So fed up

[thehistorian]

So, my cat liked Nutro Natural Choice and she still eats the majority of it in the morning, but lately she has been leaving a small chunk that I have to urge her to eat.

A few weeks ago I got two big cans of Nature's Variety Instinct - one rabbit and one venison. She really seemed to like them. So being the idiot I am, I bought a 24 can case of 3 ounce cans of venison and of rabbit.

And of course, when I started te venison case this morning she is being really finicky about it. I fed her at 6am this morning. She still hasn't finished it. She walks over, sniffs nibbles.

I am so annoyed and frustrated. I am not rich and this will not be the first time I have wasted over a hundred dollars on wet food for her. I cannot afford to keep doing this just to get her variety.

I am near tears. I may have to rid of all these cans and I can't afford more to replace the ones she has stubbed. Guys, why do cats do this to us? Do cats ever stop snubbing food and just eat it if you keep introducing it?

I don't know what to do.

 

[cocheezie]

Most pet food stores have a return policy if your cat doesn't like the food.

 

[betsygee]

I feel for you!  I've given away so many cans of food to the shelter because my cats won't eat it any more.  I just don't buy by the case any more.  

Have you tried a topper on the food, like freeze dried chicken or turkey? I have a couple of older cats who can be pretty picky and the toppers work well to encourage them to stay at the bowl longer.

 

[thehistorian]

Cats are evil...so I put Tuna on top of the venison. The brat chowded down but ate around the venison.

I am never buying venison again. Ever. I only hope she doesn't have the same reaction to the rabbit. I don't know what I would do. That would be two cases down the drain - one about 35 dollars and the other about 37. I can't do this anymore.

I am not buying her expensive chicken and turkey anymore. All she gets is Sheba Chicken and Sheba Turkey now and Nutro Natural Choice Duck. If the twit still likes the Nature's Variety Instinct Rabbit, that is the most expensive food she will be getting from now on. This has gotten way too ridiculous.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Mine don't like Venison either.  I spent about the same as you on some, and unfortunately, I held on to it too long and the store wouldn't take it back

.  Their return policy is 15 days (who has ever heard of such a ridiculous thing)  So, the shelter will once again be very happy. 

Two of mine won't even eat Sheba or Fancy Feast, if you can believe it

  Cats ARE evil.....good thing they're so cute

 

 

[2cats4me]

Cats are evil...so I put Tuna on top of the venison. The brat chowded down but ate around the venison.

I am never buying venison again. Ever. I only hope she doesn't have the same reaction to the rabbit. I don't know what I would do. That would be two cases down the drain - one about 35 dollars and the other about 37. I can't do this anymore.

I am not buying her expensive chicken and turkey anymore. All she gets is Sheba Chicken and Sheba Turkey now and Nutro Natural Choice Duck. If the twit still likes the Nature's Variety Instinct Rabbit, that is the most expensive food she will be getting from now on. This has gotten way too ridiculous.

I know just how you feel .  It is not easy for sure . My cats are super finicky .  I would love to give them different foods but they are too picky . I finally got them to eat 2 flavors of Fancy Feast Classic so that is what they get .  I still only buy enough for a few days at a time because they are famous for changing their minds . Luckily  the pet store is only 10 minutes from my house ..

 

[thehistorian]

I think I am going to take a family member's suggestion and stop buying in bulk. I bought five cases of 3 ounce cans - each case with twenty four in them. Some, I am pretty certain she will eat because she has been eating them consistently for a few months: Nutro Natural Choice Chicken, Turkey, and Duck. The ones I am not certain about: Nature's Variety Instinct Vension - probably not gonna happen and Nature's Variety Instinct Rabbit - still up in the air.

For those wondering, my cat normally gets one 3 ounce can of wet in the morning, which she usually finishes and then 1/4th cup of dry food in the evening (yes I know, dry food is horrible blah blah blah), but my cat is way too finicky for me to do 100% wet food and not have her end up wasting a good chunk of the cans. 

Anyway, a family member of my suggested that instead of buying in bulk like I have - like two, three or four month supplies, I just buy a thirty day supply and less of each variety that way she cycles through them real fast. Here's the line up I am looking at for next time:

Next time only thirty cans at a time

4 sheba chicken,

4 sheba turkey,

4 Nutro Natural Choice Chicken,

4 Nutro Natural Choice Turkey,

4 Natural Balance Duck,

4 big cans of Nature’s Variety Instinct Rabbit (Liked it before…here’s hoping)

3 big cans of Nature’s Variety Instinct Lamb (she has liked lamb in the past…here’s hoping)

3 Fancy Feast Ocean Whitefish and Tuna (Yes, I know fish, but I have to ploy the little beast somehow)

 

[bonepicker]

So, my cat liked Nutro Natural Choice and she still eats the majority of it in the morning, but lately she has been leaving a small chunk that I have to urge her to eat.

A few weeks ago I got two big cans of Nature's Variety Instinct - one rabbit and one venison. She really seemed to like them. So being the idiot I am, I bought a 24 can case of 3 ounce cans of venison and of rabbit.

And of course, when I started te venison case this morning she is being really finicky about it. I fed her at 6am this morning. She still hasn't finished it. She walks over, sniffs nibbles.

I am so annoyed and frustrated. I am not rich and this will not be the first time I have wasted over a hundred dollars on wet food for her. I cannot afford to keep doing this just to get her variety.

I am near tears. I may have to rid of all these cans and I can't afford more to replace the ones she has stubbed. Guys, why do cats do this to us? Do cats ever stop snubbing food and just eat it if you keep introducing it?

I don't know what to do.

Are you free feeding dry? If so stop. My cats finish their meals in 15 minutes. I also change brand every day to make it interesting? Natures variety is VERY dense and VERY filling. Also the 3 oz cans are not as moist as 5.5 ounce cans, add some water. My cats won't eat NV 2 days in row so I switched to pride not so dense, when they get no dry they are much more hungry and finish their meals. At least stop dry until your venison is gone. They will eat if hungry. Think about it venison, lamb, beef not natural for a cat. Chicken, rabbit, duck are normal prey.

 

[thehistorian]

Are you free feeding dry? If so stop. My cats finish their meals in 15 minutes. I also change brand every day to make it interesting? Natures variety is VERY dense and VERY filling. Also the 3 oz cans are not as moist as 5.5 ounce cans, add some water. My cats won't eat NV 2 days in row so I switched to pride not so dense, when they get no dry they are much more hungry and finish their meals. At least stop dry until your venison is gone. They will eat if hungry. Think about it venison, lamb, beef not natural for a cat. Chicken, rabbit, duck are normal prey.

Good point. Never gonna feed anything with hooves again. Sadly, I have a crap ton of dry and I have to get rid of it. I cannot keep giving it away. I've wasted so much food already trying to get her on an appropriate diet that it's become ridiculous. I am going to try and do two cans a day of wet. To get her eating the Venison, I am going to mix some Fancy Feast Tuna in with it and add waters. 

I am just going to get through the current food and then figure out where to go from there. >_<

Keeping in mind I am going to get rid of hooves, how does this line up look to everybody?

Next time only thirty cans at a time

4 sheba chicken,

4 sheba turkey,

4 Nutro Natural Choice Chicken,

4 Nutro Natural Choice Turkey,

4 Natural Balance Duck,

4 big cans of Nature’s Variety Instinct Rabbit (Liked it before…here’s hoping)

3 big cans of Nature’s Variety Instinct Duck

3 Fancy Feast Ocean Whitefish and Tuna (Yes, I know fish, but I have to ploy the little beast somehow)

 

[bonepicker]

Good point. Never gonna feed anything with hooves again. Sadly, I have a crap ton of dry and I have to get rid of it. I cannot keep giving it away. I've wasted so much food already trying to get her on an appropriate diet that it's become ridiculous. I am going to try and do two cans a day of wet. To get her eating the Venison, I am going to mix some Fancy Feast Tuna in with it and add waters. 

I am just going to get through the current food and then figure out where to go from there. >_

 

[thehistorian]

This just in: she will not touch the rabbit.

So I have an offer for anyone who is interested. I am asking thirty bucks for the remaining case of Venison and the remaining case of rabbit. Thirty even for each. That is six to five bucks cheaper than Chewy. I will pay shipping and handling. If you know your cats will eat these please take them.

The only wet foods I find that she will eat consistently are the Nutro Natural Choice soft loaf versions of the chicken, turkey, and duck. For some variety I am going to cave and do Fancy Feast Ocean White Fish and Tuna in her line up.

I am going to have to relent and keep a high end kibble in the line up. No choice. It's what works for her.

 

[pinkdagger]

What if you mix the wet foods together? When I bought a few cans of Wellness, I had to mix it in with the other foods our cats would eat more reliably, and I don't do it as a topper. I get both wet foods and really mash them all together so if they can smell the one they like (fish flavours work REALLY well for this because they smell so strongly), they'll eat away until they can't smell it anymore.

 

[thehistorian]

^ I am going to try this once. If it does not work, I am going to end up selling them.

More update: in desperation I opened a can of Nutro Natural Choice Duck. The brat has eaten way over half the can of NNC duck and will probably finish the rest tonight.

She wins. I give up.

 

[lisahe]

I also sometimes mix up canned foods like @pinkdagger suggested. It often works.

Even more successful with our cats, though, is to crumble in some freeze-dried raw food -- either Primal or Stella & Chewy's -- with the reviled canned food, mixing it with extra water. This has worked on some NVI foods they now reject, some Wild Calling they just plain hate, and the Grandma Mae's food they wouldn't even go near. Fortunately, I never bought much of any of them!

The only foods I'll buy by the case are Nutro Natural Choice. They consistently love them.

 

[maureen brad]

Go to Amazon and buy some Purina Feline Fortiflora. Sprinkle just a little on the food. She will eat it. Using that I can get my cats to eat anything, even food they know I have put medicine in.It isn't expensive. It is a probiotic but using it the way I describe it lasts forever. I have also read that putting some parmesean cheese on the food entices them too.It is worth  a try. I have had my cats turn away from food but the minute I put fortiflora on it they eat it right up. It made my transition to raw food very easy.

 

[momof3b1g]

I to have had to put Forti flora on the cats food to get them to eat it. I noticed my cats have good weeks and bad weeks. Some weeks they eat it all other. They just dont want it. Mine only get a little wet each day. and I chnaged flavors. One they ate last time. They dont finish this time. I got some fancy feast and my picky cat only ate about half.

 

[bonepicker]

Good point. Never gonna feed anything with hooves again. Sadly, I have a crap ton of dry and I have to get rid of it. I cannot keep giving it away. I've wasted so much food already trying to get her on an appropriate diet that it's become ridiculous. I am going to try and do two cans a day of wet. To get her eating the Venison, I am going to mix some Fancy Feast Tuna in with it and add waters. 

I am just going to get through the current food and then figure out where to go from there. >_

 

[thehistorian]

Thanks for all the advice and empathetic exasperation! LOL

She seems to love the Nutro Natural Choice Soft Loaf flavors: chicken, duck, and turkey. Do I am going to stick with those. In a desperate attempt to give her variety, I am also going to introduce two Fancy Feast varieties since FF seems to be one of the other brands that a lot of cats adore.

Why do folks think of the Beef Classic pâté and the Turkey and Giblets Classic pâté?

I am going to finish up my current kibble bag by continuing to use kibble as her second meal of the day - then I am once again going to attempt going all wet. Here's hoping.

 

[2cats4me]

Thanks for all the advice and empathetic exasperation! LOL

She seems to love the Nutro Natural Choice Soft Loaf flavors: chicken, duck, and turkey. Do I am going to stick with those. In a desperate attempt to give her variety, I am also going to introduce two Fancy Feast varieties since FF seems to be one of the other brands that a lot of cats adore.

Why do folks think of the Beef Classic pâté and the Turkey and Giblets Classic pâté?

I am going to finish up my current kibble bag by continuing to use kibble as her second meal of the day - then I am once again going to attempt going all wet. Here's hoping.

Sounds like a good idea to me ..  My cats do not like the FF Beef Classic but the Turkey & Giblets is their favorite .. 

 

[bonepicker]

Thanks for all the advice and empathetic exasperation! LOL

She seems to love the Nutro Natural Choice Soft Loaf flavors: chicken, duck, and turkey. Do I am going to stick with those. In a desperate attempt to give her variety, I am also going to introduce two Fancy Feast varieties since FF seems to be one of the other brands that a lot of cats adore.

Why do folks think of the Beef Classic pâté and the Turkey and Giblets Classic pâté?

I am going to finish up my current kibble bag by continuing to use kibble as her second meal of the day - then I am once again going to attempt going all wet. Here's hoping.

Mine like two classic FF pates - liver and chicken (goldfish brown label) or chopped grill (bright green label). Not a fan of beef. With chicken, they prefer Merrick chicken or duck pate to FF. Today my girl turned her nose up at 3 oz can of pride rockstar rabbit but eats 5.5 oz can, must be packaged in different plants??? Glad boy cat is a feline disposal unit, he eats anything that does not eat him first. I might have to join you on the fed up bench. Just looked in dish, she ate half of it, she realized I was not going to give her anything else. Cats, what a pain!