Switching brands and incorporating wet

[FurmiliarCattitude]

So my cat has been eating Blue Wilderness dry (first kitten and then adult) almost since I’ve had her (she’s about one) however I did some research a few months ago and learned that it is not a good brand to feed. Well I was in the process of moving and getting myself settled and I’m ashamed to admit switching her food got pushed to the back burner a bit. The only change in food she’s ever had was when I had to syringe feed her for about a few days when we first moved since she wouldn’t touch anything and a teeeeny bit of wet food I’ll describe later. I am now attempting to rectify this and I’m wanting to switch her food over to Instinct Raw Boost and I also want to switch over to 50/50 wet and dry (possibly switching more to wet later on if I can afford it) so I picked up a couple of cans of tiki cat which she hasn’t tried yet. I was wondering if you guys had any advice on making the transition to both a bit easier. Do you recommend I switch to dry and wet one at a time or try to do both in one go (obviously not just switching over completely in one day though she’d revolt lol!). Also tips for helping her eat wet food. I tried getting her to eat wet food well before the move but she usually turns her nose up at it after no more than a bite or two regardless of brand. The only wet thing I can get her to eat are those little cat treats that look like kitty gogurts but I can’t just feed her those as wet food haha. Fingers crosses for tiki cat but I’m not super optimistic. Any advice welcome!

 

[stephanietx]

You might try adding warm water to the food before serving. That enhances the aroma and entices kitties to eat. Also, try different varieties to find one(s) that she liked and rotate them or blend them. We feed a variety of wet food: Taste of the Wild (salmon & venison) and Instinct Venison, Rabbit, and Chicken flavors. We feed Taste of the Wild dry food.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
Hopefully there's something here that helps

Transitioning Your Cat From Kibble To A New Type Of Food - TheCatSite

I want my kitties to eat a healthier diet, and I’m ready to go! What’s next? Free-fed kibble eaters are usually nibblers. The very first step is to begin feeding timed meals. For free-fed nibblers, you cannot just pull up the kibble, they need to learn how to eat “meals.” This process is...

thecatsite.com

Transitioning Free-fed Kibble Kitties To Timed Meals - TheCatSite

Kitty parents find themselves wanting to transition from free-fed kibble to timed meals and/or a new type of food for many reasons: The need to monitor food intake in multi-cat homes Kitty health As part of a transition to canned, raw, or homemade food, where the food is not left out and must be...

thecatsite.com

 

[FurmiliarCattitude]

Thanks for the articles! They definitely should help! My loaf has never been free fed so that should make adding wet food easier I think (if I can get her to eat it)!

 

[Furballsmom]

let us know how things go!

 

[FurmiliarCattitude]

Okay so for the dry, I tried switching over slowly by adding a teaspoon and taking out a teaspoon of the old food and increasing that but she wouldn’t touch the stuff after after a few days (she ate it initially) so I tried just giving her the new food and she ate it okay for a day or two (no diarrhea or anything) but then today she just flat out refused to eat more than a few bites of it. I looked in her bowl at dinner and saw a bit more than half (I poured it back in the measuring scoop to see how much she had eaten) was still there. I figured eating the old food was better than not eating and would show if it was the new food that she was refusing to eat for some reason or something worse. So I put down a separate bowl of the old food by itself out in a different area and after a few minutes she went and began eating from it. I am at a loss of what do do at this point. If I leave both as an option she’ll pick the old food but if I try to go back to mixing them and slowly pulling the old she seems to shun either and she’s apparently rejecting the new food now after only a few bites.

Wet food has been going okay. She won’t eat a whole serving so I’ve been easing her into it by giving her a teaspoon or two as a reward for her nightly tricks (I use them to signal it’s bed time after up high, down low, and beg she gets treats and we’re off to bed haha). I’m hoping I’ll be able to increase it and eventually be able to replace one of her meals with the wet but it’s making a nice treat for now. It’s progress since she used to refuse to touch wet food. I’m guessing she likes the brand.

 

[Cara80]

There’s a few tricks you could try to get her to eat more wet food. Sometimes warming the food up for about 5-10 seconds helps, you can also sprinkle some Fortiflora or dried tuna flakes on top. Some cats really love broths as a food topper, fancy feast makes a few varieties. You want to avoid human broths though because of the onions and garlic in them

 

[FurmiliarCattitude]

Okay so it’s been a bit but to update she’s is completely off of The Blue Buffalo now and I think she actually prefers the new food now that she’s gotten used to it. We’re still working on the wet food incorporation (she really really prefers dry) but I have found a brand she will eat (she loves it actually she meows and runs when I open the can but she’ll only eat a little of it a day before turning her nose up even if I try multiple small feedings) and now her diet is about 25% wet after increasing it slowly. Not a lot but better than none and she’s getting over her issues with the texture of it. I’m gonna shop around for a wet food that she likes that isn’t fish heavy since I know that can cause urinary issues but I’m hoping it’ll go better since she’s a bit more used to wet food now. She used to either flat out refuse it or lick it for a few minutes without picking up and swallowing any of it and now she’s actually eating all of the 25% she’s getting. Thanks for your help guys!

 

[Furballsmom]

This is a terrific update, thank you!!

This might help you in your search;
Check This Out.... Chart For Cat Food Ingredients

 

[FurmiliarCattitude]

Bad update she has stopped eating the new dry food completely she was eating it fine and then yesterday she just refused to eat it anymore. I was worried that she wasn’t eating it because she wasn’t feeling well but she’ll eat temptations cat treats fine and she’ll eat the small amount of wet food (but no more than that small amount) that she’s gotten used to. I tried topping the food with the temptations but she just picks around the food to eat the treats. I can’t get her a new bag of food until Dec 3rd when I get paid but she can’t just live off of treats until then so I don’t know what to do. I did give her a lot of the treats today because I was just so relieved she was eating something. We actually stopped giving her temptations but still had an old bag and I figured I’d try them since she always loved them. I am at my wits end I have no idea what to do. Per the the vet’s advice I’m going to switch back to the old food when I can get paid but until then I am at a loss. I can’t take her in until the 3rd either for the same financial reasons. Any advice at all would be extremely helpful.

 

[Furballsmom]

Maybe there is something in this thread that will entice him ;

Any Good Tips To Get Your Cats To Eat? Share Them Here!

 

[MissClouseau]

Bad update she has stopped eating the new dry food completely she was eating it fine and then yesterday she just refused to eat it anymore. I was worried that she wasn’t eating it because she wasn’t feeling well but she’ll eat temptations cat treats fine and she’ll eat the small amount of wet food (but no more than that small amount) that she’s gotten used to. I tried topping the food with the temptations but she just picks around the food to eat the treats. I can’t get her a new bag of food until Dec 3rd when I get paid but she can’t just live off of treats until then so I don’t know what to do. I did give her a lot of the treats today because I was just so relieved she was eating something. We actually stopped giving her temptations but still had an old bag and I figured I’d try them since she always loved them. I am at my wits end I have no idea what to do. Per the the vet’s advice I’m going to switch back to the old food when I can get paid but until then I am at a loss. I can’t take her in until the 3rd either for the same financial reasons. Any advice at all would be extremely helpful.

For a quick, temporary solution, try to find a place where you can buy Fortiflora as individual little boxes enough for the next few days, and not the whole box which would be expensive. It's both an appetite stimulant and prebiotics in case the kitty is having tummy issues.

Speaking of, when I give Hima new food and she eats it for a few days but then stops, it always means she got a health problem with the food (or as coincidence but she still associates it with the food.) This could be problems that are not always visible to the eye like too much gas so gas cramps, toothache, or nausea without vomiting. She also eats small portions throughout the day with 2-3 hours in between meals, doesn't eat more than max. 40 grams of wet food at once, has a strong preference to pate texture, can eat the same wet food flavor only 3 meals in one day, only will eat room temperature and usually after the first meal she likes to be handfed for wet food which I recently discovered is because she swallows more air when she eats herself and gets gas cramps. As for dry food, she has dental problems and she gets toothache with most dry foods' texture after couple days. She's handling Acana Wild Prairie well -- it's advertised for both adult cats and kittens, maybe that's why it's a bit softer in texture than the other dry foods we have tried. ALSO (yes not finished) she gets whisker stress with bowls. She eats a few bites from bowls but then stops. I serve her food on plate, not bowl. Maybe you might find anything helpful there for why yours has trouble right now.

P.S. Don't forget hair-related issues. If you're not already doing it, I suggest using a malt paste daily or every other day.

 

[FurmiliarCattitude]

Thanks guys for the advice. I think it is an issue with her not reacting well to that food specifically. I got her to eat some boiled chicken and egg yolk and she’ll eat as many of the treats as I’ll let her have. So it’s not a refusal to eat completely just that food it seems. She’ll also eat the usual small amount of wet food. She seemed a bit constipated but last night after I put some petroleum jelly (a temporary once in a while thing only when I don’t have anything else) on her paws and her eating the temptations and chicken and her portion of wet she was able to go her normal amount (but still won’t eat the dry food after relieving herself) We will be going to the vet on the 3rd to make sure everything’s okay but I think your right about something in the food not agreeing with her.

 

[FurmiliarCattitude]

She went right back to eating the blue buffalo no problems. It was never an appetite problem. Is was some problem with that food in particular. She did eat the Instinct for a few days but there seems to be something in it that doesn’t sit quite well with her. I’m going to get her settled back on the old food and then start the process of looking for something that she’ll eat that she doesn’t seem to have a negative reaction too whether that be physical or mental. I think I’m gonna try with Tiki Cat Born Carnivore in chicken first. In the meantime I’ll continue to slowly ad more wet food into her diet until she’s closer to 50/50. That was actually probably the only positive during this setback. Even though only a small amount a day before she stopped, she would consistently eat that little amount without issue. Even non fish flavors since I’ve been trying to get her off of those. She checked out fine at the vet no appetite loss apart from the Instinct and no illness/injury that caused her not eat. Her weight was steady. The best guess is that when she got a little constipated it was either because of the instinct (she’s never had any problems with constipation in the past even when her diet was dry only) or it was unrelated but she associated the problem with the food anyway so won’t eat it. That was cleared up with the petroleum jelly I gave her and the vet couldn’t find an issue with her tummy and she’s been back to regular so that problem has been taken care of.