Pate Vs Chunks

[HiddenFlame]

Koda Kitty (the name my YouTube community gave her) has this disorder where she can only eat wet food and doesn't seem to like Pate food. It's all I can afford an I have to mix in treats with it to make it appealing for her. Sometimes she will use her nose to dig in the food to get the treats.
If I give her something like Chunks, Shreds, or anything like that, she devour it in seconds where the Pate make take he all day if not eaten at all.
Can anyone give me advice on what I should do?

 

[Furballsmom]

I confess to being a bit confused - in my local stores the canned varieties of pate, chunky, shreds et al are the same cost, or maybe I've not been paying close enough attention lately. That being said, have you tried a little tuna juice? Homemade pedialyte mixed in? If nothing works with the pate can you mix some shreds and pate, which would still be less cost than just shreds? As you know, the true bottom line is that she needs to eat so hopefully you're able to come to a happy medium where she decides it's acceptable. Thank you for working so hard to find what she wants, she looks a total sweetie!!

 

[cheesycats]

I think she means she can only afford to feed pate because you usually feed less with pate. Shreds and whatnot tend to be mostly water and less calories so you feed a lot more.
But I find adding water to pate helps with my cats

 

[MissMolly08]

It may also be because most here recommend against the cheaper brands of shreds/chunks. In cheap foods like Friskies and Fancy Feast, the pate is much healthier as the shreds often contain wheat gluten and tons of carbs.

Honestly, if I was in your situation, I'd just feed kitty what they like. If that happens to be something like Friskies shreds, so be it. When you have financial constraints + medical issues and pickiness, sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.

 

[Columbine]

There are all kinds of toppers you can add to make food more irresistible to kitties. Bonito flakes are a popular topper, as are crumbled freeze dried treats (Purebites-style), or even a little finely grated parmesan cheese. Warming the food up a little to make it extra stinky often helps too.

This article had more topper ideas, and other tricks to persuade finicky cats to eat:-
Transitioning Your Cat From Kibble To A New Type Of Food (canned, Raw, Or Homemade)

 

[HiddenFlame]

Well where I live friskeies is like $25-30 a case so I have to but a cheaper brand from a dollar store or donation place where I can get a months supply of cat food for like 10 dollars and most of it is Pate or this really odd Gel like food that she refuses to eat. Like if you put to much cause in your Hamburger meat and it looks like glued mush.

 

[HiddenFlame]

Also there was this "Doctor Recommend" food that when I opened it was so dry and rock hard even water could not soften it.

 

[MissMolly08]

Well where I live friskeies is like $25-30 a case so I have to but a cheaper brand from a dollar store or donation place where I can get a months supply of cat food for like 10 dollars and most of it is Pate or this really odd Gel like food that she refuses to eat. Like if you put to much cause in your Hamburger meat and it looks like glued mush.

Where are you located? Have you tried shopping online? There's usually a bigger selection and better pricing.

 

[Pjg8r]

Tractor supply has grain free chicken 5.5 cans for .69 a can. It is shredded. I don’t know if there is something that can get you to $10 a month. My two love this food.

 

[Neo_23]

By the way, being a finicky eater isn't a disorder. Many cats are picky eaters.

 

[MissMolly08]

By the way, being a finicky eater isn't a disorder. Many cats are picky eaters.

I don't think OP meant being picky is the disorder. The cat has a disorder that requires she eat wet food. The problem is, the cat doesn't like pate and OP can't afford anything else and because of the disorder, can't go to dry. I'm guessing urinary issues or something.

 

[HiddenFlame]

She has some kind of intestinal disorder where she cant eat dry food, if she does, her bowl movements could be rather painful.

 

[Neo_23]

I see what you mean. Well, on the plus side, wet food is far healthier for cats than dry anyway.

 

[HiddenFlame]

All I can say is that its making her a very very spoiled cat. If she dosent get the right type of food, she'll bitch and moan until she gets the right one

 

[Neo_23]

What if you mix up the shreds with the pate? If you mix it up well enough then it will be hard for her to pick out the shreds.

 

[HiddenFlame]

I believe i tried that once. she kinda just picked at it. but she did eat it. i guess i could try again

 

[Neo_23]

There is also a probiotic called fortiflora. It is a bit pricey, but it may save you money in the long run if it works. If you just sprinkle a little bit of it on the pate food it may entice her to eat it. It's often used as an appetite stimulant and you can buy it off amazon or at a vet.

 

[lisahe]

What is your budget, HiddenFlame ? If you're looking for low-carb shaped food with dense calories, Nutro Natural Choice is great and it seems to appeal to a lot of picky cats, including ours. The minced chicken is a favorite but it's in the middle price range. It might be worth trying, though, if only as an occasional treat. (Sometimes I think spending a little more is worth blowing the budget a bit if there's nothing thrown away and the pickier cat eats quickly without my having to interfere!)

 

[HiddenFlame]

Well normally, I have about 50 bucks a month left after bills.an I normally put about 30 of that on Koda. From litter(15) to treats (5) leave about 10 bucks left. Thanks other 20 is to last me 2 weeks for emergency

 

[Neo_23]

Well normally, I have about 50 bucks a month left after bills.an I normally put about 30 of that on Koda. From litter(15) to treats (5) leave about 10 bucks left. Thanks other 20 is to last me 2 weeks for emergency

I think 10$ for pet food per month is pretty unrealistic. You won’t get far on that unless you’re feeding very low quality dry food.