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Post by ebony on Apr 5, 2015 16:00:08 GMT
gypsy how would you go about getting a cat to eat wet food if she refuses it and insists on purina one dry food?
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Post by gypsy on Apr 5, 2015 19:50:17 GMT
gypsy how would you go about getting a cat to eat wet food if she refuses it and insists on purina one dry food? I sympathise as some cats can be quite resistant to change and addicted to dry food. A slow change over is best. I would try maybe adding a VERY small amount with her dry and if she eats it, very gradually increase the wet and reduce the dry over a matter of weeks. Years ago I rehomed a friend's cat that would only eat a certain brand of dry food and the only thing that worked, was soaking the dry slightly and getting the cat used to a different texture and then adding very, very small amounts of wet and phasing out the dry altogether. Took over a month. The same cat eats a raw diet now! Not saying cats have to eat a raw diet, a good quality wet food is good enough.
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Post by ebony on Apr 5, 2015 20:43:22 GMT
One of the main problems is that I have to prevent Tigger from getting to Ebony's food because she will eat anything she can reach and if I do get any wet food down Ebony, she eats it very slowly and then gets mugged by Tigger, for some reason she finds it easier to eat dry food. What I might have to do is mix dry and wet together for Ebony, idk if that will work. gypsy how would you go about getting a cat to eat wet food if she refuses it and insists on purina one dry food? I sympathise as some cats can be quite resistant to change and addicted to dry food. A slow change over is best. I would try maybe adding a VERY small amount with her dry and if she eats it, very gradually increase the wet and reduce the dry over a matter of weeks. Years ago I rehomed a friend's cat that would only eat a certain brand of dry food and the only thing that worked, was soaking the dry slightly and getting the cat used to a different texture and then adding very, very small amounts of wet and phasing out the dry altogether. Took over a month. The same cat eats a raw diet now! Not saying cats have to eat a raw diet, a good quality wet food is good enough.
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Post by cazypops on Apr 5, 2015 22:42:23 GMT
It's worth a try, even if it's only a teaspoon to start with. As gypsy says, it may take upto a month to wean her over. Let us know how you get on.
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Post by tonib on Apr 6, 2015 11:32:41 GMT
That was interesting reading gypsy, thanks. It has made me seriously think about what we feed our cats. Osiris (9) will only eat wet food. He may also hunt but not sure he eats his prey. Roman (10/11) eats dried & only the jelly out of wet food but also, we suspect, hunts when he's out Lexie (6) has both wet & dried although tends to eat only some of the moist now (particularly the gravy or jelly) & prefers the dry or Osiris' if she can get it. She does hunt occasionally but not sure she eats her prey. Penny (16) has both wet & dried but again tends to eat the dried, despite only have a few teeth (lost before we got her at aged 8). She has arthritis & she gets Nutraquin+ & in her morning moist which over the last couple of months she's tending to leave I'm going to have to find an alternative way of giving it to her. In the evening she has the same moist & eats it! She also Has Metacam/Loxicom in the evening mixed with some crushed cat treats & liver paste & she is extremely difficult to give meds to (yes that's probably our fault historically as apparently the cattery give her the Loxicom directly) & it works. Having read what you said it does give me concern for her & when I next see the vet with her I'll see what he says about any tests that may be advised, but at 16 I'm not sure whether changing her over is ideal for her enjoyment of life/food although she could live for quite a few years yet! She's been on the Metacam now since the end of 2010 at varying levels but now at the max for her weight. (which is around 3.8-4Kg) We gave our cats dried as they seemed to prefer grazing & when we were both working it was easy to leave out dried - one reason Penny put on weight as she was eating everyone elses! Solved by feeding the others at a heigh she can't jump to although the Sureflap Microchip feeders are a solution to that as once trained the cats will no longer need to jump up to feed. Additionally Lexie has had a sensitive stomach since before we got her & we've had to watch what we give her - occasionally resorting to Hills' Z/D so in her case its JWB (Royal Canin) upset her stomach. Although I think she's definitely improving over the 3 years we've had her. Penny has JWB dried & Roman a mix of JWB & RC as her prefers the RC but gets a mix so if Lexie gets it she doesn't have any problems. Once Roman's happy with the new feeder he can have what he prefers.
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Post by munchkins on Apr 8, 2015 19:29:45 GMT
interesting point, my cat eats both wet and dry, she has plenty of water available, ive even asked a vets advice on this and he says dry is ok as long as there is plenty of water available, its so hard to no what to do for the best, my nan feeds her cats on the cheapest food on the market and their 20 years old now! it so confusing.
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Post by smilesbetter on Apr 9, 2015 7:27:08 GMT
I read a study once that said that a cat fed dry on average does not or cannot drink enough water to match that of a wet or raw fed cat even, so even with access to water they are not getting enough. Cats don't go to drink often either, they'd get their moisture from their prey in the wild after all and I don't think they feel thirst in the same way we do.
I never see my cat Mieze drink, but Carlotta drinks now and then from the dogs bowl (or MY glass!!!!), while the water in my four well placed cat bowls gives in to evaporation haha.
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Post by tonib on Apr 9, 2015 11:21:17 GMT
That's one of the reasons our cats always get moist food at every meal as well, although they don't always eat it They do drink Lexie & Penny tend to use the water fountains whilst Roman use one of the bowls. Osiris, the wet only feeder, rarely drinks at home & that is always from a bowl. Mind you puddles are always acceptable to both Roman & Osiris
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Post by smilesbetter on Apr 9, 2015 11:34:16 GMT
Haha Carlotta would drink from a puddle rather than drink from a cat bowl I think. I was horrified the first time I saw her use Rosas bowl though, I thought something must be seriously wrong if she'd be happy to share with Rosa, but no, she's just weird like that. Rosas bowl is a special no spill one with really wide rims, so Carlotta has to stretch over quite a bit to get a drink haha. One day Rosa will come along and dunk her in like she does with all her toys, hahaha.
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Post by munchkins on Apr 9, 2015 19:30:31 GMT
I had the same problem with munchkin, she wouldn't drink, so we brought her a huge dog bowl, she now laps away at it, who knew that changing the bowl could make such a difference lol
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Post by gypsy on Apr 9, 2015 21:24:11 GMT
My sister's cat won't drink from a bowl at all and will only drink from a tap. I have just one very large ceramic water bowl in the kitchen and all the dogs and cats happily drink from it. My female cat sits in front of it for ages...just gazing at her reflection in the water. If one of my cats is drinking and one of my dogs also wants a drink, my dog will just sit behind the cat patiently waiting as if it's queueing! And waits.....and waits..... until the cat's finally finished and has moved away. The cats certainly command respect in my house.
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Post by smilesbetter on Apr 11, 2015 21:18:23 GMT
Hahaha gypsy I love the idea of the dogs queuing up waiting patiently so as not to disturb the cat. Mine do that but for food (Rosa gets to eat the cats' leftovers as they all eat the same stuff, and Sasha would let the cats steal all her food). Rosa is a water bowl hog though so she'd have no trouble sticking her face in and drinking with the cats there, probably dribbling water all over them too.
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Post by spider on May 24, 2015 22:36:39 GMT
moonbeam eats rc wet food and hills vet essentials he does like his dry food the wet he usually just drinks the gravy so i just add extra bottled water to it to give him a sneaky drink spider used to use go cat and kidneys let him down in the end
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Post by tonib on May 25, 2015 17:18:21 GMT
Sorry to hear it was renal failure that let Spider down spider
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Post by chantel on May 26, 2015 17:52:06 GMT
Well i am feeling more concerned about Sindy's health after reading this thread.): as some of you know Sindy has been unwell with a suspected virus.I'm not convinced it was a virus although she is back to eating and her normal self. I have noticed that she as been drinking quite a lot over the last few days,i have fed gocat in the past but not on a regular basis.i'm off to the vets tomorrow as i know something isn't right with her.
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