How to stop cat being so fussy food wise?

shelly

When we had Coco she would eat anything put in front of her so I'm not used to this fussiness at all

Lily has a constant supply of dry biscuits that she really likes but I am loathe to cut out wet food altogether as I don't feel she eats enough of the dry in a day to sustain her.
When she first came to us she was on Felix pouches but I changed her to Felix tinned because having 2 cats at the time you get more in a tin.
About 6 months ago the fussiness started with her declining fishy flavoured wet food so I only gave her the meaty ones. Then she stopped eating those too.
I got some Go Cat wet food which she liked for a couple of weeks then went off that.
At the moment she is on Sainsbury own brand of meaty wet food but only has a couple of bites then leaves it.

I don't like to keep changing brands as it upsets her tummy for a few days but as I said before don't want to stop wet food altogether.

She had a full check up and weigh at the vets about a few weeks ago when she got chipped and vet said she was in perfect health and a good weight.

I have also tried not giving her wet food for a couple of days to see if it sparks up her interest again but when the wet food is given she takes a bite or 2 then leaves it.

Maybe she just doesn't need it as much as I think she does but I also don't think she eats enough dry to sustain her (going by the amount the bag says she need versus the amount she actually eats)

I don't know what to do with her. She seems ok, she plays, is interested in everything, keeps herself clean, is bright eyed and sleeps alot!
Just what I would expect from a normal healthy cat.

Coco would eat anything put in front of her AND clean the dish at every sitting so I am not used to this at all and I worry she isn't getting everything she needs......but then the vet said she was fine and a good weight....I don't know....maybe I just worry too much



I'm not really sure what advice, if any, I am after.
If anyone else has been through this kind of thing or thinks its normal and nothing to worry about please let me know!

Sorry it turned into such a long post

chez22

Sounds like a typical cat to me, mine are both fussy barstewards

If she's happy and healthy I don't think you've got anything to worry about, I've never heard of a cat starving itself!

border_collie

Is she filling herself up at a neighbours house?

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Same here. I've put up with a fussy kittie for 16 yrs. I just buy a range of different foods when I go shopping. Also, I think that cats sometimes just stop eating & we worry about them. But I think it's probably normal, especially in the summer months ( from experience with my cat over the years).

As for fish flavours, cats in the wild don't have access to fish. Their diet consists of fur and feathers. I don't even bother buying the fish flavours, however, I do buy some white cod for a treat.

Whatever you do, don't cut out the wet food. Maybe reduce the dry food and see if that makes a difference to her fussy eating habits.

geri1965_2

My cats have predominantly dried food and have done for years. They do get a lot of 'treats' and they love all types of wet food, which they have a saucer of every morning now as a 'treat'.

Maybe yours will get along fine with dried food only, as long as she is healthy that's what counts.

shelly

border_collie wrote: »

Is she filling herself up at a neighbours house?

I did wonder about this but she is a very shy and timid cat around strangers so unless the food is outside I very much doubt it.
As far as I know no-one down our road who has cats leaves food outside for that very reason, they don't want it pinching by other cats

Tigsteroonie

Cats I've had in the past have always eaten a mix of wet & dry food, but my latest two rescuees are only happy eating dry food. Wet food gets ignored.

I would suggest you simply make sure there is sufficient dry food down there for her to eat if she wants - if she's hungry, she'll eat enough.

tickly1972

Our 2 are exactly the same these last few years - always used to wolf down whatever was offered, now they have a different kind everyday. Seems no logic as they turn their nose up at Whiskas one day in favour of supermarket brand and then have a turnaround.

I find a tin of tuna/sardines or mackerel goes down well and it's great for their coat too being oily - and you can get a tin cheaper than branded cat food. Strangely ours like sardines in tomato sauce which I get for under 30p in Netto and Aldis ...

BitterAndTwisted

Try feeding your puss several small wet food meals a day and take away the dried before you serve it. The food manufacturers put something in the dried food which is like crack cocaine to cats, so a lot of them seem to favour it over wet food.

All the same, cats know their own minds and won't be changing if they don't want to. Doncha just love them?

Buttonmoons

1 of my cats is like this, she won't touch any food from a can, comes running when she sees me dishing it out, has a sniff and waltz's off. So only pouches for her, she used to only like Whiskas, now it's Felix, and none in gravy, or beef flavoured ones, she isn't keen on Turkey either!

I just leave plenty of biscuits down, and she'll nosh down on the wet when the mood strikes her, she could do with loosing half a kilo anyways.

My new kitten will eat ANYTHING, there is 4 bowls/plates in the utility room where they are fed, 1 is water, 1 is dried biscuits, 1 is Clio's Felix, and the other is Archie's kitten food, he will just walk by all 4 having a bit of each, I could lift him up from say the biscuits, and plop him in front of his kitten food and he'll carry on eating, and you could do it constantly, doesn't phase him! I even have to put him out the room when *I* eat, as he will hover and scrounge! I saw him eating bits of breadstick DD had dropped - What's the appeal in them?

Seems I have polar opposites!

shelly

Thanks everyone for the replies/advice/help so far!
Seems I should stop worrying as this behaviour seems quite normal.

Even though the vet said she was a good weight I worry because I can feel her spine/backbone when I stroke her (but I can't feel her ribs, the vet said when you can feel ribs a cat is too thin) Hubby says I worry way too much