Cat Only Licking Wet Food But Still Asks For It!

[amar82]

Hi there, I've used this site for the advice forums many times but I am a first time poster.

I am quite confused about my cat's current behaviour. She is demonstrating all the signs of a healthy cat (playful, cleaning herself, communicative, drinking water, etc.) BUT she has decided not to eat her wet food anymore. She now licks the jelly and leaves the meat chunks. She is still grazing on her dry food regularly enough, but she doesn't eat that much of it. She is still getting hungry for the wet food and waiting for me to serve it, too. Just doesn't eat it once it's there.

Bizarrely, she still goes crazy for her tuna treats that I give her (the Almo Nature green label tuna snack). The wet food I am giving her is Bozita for Large breeds (she's a Norwegian Forest Cat).

This behavior has happened over the last four days. In that time she has been pooping less, but still pooping. I've checked her mouth and teeth over and it all looks healthy, I've also checked for any broken teeth or damage to teeth and nothing is evident. She is still happily biting down on the feather wand (and my hand during other games!).

Could there be any logical explanation for this? At the moment I am thinking of buying some new food from a different brand to change her over, just to see if that does the trick. But, I was very happy with the current brand (and so was she!) until this has happened. If there's something I have overlooked that might explain it, I would be happy to remain with Bozita.

Thanks in advance for any advice you have!

 

[maggiedemi]

Have you tried any Shredded type canned foods? Once my cats tried the Shreds, they don't want any other texture now.

 

[amar82]

Have you tried any Shredded type canned foods? Once my cats tried the Shreds, they don't want any other texture now.

Hi,
When she was a kitten she used to have Schesir kitten, which I believe was shredded. However, she was a little underweight so the vet told me to get her onto something with higher protein and fat content, so I moved to Royal Canin for a couple of years, then onto Bozita when she started to go off the Royal Canin a bit. I will have a look today in the pet shop to see what shredded food they offer. It could be an option even going back to Schesir, but I don't think we have Shreds in Italy, which is where I'm based.

Thanks for your reply!

 

[verna davies]

All of my cats have gone through this stage. There are a couple of things to try. Mash the food before giving it to her (sometimes works), change the food, she could be bored or buy shredded as maggidemi suggested. All worked for me especially the shredded.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

How long has she been eating the Bozita? I've found that when a cat is licking the food (the gravy or any liquid part of it), but leaving the bulk of the food, they are either nauseated (finding the cause of that can be frustrating) or they simply don't like the food anymore. It could also be that that food itself, something in the food, is causing her nausea or stomach upset. Have you noticed any other signs of possible food allergies, like scratching around the head or ears, licking her paw pads, and the like?

 

[amar82]

All of my cats have gone through this stage. There are a couple of things to try. Mash the food before giving it to her (sometimes works), change the food, she could be bored or buy shredded as maggidemi suggested. All worked for me especially the shredded.

How long has she been eating the Bozita? I've found that when a cat is licking the food (the gravy or any liquid part of it), but leaving the bulk of the food, they are either nauseated (finding the cause of that can be frustrating) or they simply don't like the food anymore. It could also be that that food itself, something in the food, is causing her nausea or stomach upset. Have you noticed any other signs of possible food allergies, like scratching around the head or ears, licking her paw pads, and the like?

Hi, thanks to both for your ideas.

I ended up getting Schesir Tuna to try, as it is still in Jelly, but also shredded. I have mixed it with her current food so she is getting 1 spoon of tuna and 3 spoons current Bozita food. She is now eating ALL of it, including the Bozita!

Seeing as she seems to accept it like this, would there be any concern over keeping this ratio and feeding her like this regularly? Or would it be better to completely switch her over? My only concern with the Schesir is that although is claims to be a complete feed, it isn't as complete as the Bozita, for example. I have seen some posts on here about it with forum members puzzled about how it can claim to be complete. It has taurine and a few vitamins, but not as many as most complete feeds.

With regards to allergies, I don't think she has been doing anything such as scratching around ears or licking paw pads - she does lick paws but only as part of her cleaning process that she has always done. Now she seems to be happily eating with the added tuna incentive, I guess that would rule out the nausea also.

Thanks again!

 

[verna davies]

I personally would continue as you are for now then try Bozita on its own in a couple of days if that's the food you prefer to feed. There's no harm in varying the food for her.

 

[Purr-fect]

Our cats also prefer the shredded. They either outright reject or just pick at even high quality pate canned food.

 

[sargon]

Freya was a gravy licker who wanted canned anyhow ( i tried really hard to give her a varied diet as a young kitten only to have her basically decide to eat a single dry food...)

I tried food after food, and finally decided to just stop feeding canned ( though I give her the occasional fish soup type treat, and a tiny bit of canned unspiced organic pumpkin (which she thinks is a treat!) There were qa few weeks where she was annoyed at the loss, but now we're both much happier for it!

if you find a new wet food that works, great, but if not, and it is just an unending struggle, since you have a healthy cat that drinks well, it isn't the end of the world.

P.S. I joke with my fiancee about getting a Norwegian Forest (she just loves the look of them along with maine coons) cat and naming her "Ya Chai" or some other super Asian name, just to mess with people... "These are our cats Freya and Ya Chai... " person: Oh look at ya chai's lovely blue eyes.. "No no, ya Chai is the big fluffy one with the green eyes..."

 

[maggiedemi]

Do they have any flavors that aren't fish in the new shredded one that you tried?

 

[amar82]

Do they have any flavors that aren't fish in the new shredded one that you tried?

Yes, they have chicken and also chicken and ham mixed together. They also do a few other mixtures such as tuna with chicken, or tuna and salmon. They seem to give preference the fish options though, as there are more of them.

 

[Summercats]

amar82
I know the Schesir brand you mentioned. My cat likes the salmon in the little tins. I have just ordered some tuna in the tins but don't want to give fish too often. My cat also like the packets with the tuna and sea bass.
I have tried Borzita but I guess he does not like the soft chunks.
He does like Berkley a French brand that is in a sauce in packets, if it is available where you are and you want to try that for your cat. They seem to be a good brand also.