall, inclement weather, a strike, etc.) or the recipe will change, so you need at least one alternative.

Our last cat was an extremely picky eater - I feel for you.

 

[tewing84]

I havent tried mixing in new with current. I guess I could try that and just put a hint of the new in. I just remember I tried to put some medicine in her food a while back, I couldnt even put a pinch in her food without her scratching the floor and not eating.

Ive tried to find another limited ingredient wet food, but the only ones Ive found have carrageenan in it, which is one of the ingredients I try to keep out of the house.