Advice please: my kitten won't eat wet food

springer211

iammumtoone wrote: »

What do you want/need him to eat wet food?

As far as I am aware there is no reason why a cat needs to eat wet food (just make sure they have water available at all times). What your vet advised seems to back this up.

All my cats have only ever had dry food (go-cat) it is cheaper and better for their teeth. The only time they ever get wet is when I need to hide a worming tablet in it.

What makes you think it's better for their health?
Ingredients aside, the biscuits are probably too small to be of much benefit to their teeth, as they either crumble too easily for the tooth to get in and get cleaned by them, or may be swallowed whole altogether.
But maybe you have some information that I'm not aware of?

his_missus

Thanks Springer for your opinion. I do feed the cats Go-Cat Senior (as I have 3 old cats) or Whiskas biscuits as they do like them though I know they're not probably the best quality. However it's never been a concern because my cats have always eaten wet food. Whilst cat meat's not like the real thing, it's more like their natural diet than biscuits surely. The four cats do prefer meat over biscuits, with biscuits really just being something to nibble on if they're peckish rather than the main staple of their diet.

I know most biscuits claim to be "a complete meal" but I do feel the kitten may be missing out on a diet of just biscuits.

There is always 3 bowls of water down (and one outside though Harley's not allowed out unsupervised yet) and he does seem to drink regularly.

I cant answer for iamamumtoone, Springer but when one of my old cats had some teeth removed the vet suggested feeding him Royal Canin biscuits to improve his teeth but I thought it was just a marketing ploy

springer211

his_missus wrote: »

Thanks Springer for your opinion. I do feed the cats Go-Cat Senior (as I have 3 old cats) or Whiskas biscuits as they do like them though I know they're not probably the best quality. However it's never been a concern because my cats have always eaten wet food. Whilst cat meat's not like the real thing, it's more like their natural diet than biscuits surely. The four cats do prefer meat over biscuits, with biscuits really just being something to nibble on if they're peckish rather than the main staple of their diet.

I know most biscuits claim to be "a complete meal" but I do feel the kitten may be missing out on a diet of just biscuits.

There is always 3 bowls of water down (and one outside though Harley's not allowed out unsupervised yet) and he does seem to drink regularly.

I cant answer for iamamumtoone, Springer but when one of my old cats had some teeth removed the vet suggested feeding him Royal Canin biscuits to improve his teeth but I thought it was just a marketing ploy

I agree with you meat (including organs/bones etc) is best for cats. Unfortunately most supermarket wet food has very little meat in it, and a lot of rubbish (grains, colouring, chemical flavouring, soya etc).

personally I give my cat high meat content wet food that I buy on zooplus, supplemented by quality biscuits.

his_missus

Harley actually ate a bit of meat last night, a piece of cooked beef about the size of a 50p piece, torn into smaller pieces. Not sure though if he only ate it because he could see the dog eyeing it up :rotfl:

He had a nibble on the Harringtons biscuits I bought this week but keeps going back to the Go-Cat senior bowls. Have bought Applaws kitten biscuits today whilst on a trip to PaH, hoping these might tempt him away from the old men's biscuits

kellyt86

My 3 oldies (1 x 9yrs and 2x 8yrs) have dry food almost exclusively. When they kittens they had whiskers dry food for kittens.
Now a days they have tesco complete dry food, which after many Internet searches and review, including asking the vet is one of the better cheap food brands for meat content. Better than go-cat apparently. Anyway my furries like it!

If your new kitten doesn't like wet food, then I wouldn't worry, but is think about trying to get him on a kitten dry food as opposed to senior as might be better for him for now.

My 3 have wet food as a treat! Usually spilt a can between them (switched from pouches due to price). I find that giving it as a treat works well as when it comes to giving tablets or anything we hide it wet food and they gobble it up without hesitation!

One of mine though hates fish or any fish flavoured wet or dry food so we always by the meat selections.

mellymeepmeep

Lily would always turn her nose up at wet food until she was about 2 years old, I don't know if its just an age thing. Even now she will only eat certain types (I get the pets at home purely tins) and she'll have them for a treat couple of times a week. As long as they are getting plenty of water they will be fine!

borderlakland

there is so much evidence to show that with out a doubt wet food is far better than dry. keep trying different types and textures of wet food as some don't like the pate style, others hate jelly.
obviously go with the highest meat content poss which sadly rules out most supermarket sold stuff, one exception is butchers which has about 50% meat (about 45% more than whiskas felix etc)
zooplus sells lots of the swiss/german foods that have over 90% meat, and when you work out costs, amounts needed they don't work out any more expensive than alot of the main brands

cats are carnivores and should get their nutrients from meat not grains (which they can't digest) and other cheap fillers

his_missus

I've been trying tinned sardines and tuna this weekend in bowls and on plates and in different places. He has a nibble then wanders off, the other cats are loving all these treats!

He ate the Applaws biscuits the first time I put them down but has resorted back to the Go-Cat senior! This is what's led to me trying to feed him in different places, maybe he wants to eat with the others....

Just like kids sometimes!

Gold_Dust_2

Try warming the wet food up with a little bit of hot water mixed in, or try mixing in a tiny bit of wet with the dry in gradually increasing amounts.

I am 100% for wet food, particularly raw food, and I don't consider dry food to be at all good for cats. When the vet nurse spouted the familiar 'dry food is good for the teeth' rhetoric, I couldn't believe my ears. How good would our own teeth be if we ate nothing but biscuits? The funny thing is, she proceeded to tell me a true story about two Cats to impress upon me the fact that teeth problems could be potluck/genetics. She said that one cat had really bad teeth at only a few years old, whilst another of a similar age had no problems - and she mentioned that this one was solely a wet food eater. Coincidence?? Cats get the abrasive action on their teeth naturally from bones.

All 3 of my cats have chronic health problems, and the only way for me to combat all 3 was to switch them all to raw food. Cats weren't made for veggies and sugar, and unfortunately, all dry contains this, and so do most wet foods. Cats need a really high protein content, and to that end I recommend the Sheba tender terrines as they do not contain any added sugars, or for a commercial raw food I'd recommend Natural Instinct.

Those whose cats use an indoor litter tray will get an entirely welcome and pleasant surprise from their pets when they feed the raw stuff!


Sorry if that was a bit of a lecture in a post, but I feel really strongly on the subject. Dry food ruined all of my cats' health.

mellymeepmeep

Whereas I've grown up with 6 cats in all who were fed solely on a dry-food diet all the time and they've all lived to ripe-old ages with no health problems