Kitten not eating wet food

[Beebster]

For the last 2-3 weeks our 9 month old kitten has now been picky about eating wet food.
She'll stare at me and act like she wants it as I'm dishing it out for both cats.
As soon as I set it down for her she will nibble on it a little but then leave most of it.
Of course she'll eat her dry food no problem and she doesn't seem to overeat, she'll graze a lot with the dry.
I've tried putting some of her dry in with the wet but she won't even touch that!

We've mostly been feeding Friskies pates this winter as affordability has dropped these last couple months, but still trying to go back and forth with the Friskies and Fancy Feast pates as that's what both cats have really enjoyed.
I have no issues with my 12 year old cat eating all of her food and she was the tough one for many years of not eating wet food at all, so I'm very happy!

I'm wondering if I should stop with the wet food for the kitten for a few days and then reintroduce. Maybe she's bored with the wet food we get, but sadly we can't quite afford some others right now. Maybe once the warmer months roll around we'll have more money to work with as winter months my boyfriend's job is on the slower side.

 

[Beebster]

Both cats always get a combination of wet and dry food.
Meals are timed for around 6am and 5pm, with the kitten getting more of her dry whenever needed throughout the day.

 

[Telstar]

Try different brands and flavours maybe?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Was the kitten eating FF when you were giving it to her? If so, try mixing just enough FF to the Purina to alter the taste of the Purina food. If she will eat it that way, you can at least cut down on some of the costs by using more Purina and just a bit of the FF for each meal.

 

[Beebster]

She's been picky about Friskies and Fancy Feast, it doesn't matter which one I give her....just doesn't wanna eat it or only nibbles a little at the wet food and leaves the rest.
Not really sure because ever since we brought her home she would gobble up any wet food with no issues!
Those are the only 2 brands we've gotten, but I definitely try my best to choose a variety of the pate flavors so they aren't getting the same one every day.
I've also alternated the brands each day unless we had more of one or only Friskies to offer, but still would be a variety of flavors no matter what.

Today she seemed to eat a little more of her morning meal that I gave her, but this time I set the bowl down in the kitchen instead of taking it to her usual spot in the living room. (kitchen is small, so it's not an ideal place to be able to keep cat food bowls there at all times)

 

[Beebster]

If I can ever get over to an actual pet store to pick and choose some single cans of other brands, that would be nice, but most stores are a good 30+ minutes away and even further. So our options are mainly Friskies and Fancy Feast that is readily available at the local grocery store in town and Walmart. I haven't found either to carry any other brands aside from Blue.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Is it possible that she eats enough of the dry off and on during the day that by each mealtime she may be pretty full? Do you measure how much dry she eats to see if that might be some of the issue? You could try to feed her wet food more frequently to see if that makes a difference. And, you could see if you can order some individual cans from the internet - chewy.com, amazon.com, etc.

 

[Beebster]

I don't necessarily measure her dry food as I know she's still technically a kitten and can be eating as much as she likes.
I don't fill her bowl completely, I give her a little at a time usually twice a day if I see it empty. Most of the time she doesn't clear her dry food quickly, so I go longer inbetween feeding her dry.

I don't think she's full because she loves going after some of our own food depending on what we have and she goes crazy when she sees me dishing out the wet food. I'm not sure what her deal is.

 

[Beebster]

I also try not to fill up her bowl as much because we have a dog that likes to steal any of her food when he can. Sometimes it's too late if someone doesn't put him in the crate if no one is out in the living room watching him, he'll just help himself to whatever.
Yea....sometimes that's out of my control if I'm not around at all times.....

 

[FeebysOwner]

While Feeby is a lot older (15+ yo), she occasionally has kind of just nibbled on her wet food, even though she seemed interested when I first put it down. She is on urinary care food, so I don't want to stop that. I started adding FF to her food to help entice her to eat it, and that worked well. However, now and again when she act less than enthusiastic, I keep baby food meats on hand and add some of that her current mix and that seems to jump start her again. Just another idea you might try.

 

[Beebster]

Everything I search online seems to come in cases!
Oh well, kitties got enough food for right now so no need to stock up on anymore just yet. Maybe when pay is better might entice my boyfriend to take a trip to a pet store to explore other brands and grab a few to see what they like.

I hope this is just a phase for Eevee and she'll go back to gobbling up wet food soon!

 

[Beebster]

Fluffy will gobble up any Friskies I give her, but she'll be a little more picky about certain flavors for Fancy Feast. Although she eats all of her food eventually well before her next meal, so I can't complain too much about my old girl haha!

 

[Beebster]

I do remember that sometimes our Walmart will have the Sheba pate portions. I might grab a couple of those next time we can get out there if there's any in stock.
It's a hit or miss finding food there though, seems like a bunch of people stock up and are feeding colonies!

 

[Telstar]

Everything I search online seems to come in cases!
Oh well, kitties got enough food for right now so no need to stock up on anymore just yet. Maybe when pay is better might entice my boyfriend to take a trip to a pet store to explore other brands and grab a few to see what they like.

Yes, min quantities online are always 6-packs, which usually means 1 to lick and 5 to stray cats - welcome to the picky cats owners club.
Pet stores and big supermarkets are the way to go to try new cans.

 

[Beebster]

You can try hill's science diet indoor dry kitten food (chicken recipe) I have used it for my kitten she loved it you can buy online with from hill's store , vetsupply , petcircle but I bought it from vetsupply because I found their service and prices excellent and additionally they gave 5% discount on my order too.

I have no issues with dry food for her, but thanks anyway!

I don't give them the best, but I give what we can afford and that they will definitely eat, which has been Purina Cat Chow.

 

[Beebster]

Again, this morning she nibbles at the wet food, although so far she's eaten a little more of it than she has in a few days.
I'm gonna try waiting to refill her dry food until after her 2nd wet food meal later today because right now she still has a tiny bit left of that in her bowl.

 

[Telstar]

Just FYI both Purina and Hills are some of the worst dry food money can buy. You can get better quality for less.

 

[Beebster]

Just FYI both Purina and Hills are some of the worst dry food money can buy. You can get better quality for less.

If I can find something that's available where I live. Most of the dry food I find is Purina, Meow Mix, or Blue Buffalo in the 2 stores we normally go to.

Although might have to find something to order online for as cheap as possible. Walmart is our cheapest though when we get the chance. It's a matter of finding the right food for BOTH cats that is ideal for all life stages that way we aren't constantly buying 2 different types of food for each of them.

If you have suggestions, throw them at me, otherwise I'll keep going for what is at least readily available and these cats will eat.

 

[Telstar]

I live in Europe so there are a few different brands that are not available there. Among my dry rotation there are 3 brands available there which are Orijen and Nature's variety (Instinct with at least 75% meat - they have different formulas in USA) and First Mate (chicken with blueberries). There are cheaper formulations with less meat (but still more than double than Hills) such as Acana and Instinct 65%. And I'm sure there are other US-based manufacturers with decent stuff on the cheap but acceptable side.
This site is a quick reference and stocks most US-available brands:

CatFoodDB - Cat Food Reviews to help you find the best cat food for your cat

Cat food reviews for 3000+ wet and dry cat food products from 180+ brands. Includes product analysis, ingredient lists, nutritional breakdown and calorie counts.

catfooddb.com

I don't have at hand an article about how to read ingredient labels, but here is a sum up: The list is in order of *weight* and the good stuff is fresh meat (specific, i.e. chicken, NOT meal), dry meat (specific), organs, eggs, some form of omega3 (some food lacks it), whey protein. Also avoid fish-based kibble, a little fish is OK for flavor or if it's omega3 oil.
To make a kibble at least 20% of grains or potatoes are needed. Orijen gets along with 15% because they are like slices not round kibbles. Even less carbs and you get flakes, such as Kiwi peak air-dried formulas (very expensive). Then you enter the realm of freeze-dried raw stuff, like Stella & Chewy that you can buy on Amazon (even more expensive).

Moreover, "senior", "sterilized", "indoor" etc. are marketing gimmicks to cover low protein high vegetable crap. This means that a good high protein food is fine for any cat *without health issues* (and if he had probably you should use only wet/raw to begin with). Only kittens need more calories, which is usually done with raising the fat content. That said, I switched to adult food at around 8 months, so your kitten can make the switch now or you could wait til 12 months to be on the conservative side.

 

[Beebster]

I've looked up Orijen before and while I would love to feed them, it's definitely not in our budget.

I give them both the plain Purina Cat Chow. Not indoor, senior, kitten whatever.....they get the same that just states it's for all life stages. I get it since we can easily buy the larger bags that will last us a few weeks anyway. I'm trying to give them more wet, but seem to be about half wet and half dry with their feedings.

My main issue is just getting the kitten to go back to eating more wet food instead of nibbling at it so I wouldn't have to give her more dry. =/