Dr. Elsey's and Tiki Cat

[Raeohmar]

My 5 year old tortie gets Dr. Elsey's Cleanprotein Chicken dry food every day. I just switched her from RC wet food to tiki cat. She is very picky, but seems to really like the Aloha line (all fish and pumpkin) which is good because she has a sensitive stomach and has been having some tummy issues. She refuses to eat any of the chicken or other nonfish ones I have gotten. I know that cats need more than just fish in their diet, but would the Dr. Elsey's make up for the fact that she won't eat the chicken wet food? Essentially, would feeding her Dr. Elsey's dry and the Aloha Tiki Cat wet every day make for a good diet?

 

[daftcat75]

From a nutrition standpoint, yes, I believe she will get all she needs because both foods conform to the AAFCO requirements for a balanced and complete cat food.

It's not ideal though. Fish protein is considered inferior to other proteins in cat foods. But also, fish can be addicting and some cats will hold out for only fish flavored foods. I recommend saving fish flavors for disguising medicine or restarting a sick cat's appetite. If you feed fish on the regular, you lose this "nuclear option."

Tiki makes a lot of non-fish flavors. Try the ones in the After Dark line. Maybe you can work on a transition over a very long period of time so that she'll slowly get used to a non-fish flavor instead of asking her to give it up all at once. Or maybe you can convince her to try a non-fish guest star meal. Once you've found a guest star she likes to eat on a recurring basis, you can make it a regular part of her rotation.

You have her whole life to figure out what else she might like besides fish. You don't have to have this figured out tomorrow. Save the fish for emergencies. Exceptional times require exceptional measures.

 

[lisahe]

This is all great advice from daftcat75 . I so agree about the nuclear option and saving fish for emergencies!

You never know what might happen so really don't want to have to depend on your only wet food being fish-based. A small anecdote... I used to feed our cats just one small weekly can of Weruva fish-and-chicken food but had to stop when one cat was diagnosed with asthma. Our vet's pretty anti-fish to begin with (other than occasional treats) but the histamines in fish concern her for cats with issues like asthma. Maybe there's a fish/chicken food that you could use to transition to a chicken food? Weruva's canned Cats in the Kitchen line has a bunch of foods with shredded chicken (but with or without fish) that might work for the purpose. Sometimes the key to getting a cat into wet food is finding the right sort of gateway food.

Beyond fish not being ideal, if she's eating a lot of the dry food and not much of the wet food, I'd suggest trying to add a little more water to the wet food. Dr. E's food is great stuff with no fillers (we use it for toppers and a very small snack) but it's still dry food!

 

[daftcat75]

Fancy Feast Classic chicken and beef pates have some amount of fish in them without being a fish-centric food. That could be your gateway food while exploring strictly non-fish foods she may also like--perhaps even the turkey pate which is the one Classic pate flavor that does not have fish in it.

 

[lisahe]

Yes, Fancy Feast Classics are great choices.

 

[MindyStClairesMom]

Bizarrely, I have 3 fosters who will ONLY eat Dr. E's dry (Chicken) & won't touch the Tiki Cat canned for love or money -- we have tried as many flavors as I can stand to chuck in the trash can (when they refuse to touch it). None of them will have anything to do with fish, either. I am worried their little brains are broken.