[faint]

I had a great defeat with Smudge yesterday. I tried to give her a wet food she had never tried before, and as soon as I put it on the ground she turned her nose and walked back to me meowing. I refused to give up and took a bit on a plastic spoon and kept telling her to come take nibbles. She started to lick it and then after a few minutes of me persisting to get her to take a nibble she ended up eating was was on the spoon. I then redirected her to her bowl and she ate it all! I felt like the cat whisperer, she's the pickiest cat ever and I've never gotten her to try a food she dismissed. Maybe someone else with a picky eater can use this method and get them to try new foods. Good luck! rcat

 

[Arianwen]

I'd call it a great victory not a defeat! Well one!

 

[CJinCA]

great tip! Lickorish has been turning her nose without even sniffing the food lately. I put some on a spoon and kept putting it in her face until finally she started licking, then eating it. I did have to put the spoon in the bowl to get her to continue eating the rest of the food, although she didn't finish it. I just don't have time to be 'spoon feeding' the picky princess;-)

 

[faint]

Glad it helped! Smudge is somewhat trained to target where I point so she went by herself to her bowl. She didn't eat all of it at once either, she must have went back at some point during the night and finished it off. It just makes me feel better to see her eat something instead of whining for different food.

 

[Jacq]

Excellent! I tried this with Io once but substituted the spoon with one of her treats (dipped in the "yuck" food). She bit my fingers >:0

I'll use a spoon next time.

 

[yingying]

Glad this trick work for your cat! It doesn't work for my two girls though. Persistently convincing them or starving them won't change their mind. My "tip" is to smear a bit of food on their nose so they have to lick it off. Once they did that, they realize it's actually tasty and then they will dig in :lol:

 

[kty78]

I take a couple of treats and smoosh them into the food they're rejecting, just enough so they have to eat a little of the food to get the treat. With only two exceptions, they have eaten everything I've given them. They may walk away and come back but as long as they eat I'm good with that. I don't have time to stand over them and stress about whether they love it or not.

 

[rightsaidfed]

Glad this trick work for your cat! It doesn't work for my two girls though. Persistently convincing them or starving them won't change their mind. My "tip" is to smear a bit of food on their nose so they have to lick it off. Once they did that, they realize it's actually tasty and then they will dig in :lol:

I'll have to try on the nose. I've done on the paw before, and I ended up with uneaten food and wet food smears on my carpet.

 

[Penny135]

Good idea yingying. I will try that as I introduce some different food to Mac.

 

[Tutubean]

I do this sometimes with Tutu if she is being a princess. Usually though I just hand feed her a little chunk, or let her sniff the food pack. That usually gets her going.

Sometimes, if that doesn't work, I give her 1 treat - just one! - which usually piques her appetite.

 

[faint]

I stand wrong right now. She still refused to eat the beef CORE. She ate plain dry over the wet food which is a first, and she was only offered a small amount so she wouldn't be hungry all night. I even sprinkled freeze dried chicken over her wet. :/

 

[chrisch68]

I understand completely. My Mink, of course I am really his, is quite the picky eater himself. I have been trying to get him to start eating more healthy food. He won't seem to eat anything other than the Fancy Feast he has always had. When I give him some new type of food he will usually smell it and then act as if he is covering it up or take just a few bites and then try and cover it up. I have got to get him started on something else though as I believe he may be allergic to his food as well as being a tad overweight.

 

[faint]

Yeah the crappy food is the hardest to switch them from. A few years ago when I first got Smudge I fed her Meow mix cups. Needless to say she wouldn't eat anything without meowmix cup in it. I ended up switching her completely off of it for a while and keeping her on dry food before I switched her to wellness dry and wet and now shes on just wellness wet. She's overweight as well, I'm hoping the drop of carbs will let her lose weight.