Most Appetizing Foods For Picky Cat?

[mizzely]

Lydia is my 8 year old girl. We just lost Jasmine at 17 not even a month ago and the poor girl is figuring out life as a solo cat still. Lots of cuddles and helping each other find our new normal

Anyways, Jasmine at the end we were feeding whatever she could eat without throwing up, which ended up being Friskies, 9lives, and Paws N Claws pates, along with some Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach. We couldn't do grain free as it was too rich. Both cats ate all of these just fine.

Lydia always ate after Jasmine, even when they had two food bowls in different rooms. She would wait until Jasmine was done and then eat from her bowl.

So now that it is just her I have a hard time encouraging her to eat. She has always been a picky cat which doesn't help. I picked up some Dr. Elseys dry food and she is barely picking at it. All the foods I have on hand she sniffs and walks away. So far the only thing she gets excited about are Friskies Party Mix treats.

She does end up eating eventually, but she is only eating maybe 3 oz of wet and a tbsp of dry a day.

I've tried crushed up treats on top, as well as catnip and that does get her to eat a small bit.

It is also possible I'm sure that she is just mourning still, or I'm overly worried since now I don't have Jasmine to stress over.

Any tips, tricks, or food recommendations?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
I'm thinking this is partly (mostly?) because she doesn't have your other kitty to wait for now --I'm so sorry to hear

Be sure to weigh Lydia, that way you'll know for sure if things are getting to where she's losing too much weight.

What if you try a combination of things; there is music that might help - classical harp music, or there's an app called RelaxMyCat, and there's MusicForCats . com.

Also, maybe continuing to feed in different locations - really, completely different, and utilize different heights. For example put a couple of books underneath the dish, next time use two thick phone books, or a small-ish box so the heights are varied....

Maybe there is something that might help here;

Sit with your cat and scoop some food on your finger or a spoon and hopefully your kitty will lick it. Or gently tuck some food inside the cheek.

(You might want to double-check with your vet just to be sure these things below are ok for your kitty).

Try some raw egg yolk. Egg white must always be cooked, and some people cook the white and make a slurry of sorts by adding in the raw yolk.

Also you could try some Nutri-cal or similar product.

Try making the Pedialyte here;
tent test for dehydration and home-made pedialyte recipe - The Daily Kitten

Also, try making one of these, or the KMR and kitten glop recipes that were posted above;
Kitten Glop Recipes - Supplementing Cats and Kittens with nutritious formula you make at home: presented by Bengal Cat breeder Foothill Felines. --This website has a number of kitten glop recipes, with ingredients that you may very well have in your house.

These can be used on their own or combined with food. Also, as mentioned if you heat the food a little - stir it so there aren't any hot spots from the microwave.

Or you could heat some water, about a tablespoon, and add that to canned food. A small glass works to stir it all up.

• Chicken, beef or ham flavored (pureed) baby food such as Gerber Stage 2 - make sure there is no garlic or onions in the ingredients

• Tuna and/or the juice, a low mercury/low/no sodium brand is called SafeCatch

• Salmon, mackerel

• Sardines (make sure there are no bones)

• boiled cut up chicken or turkey with no seasonings

• canned kitten food any brand

• Try mixing in Kitten Milk Replacer - there are recipes on the internet or store bought

• Fish, tuna or BBQ flavored canned wet food (I personally have never seen BBQ flavors, but...)

• Lickable cat treats or pouch treat 'gravy' poured over the food

• kitten glop (recipes in website link above)
• Bonito flakes
• fortiflora
• fish oil
• green beans, asparagus mushed up
• whipped topping such as reddiwhip

• goat milk, or no lactose cow milk
• whole cooked eggs (the white must always be cooked) or raw egg yolk now and then
• broth with no salt and no garlic or onion or seasonings of any kind
• There are also commercial toppers, Applaws is a brand that can work well as a topper
  
• Some good treats would be freeze dried Purebites, Orijen, Meowtinis, Meowables, Only Natural Pet, Primal

• There are also Lickimats that you could spread types of soft food onto, even plain unflavored yogurt, and even freeze it. Licking something can help a cat to feel better emotionally The LickiMat - Food Puzzles for Cats
• shredded cheddar cheese

 

[mizzely]

Thanks, that gives me a lot of things to try!

 

[Furballsmom]

You're very welcome!
Let us know how things go with this, I'm sending you loads of good thoughts

 

[mizzely]

Went to the store to grab a few different styles of food - cans, trays, pouches, sliced, cut, grilled, broths, etc. Thinking maybe if I change it up totally that it might help, as she has only had Pate for majority of her life.

Tried some Sheba Cuts and put it so she could eat on a large box we keep for her to perch on in the dining room (usual eating spot is kitchen).

She ate half a serving in one sitting which is more than she has been!

 

[Furballsmom]

Oh wow, good for you!! Good for her .

 

[mizzely]

We'll see how it goes. I just didn't want to order anything else on chewy until I had an idea of what she was wanting from me I wish I had a real Petstore nearby though; everything is 45 mins or more out. So if we don't find a solid winner, I will just have to make a drive

 

[Furballsmom]

.

 

[mizzely]

So far any of the other chunk style food she eats the gravy and shredded pieces but any chunks she leaves behind. Like she loved the shredded chicken in thd Whiskas Purrfectly Chicken pouch but the duck chunks were totally not touched, even with bonita flakes and shredded cheese on top.

She is at least trying everything immediately though! So she's seemingly eating more than she was with her "boring" Pates. She's still not wild about the Dr. Elsey's either.

Good thing she's cute

 

[mizzely]

 

[Furballsmom]

Awww, look at that nose

 

[mizzely]

I'm eagerly awaiting our new toy... A SureFeed Sealed Pet Bowl I'm thinking a lot of it is she is a major grazer - always has been her whole life - and the food dries out.

Also was able to track down some more foods in town to try, including some BFF pouches which I think she'll enjoy!

 

[mizzely]

BFF she doesn't touch! I really thought she would.

I've had the best luck so far with kitten Fancy Feast and Nutrisource Pate mixed with a bit of KMR to make a mmousse.Triedthe Sheba chunks again to see if she would eat it again and of course not LOL

Also got in some samples of Wysong products and she really likes the Archetype freeze-dried Quail (as a dry treat, haven't tried wet yet) so might need to pick up some of that eventually

 

[mizzely]

Went to Petsmart and the natural pet store we have 45 mins away and picked up a lot of stuff to try! Wellness sent me a bunch of coupons so all the Wellness stuff was free I may have gone over board lol

Tiki Cat Mousse and the Weruva Slide N Serve so far are hits so I picked up more of those. Only the low fish ones... she really seems to despise fish!

 

[HPeters]

Some more suggestions- heating up the food (wet) applying a calorie paste to her nose or roof of her mouth just to give her something, kitten food has a higher calorie density so i suggest it for cats off their food and a last ditch effort chicken flavoured baby food. Hope something works for you

 

[mizzely]

Some more suggestions- heating up the food (wet) applying a calorie paste to her nose or roof of her mouth just to give her something, kitten food has a higher calorie density so i suggest it for cats off their food and a last ditch effort chicken flavoured baby food. Hope something works for you

Have already tried all of these but thankfully she is eating again!

Softer pates are definitely the ticket for her, and mixing in warm kitten milk if it's not wet enough. The Wysong freeze dried Quail though is my secret weapon if she is being really obstinate. That is her new favorite thing! Even more so than Friskies treats!

Nature's variety instinct, Tiki Cat Mousse, Weruva Slide N Serve, and Nutro Smooth Pates are the winners so far!

The SureFeed Sealed Pet Bowl is seriously amazing too. Been keeping her good moist for 10+ hours so she's actually eating more!

 

[vikinggirl34]

Sounds like she's still in mourning poor kitty! My cats have gone through this too.

Have you tried Fortiflora by Purina? It contains probiotics along with brewer's yeast that helps stimulate the appetite. When I gave this to my cat I definitely saw an increase in appetite. Maybe just sprinkle a little bit. They come in little pouches.

My Cat Won’t Eat! How to Stimulate Your Cat’s Appetite

 

[EmersonandEvie]

I second the Fancy Feast. Mine go absolutely bonkers for it. It is the only food I have found where they eat something with beef in it.

 

[mizzely]

Sounds like she's still in mourning poor kitty! My cats have gone through this too.

Have you tried Fortiflora by Purina? It contains probiotics along with brewer's yeast that helps stimulate the appetite. When I gave this to my cat I definitely saw an increase in appetite. Maybe just sprinkle a little bit. They come in little pouches.

My Cat Won’t Eat! How to Stimulate Your Cat’s Appetite

I haven't tried the fortiflora yet, thanks! She is super loving the freeze dried Quail sprinkled so I haven't thought to try other stuff

I second the Fancy Feast. Mine go absolutely bonkers for it. It is the only food I have found where they eat something with beef in it.

I've learned she hates fish and so many of the flavors have fish in it :/ I've gotten her to eat a couple of the fish free flavors but she really isn't excited about any of them. I've found several foods now that she will eat luckily and still experimenting to see what else I can add to her rotation!

 

[daftcat75]

Have already tried all of these but thankfully she is eating again!

Softer pates are definitely the ticket for her, and mixing in warm kitten milk if it's not wet enough. The Wysong freeze dried Quail though is my secret weapon if she is being really obstinate. That is her new favorite thing! Even more so than Friskies treats!

Nature's variety instinct, Tiki Cat Mousse, Weruva Slide N Serve, and Nutro Smooth Pates are the winners so far!

The SureFeed Sealed Pet Bowl is seriously amazing too. Been keeping her good moist for 10+ hours so she's actually eating more!

Has she had her teeth checked recently? As my Krista has had some teeth removed due to resorptive lesions (and eats/looks like she needs another dental soon), she has definite texture preferences now. She likes a slurpable food (like the raw homemade boneless grind I make for her with extra water) over any firmer pates or shreds. I can occasionally get her to eat some Rawz or Tiki Cat if I need to but she's not happy about it. She eats far less than a full portion with those textures. This could also explain why Lydia barely touches the kibble.