Hunger Strike For Wet Food

[vyger]

There was a recent discussion about the problem of affordable wet cat food and I made the following comment there.

"Well, I am probably going to get told how this is not a good idea, but ----
Years ago (many actually) when my daughter moved back home for a while she brought her 2 cats with her, which was fine. Everything went well for a number of years but then the older cat started having trouble keeping his food down. He was barfing everything up and it usually came back up looking much the same as it went down, unchewed chunks. In an effort to get a food that he could keep down I started experimenting with a food processor. The formula that actually worked was to put a bunch (as much as he would eat in a day) of dried food in the processor and blend it until it was well chopped. Then add some water, a touch of tuna juice for flavor, and a teaspoon of virgin olive oil and mix it until it turns into a coarse paste. I don't know why but the olive oil made the difference and he ate it all and kept it down. Vegetable oil didn't work, but olive oil did and it help his fur too. So if you really want to give them wet food you can make their own from dry food and add whatever extras you think needs to be in there. It's cheaper than the canned food and you don't have all those little cans around."
In your case you could blend up the dry food, add the supplements and include some of the canned food into the mix so it smell like the stuff he wants. What do they call that "bait and switch?" Anyway blending the dry food and adding water to make it wet is a cheap way to get wet food and in some cases its healthier than the other stuff.
For the cat with stomach problems adding a little olive oil might help him to keep things down.

By the way the other discussion is here ----
How Can I Make Wet Food Affordable?

 

[TwirlyGirly]

I tried to emphasize that hepatic lipidosis is pretty rare, so as not to alarm you. It certainly is something to watch for, but most cats won't starve themselves to death. I just happened to own one of the "lucky" ones who ended up with fatty liver disease from refusing food. He was also diagnosed with some mental issues (PICA, separation anxiety, eating disorders) when the vet never could find anything physically wrong with him.

No - it's okay. I understood that. I think what I envisioned as a possibility is because he's already so thin, if he were to stop eating entirely for a few days, it could possibly lead to the beginning of organ failure.

However, tonight I prepared 1/3 can of wet food mixed with about 1/4 cup dry - and mixed the dry food in thoroughly (not just sitting on the top). He went after it with gusto. I'll be checking in a bit to see how much he ate and whether he tried to pick out the bits of dry food. I'm keeping my fingers crossed because if it works, I think that may be my best bet in weaning him off the wet food without worrying about him stopping eating entirely.

 

[TwirlyGirly]

There was a recent discussion about the problem of affordable wet cat food and I made the following comment there.

"Well, I am probably going to get told how this is not a good idea, but ----
Years ago (many actually) when my daughter moved back home for a while she brought her 2 cats with her, which was fine. Everything went well for a number of years but then the older cat started having trouble keeping his food down. He was barfing everything up and it usually came back up looking much the same as it went down, unchewed chunks. In an effort to get a food that he could keep down I started experimenting with a food processor. The formula that actually worked was to put a bunch (as much as he would eat in a day) of dried food in the processor and blend it until it was well chopped. Then add some water, a touch of tuna juice for flavor, and a teaspoon of virgin olive oil and mix it until it turns into a coarse paste. I don't know why but the olive oil made the difference and he ate it all and kept it down. Vegetable oil didn't work, but olive oil did and it help his fur too. So if you really want to give them wet food you can make their own from dry food and add whatever extras you think needs to be in there. It's cheaper than the canned food and you don't have all those little cans around."
In your case you could blend up the dry food, add the supplements and include some of the canned food into the mix so it smell like the stuff he wants. What do they call that "bait and switch?" Anyway blending the dry food and adding water to make it wet is a cheap way to get wet food and in some cases its healthier than the other stuff.
For the cat with stomach problems adding a little olive oil might help him to keep things down.

Ooooo! That IS a good idea! Let me see how it goes with what I'm trying tonight: mixing some of the dry food (whole, not ground up) with the wet food and slowly tapering him off the wet food. If that doesn't work (if, for example, I see he's picking out the dry food and not eating it), I will certainly try your idea! (Minus the tuna flavoring. He HATES tuna and won't go anywhere near it).

Weird, I know...I somehow ended up with three cats that all think tuna is gross.
By the way the other discussion is here ----
How Can I Make Wet Food Affordable?

 

[TwirlyGirly]

Tripod licked the wet food off of the dry food in his bowl! Tomorrow I'll grind up the dry food, add a bit of water to it, and blend it into the wet food.

Here's a picture of my little 6 lb. manipulator (he's the tuxedo on the left; Legolas is on the right):

 

[maureen brad]

Now I'm thinking it was maureen brad who was talking about sprinkling the Fortiflora. (Sorry, my memory is bad.) I'm pretty sure she wasn't using 1/3 a packet at a time. If I can remember who is was, I hope they'll chime in with some real life experience with it.

It was me! No, I didn't use a third of a packet at a time. I simply sprinkled it on like I would salt or pepper on my own food.I use it to get cats to eat food that has medicine in it , or, to help them be enthusiastic about a new food or food they have gone off of. I have given it to friends for the same reasons.It works for me.It is Purina Feline Forti-Flora. I buy it from Amazon because it is 1/2 the price a vet sells it for. I always have it in my cabinet. Recently my cat, Jack, has walked away from Rabbit, I had a lot of rabbit here so Forti-Flora to the rescue.I have never really had to use it for anything other than hiding medication in food but Jack is getting really picky. He wants pork and turkey only. Little brat.I do not want to feed one cat a fussy diet. The others love rabbit.It is very frustrating

 

[susanm9006]

I wonder if he dislikes or is tired of his dry food. Maybe try it in another flavor if he needs to be on that brand.

 

[maureen brad]

If you could feed wet that would be great. Almost all kibble tests positive for mold and mycotoxins. Adding water to mold is not so healthy.No offense, we all do the best we can.If you call a pet food company and ask what the shelf life is you are likely to be told 25 years! What in the world keeps a kibble 'fresh' that long. My youngest has worked at several pet food stores, they store the kibble in warehouses that are beyond hot.That is my soap box, I apologize if I offended anyone. That was not my intention.

 

[orange&white]

No - it's okay. I understood that. I think what I envisioned as a possibility is because he's already so thin, if he were to stop eating entirely for a few days, it could possibly lead to the beginning of organ failure.

However, tonight I prepared 1/3 can of wet food mixed with about 1/4 cup dry - and mixed the dry food in thoroughly (not just sitting on the top). He went after it with gusto. I'll be checking in a bit to see how much he ate and whether he tried to pick out the bits of dry food. I'm keeping my fingers crossed because if it works, I think that may be my best bet in weaning him off the wet food without worrying about him stopping eating entirely.

That's promising even if he did lick all the wet food off the dry! It sounds grinding and blending may work. Do you have a food scale to weigh his food? You'll probably want to track his calories to be sure how much he's actually eating every day.