Kibble/wet struggles

[shyn15]

I’m at my wit’s end. I have a one year old Maine Coon who I would love to transition to raw but he is as stubborn as I am it seems. Since we first brought him home we have a combination of wet and dry food (Instinct). When he turned one last month I attempted to start to transition him over to only wet food in order to introduce raw. I pulled his kibble cold turkey (took it out of our home) and gave him only wet in the morning and in the evening. He would eat some of it but not all daily. After two weeks he lost a pound and I freaked out and purchased the kibble again which he happily gobbled up. I only gave him Instinct Ultimate Protein Chicken which he started refusing to eat when I removed the kibble. I purchased Instinct Ultimate Protein rabbit and was over the moon when he gobbled it up like a champ. I tried switching between the chicken and rabbit to see if it was a variety issue but he will only eat a few bites of the chicken and then won’t touch. Currently he is eating half a 3oz can of the rabbit with kibble. Up until a few days ago he was eating a whole can of the rabbit in one sitting.
I am beyond frustrated. I don’t know if it’s a variety issue or if he is just holding out for the kibble. I have purchased tiki cat after dark but have yet to feed it to him. We’ve tried the instinct mixers crushed in the wet food with no success. I don’t want to use any kind of fish because of the magnesium and phosphorus.

I guess my question is do I keep trying different wet foods and find one he likes and attempt to transition to 100% wet or should I just remove the wet food altogether and see whether he takes to raw all on his own?
For the raw I am leaning toward Hare Today grounds with either ez complete or Alnutrin supplement to make it complete.

attached is a pic of my little Rebel Rouser.

thanks for readin

 

[WillowMarie]

What a beautiful kitty! Such beautiful long hair!

Are you able to try rotating more flavors of wet food? I recently tried feeding the same kind for a couple days then switching it over slowly because some have said it is better to transition to different brands/flavors as it is easier on their tummies. But all three of my cats, that were gobbling up wet food, stopped being as interested in wet food when they have the same flavor for multiple meals. So I went back to a new flavor for every meal and they are eating most or all of their food again.

Although, there are a couple flavors they devoured before the one flavor for multiple meals try out, and after switching it up, they are not as excited to eat those. I have some dried small pieces of chicken from a freeze-dried chicken treats that I have added to the tops of some of the now less liked flavors, and it has helped. Also, I had some gravy type treats I spread a small spoonful on top, and that also helped. Sometimes if one of the less liked flavors was left over, I'd mix it in with another flavor for one of the next meals.

They seem to be more excited about the less liked flavors now that they get more variety.


I cannot comment on suggestions about the raw diet, but others will be able to comment on that.

 

[shyn15]

What a beautiful kitty! Such beautiful long hair!

Are you able to try rotating more flavors of wet food? I recently tried feeding the same kind for a couple days then switching it over slowly because some have said it is better to transition to different brands/flavors as it is easier on their tummies. But all three of my cats, that were gobbling up wet food, stopped being as interested in wet food when they have the same flavor for multiple meals. So I went back to a new flavor for every meal and they are eating most or all of their food again.

Although, there are a couple flavors they devoured before the one flavor for multiple meals try out, and after switching it up, they are not as excited to eat those. I have some dried small pieces of chicken from a freeze-dried chicken treats that I have added to the tops of some of the now less liked flavors, and it has helped. Also, I had some gravy type treats I spread a small spoonful on top, and that also helped. Sometimes if one of the less liked flavors was left over, I'd mix it in with another flavor for one of the next meals.

They seem to be more excited about the less liked flavors now that they get more variety.


I cannot comment on suggestions about the raw diet, but others will be able to comment on that.

Thanks for your reply. He is a handsome boy my fiancé and I always joke he has good genes. I am concerned about trying the new canned flavors too quickly and it upsetting his tummy, but I will integrate it slowly and give it a try. I have tried putting his freeze dried raw on top of the wet and either picks it out of the wet or just refused to eat it all together. But I’m game to give it another go. I may try a different brand that has different flavors. Currently we have chicken and rabbit.

 

[lisahe]

But all three of my cats, that were gobbling up wet food, stopped being as interested in wet food when they have the same flavor for multiple meals. So I went back to a new flavor for every meal and they are eating most or all of their food again.

Yes, our cats are like this with canned foods, too: I have to rotate the brands (we feed four or five, in different variations/proteins) and we only feed one canned meal a day! Our cats are more willing to put up with smaller repetition in the home-cooked (two meals a day) and commercial raw foods (two meals a day) that make up the bulk of their diet.

If the Rebel (what's his real name, S shyn15 ?) isn't too sensitive to having changes in his food (meaning: he doesn't vomit if you switch foods on him) you could try giving EZ Complete or Alnutrin a try before he's completely switched over to wet food. In genreal, there are a few things I'd suggest:

-Don't take away the dry food cold turkey. We weaned our cats off the stuff when they were about eleven months old (they had a strong preference for it when we adopted them at ten months) by first feeding finite amounts of it rather than never-ending buffets, then leaving it out only at night, then using it only as a garnish on their wet food, etc., etc. until the day everybody forgot about dry food. That took a month or two.

-Start switching the wet foods around while you're still tapering off on the dry food. Depending on the question about sensitivities, you might need to introduce them slowly. Our cats are sensitive to certain ingredients -- potato, agar-agar are examples -- but as long as we feed them "safe" ingredients, they're fine with plenty of variety.

-If whatever freeze-dried raw stuff you were feeding Rebel is a complete food (something like Primal rather than just a freeze-dried treat like Pure Bites), why not rehydrate that and try feeding it to see if he likes it? Our cats -- the same ones who are so persnickety about variety in their canned menu -- eat Primal pork each and every morning. This has been going on for several years! They love the stuff.

Good luck!

 

[shyn15]

Yes, our cats are like this with canned foods, too: I have to rotate the brands (we feed four or five, in different variations/proteins) and we only feed one canned meal a day! Our cats are more willing to put up with smaller repetition in the home-cooked (two meals a day) and commercial raw foods (two meals a day) that make up the bulk of their diet.

If the Rebel (what's his real name, S shyn15 ?) isn't too sensitive to having changes in his food (meaning: he doesn't vomit if you switch foods on him) you could try giving EZ Complete or Alnutrin a try before he's completely switched over to wet food. In genreal, there are a few things I'd suggest:

-Don't take away the dry food cold turkey. We weaned our cats off the stuff when they were about eleven months old (they had a strong preference for it when we adopted them at ten months) by first feeding finite amounts of it rather than never-ending buffets, then leaving it out only at night, then using it only as a garnish on their wet food, etc., etc. until the day everybody forgot about dry food. That took a month or two.

-Start switching the wet foods around while you're still tapering off on the dry food. Depending on the question about sensitivities, you might need to introduce them slowly. Our cats are sensitive to certain ingredients -- potato, agar-agar are examples -- but as long as we feed them "safe" ingredients, they're fine with plenty of variety.

-If whatever freeze-dried raw stuff you were feeding Rebel is a complete food (something like Primal rather than just a freeze-dried treat like Pure Bites), why not rehydrate that and try feeding it to see if he likes it? Our cats -- the same ones who are so persnickety about variety in their canned menu -- eat Primal pork each and every morning. This has been going on for several years! They love the stuff.

Good luck!

His real name is Ron thank you so much that is very helpful! Right now his current schedule is wet food when I get ready for work then about two hours later my fiancé will give him dry food. I feed him another portion of wet food when after work and he gets his last little bit of dry before we go to bed. He eats his dry food quickly so I consider having four small meals a day. I attempted to cut him down to two meals/day while we tried only the wet food but he never finished his whole portion.Currently he gets Instinct freeze dried boost mixers as a snack and as far as I can tell they are not complete so I wouldn’t want to feed those all on there own. I will start branching out his wet food variety. Thanks for sucking tapering him off the kibble gradually that gives me hope. As far as I can tell he doesn’t seem to have any food sensitivities, but I’d still like to take the integration of new foods slowly so as not cause any potential tummy upsets.

 

[Catlover579]

Hi there, some cats are just very picky and will not eat whatever you give them even if you think that is best for them. And it's really unhealthy for them to not eat enough if they won't eat what you would like them to eat. I have 2 cats.. one will pretty much eat anything and will eat anything from raw meat , to raw freeze dried , any wet food, etc.. the other one not so much. He mostly eats kibble. But he's still very healthy as I feed a very good quality dry food that is low carb. I still provide wet food couple times a day but it's mainly to provide more moisture in his diet because he doesn't ever finish it. Only licks the water/gravy so I make sure to select a wet food that's high moisture. And he drinks plenty of water. So sometimes they won't eat what you would like them to eat even if you think it's best for them. If your cat likes kibble, I would choose the best quality kibble you can for them and still provide wet food as a snack even if they don't eat it all .Just make sure to provide plenty of fresh water and he will be alright! You should not withhold food to make him eat a certain food because this can cause serious health problems in cats.

 

[shyn15]

Hi there, some cats are just very picky and will not eat whatever you give them even if you think that is best for them. And it's really unhealthy for them to not eat enough if they won't eat what you would like them to eat. I have 2 cats.. one will pretty much eat anything and will eat anything from raw meat , to raw freeze dried , any wet food, etc.. the other one not so much. He mostly eats kibble. But he's still very healthy as I feed a very good quality dry food that is low carb. I still provide wet food couple times a day but it's mainly to provide more moisture in his diet because he doesn't ever finish it. Only licks the water/gravy so I make sure to select a wet food that's high moisture. And he drinks plenty of water. So sometimes they won't eat what you would like them to eat even if you think it's best for them. If your cat likes kibble, I would choose the best quality kibble you can for them and still provide wet food as a snack even if they don't eat it all .Just make sure to provide plenty of fresh water and he will be alright! You should not withhold food to make him eat a certain food because this can cause serious health problems in cats.

Yes that was my concern when we tried to transition him to only wet food. Right now he eats Instinct Ultimate Protein kibble and loves it much to my chagrin. But you make a good point we can’t force them if it sacrifices their health. He does get half a can/one can of wet in the morning and after I get home from work. Kibble fed during the day and at night just alittle bit when we go to bed.