How to switch up wet food

[sunshi500]

So our 15yr old cat has been eating dry all her life. In the past when we tried to switch to wet, we tried a couple brands and she'd vomit. She had surgery in Sept and unexpectedly had a tooth out, so we fed her Fancy Feast as she couldn't eat the kibble. She does like 4 varieties, and has vomited a few times again and had a weird poo accident too that the vet couldn't explain. The vet recommended a better food if we could afford it. So we picked up some Tiki Cat cans tonight. I did like 25% new food...and I didn't mash it up all together, amd she only ate the new stuff! Maybe its more appetizing to her? Should I be mashing it up all together as to not upset her stomach??? I guess I'm glad she likes it!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Any abrupt changes in food can cause poop issues (what was her weird poo accident?) and vomiting, probably even more so in an older cat. So, if you did any changes other than gradually, you could see negative effects. I understand why you had to change abruptly in her case, but the quick change could have created digestive issues - at least initially.

See if you can mash together the 25% new and 75% old, and still get her to eat it that way. Feeby (15+ yo) is on urinary care food - has been most of her life, but it seems she is getting tired of it, so I have actually added some Fancy Feast to it to get her to eat it. As long as there is some portion of FF mashed up in her 'regular' food, she seems to be OK with eating it - but, she will pick at the FF if it isn't mixed up. At 15 yo old, I don't think I am going to get too freaked out about feeding Feeby some FF.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Some cats are more sensitive to food changes than others. Normally switching wet food isn't as problematic as switching dry food, but sometimes the change needs to be done very slowly,. You didn't mentioned how she did with the Tiki Cat. Did she keep it down or is it too soon to tell? I will feed Fancy Feast every once in awhile, and depending on which one *I try to steer clear of the ones with wheat, corn, soy, etc), one of my guys will vomit, so I do put it down to the ingredients in it, since they eat different foods for every meal. Since your girl only vomits some of the time, it may be only one of the flavors that is causing the issue.

Also, cats who have had teeth pulled can still eat dry food. Usually the Vets will advise to feed wet food until their gums heal, but after that, anything goes. Some cats with absolutely NO teeth still eat kibble! Go figure. I had a cat who only ate kibble. He had four teeth pulled when we first adopted him and I tried to get him to eat wet, per the Vet's instructions. He wouldn't have anything to do with it, so our Vet said just feed him his normal food. He ate it just fine I'm not advocating that you go back to kibble, just letting you know it's an option if you wish.

 

[sunshi500]

She had vomited on FF a couple timed after being on it for over a month, you are right maybe one of the flavors didn't agree. The weird poo accident happened last week, she had a meow cry, and I went to find she had yellow softer poop in the box and then had poop outside the box, like she couldn't finish or it came out fast. I actually took her to the vet bc I was worried maybe she still had a UTI or something! But with no answers at the vet, she recommended trying probiotics and maybe a better brand of food. It's day 2 of Tiki and she still ate it mashed into the FF better...seems to be going ok. I got a good first time deal on them from Petco...but its expensive, so maybe we will alternate in FF from time to time as the vet said we could, I'm just not sure what that looks like? She does still get 1/8 cup kibble before bedtime as we are using up a bag...she just wouldn't eat it right after surgery but after a week went back to it. She needs to lose weight...so maybe we'll cut that out after the bag is gone but she is already down almost a pound!

 

[sunshi500]

Oh my gosh...my cat gobbled up the Tiki Cat for the first week. Now we're on day 2 of Tiki Cat only...and she's decided she doesn't want it anymore...and refusing the eat it but now gobbling up the FF I put down. Is she being finicky? Of course this is after I got a sweet deal for like 50 cents a can on Cyber Monday of Tiki...luckily I'm pretty sure Petco will return it. I'm wondering what other "better" brands that aren't too pricy we can try...

 

[WillowMarie]

Oh my gosh...my cat gobbled up the Tiki Cat for the first week. Now we're on day 2 of Tiki Cat only...and she's decided she doesn't want it anymore...and refusing the eat it but now gobbling up the FF I put down. Is she being finicky? Of course this is after I got a sweet deal for like 50 cents a can on Cyber Monday of Tiki...luckily I'm pretty sure Petco will return it. I'm wondering what other "better" brands that aren't too pricy we can try...

Is it same flavor fed for consecutive meals? My kitties are pretty picky, despite never getting sick of the same dry food flavor and brand, and since I started buying a mix of wet can brands I tried to slowly transition between brands. That backfired for me and they stopped being interested in eating the wet foods because they were used to having a mix of flavors. My cats now get a new flavor/brand for almost every meal. Some wouldn't recommend this due to tummy issues, but I knew this was needed to keep my cats interesting in wet food, and a few weeks in (the rotation of flavors and brands lasts about a week or less before restarting) they seemed to have adjusted. All my cats had wetter stool at first, probably from the change in food, but their poop is back to normal now, so they may have gotten used to having the same different brands and flavors rotated in the same order each week. That's my theory at least!

Have you seen the cat food deals thread? Sometimes really good brands are posted that have really good sales. Chewy does seem to post new sales under the deals tab often, sometimes changing daily, so frequently checking the deals can help find some great deals. One of the ones I grabbed a deal on in the past that is all my cats favorites is the Nutro max wet can food in all 5 flavors I bought, they are chunky. It does have wheat gluten and potato starch though, depending on what ingredients you try to avoid, and the first 5 ingredients are all meat products. Cat Food Deals Forum?