Picky cat will only eat tuna-flavored wet food

[smosmosmo]

When I first got my cat, I was able to get her to eat a serving of Tiki Cat's salmon mousse every day, but she got sick of it after a few months and now refuses to touch it. I've had her try pretty much every pate/mousse/soup-textured food in Petco, but haven't been able to get her to start eating wet food again - the most she does is taste something then walk away. Right now she's on an all-dry diet (Dr Elsey's chicken Cleanprotein), and the only "wet food" she'll eat are Inaba's Churu treats - I give her the Chicken & Tuna flavor to minimize how much tuna she's eating. She is extremely picky, and will basically only eat food that's a similar texture to Churu.

I randomly decided to give her some wet food again today, and served her some Weruva's tuna-flavored Slide n' Serve with tuna-flavored Churu and a little water mixed in. She started eating it immediately and licked the plate clean, which I haven't seen her do in a year. I've tried other fish-flavored wet foods (like salmon, mackerel, scallop, etc) but she only seems to like tuna. I know fish is bad for them, and tuna's probably the worst, but I'd really like to start upping her water intake. She drinks a moderate amount every day, but isn't a big water drinker overall - I've tried fountains on her already but she won't go near them.

Would it be better to let her eat tuna on a regular basis or not feed her wet food at all?

 

[fionasmom]

You might get different opinions on this, but my cat vet always says that cats have to eat, so even if it is tuna, it is preferable to not eating enough or at all. Feeding only dry is not the best thing either; I realize that you are not doing this intentionally but I would let her eat the tuna flavored cat food (wet) for now while you possibly see if there is anything else she might like down the road. Do not waiver into human canned tuna as that will really create a problem and is not a complete source of nutrients for them. Cat food is at least balanced.

 

[LTS3]

If it's a texture thing, try these smooth mousse-like foods:

Food similar to Tiki cat velvet mousse?

Our cats are super picky when it comes to wet food, we’ve tried everything and the only kind we’ve been truly successful with is tiki cat velvet mousse (with a bit of warm water added). However the one store that sells it in our city is always sold out or low stock. Does anyone know of any kind...

thecatsite.com

Foods like Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers/Creamy Delights

Sango only seems to like the chicken and turkey flavors of the Fancy Feast Gravy and the cuts of chicken version of Creamy Delights. Are there any foods similar to this? She used to like Weruva stews, but I think in the last batches I bought they were super watery and she wouldn’t touch them...

thecatsite.com

Mousse-texture, Reasonably Priced Wet Food?

Radish is a licker, and the only wet food texture he doesn't fling around with every "bite" seems to be airy, mousse-like textures. Discovered this by accident when bringing a treat of Trader Joe's turkey & giblet cat food, which does not advertise a mousse texture, but is much airier than the...

thecatsite.com

You can also try mashing or pureeing pate canned food with water into a softer almost soupy texture.

 

[Norachan]

@babyprincess please read your PMs. You will not be able to post on TCS until we sort out your account issues.