How can I switch my second cat to wet food only?

[josilynn]

My diabetic cat is already on a raw food diet from the vet. But I want to switch over my other cat to just wet food every morning and afternoon. How can I get her to eat it? I even tried microwaving it to make it warm, and she still wouldn't touch the stuff, so I finally relented and gave her some of her dry food.
Any tips for switching her over to wet?

 

[hmjohnston]

There are a few people with die-hard kibble eaters out there that are usually on during the day sometimes. I am sure they will have suggestions.

Does she like cheese? Parmesan or shredded? Sometimes that on top can help a picky eater.

Or, transition vvveeeerrrryyyy slllloooowwwwllly. Like a small top of wet on dry for a day or so, then increase slowly to build up to all wet. It can take well over a month for some cats but it is worth it to have just the good stuff available.

 

[Lisa & Mary]

My first DCIN foster cat was a kibble junkie who refused to eat wet/raw to start with. I calculated exactly how much he needed as a bare minimum calorie intake based on his weight 10lb at 20 calories a pound is 200 calories a day ideal. At 50% of that cats are at risk of fatty liver disease. Target 75% so they are hungry but will stay healthy. Mooch was on EVO dry so a quarter cup is 150 calories or an eighth of a cup twice a day. At the same time I tried him on different canned foods to find one he liked. FYI Mooch would completely ignore Fancy Feast if it was in one big block or big chunks but he'd eat it if it was mooshed ip anx thd gravy mixed in.

Once I found wet food he would eat I gradually reduced thd dry food. An eighth of a cup of the EVO was 75 kibbles so I reduced it by 5 kibbles a day.

This worked for Mooch so hopefully it'll work for you too.

 

[squeem3]

My diabetic cat is already on a raw food diet from the vet.

What raw food did the vet sell you? I'm not aware of vets selling raw foods, just the prescription foods. And many vets aren't supportive of raw food.

But I want to switch over my other cat to just wet food every morning and afternoon. How can I get her to eat it?

With the non-diabetic cat you aren't limited to just the low carb varieties of canned foods, though it is preferable if you could feed both cats just low carb canned food to make feeding the cats easier. Try gravy canned or pouched foods and foods with texture (chunks) instead of loaf/pate style for the diabetic. Try different brands. Some cats are really finicky and may not eat certain brands because they view them as "yucky" somehow. My diabetic only had taste buds for certain expensive high quality brands :roll:

Many people swear by FortiFlora. It's a nutritional supplement but yi can be used for other purposes. The main ingredient is animal digest which is the same stuff that dry food is coated in. Few cats can resist the yummy taste of animal digest. Just sprinkle a little FortiFlora on to the canned food. Your vet may sell FortiFlora or you can buy it online.

Dr. Lisa has tips on how to transition a cat to canned food: http://catinfo.org/docs/Tips for Transitioning PDF 1-14-11.pdf

 

[josilynn]

My diabetic cat is already on a raw food diet from the vet.

What raw food did the vet sell you? I'm not aware of vets selling raw foods, just the prescription foods. And many vets aren't supportive of raw food.

But I want to switch over my other cat to just wet food every morning and afternoon. How can I get her to eat it?

With the non-diabetic cat you aren't limited to just the low carb varieties of canned foods, though it is preferable if you could feed both cats just low carb canned food to make feeding the cats easier. Try gravy canned or pouched foods and foods with texture (chunks) instead of loaf/pate style for the diabetic. Try different brands. Some cats are really finicky and may not eat certain brands because they view them as "yucky" somehow. My diabetic only had taste buds for certain expensive high quality brands :roll:

Many people swear by FortiFlora. It's a nutritional supplement but yi can be used for other purposes. The main ingredient is animal digest which is the same stuff that dry food is coated in. Few cats can resist the yummy taste of animal digest. Just sprinkle a little FortiFlora on to the canned food. Your vet may sell FortiFlora or you can buy it online.

Dr. Lisa has tips on how to transition a cat to canned food: http://catinfo.org/docs/Tips for Transitioning PDF 1-14-11.pdf

My diabetic kitty is on Instinct for raw food, which is WAY too expensive for us to be giving the non-diabetic kitty it as well, but since we'd bought bunches of food already for the diabetic kitty, that we thought were low fat, turns out, we bought wrong. So my diabetic kitty gets two of his little raw food things, and the normal kitty, I've been trying to keep her dry food limited, and keep giving her wet when she starts crying, but she won't have anything to do with it. And the only human food she likes, is chicken, and that's the kind of food she's getting even. ;^; Maybe I will try mixing some in with dry food, see if she'll take it then.

 

[Julia & Bandit (GA)]

There is some great advice transitioning here: http://catinfo.org/#Transitioning_Dry_Food_Addicts_to_Canned_Food_

Luckily both my cats readily accepted canned food when I ditched the dry, so I was fortunate. However, one of my cats ended up getting very picky at the end of her life so I was constantly doctoring her food to make it more appetizing to her. One thing that worked for us was to mix a little tuna/tuna water in with the food, since she loved tuna. Same thing with canned turkey. Fancy Feast now makes "appetizers" that are just shredded chicken or fish that would work well for that purpose. Or you could try a food with a different texture--something shredded and chunky instead of a pate.

 

[josilynn]

Maybe I will try that if I can afford to get her that. ;^; We wasted so much money on this food. Darn diabetic kitty and vet not giving us the right instructions. :|

 

[squeem3]

My diabetic kitty is on Instinct for raw food, which is WAY too expensive for us to be giving the non-diabetic kitty it as well, but since we'd bought bunches of food already for the diabetic kitty, that we thought were low fat, turns out, we bought wrong. So my diabetic kitty gets two of his little raw food things, and the normal kitty, I've been trying to keep her dry food limited, and keep giving her wet when she starts crying, but she won't have anything to do with it. And the only human food she likes, is chicken, and that's the kind of food she's getting even. ;^; Maybe I will try mixing some in with dry food, see if she'll take it then.

NV Instinct raw food is a good choice :smile: It is pretty pricey, though. Have you signed up on the NV web site to recieve a free coupons and future emails with coupons? http://www.instinctpetfood.com/ Sometimes there are coupons for $3 off a bag of frozen raw. Shop around the local pet stores for the best prices and sales. I found a local pet store that sells the NV raw for about a dollar less than the other pet store I frequent, plus I get 5% off the raw food with the store's reward card.

The food is around 57% kcal from fat which is high but many other foods are also in this range. Fat content isn't much of a concern unless your cat is prone to pancreatitis. Calorie content is more of a concern if you want your cat to lose some weight.

Some people here, even multicat owners, make their own homeraw food using Dr. Lisa's recipie at Catinfo.org I believe Dr. Lisa calculated out her recipie to cost around $0.80 per 2 oz serving or something like that, which is less than what a single medallion/patty of commerical raw food costs.

Do read Dr. Lisa's tips on how to transition a cat to canned food. You need to be persistant and firm. Your cat may get fussy and complain for food and act like she's starving but you can't give in. Don't expect results in a few days. Some stubborn cats take months to accept canned food.

 

[Julia & Bandit (GA)]

While the raw Instinct is an excellent food to feed your diabetic, if it's breaking you financially there are a ton of low carb, canned options that are a lot less expensive that you can feed the diabetic, so that you can afford foods both your cats will eat.

 

[Hillary & Maui (GA)]

My non-diabetic who before I went all wet food, loved to get wet. Now she fights me on it and wants kibbles. Since that is no longer an option, I've been using Stella & Chewy's freeze dried raw food.

http://www.petfood.com/item/stella-and- ... od/498360/

(This is the cheapest place I have now found it) I haven't ordered from this company yet, as I just found this pricing.

Anyway, while you are supposed to add water to the food, my cats prefer it dry and while yes it's pricey, it's the best compromise I found to give healthy, diabetic friendly food and while still having a crunch to it.

And I also use other raw and canned foods - mainly fancy feast classics.

 

[squeem3]

Anyway, while you are supposed to add water to the food, my cats prefer it dry and while yes it's pricey, it's the best compromise I found to give healthy, diabetic friendly food and while still having a crunch to it.

Hillary, wouldn't feeding dry freeze dried raw be similar to feeding dry food because of the lack of water? confused_cat

Josilynn, NV's frozen raw is now also available in kibble-shape called Raw Bites. Maybe you can try a trial sized bag for your non-diabetic and see if she will eat that. The kibble shape might entice her to at least try the food.

How much are you spending on the NV raw food? My two civies eat NV raw. I buy about $80 worth of food every few months or so, taking advantage of any NV coupons or store sales I find. I've gotten free coupons directly from NV. Of course, my civies don't eat as much food as a unregulated diabetic. One civie eats 3 medallions a day and the other one eats 2 medallions a day.

Low carb canned food is just fine for your diabetic and a much more afforable option. You could still ocasionally feed the raw food. Just don't feed dry food with raw food because that will cause an upset stomach.