World's Most Finicky Cat!

[2azwildcats]

I have male (6) and a female cat (5).  I was feeding them dry and canned cat food.  Well my female cat started to have crystals in her urine so I researched and it seemed that the crystals were in part from the dry food.  I started to feed them wet only and decided to try raw (I am using TC Feline with ground chicken) My male cat took to the raw fairly quickly and he looks amazing.  He was always so skinny and had a patch on his back where he licked himself.  Those days are gone and now he is a muscular boy.  (I convinced my mom to feed raw to her obese cat and she has actually lost weight!)  

The problem that I have is my female cat (she is quite the princess).  Just transitioning her to canned food has been difficult.   Sometimes she will eat it just fine and other times I have to sprinkle it with FortiFlora or freeze dried duck liver.  Sometimes she refuses to eat at all.  I would love to get her to eat raw food but if I even put a pea size of the raw i with her canned,  she will refuse to eat it.   Has anyone else had the same experience?  I am currently feeding her Wellness (but she only wants to eat the Turkey and Salmon - nothing else will do).  

 

[ldg]

Yes, a number have experienced this. The key to transitioning a kitty like this is patience. Think of it as a journey, not a race.

Will she eat the canned food if you put 1/8th of a teaspoon of the raw food in the same dish - but NOT mixed in? Cover it with an enticement topper. You can use the Fortiflora, but many have had good success with healthier options, such as crushed freeze dried meat treats: chicken, chicken liver, salmon, cod, whatever.

And if she'll eat the food with that little bit of raw coated in something yummy, then just keep putting it there. Every meal, every day, all the time. Eventually she'll lick it off, get a bit of raw. Eventually she'll eat it. And then you can slowly make the amount larger. A member of TCS had a kitty that took ...35 days? Before she licked the freeze dried powder off the top (and she LOVED that treat!). I've a friend that had a kitty that took several months before licking that little bit off, and 9 months to fully transition.

You can switch up toppers - but just keep offering that little bit. And if she won't eat the canned in there, then put it on a dish NEXT to the dish of canned at meal time.