I have the fussiest cat in the world (food)

Gloomendoom

Fridaycat wrote: »

If this has worked out for you then all is well. However, I would not recommend this for cats. Cats' nutritional needs are very specific - they need high levels of protein and taurine that are obtainable from meat sources and are not as accessible in human foods which contain a greater percentage of vegetables/grains etc than is healthy for a cat's diet.

To the OP - I can understand your predicament as all cat owners go through what you are facing from time to time. It is OK to feed chicken as a one-off (particularly if puss is suffering from an upset tummy), but it is not sustainable over any length time, neither from the perspective of the cat's nutritional needs, nor (I suspect) from that of your wallet :rotfl:.

What I would suggest is that you find two or three foods that your cat does like and rotate them on a fairly frequent basis so that your cat doesn't get bored of eating the same thing all the time.

With dry food, you could try adding a little warm water to see if that tempts her: the cat's sense of smell is much more sensitive than ours, and doing this will draw a lot more of the smell out for the cat.

I was waiting for a post like this. I should stress that I didn't just plate up a mini version my own dinner. He just got the meat/fish and gravy. It really did not work out any more expensive than cat food. Two can eat as cheaply as one, especially if one of the two weighs less than a stone!

I should have added that, while he ate the same food as me for his dinner, his breakfast was proprietary sachet cat food. Carefully sorted so he didn't get the same flavour more than once every seven days or so. I also gave him a small quantity of those big crunches to keep his teeth clean (not sure it worked though.)

Like you say , I'm sure fussiness is down to pure boredom most of the time.

TomsMom

I too have a fussy cat, food has to be in jelly but only likes the poorer quality like Whiskas and Felix with 4% minimum and meat by-products. I wanted a better quality diet for her at a reasonable price.

I've found Feline Fayre Simply which is sold at Asda and sometimes Home Bargains. On offer at Asda at the moment at 4 for £1 (normally 32p each). She loves the Tuna and Salmon, also the one with Pilchards. Both are 60% real fish and there are big chunks of it so you can see the quality.

She also likes a bit of crunch so I've changed from GoCat and Whiskas dry to Burns Brown Rice and Chicken, more expensive but so much better and it's only a bit of a treat for her.

VeggieCatLady

Wow this thread has made of feel lucky! I have four cats who eat a mixture of whiskas,posh cat and a fish own brand food. They all love it! However one of them is very fussy when it comes to wet food. She would just lick off the gravy or jelly and leave the meat. I tried a whole range of foods, from cheaper to very expensive! In the end she loved hi life tuna sachets which she wolfed down! I think her problem with she didn't like big chunks. Good luck! :-)

lollyb84

My cat went through something similar. Started off on whiskers kitten food, then stopped eating it. Moved to Tesco's own brand pate, stopped eating it after 4 weeks or so, then tried Felix which she ate for a few months before point blank refusing it. She now has Gourmet ones. She'snot keen on anything in jelly, she much prefers gravy. She doesn't seem particularly fussy about biscuits or human food, and is particularly partial to bread(?!??). she's not really allowed it though, as I'm sure it can't be good for her.

It's funny, but now she won't eat any cat food other than the gourmet one's. I tried rotating so she didn't get bored, but she just turns her nose up at any other type of cat food, and has been on the gourmet one now for about 18 months.

They're funny creatures, but we love 'em anyway!

VeggieCatLady

lollyb84 wrote: »

is particularly partial to bread(?!??). she's not really allowed it though, as I'm sure it can't be good for her.

One of my cats is exactly the same-he loves bread! Whenever I have any he won't leave me alone! I don't give him any though as it can make cats quite ill.

lollyb84

VeggieCatLady wrote: »

One of my cats is exactly the same-he loves bread! Whenever I have any he won't leave me alone! I don't give him any though as it can make cats quite ill.

She has a tendency to steal crumbs off plates if they're left out, so it just means we have to be extra careful. It seems such an odd thing for them to like!

Fridaycat

Gloomendoom wrote: »

I was waiting for a post like this. I should stress that I didn't just plate up a mini version my own dinner. He just got the meat/fish and gravy. It really did not work out any more expensive than cat food. Two can eat as cheaply as one, especially if one of the two weighs less than a stone!

I should have added that, while he ate the same food as me for his dinner, his breakfast was proprietary sachet cat food. Carefully sorted so he didn't get the same flavour more than once every seven days or so. I also gave him a small quantity of those big crunches to keep his teeth clean (not sure it worked though.)

Like you say , I'm sure fussiness is down to pure boredom most of the time.

Ok, so I know your original post was somewhat light-hearted and not meant to be taken too seriously, but it did not make clear all the additional nutrients you quite rightly provide for your cat. I would hate to think of a new cat owner reading what you had originally written and them thinking it was ok for them to feed only human food. So my response wasn't having a go at you, it was more aimed as another viewpoint for readers such as those

VeggieCatLady

lollyb84 wrote: »

She has a tendency to steal crumbs off plates if they're left out, so it just means we have to be extra careful. It seems such an odd thing for them to like!

My cat-Moby-would gladly pinch a whole roll! He was very badly behaved and tried to pinch food when I first got him. He's much better now though, he just sits there eying up things he fancies!:rotfl:

Mrs_Z

Oh, one of mine will not have her wetfood without sprinkle of dry biscuits on top!