Transitioning Senior Cat To Wet

GalaxyGirl

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My MIL's cat is very ill. She has Pancreatitis. She is on 5 different meds daily. She eats a bit of dry food, chicken broth and I found something called Bisque tuna and chicken. She ate it right away. I now mix it with a bit of FF classic chicken. She ate a ok amount yesterday and today. She wont eat the FF given on its own. As she's always had kibble so she doesn't see pate as food but will eat a 1.5 oz on her own.

My question is what is the most well addictive wet pate that would jump start her into wet. The vet said she needs to eat whatever she'll eat. She lost 5 pounds and needs to gain weight. She is more of a grazer so she's been free feeding the wet, abit of dry and chicken broth.

PS she doesn't like the higher end brands of gumless foods I feed my cats. I think she'll eat them but since she's only been eating "brothy" wet food for 3 days I can't rush her. I think it will take months.

Thank you
 

lisahe

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When our previous cat was very sick and wasn't eating much, I remember her going through a brief phase when she'd eat Trader Joe's pates. And lots of cats find Friskies pates irresistible. (That said, the same goes for Fancy Feast, which your cat apparently doesn't like to much!)

Our current cats really love Fromm's chicken/duck with the green label and pretty much any of Weruva's new BFF pates are great with them, too, though I suspect they are much lower in calories. (Soulistic has new pates that seem to be exactly the same; the cats love those, too.) They also love Fancy Feast and have come to like Sheba.

It can be pretty tricky to figure out what will be most addictive for a specific cat so I hope you're lucky early on! Fingers crossed!
 

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To switch my stubborn Zira to wet, we would crunch up her dry food into "special dust" and sprinkle it on the wet food, she would eat it no problem. We gradually decreased the amount until she would eat it alone. Watch the chicken broth as it contains sodium. Hope she is feeling better soo .
 

darg

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I'm in a similar situation with our 12 year old Himi as far as needing to switch him to a wet diet. He has a sensitive stomach and IBD and our vet has been urging we switch for years. He's always eaten dry food and been eating Blue Buffalo sensitive stomach dry for years. We never had any luck in the past with the upper echelon brands of wetr food and we tried a heck of a lot of them. But he had a bad bout of vomiting recently and the vet has again urged switching to a wet diet. Unbelievable, he seems to have taken to Sheba chicken pate (and the turkey). Not the best food but he seems to be tolerating it well and time will tell. I know I wont get him to eat any of the "boutique" canned foods but I'd like to find something maybe a little better than the Sheba. But if my cat will eat it, it may be worth a try for yours.
 
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GalaxyGirl

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When our previous cat was very sick and wasn't eating much, I remember her going through a brief phase when she'd eat Trader Joe's pates. And lots of cats find Friskies pates irresistible. (That said, the same goes for Fancy Feast, which your cat apparently doesn't like to much!)

Our current cats really love Fromm's chicken/duck with the green label and pretty much any of Weruva's new BFF pates are great with them, too, though I suspect they are much lower in calories. (Soulistic has new pates that seem to be exactly the same; the cats love those, too.) They also love Fancy Feast and have come to like Sheba.

It can be pretty tricky to figure out what will be most addictive for a specific cat so I hope you're lucky early on! Fingers crossed!
Thank you!!
 
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GalaxyGirl

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I'm in a similar situation with our 12 year old Himi as far as needing to switch him to a wet diet. He has a sensitive stomach and IBD and our vet has been urging we switch for years. He's always eaten dry food and been eating Blue Buffalo sensitive stomach dry for years. We never had any luck in the past with the upper echelon brands of wetr food and we tried a heck of a lot of them. But he had a bad bout of vomiting recently and the vet has again urged switching to a wet diet. Unbelievable, he seems to have taken to Sheba chicken pate (and the turkey). Not the best food but he seems to be tolerating it well and time will tell. I know I wont get him to eat any of the "boutique" canned foods but I'd like to find something maybe a little better than the Sheba. But if my cat will eat it, it may be worth a try for yours.
I have so many brands of food. I was looking st the Sheba in my stack today. I’m going to try a bit with her now.
 
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GalaxyGirl

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To switch my stubborn Zira to wet, we would crunch up her dry food into "special dust" and sprinkle it on the wet food, she would eat it no problem. We gradually decreased the amount until she would eat it alone. Watch the chicken broth as it contains sodium. Hope she is feeling better soo .
I will try this along with adding some treats to it.
 
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GalaxyGirl

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To switch my stubborn Zira to wet, we would crunch up her dry food into "special dust" and sprinkle it on the wet food, she would eat it no problem. We gradually decreased the amount until she would eat it alone. Watch the chicken broth as it contains sodium. Hope she is feeling better soo .
How much did you spinklr on and how many oz or tbsps of wet did you give you cat?
 

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I feed Krista Rawz Rabbit recipe with 1 pump of wild salmon oil into each 5.5 oz can. This taken a flavor she was alright with to one she cleans the plate every time. It's been a difference maker. You can also try Wild Pollack Oil or Krill Oil if MIL cat isn't crazy for the salmon oil. They are all EFA sources which should help some with pancreatitis.

When I was getting Krista through pancreatitis, I was feeding her Tiki Cat's shredded Ahi Tuna and Aloha Friends Tuna with Pumpkin. Both of these are low calories so I would mix these into something else like the FF. I wish I had thought of this at the time but just getting her to eat the Tiki Cat was struggle enough.
 

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I can't recommend any certain food, because Feeby is on urinary care after having had to have surgery about 9 years ago for severe bladder stones. But, I wanted to mention how Feeby eats ever since she has been given wet food for dinner (she was strictly a dry food free grazer before I started one meal of wet).

I have to repeatedly scoop up the wet into a pile, as she licks at it to eat it and flattens the pile down. Once it is flattened, she won't eat anymore and walks away until I re-scoop it into a pile. This process is repeated 3-4 times for her to finish.

Just in case something similar might be impacting how your MIL's cat is eating certain wet foods.
 

darg

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I can't recommend any certain food, because Feeby is on urinary care after having had to have surgery about 9 years ago for severe bladder stones. But, I wanted to mention how Feeby eats ever since she has been given wet food for dinner (she was strictly a dry food free grazer before I started one meal of wet).

I have to repeatedly scoop up the wet into a pile, as she licks at it to eat it and flattens the pile down. Once it is flattened, she won't eat anymore and walks away until I re-scoop it into a pile. This process is repeated 3-4 times for her to finish.

Just in case something similar might be impacting how your MIL's cat is eating certain wet foods.
That's funny because my cat is the same way. But, if he's hungry enough he finds a way to eat the flattened food. He's messing with me. He's also messier with food that he doesn't really like than he is with food that he seems to be more ok with.
 

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That's funny because my cat is the same way. But, if he's hungry enough he finds a way to eat the flattened food. He's messing with me. He's also messier with food that he doesn't really like than he is with food that he seems to be more ok with.
Too funny! And, yes Feeby also is messier with one of the canned foods. However, I noticed it is 'grainier' and I think that poses yet another problem for her - wet food in her mind is to be licked, and if it is grainier then it gets lapped around and all over the place. Maybe yours too?
 

darg

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Too funny! And, yes Feeby also is messier with one of the canned foods. However, I noticed it is 'grainier' and I think that poses yet another problem for her - wet food in her mind is to be licked, and if it is grainier then it gets lapped around and all over the place. Maybe yours too?
Very possible that it's the texture. But, I still wouldn't put it past him to just be messing with me. :-)
 

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My mom's senior cat's new favorite is Fancy Feast Kitten pates. She is especially fond of the turkey. I like that she is eating that because she lost a good chunk of weight after a bought of mouth ulcers that made her almost unable to eat, and the kitten food is higher in protein and fat. Maybe if you mix it with a little fish oil like suggested above it will entice her more?
 
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GalaxyGirl

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I feed Krista Rawz Rabbit recipe with 1 pump of wild salmon oil into each 5.5 oz can. This taken a flavor she was alright with to one she cleans the plate every time. It's been a difference maker. You can also try Wild Pollack Oil or Krill Oil if MIL cat isn't crazy for the salmon oil. They are all EFA sources which should help some with pancreatitis.

When I was getting Krista through pancreatitis, I was feeding her Tiki Cat's shredded Ahi Tuna and Aloha Friends Tuna with Pumpkin. Both of these are low calories so I would mix these into something else like the FF. I wish I had thought of this at the time but just getting her to eat the Tiki Cat was struggle enough.
We only gave her a bit s broth yesterday with 1/4 cup dry. She ate some of the wet. I mixed some treats into it. Monday I’ll go and get the salmon oil. I know she kinda likes tuna. I offered her fortaflora yesterday and she licked it all up. So ill try mixing it with her wet and see if that helps.
 
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GalaxyGirl

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My mom's senior cat's new favorite is Fancy Feast Kitten pates. She is especially fond of the turkey. I like that she is eating that because she lost a good chunk of weight after a bought of mouth ulcers that made her almost unable to eat, and the kitten food is higher in protein and fat. Maybe if you mix it with a little fish oil like suggested above it will entice her more?
I did get some other brands of kitten food. Like the soft loaf from nutro. I tried the Senor one. She didn’t seem to like it.
 
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GalaxyGirl

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My mom's senior cat's new favorite is Fancy Feast Kitten pates. She is especially fond of the turkey. I like that she is eating that because she lost a good chunk of weight after a bought of mouth ulcers that made her almost unable to eat, and the kitten food is higher in protein and fat. Maybe if you mix it with a little fish oil like suggested above it will entice her more?
I just picked that one up at Kroger and turkey and chicken baby food.
 
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GalaxyGirl

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Can I give her kitten milk?
 
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