Our two kitties, Echo (10m) and Siren (6m), are turning out to be quite the picky eaters.
They both came from two different shelters, so transitioning them to more acceptable food has been a process. We got Echo at 5m and Siren at 10w.
They have a 50/50 blend of Young Again 50/22 and Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein chicken flavor available that they snack on occasionally. More when they don't like the canned/raw that is put down, less when they do. They're not the hardcore kibble eaters that my last cat was for much of her life.
I've tried the gamut of canned food using Dr. Pierson's spreadsheet to make sure the ratios were good. TikiCat, Weruva, etc all rejected. Merrick Backcountry pouches were eaten for a while, all but the fish flavor, but then they stopped eating most of that too. Some flavors they won't touch at all that they used to eat, even when rotating with the other flavors. Currently the only canned food they'll still clean the plate is Royal Canine Adult Instinctive and Intense Beauty slices. When I was feeding only canned, they got 6oz-ish (2 pouches or cans) 3x/day.
As their canned food options dwindled, I've been figuring out what raw they'll eat with the intention of switching to all raw. Freeze dried Stella & Chewy turkey was fine until almost the end of the small bag, then no go, freeze dried rabbit hard nope. Frozen S&C chicken is a no go (I don't blame them, it looks super gross compared to the chicken by RadCat or Rawr; it's grayish brown). Primal, NWN, Instinct all no go with various proteins. They're undecided on Small Batch beef sliders so far, but I hate the sliders because they're a pain to remember to thaw and don't thaw quickly.
So far the only consistent raw brands they'll eat are RadCat and Rawr (eatlikealion.com - they're local to me) but they love the chicken, and are only meh on turkey and duck. When I can get more options for RadCat (so obnoxious between Pet Food Express no longer being a vendor and the FDA playing games) I'll be trying out the other proteins since they had liked the beef several months ago when I was last able to buy it.
Does it matter if they end up settling on just one protein to eat consistently? Anything else I should try? Making the food myself is a last resort only because I have two young kids and can barely keep up with them, let alone needing to make food for the cats.
Our two spoiled fluff butts: Echo (couch) and Siren (sink)
They both came from two different shelters, so transitioning them to more acceptable food has been a process. We got Echo at 5m and Siren at 10w.
They have a 50/50 blend of Young Again 50/22 and Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein chicken flavor available that they snack on occasionally. More when they don't like the canned/raw that is put down, less when they do. They're not the hardcore kibble eaters that my last cat was for much of her life.
I've tried the gamut of canned food using Dr. Pierson's spreadsheet to make sure the ratios were good. TikiCat, Weruva, etc all rejected. Merrick Backcountry pouches were eaten for a while, all but the fish flavor, but then they stopped eating most of that too. Some flavors they won't touch at all that they used to eat, even when rotating with the other flavors. Currently the only canned food they'll still clean the plate is Royal Canine Adult Instinctive and Intense Beauty slices. When I was feeding only canned, they got 6oz-ish (2 pouches or cans) 3x/day.
As their canned food options dwindled, I've been figuring out what raw they'll eat with the intention of switching to all raw. Freeze dried Stella & Chewy turkey was fine until almost the end of the small bag, then no go, freeze dried rabbit hard nope. Frozen S&C chicken is a no go (I don't blame them, it looks super gross compared to the chicken by RadCat or Rawr; it's grayish brown). Primal, NWN, Instinct all no go with various proteins. They're undecided on Small Batch beef sliders so far, but I hate the sliders because they're a pain to remember to thaw and don't thaw quickly.
So far the only consistent raw brands they'll eat are RadCat and Rawr (eatlikealion.com - they're local to me) but they love the chicken, and are only meh on turkey and duck. When I can get more options for RadCat (so obnoxious between Pet Food Express no longer being a vendor and the FDA playing games) I'll be trying out the other proteins since they had liked the beef several months ago when I was last able to buy it.
Does it matter if they end up settling on just one protein to eat consistently? Anything else I should try? Making the food myself is a last resort only because I have two young kids and can barely keep up with them, let alone needing to make food for the cats.
Our two spoiled fluff butts: Echo (couch) and Siren (sink)