Is it bad that my cat is suddenly a picky eater?

[carrielynn]

Pumpkin is 5 years old, and I have had her since she was around 1. She is a former feral and would literally eat anything I put in front of her. Lately she has been very finicky. I normally feed 4health wet food, and they have few flavors. I figured she was getting tired of it and needed some variety, because she started leaving so much of her food. I gave her some Tiki Cat (mostly chicken varieties) and she liked that very much. I figured I would just give that occasionally, as it is quite a bit more expensive. Gradually she began rejecting her normal food more and more. I then tried several brands, mostly expensive ones. She wants nothing but Tiki Cat. So that is what she gets now, and she does clean the bowl. Should I be concerned about this drastic change in her preferences? She is displaying no other changes, though I did note soft yellow poo a few weeks ago when she was just eating a bit of 4health.

She has her annual vet exam in July, so I will ask the vet then. She also had a dental exam 6 months ago as I noticed she had a few missing teeth, but the vet saw no signs of dental disease.

 

[anne with cats]

I think your Cat has Very Good Taste!  I know nothing about 4Health food, except you say it is a lower price. Price isn't everything, there's a lot of junk out there that is really loaded with things that people think must be good for cats, like fruits and vegetables, rice (a switch out for wheat, and detrimental to biotin absorption)  The Tiki brand has mostly meat which is what cats need. Maybe you do your own raw food, make it yourself, and add the vitamin supplements. There are many topics on this website, as we all want to feed what is best for our cat buddies. If you at least post you post where you live, or country, there are many international members that would to be able to tell you what they feed and where to buy it.

 

[carrielynn]

Thanks. I live in Tennessee and the 4health brand is a Tractor Supply store brand. I used to feed the kind that had the rice, fruits, and veggies, but a few months ago I switched to mostly the grain-free kind since they recently came out with it. At first Pumpkin was very pleased with the new 4health, and she wouldn't eat the old 4health. Now she'll have none but a bite or two. I was happy with the quality of 4health, though it came in a pate style, and the Tiki Cat is actual pieces of chicken. She started getting finicky before ever getting a taste of Tiki Cat though so I am a bit concerned, though relieved she will eat it.

 

[anne with cats]

Funny, I was just scanning new threads, and there is one" Grain Free Cat Feeding "- Talking about your Tractor supply 4Health. You might be very enlightened by what some have posted!  Must be your lucky day!

 

[lisahe]

Tiki Cat is great food and I'm glad our picky cat particularly likes it, too. Our cats can be picky and particular, too, so we've found it helpful to feed them a lot of different foods (various brands and proteins) in a rotation so they don't get bored with their foods.

Good luck!

 

[2bcat]

Our cats have good taste, yes. ;-)

I'm having trouble getting mine to eat anything much other than Tiki Cat Puka Puka chicken as well these days.  I am testing out some mixtures of the Tiki with some other foods.  My go-to that they always love at the moment is Tiki mixed with an formerly out of favor can of Cats in the Kitchen Fowl Ball, which is also chicken but with some turkey.  (I had a case of these left after I took it out of rotation for a while.)  And it's a similar texture.  The Cats in the Kitchen is cheaper so stretches things a bit further that way.  When I mixed the Tiki with their recent mainstay Stella & Chewys freeze dried chicken, it wasn't quite as much of an immediate success but they did eventually get through most of it.  I'll keep trying.

Keep in mind that most of the Tiki Cat varieties are higher in calories in the 6oz can vs a lot of other (though not all) 5.5-6oz cans.  The Puka Puka has 221 calories in a 6oz can.  Cats in the Kitchen Fowl Ball, which is the highest calorie in that line, has 151 in the 6oz can.  Most 5.5-6oz cans have around 140-180 calories, some are higher and some are lower.  So while Tiki is still significantly more expensive, it is sometimes not as much more expensive as you might think, given the calorie density.  It depends upon what you are comparing to.

Right now the cheapest place to buy Tiki Cat appears to be Chewy.com where you can get the 8-packs for $23.45, which is just under 3 bucks a can.  That's still a lot!  But it goes for over $3 a lot of places. I can get Cats in the Kitchen cans for $1.60 (case of 24 for $38.49) and the Tiki doesn't have close to twice as much calories.  The consistency of Cats in the Kitchen is similar to Tiki so it is something you might try if you haven't.  Fowl Ball has chicken and turkey in it, but Chicken Frick A Zee is all chicken and only a couple fewer calories in the can, I think 148.  You have to feed a little more of this but it would still be a significant savings. And even if she won't eat it straight, maybe you can extend the Tiki a bit more by using it as a mixer/topper instead of the entire meal.

Cost-wise I would like to get back away from giving the Tiki every day (let alone every meal like is happening at the moment!), but at least with mixing I am getting 3 meals for 2 cats out of the one can, and I may try to reduce the proportion a bit more soon.  I have found that they don't even care that it's leftovers right out of the fridge (won't be true for all cats, but these two are fine with cold food!)

The hardest part with mixing for me is trying to keep the portion size right.  One of my cats will keep eating if too much food is put out so I make sure only to put out what should be enough for the two of them. They switch bowls mid-meal, sometimes multiple times, that is something I've been unable to enforce (or unwilling to 100% enforce, I guess).  But even with one cat you might stretch your food dollar just a bit more by using a calorie-based meal and measuring out a portion (I use a scale) such that there is not wastage and she is not getting too much.  Many cats end up overeating over time so it's not wrong to try to optimize the portion.  The pet food recommendations of x cans per day are often way off in either direction.