the lesser of two nutritional evils?

[catnapped]

Okay, I had managed to wean Genie off the dried food she was fed at the shelter, but in the process she's become incredibly picky and will only eat pricey Fancy Feast salmon or tuna fillets She picks a bit at some of the meat flavours and is still willing to eat dry if it's out, although she will act pretty hard-done-by if she's not given her fish. Since finding out fish is so bad for cats, I'm wondering what is the best of two far from ideal options - a good bit of dry with a little bit of canned, or all wet but mostly fish? She's so stubborn she might actually starve herself rather than eat food she deems inferior (i.e. healthier).

[Nan]

You might try to give her a good grainless dry food first, then start to offer her the canned non-fishy ones.

Or, there are some canned foods that have multiple meat sources including fish. You could try one of those.

I'm sure other people here will have some good suggestions.

[Susan]

If at all possible, I'd try removing fish entirely. Once some cats get a taste for fish they will go on a hunger strike rather than eat anything else. So, the sooner you can wean her off fish, the better.

Both of my girls went through a "fish phase" and it was a nightmare. I tried numerous things to get my girls to eat non-fish wet food, to no avail...although, like Genie, they would eat dry. So, after trying for months, I finally put some of their beloved kibble in my coffee grinder and ground it up to make "kibble pepper". I then sprinkled about a teaspoon of the kibble pepper all over their wet food. They could taste the kibble with every bite of their wet...but they were eating predominantly wet, since the pepper only amounted to the equivalent of about a dozen pieces of kibble. You might give that a shot. Good luck!

[catnapped]

Originally Posted by Susan

If at all possible, I'd try removing fish entirely. Once some cats get a taste for fish they will go on a hunger strike rather than eat anything else. So, the sooner you can wean her off fish, the better.

Both of my girls went through a "fish phase" and it was a nightmare. I tried numerous things to get my girls to eat non-fish wet food, to no avail...although, like Genie, they would eat dry. So, after trying for months, I finally put some of their beloved kibble in my coffee grinder and ground it up to make "kibble pepper". I then sprinkled about a teaspoon of the kibble pepper all over their wet food. They could taste the kibble with every bite of their wet...but they were eating predominantly wet, since the pepper only amounted to the equivalent of about a dozen pieces of kibble. You might give that a shot. Good luck!

That sounds like a good idea - I'll give it a try. She has been known to lick gravy or anything tasty off the top of food she otherwise dislikes, however! At the moment I've withdrawn fish and she's eating mostly dry and nibbling on a little duck or chicken, but maybe I'll have to withdraw wet entirely for a while to wean her off her fish fad. It's really hard because she looks so happy after eating fish!