Switching to wet food difficult.... New Plan

[HyperJMA]

So, after much discussion and meditation we came to the realization that maybe we tried switching Mister Mistopheles over to wet food too quickly. He's had 19 years of eating only dry food and then all of a sudden we remove his dry food and ask him to eat wet food that he doesn't like? No wonder he's refusing to eat.

We did some research on how many calories per day a cat of his age and weight needs. We looked at the dry food and measured by weight. They said he needs 1.6 ounces of dry food a day which would be approximately 200 calories. Our plan is to give him .8 ounces of dry food a day, .4 in the morning and .4 in the evening and then to leave various wet food down throughout the day to encourage him to eat the wet food. We know that his BG will probably be a little higher than with the wet food, but we will just have to manage the BG while we transition him over to wet food.

It's all about quality of life vs quantity of life.... If he isn't eating enough wet food to maintain his calories, he could go into KDA. If he isn't eating enough calories, his kidneys can't function.... It's a delicate balance.

Hoping that we can have him transitioned out to wet food in 2-3 weeks.... Cross your fingers!

 

[Squalliesmom]

I answered on your other thread, but I've got more details on this one, so I'll go with that.

I'm sure you have probably already tried mixing a tiny bit of wet in with his dry. If that doesn't work, you can try just placing a small dab of the wet next to his dry; that will help him get used to the smell and realize it's actually food. There are also some lower carb dry foods - Evo is one and Young Again Zero Carb is another. I tried the Evo and it was too high for my guy, but he is super-duper carb sensitive. The YAZC is not actually zero carb, but much lower than the others; it's expensive but it lasts a long time because it is very dense. My cats go crazy for it, even my pickiest eater. You can contact the company and they will send you a sample!

ETA: By the way, Mister Mephistopheles is adorable!!!

 

[jayla-n-Drevon]

Good luck!!

 

[Carol & Murphy (GA)]

Hi Jess and Bryan @Sharon14 tagged me on your other thread but I followed Lucy's lead and will reply here
My cat is (in)famous to being a difficult eater - he had hepatic lipidosis once which I think set off this whole oddessy so I don't want a repeat of that - I need to get calories into him. The trick of finding the correct # of calories is difficult - it depends on their age, activity level and level of diabetic control, I guess. Depending on what his ideal weight is, and how much over or under that he is, most people shoot for ~ 200 calories give or take (a lot) An older, indoor, inactive kitty may not need that many calories. In any case, Murphy has always vomited from wet food (he has IBD and pancreatitis issue) - so I supplement with low carb dry - Young Again Zero Carb is by far the best of these in my opinion - a plus for a picky eater is that is has a TON of calories - 600 per cup!!! So Murphy only has to eat 1/8 cup of that twice a day supplemented by some wet and he's all set. YA does not raise his blood sugar - in fact, I would frequently lower his insulin dose when he ate that. He develops food aversions very easily and he currently won't touch YAZC but I am hopeful he will come back to it. Evo also has about 600 calories per cup, but it raises Murphy's sugar. Other lower carb dry I use is Epigen 90 from Wysong - he wouldn't touch it for months, but suddenly he has loved it for a few months now. And a semi-moist no starch food that also does not raise his sugar is Waggers.

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

Callie was my dry food fiend and the hardest to switch over. She loves freeze dried liver, chicken, and tuna. I started by sprinkling a heavy layer of it on her dry. Then moved to a mix of canned and dry and finally all canned. After she was eating the canned then started reducing the amount of sprinkled treats on top. It took about three months but now she is eating all canned.

 

[HyperJMA]

I answered on your other thread, but I've got more details on this one, so I'll go with that.

I'm sure you have probably already tried mixing a tiny bit of wet in with his dry. If that doesn't work, you can try just placing a small dab of the wet next to his dry; that will help him get used to the smell and realize it's actually food. There are also some lower carb dry foods - Evo is one and Young Again Zero Carb is another. I tried the Evo and it was too high for my guy, but he is super-duper carb sensitive. The YAZC is not actually zero carb, but much lower than the others; it's expensive but it lasts a long time because it is very dense. My cats go crazy for it, even my pickiest eater. You can contact the company and they will send you a sample!

ETA: By the way, Mister Mephistopheles is adorable!!!

Thanks!!!

 

[HyperJMA]

Posted an update thread.