Giving into cat pickiness

3furbabies · 11-19-2012, 01:31 PM

I am really getting annoyed/frustrated lately with my cats becoming picky. My oldest is a picky dry addict who almost starved herself to death over eating wet. My younger two are on a grain free wet diet. They only like certain brands/flavours. I figured out which they liked and didnt. Over the past few months they have become bored of the same things so I have incorporated The Honest kitchen(dehydrated dry) and Nature's Variety Inctincts frozen raw. They love the honest kitchen(although it took a few days for anna to accept it). Sophie LOVES the frozen raw. Anna will sniff it but won't touch it on her own. I put a piece in her mouth and she eats it. I saw her try a bit twice so I know she will eat it... she just chooses not to.

The problem is Sophie will then eat her portion and she will run around screming all day and sitting in the spot where her meals are fed. She will running around chewing things, hopping on counter searching for food. I then defrost more raw and she runs to the looks at it, walks away and cries for food. At that point I usually force feed her the whole meal to which she has a freak out, but after that she doesn't bug for food until the next meal.

So what should I do on the meals she is picky? Even sometimes with food she loves she decides she wants something else. I refuse to give in anymore and give her something she wants. I don't believe in wasting.

Arianwen · 11-19-2012, 02:14 PM

Nothing like in the same league as this but I have had experienced cats suddenly going off a certain thing - being honest, I usually just make adjustments.

3furbabies · 11-19-2012, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arianwen

Nothing like in the same league as this but I have had experienced cats suddenly going off a certain thing - being honest, I usually just make adjustments.

That is was I usually do and is the easiest solution, I was just curious if there was a way to get a cat to like a certain type of food... just because I have three cats and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find something everyone will eat.

Arianwen · 11-19-2012, 02:49 PM

I have six - four will eat anything but one has a more sensitive stomach (I have to avoid anything in gravy whether home prepared or canned) and one has moods!

3furbabies · 11-19-2012, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arianwen

I have six - four will eat anything but one has a more sensitive stomach (I have to avoid anything in gravy whether home prepared or canned) and one has moods!

lol well your 3 up on me. One of mine litterally eats anything you give her, the other(anna) has a grain allergy so can only eat grain free wet/dehydrated raw or that frozen raw... but she doesn't like anything resembling real meat.. only like pate, then the oldest which is the worst, will only eat certain dry foods and thats it(she doesn't even like treats). I really don't like giving into them, but somehow everytime they end up getting their way. Spoiled or what! lol

Zilla · 11-19-2012, 04:48 PM

Mine started being picky too about eating their Honest Kitchen when I started offering cans in their rotation just for variety. Well thats when I started mixing the honest kitchen with the canned a couple times and cutting the cans out for a couple days. Now they are over it... They will eat both. Maybe try something like that?? I think cats do have a tendency to get their way

Sadly. Sometimes I think they are worse than children in some aspects haha

littlesushi · 11-19-2012, 05:35 PM

one of my cats is particularly picky, and of the 5 or 6 brands we have in the rotation, there is only 1 brand (earthborn) that he will eat immediately 100% of the time. we started noticing that sometimes he will hold out and skip a meal in hopes of getting some earthborn, so we've resorted to only feeding it to them on sunday nights as a special treat. i've also noticed mixing foods has helped a little too (mixing in one kind of food that he doesn't like as much with something that he likes more). it's been quite a task, to make sure that he is eating at least something in the day without giving in and making him feel like he can push our limits and if he waits it out he can get the food he wants. but i think cutting down earthborn once a week has dramatically reduced his pickiness.

another thing that i have heard that has worked with others (i am too lazy to do this) is to pick up and put away the food after about 15 minutes, and they will quickly realize within a couple of days that if they don't eat within that time frame they have to wait until the next meal.

wallycat · 11-19-2012, 07:47 PM

Oh the joys of finicky cats. I feel your pain. I have 3 and each has their own preference. Maddening. The only thing they can all agree on is dry food...they will all eat it if there is nothing canned they like.
I try not to leave a lot of dry out and at some point, if they are hungry enough, they eat what is out. I free feed so it is available for them all day long. If it is still there in the morning, I give it to the crows and open new cans in hopes they will eat it.
Some cave in sooner than others in eating what is available.
Sometimes I don't know if it is worse offering them variety or forcing them to accept there is only one type of food.

3furbabies · 11-19-2012, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by littlesushi

another thing that i have heard that has worked with others (i am too lazy to do this) is to pick up and put away the food after about 15 minutes, and they will quickly realize within a couple of days that if they don't eat within that time frame they have to wait until the next meal.

I have done this several times with all the cats and the two who are picky just keep walking away. Sometimes I will force put some in their mouths and they will eat a bit but more than not they still walk away and keep looking for new food then eventually eait for the next meal.

Quote:

Mine started being picky too about eating their Honest Kitchen when I started offering cans in their rotation just for variety. Well thats when I started mixing the honest kitchen with the canned a couple times and cutting the cans out for a couple days.

That's why I introduced honest kitchen and the frozen raw. Some days i'll feed both meals wet, other days I do honest kitchen one meal with wet the other meal, or I will do frozen raw in the morning then wet in the evening. At first they didnt really like the honest kitchen, but now they eat it all (sophie more than anna). But anna is outright refusing the raw as she really doesnt like anything close to raw meat. I will probably just cut it out of the rotation once it's finished.

littlesushi · 11-19-2012, 08:46 PM

it took my kitties a good 8 months to be adjusted to eating raw, but they are picky with brands. they will eat nature's variety, but not primal or rad cat. it was frustrating because commercial raw can be so expensive. i finally stopped buying the patties and will give them a raw meal occasionally of cut pieces of chicken breast which they love. it was definitely a transition tho and took time to get them to eat the raw consistently. i was mixing it with their favorite canned at first and gradually increasing the amount until it was completely raw.

good luck!!

11-19-2012, 01:31 PM	#1 (permalink)
3furbabies Cool Cat Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Ontario Posts: 939	Giving into cat pickiness I am really getting annoyed/frustrated lately with my cats becoming picky. My oldest is a picky dry addict who almost starved herself to death over eating wet. My younger two are on a grain free wet diet. They only like certain brands/flavours. I figured out which they liked and didnt. Over the past few months they have become bored of the same things so I have incorporated The Honest kitchen(dehydrated dry) and Nature's Variety Inctincts frozen raw. They love the honest kitchen(although it took a few days for anna to accept it). Sophie LOVES the frozen raw. Anna will sniff it but won't touch it on her own. I put a piece in her mouth and she eats it. I saw her try a bit twice so I know she will eat it... she just chooses not to. The problem is Sophie will then eat her portion and she will run around screming all day and sitting in the spot where her meals are fed. She will running around chewing things, hopping on counter searching for food. I then defrost more raw and she runs to the looks at it, walks away and cries for food. At that point I usually force feed her the whole meal to which she has a freak out, but after that she doesn't bug for food until the next meal. So what should I do on the meals she is picky? Even sometimes with food she loves she decides she wants something else. I refuse to give in anymore and give her something she wants. I don't believe in wasting.

11-19-2012, 04:48 PM	#6 (permalink)
Zilla Senior Cat Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Southern California Posts: 794	Mine started being picky too about eating their Honest Kitchen when I started offering cans in their rotation just for variety. Well thats when I started mixing the honest kitchen with the canned a couple times and cutting the cans out for a couple days. Now they are over it... They will eat both. Maybe try something like that?? I think cats do have a tendency to get their way Sadly. Sometimes I think they are worse than children in some aspects haha __________________ Godzilla & Mr. Skeeter

11-19-2012, 05:35 PM	#7 (permalink)
littlesushi Tom Cat Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 587	one of my cats is particularly picky, and of the 5 or 6 brands we have in the rotation, there is only 1 brand (earthborn) that he will eat immediately 100% of the time. we started noticing that sometimes he will hold out and skip a meal in hopes of getting some earthborn, so we've resorted to only feeding it to them on sunday nights as a special treat. i've also noticed mixing foods has helped a little too (mixing in one kind of food that he doesn't like as much with something that he likes more). it's been quite a task, to make sure that he is eating at least something in the day without giving in and making him feel like he can push our limits and if he waits it out he can get the food he wants. but i think cutting down earthborn once a week has dramatically reduced his pickiness. another thing that i have heard that has worked with others (i am too lazy to do this) is to pick up and put away the food after about 15 minutes, and they will quickly realize within a couple of days that if they don't eat within that time frame they have to wait until the next meal. __________________

11-19-2012, 08:46 PM	#10 (permalink)
littlesushi Tom Cat Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 587	it took my kitties a good 8 months to be adjusted to eating raw, but they are picky with brands. they will eat nature's variety, but not primal or rad cat. it was frustrating because commercial raw can be so expensive. i finally stopped buying the patties and will give them a raw meal occasionally of cut pieces of chicken breast which they love. it was definitely a transition tho and took time to get them to eat the raw consistently. i was mixing it with their favorite canned at first and gradually increasing the amount until it was completely raw. good luck!! __________________

11-19-2012, 02:14 PM	#2 (permalink)
Arianwen Cat Addict Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: South Wales, UK Posts: 1,636	Nothing like in the same league as this but I have had experienced cats suddenly going off a certain thing - being honest, I usually just make adjustments.

11-19-2012, 02:49 PM	#4 (permalink)
Arianwen Cat Addict Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: South Wales, UK Posts: 1,636	I have six - four will eat anything but one has a more sensitive stomach (I have to avoid anything in gravy whether home prepared or canned) and one has moods!

11-19-2012, 07:47 PM	#8 (permalink)
wallycat Cat Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 117	Oh the joys of finicky cats. I feel your pain. I have 3 and each has their own preference. Maddening. The only thing they can all agree on is dry food...they will all eat it if there is nothing canned they like. I try not to leave a lot of dry out and at some point, if they are hungry enough, they eat what is out. I free feed so it is available for them all day long. If it is still there in the morning, I give it to the crows and open new cans in hopes they will eat it. Some cave in sooner than others in eating what is available. Sometimes I don't know if it is worse offering them variety or forcing them to accept there is only one type of food.

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