She thinks I am not feeding her.. HELP!

[jettafer99]

Bella just got back from a week at the vet's and the diagnosis was a flare up of her IBD because of the canned food. So -- strict doc's orders to give her the dry w/d from now on.

Here is my problem.. Bella is used to me feeding her 2x/day both wet and dry and the dry is usually left to munch on during the day because she prefers the wet food and normally eats that right away.
When I got her home last night, she was crying for her wet food and refusing to eat the dry. She only had like 3 bites and I know she is hungry (hearing her tummy growling), but is acting like I am forgetting to feed her or refusing to feed her. Its causing her some major distress as she sits in her bed and cries or follows me around and cries..

Anything I can do to make this transition better for her? I am putting the dry in her normal wet bowl and making a big show of filling it like I am really feeding her something.
Doc says she has to eat and I am worried she is on a hunger strike and will starve herself.. do cats do this? She is also on meds 2x/day and I think they do better with food.. but??
thanks for any advice..

 

[cloud_shade]

You might check with your vet first, but have you tried putting a little warm water on the food? If that alone doesn't work, you might try chicken broth, or heating the food with water. Dry food doesn't have as much of an aroma as wet food, so making it smell stronger may encourage her.

 

[coaster]

Or the juice from a can of tuna.

 

[catguy]

mash up kitty Kaviar in a bowl of water, just a little water. Then, coat the dry food with the kitty kaviar/water mix. it should help.

 

[sharky]

Originally Posted by coaster

Or the juice from a can of tuna.

or clam juice..