Temptations Treats As Wet Food Toppers?

smosmosmo

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Smo usually gets a few Greenies Hairball tuna treats or Inaba's Churu meat puree treats, but I picked up some Temptations after reading they were irresistible to cats. They are now Smo's favorite. I mainly got them to see if I could use them as wet food toppers, because I haven't been able to get Smo to eat a single bite of wet food for the past few months - I've tried timed meals, rotating through all sorts of brands and flavors, and using her other treats as toppers. None of it worked - she would turn down any wet food the second she saw it.

Then today - I blended a pouch of Natural Balance for her (she only eats mousse-y food), then gave her a couple Temptations to calm her down from the blending noises. Then I put down the plate of Natural Balance which was sprinkled with crushed Temptations. She started eating it immediately and almost finished the entire 3 oz serving of food. I was STUNNED. This is a cat that had to go to the ER 3 months ago for cystitis issues from refusing wet food.

The feeding instructions say she's allowed to eat 10-12 treats per day, and she would be eating around 9 daily - a couple whole treats before meals, and around 7 finely crushed up and sprinkled all over the wet food. I know how junky Temptations are, but these are the only things that have enticed her to eat wet food. Is it okay for her to be eating these, and in these amounts? She'll only be getting them when she's being fed wet food, not as regular treats.

For what it's worth, her old owner fed her only Purina Cat Chow and no wet food for around 3-4 years. I know the Cat Chow is similarly junky with its corn and fillers, but she seemed to be doing all right on that - when she was on it her weight was good, her coat was shiny, and she wasn't running into any issues during her vet checkups. I figured letting her have some junky Temptations would be worth it if it got her eating great-quality wet food, especially as I've noticed her urine output shrinking slightly lately from only eating kibble. She gets Dr Elsey's Cleanprotein chicken which I think is the best-quality dry food on the market, but it's still dry food ultimately.
 
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KarenKat

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Awesome! So glad you found something that works! It can be soo hard to switch them to wet food.

For what it's worth, her old owner fed her only Purina Cat Chow and no wet food for around 3-4 years. I know the Cat Chow is similarly junky with its corn and fillers, but she seemed to be doing all right on that - when she was on it her weight was good, her coat was shiny, and she wasn't running into any issues during her vet checkups.
For what it’s worth we also fed Purina Indoor Cat Chow for many years before we understood cat nutrition. We had a fat tabby that would just binge eat it all the time and he ballooned to 18 lbs fast. Did the other cat look at you funny? Better go to the food bowl and scarf down some corn. :ohwell: We later switched to Natural Balance dry - better ingredients but still high in carbs and peas - and he instantly became more energetic and started playing and climbing more. He lost 3 lbs over three years naturally.

And then our other guy Gohan was the same as Smo - no health issues, a pretty good coat and the absolute perfect weight. He was playful and energetic with no health issues :dunno: and he has maintained that feline figure through increases in food quality. He is now on wet food (finally) and the only thing we notice is his coat is a little bit softer now.

I think genetics play into this a lot. Our newest girl Olive gets chubby super fast on any dry food at all, even low carb ones like Dr Elsey’s so she is on an only wet diet.
 

daftcat75

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They say the worst wet is still better than the best dry. If the Temptations are the devil's bargain to get her to eat the wet, so be it. You could do worse. Like not getting any wet at all. Nothing has to be forever. Try it now and experiment later.
 

Kflowers

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I think you're right. I remember reading one woman's post on another site that when everyone had given up on her cat ever eating again, she gave her Purnia party mix and she started eating again. Seh transitioned to regular food once she was in the habit of eating again. She started from just eating the party mix, so you are head there. It's wonderful that Smo is eating again.
 
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smosmosmo

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Thanks for your replies everyone! I started going through the threads about Temptations treats on the boards and started getting worried - people were saying some pretty concerning things about these. Smo's a pretty healthy cat in general though and I really want to get her back on wet food, so this seems to be a good compromise for the moment. Even if these treats aren't great quality it's unlikely her kidneys would stay healthy long-term on an all-dry diet, no matter how nice the kibble I feed her is. I'm just so happy she finally had some wet food!
 

sidneykitty

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I agree with others! I think its great the Temptations are helping Smo eat her wet food! I had to do the same with my cat in the past. :) I think anything to get her started on it is good. Hopefully one day, you'll be able to wean her off them and she'll like the wet food for itself, but in the meantime, go for the Temptations! I agree wet + temptations is better than dry.
 
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