Kittens Don't Like Wet Food

[Ashouldnt]

My kittens don't like wet food. We've tried three different brands and four different flavours in each brand and I just feel like they don't like it.

They never eat enough in an hour for me to warrant taking it away and they always go to munching on their biscuits straight away after. Any suggestions?

I'm going shopping later today and plan on buying a couple pate tins to try.

 

[maggiedemi]

What brands have you tried?

 

[Ashouldnt]

What brands have you tried?

Whiskas, tiger and felix. I've been wanting to try brands such as smilla and animonda but whilst they are cheaper when bought in bulk I don't have that much money outright.

 

[maggiedemi]

My cats don't like Whiskas anymore either. The other brands I've never heard of. Are you in Canada? Do you have Fancy Feast there?

 

[Ashouldnt]

My cats don't like Whiskas anymore either. The other brands I've never heard of. Are you in Canada? Do you have Fancy Feast there?

I'm in the uk. Tiger is a supermarket own brand. I've never seen fancy feast but they may do it at pets at home.

 

[mokapi]

Sometimes the flavor can be off-putting to cats; other cats prefer different textures, etc. It can be a real hassle to find a kind that your cat likes. I'm not familiar with UK brands, but are there ones that have more gravy? Growing up, we had one cat who would ONLY eat pate, and one cat who would refuse pate and would only eat shredded/chunky textures.

Removing the biscuits and limiting their food to JUST the wet food might help, as well.

If your kits used to love the Whiskas but suddenly don't, it's possible the company changed the formula.

 

[maggiedemi]

Yeah, I have one cat who loves the shredded type. What type have you tried- Pate, Chunks, or Shreds?

 

[LTS3]

You may find this thread on UK canned foods helpful: My kitten doesn't like "posh" expensive wet cat food!

 

[Ashouldnt]

Sometimes the flavor can be off-putting to cats; other cats prefer different textures, etc. It can be a real hassle to find a kind that your cat likes. I'm not familiar with UK brands, but are there ones that have more gravy? Growing up, we had one cat who would ONLY eat pate, and one cat who would refuse pate and would only eat shredded/chunky textures.

Removing the biscuits and limiting their food to JUST the wet food might help, as well.

If your kits used to love the Whiskas but suddenly don't, it's possible the company changed the formula.

I've tried gravy and they prefer jelly. They don't eat any of the meat when it's in gravy.

 

[Ashouldnt]

Yeah, I have one cat who loves the shredded type. What type have you tried- Pate, Chunks, or Shreds?

I've only tried shredded and chunks. I was going to get pate to try today but completely forgot. Will get some in the next couple of days

 

[DeannaF]

My 10 month old will refuse pate and only loves the gravy variety by Fancy Feast. He mainly slurps up the gravy until it's gone and leave most of the meat behind but does get some. I add 2 tablespoons of water to it and I smosh the food real good with a fork and mix it and he loves it.

I also offter dry food which is does eat.

what do you mean they "perfer jelly"?

 

[Ashouldnt]

My 10 month old will refuse pate and only loves the gravy variety by Fancy Feast. He mainly slurps up the gravy until it's gone and leave most of the meat behind but does get some. I add 2 tablespoons of water to it and I smosh the food real good with a fork and mix it and he loves it.

I also offter dry food which is does eat.

what do you mean they "perfer jelly"?

They tend to eat more when it's jelly. I don't know whether it's that they prefer jelly or they don't realise the difference between jelly and meat as much as gravy and meat. They tend to stay at jelly for longer too, before switching to biscuits

 

[maggiedemi]

What is jelly in cat food? I don't think we have that here in the US. We just have Pate and then Chunks or Shreds in Gravy or Sauce.

 

[Ashouldnt]

What is jelly in cat food? I don't think we have that here in the US. We just have Pate and then Chunks or Shreds in Gravy or Sauce.

It's just a solid sort of gravy? I don't really know it's exact contents

 

[LTS3]

What is jelly in cat food? I don't think we have that here in the US. We just have Pate and then Chunks or Shreds in Gravy or Sauce.

Jelly canned cat foods are sold in the US. Sometimes it's labeled as "aspic". Think clear Jello with chunks of meat inside. Some of the Weruva and BFF seafood varieties are in aspic / jelly.

The jelly / aspic is usually carrageenan, sometmes gelatin.

No idea what brand this is but I found it on Google:

And another one:

The new Applaws Layers food (not a complete diet) is jelly / aspic:

 

[maggiedemi]

Wow, I've never seen that before. It looks like jello.

 

[Columbine]

Have you tried the HiLife Tempt Me range? The pate and jelly ones have decent ingredients (no sugars, starches or veggie derivatives) and are a pretty decent price too Pets at Home have it, and some supermarkets do too. My boys' breeder fed them kitten kibble (royal canin) and Aldi pate wet food. That's dirt cheap, but good quality for the price, and my two loved it. It's either adult or all life stages (the pack isn't clear), but generally it's fine to give kittens adult food - especially as part of a rotation. They just need more of it After all, raw feeders don't differentiate between adult and kitten food - they just give the kittens extra

I can definitely recommend some of the Zooplus brands too - my guys love Smilla, Bozita (the canned one is all life stages,btw ) and Animonda Carny, as well as some of the more expensive brands.

Another trick I use with my adult girl is to add toppers (such as crumbled Cosma Snackies or Thrive treats - both pure freeze dried meat) to her food, especially with flavours she's less keen on, or when she's getting bored of a flavour (the Bonita tetra packs last her too days, and she'll sometimes want a change before its finished ). I know those treats aren't cheap, but they last for ages when used in this way, so they're more economical that they first appear It's worth checking out 100% meat freeze dried dog treats too - they sometimes work out cheaper, and they're essentially the exact same thing. Another trick is to take a little kibble, put it in a sandwich bag and beat the hell out of it with a rolling pin That makes a great topper too, and without going out and spending extra money

 

[Ashouldnt]

Have you tried the HiLife Tempt Me range? The pate and jelly ones have decent ingredients (no sugars, starches or veggie derivatives) and are a pretty decent price too Pets at Home have it, and some supermarkets do too. My boys' breeder fed them kitten kibble (royal canin) and Aldi pate wet food. That's dirt cheap, but good quality for the price, and my two loved it. It's either adult or all life stages (the pack isn't clear), but generally it's fine to give kittens adult food - especially as part of a rotation. They just need more of it After all, raw feeders don't differentiate between adult and kitten food - they just give the kittens extra

I can definitely recommend some of the Zooplus brands too - my guys love Smilla, Bozita (the canned one is all life stages,btw ) and Animonda Carny, as well as some of the more expensive brands.

Another trick I use with my adult girl is to add toppers (such as crumbled Cosma Snackies or Thrive treats - both pure freeze dried meat) to her food, especially with flavours she's less keen on, or when she's getting bored of a flavour (the Bonita tetra packs last her too days, and she'll sometimes want a change before its finished ). I know those treats aren't cheap, but they last for ages when used in this way, so they're more economical that they first appear It's worth checking out 100% meat freeze dried dog treats too - they sometimes work out cheaper, and they're essentially the exact same thing. Another trick is to take a little kibble, put it in a sandwich bag and beat the hell out of it with a rolling pin That makes a great topper too, and without going out and spending extra money

That sounds like a great idea. I'll definitely try those toppers. I've just been to pets at home and got a couple different foods

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I think toppers is a great idea too, since they can attract the cat to the wet food. But I was going to mention that sometimes not eating all of their wet food might be "behaviorial" issue, simply a training issue.

My kittens don't like wet food. ...

They never eat enough in an hour for me to warrant taking it away and they always go to munching on their biscuits straight away after. Any suggestions? ...

That is, by immediately giving a cat dry food (biscuits in the UK? ) after they nibble just some of their wet food, or if they just lick the wet food or if they don't eat any wet food, then they are in essence always getting their preferred food in all cases after they are presented with wet food -- whether they eat it or not. Maybe you could try providing the wet food and then not giving them any of the biscuits options right after. As time passes, they will see they won't get "rewarded" for not eating the wet food, and they might be more likely to eat it -- since they will feel hungrier during that food training period.
(Of course, it may be that they just don't like certain wet foods, too! )

 

[Ashouldnt]

I think toppers is a great idea too, since they can attract the cat to the wet food. But I was going to mention that sometimes not eating all of their wet food might be "behaviorial" issue, simply a training issue.



That is, by immediately giving a cat dry food (biscuits in the UK? ) after they nibble just some of their wet food, or if they just lick the wet food or if they don't eat any wet food, then they are in essence always getting their preferred food in all cases after they are presented with wet food -- whether they eat it or not. Maybe you could try providing the wet food and then not giving them any of the biscuits options right after. As time passes, they will see they won't get "rewarded" for not eating the wet food, and they might be more likely to eat it -- since they will feel hungrier during that food training period.
(Of course, it may be that they just don't like certain wet foods, too! )

That's actually a great idea and is what I have been doing with my mums dog (giving her a treat when she eats all of her food) as she is very fussy and my mum keeps giving her bits of her food! I think I just never associated training with cats. They're so independent and everything.