Hello!
I'm new to the forum and this is my first post, so forgive me if this is something that's been posted and answered a million times before, which considering it's about the fickleness of cats...I'm sure it has.
I have two fur babies who are the absolute loves of my life. Their names are Declan and Grover. Declan just turned 12 this August and i'm legally obligated to refer to him as the love of my life whenever I introduce him. He's an outrageously handsome, outgoing, ridiculously easy going cuddle monster. When I adopted him, we also adopted his brother and litter mate Mackenzie. Mack was a beautiful, insanely kind and sweet grey angel was wasn't as smart as his brother but was just so incredibly sweet it didn't matter. We had 9 wonderful years together, but in 2016 Mack was diagnosed with cancer and given 6 weeks to live. With my attentive care and love and his perseverance and knowledge that I just wasn't ready to lose him, he held on for 5 months before calmly passing away in my arms. Declan knew that Mack was sick and when Mack passed away, Declan didn't like look for him or become super upset..however he did start some odd behaviors, especially concerning his eating habits. He had never had any problems eating basically anything before, he liked pretty much whatever I put in his bowl, however after Macks passing he started not liking certain textures and flavors and they seemed to change from week to week. He went from a primarily dry food diet to insisting on wet food as well. He would also make me get him a fresh bowl of wet food every time i came back to the apartment, even if i just left for 5 minutes to change my laundry or check my mail. Often, he wouldn't even touch the food, just see that it had been done and walk away. I would find a brand and flavor he liked and suddenly after a few weeks, he would just refuse to eat it. But not in a "I'd rather starve" way but in a "I do not like this and you WILL fix it", which lead to many a frantic trip to the closest pet food store where I would grab just any brand that was different than what we had and he would be fine with it. I chalked it up to him never having been without his brother before and he was acting out and looking for control, so like the loving and terribly indulgent Parent i am, i let him get away with it.
About 8 months after Mack passed, I found Grover. I knew I would get another cat (i was actually planning on getting two) and I spend months looking at pet stores, shelters, peoples weird basements but none of them felt like family. Then I randomly found Grover. He was the cutest, ugly kitten you've ever seen. So small and he looked like an opposum. He started screaming at me the instant he saw me and he refused to even let me look at or acknowledge any other kitten or cat there. He had found his family and I found mine. I had to wait three days before I could take him home, because he was too small and young to get neutered, but I finally was able to bring him home. I was very nervous about introducing him to Declan and had taken several precautions to give them space and time to get to know each other. I brought him home, Declan looked at him, Grover licked his nose and it was a done deal. They were sleeping in the same bed that night. They have always gotten along and adored each other. It doesn't hurt that Grover is literally the best boy ever. In his entire life, he has never made me yell at him or disciplined any bad behaviors. There were a couple of occasions where i caught him clawing a leather hair (which his brother and cousin Blanche did allllll the time) and I told him to stop...and he did. Two weeks later, i caught him again and told him he couldn't do it because I didn't have any idea how to discipline him because i'd never had to. He stopped and hasn't done it since. He is kind and considerate and always looking out for the safety of everyone.
Since we got Grover, Declans food behaviors calmed down considerably, but haven't entirely disappeared. He will only eat pate textured food or those broth mixture things. He has to be feed within 30 seconds of me waking up or coming home from work, and he has kept some of his other "new" behaviors, like insisting that I hold him in my arms like a baby whenever I am sitting down, having to sleep right next to me, etc.
However, we recently moved to a new apartment and his eating issues are flaring up again. He has decided he no longer likes his FancyFeast, his preferred brand for like 5 years, absolutely HATES anything seafood flavored (which he used to adore) and has to have an additional Broth packet every day with his dinner. He doesn't eat any of the meat chunks in the broth but devours the actual broth almost immediately. On the days when I am home, he throws tantrums and annoys me until I get him fresh wet food as many as six times a day, almost never even tasting it. I've tried making him broth from bouillon cubes (nope), using regular chicken or beef stock (never), buy special Pet broth (gross). He also decided that he sometimes hates the "creamy" broths but doesn't know that until he sees it.
Does anyone have any advice on what I can do to help him move past this or at least be able to appease his new eating habits better? Are there any like "fail safe" wet foods that even the pickiest eaters love? Or ones that have more broth? or like pet broth they'd recommend?
Oh and he's not like malnourished or anything. He weighs 17 pounds and just had a vet check up where he was pronounced to be in "Excellent" health and also the hands down best behaved cat while having his tempature taken rectally in the vets entire 30 years of treating animals. Also, Grover (being the best boy) copies any of his brothers eating behaviors. He prefers dry food and if he does want wet food, always lets Declan eat first.
I'm new to the forum and this is my first post, so forgive me if this is something that's been posted and answered a million times before, which considering it's about the fickleness of cats...I'm sure it has.
I have two fur babies who are the absolute loves of my life. Their names are Declan and Grover. Declan just turned 12 this August and i'm legally obligated to refer to him as the love of my life whenever I introduce him. He's an outrageously handsome, outgoing, ridiculously easy going cuddle monster. When I adopted him, we also adopted his brother and litter mate Mackenzie. Mack was a beautiful, insanely kind and sweet grey angel was wasn't as smart as his brother but was just so incredibly sweet it didn't matter. We had 9 wonderful years together, but in 2016 Mack was diagnosed with cancer and given 6 weeks to live. With my attentive care and love and his perseverance and knowledge that I just wasn't ready to lose him, he held on for 5 months before calmly passing away in my arms. Declan knew that Mack was sick and when Mack passed away, Declan didn't like look for him or become super upset..however he did start some odd behaviors, especially concerning his eating habits. He had never had any problems eating basically anything before, he liked pretty much whatever I put in his bowl, however after Macks passing he started not liking certain textures and flavors and they seemed to change from week to week. He went from a primarily dry food diet to insisting on wet food as well. He would also make me get him a fresh bowl of wet food every time i came back to the apartment, even if i just left for 5 minutes to change my laundry or check my mail. Often, he wouldn't even touch the food, just see that it had been done and walk away. I would find a brand and flavor he liked and suddenly after a few weeks, he would just refuse to eat it. But not in a "I'd rather starve" way but in a "I do not like this and you WILL fix it", which lead to many a frantic trip to the closest pet food store where I would grab just any brand that was different than what we had and he would be fine with it. I chalked it up to him never having been without his brother before and he was acting out and looking for control, so like the loving and terribly indulgent Parent i am, i let him get away with it.
About 8 months after Mack passed, I found Grover. I knew I would get another cat (i was actually planning on getting two) and I spend months looking at pet stores, shelters, peoples weird basements but none of them felt like family. Then I randomly found Grover. He was the cutest, ugly kitten you've ever seen. So small and he looked like an opposum. He started screaming at me the instant he saw me and he refused to even let me look at or acknowledge any other kitten or cat there. He had found his family and I found mine. I had to wait three days before I could take him home, because he was too small and young to get neutered, but I finally was able to bring him home. I was very nervous about introducing him to Declan and had taken several precautions to give them space and time to get to know each other. I brought him home, Declan looked at him, Grover licked his nose and it was a done deal. They were sleeping in the same bed that night. They have always gotten along and adored each other. It doesn't hurt that Grover is literally the best boy ever. In his entire life, he has never made me yell at him or disciplined any bad behaviors. There were a couple of occasions where i caught him clawing a leather hair (which his brother and cousin Blanche did allllll the time) and I told him to stop...and he did. Two weeks later, i caught him again and told him he couldn't do it because I didn't have any idea how to discipline him because i'd never had to. He stopped and hasn't done it since. He is kind and considerate and always looking out for the safety of everyone.
Since we got Grover, Declans food behaviors calmed down considerably, but haven't entirely disappeared. He will only eat pate textured food or those broth mixture things. He has to be feed within 30 seconds of me waking up or coming home from work, and he has kept some of his other "new" behaviors, like insisting that I hold him in my arms like a baby whenever I am sitting down, having to sleep right next to me, etc.
However, we recently moved to a new apartment and his eating issues are flaring up again. He has decided he no longer likes his FancyFeast, his preferred brand for like 5 years, absolutely HATES anything seafood flavored (which he used to adore) and has to have an additional Broth packet every day with his dinner. He doesn't eat any of the meat chunks in the broth but devours the actual broth almost immediately. On the days when I am home, he throws tantrums and annoys me until I get him fresh wet food as many as six times a day, almost never even tasting it. I've tried making him broth from bouillon cubes (nope), using regular chicken or beef stock (never), buy special Pet broth (gross). He also decided that he sometimes hates the "creamy" broths but doesn't know that until he sees it.
Does anyone have any advice on what I can do to help him move past this or at least be able to appease his new eating habits better? Are there any like "fail safe" wet foods that even the pickiest eaters love? Or ones that have more broth? or like pet broth they'd recommend?
Oh and he's not like malnourished or anything. He weighs 17 pounds and just had a vet check up where he was pronounced to be in "Excellent" health and also the hands down best behaved cat while having his tempature taken rectally in the vets entire 30 years of treating animals. Also, Grover (being the best boy) copies any of his brothers eating behaviors. He prefers dry food and if he does want wet food, always lets Declan eat first.