Arnold doesn't like wet food, or much anyways

I know wet food is best, but it doesn't seem to be going over well w/ Arnold. He was eating dry and wet seperate before I bought him home. I started mixing 1/2 dry and 1/2 wet and it seems today I finally figured out he doesn't like that. I gave him some dry in a bowl and he chowed down! I had been worried about him b/c he wasn't eating much. I've been trying wet flavor after wet brand and he'd just pick at it. He eats better on the dry (we have some Before Grain and Hill's DM) so what do I do? Still offer both? As long as I get a good, low carb dry, is it that bad? Is there a way to wean them off the dry? Until the past 6 mos, he's only ever had dry.

 

An emphatic "yes" to that question. Proper diet is not just about carb levels!

Please click on the Feline Urinary Tract Health link below and read the grey box at the top - and scroll down to see Opie's pictures. We need to stop feeding our cats water-depleted diets!

I can assure you that anybody who condones the general use of dry food diets has not had to deal with suffering cats like Opie.

Be patient....the transition does not come overnight. It took me 3 long months to get my cats off of dry food but.....it only took that long because my cats had been on a 100% dry food diet. They did not even know what canned food was.

For any cat that has eaten *some* canned food, the bottom line is that they do recognize it as food....unlike my cats. Therefore, it should not take 3 months for these cats. :smile:

See the Tips for Transitioning PDF at the top of the sidebar at catinfo.org.

Be patient and keep trying.

 

Thanks. That helped me know I have to stick w/ it! Do you think just offering dry at one meal per day would be enough for him? He usually gets 1/4C dry and 1/4 can at each meal right now. Do you think 1/2 can wet in the morning and then both at dinner would help him? I'm just trying to find the best way. I gave him both tonight and he only ate the dry of course. He's a little overweight at 15.5#. Vet said he should be about 11#.

 

I have been trying to switch my Bailey to all canned for about six years now. About four months ago he finally would eat all canned. However, about a months ago he started less canned and more dry . I only give him dry when I have tried four different canned varieties. Now he is back to mostly dry.

 

I too bought the hype about dry food and for years that was what I gave my cats. When I came to this board, read Dr Lisa's site and learned about how bad dry food is, I made it my mission to get them off the dry crack addiction.

See the pic of Maui, I started with her and literally spoon fed her canned food as she wouldn't eat otherwise. It was an ordeal and not something I recommend to anyone to do. I did it, because I know my cat and I know what I can and can't do. So, I spoon fed (force fed) her for weeks. One night she finally got tired of the ordeal and took a lick of the spoon. That was the beginning of her journey to wet food.

My other two cats were much worse to transition and took a lot longer, even though they would eat wet when served, they would hold out and refuse to eat anything if I didn't give them dry food. I tried every trick Dr. Lisa mentioned and nothing really worked for them. I counted the kibbles and placed them on top of the wet. They ate the kibbles, left the wet and cried for more food.

It wasn't until I made a mistake and left the dry food out and Maui got in it that I did the cold turkey treatment. Here is a link to that story http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/r ... ?8,1636600

The bottom line, don't give up. If I can convert my girls - anybody can do it too!

Oh here's another interesting read: http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/r ... 0616#REPLY

ETA: What I did and how I transitioned my cats worked for us, that is because I know and understand my cats. I am not suggesting that anyone copy what I did as force feeding a cat can cause all kinds of problems as well as going "cold turkey".

Maui had hyperT and almost died as a result of the wrong tapazole dosage. Her white blood cell was almost 0. For weeks, I babied her, spoon fed her, helped her use the litter box and did everything for her until she regained her strength - this is why I can say - I know my cat and what I can and can't do for her.

 

If Arnold is currently eating both wet and dry, I don't think it would be too difficult to switch to only wet.
I fed my diabetic cat, Shadoe the same and so it was quite simple to just remove the dry. She ate just fine because it was no big deal. The wet was food and when she was hungry, she ate. I am not saying she does not miss the dry - she does, but her numbers go way up when she eats any dry food at all.
My other cat, Booboo, has eaten dry for all of her 8yrs. While she does not have FD, I still tried to switch her the same way. I removed all dry food, put down wet and that was that. Booboo did not eat for 3 days. Nothing. Not one bit. I had to go back to feeding her dry food, but now, I have to cover the dry when I am away so Shadoe does not get any. I think I would have to do what Hilary did to switch her.

All dry food is like eating at McDonalds all the time. It's just junk food that is harmful to kitties with diabetes. Kids prefer McDonalds to a nice healthy meal too.

If you refer to binky's food list, you will find plenty of foods to try with Arnold. I tried several different kinds and there were a handful that Shadoe really liked; I am sure you will find some brands and flavors that will be good for Arnold and that Arnold will just love.

 

I want to caution anyone who is reading this to never take this road.

As outlined in my Tips for Transitioning, the transition should never be forced at this level. We need to convince cats that a canned food diet is optimal for them - not try and starve then into it.

Patience and perseverance are key as discussed on my 'Tips' handout.

 

I've taken to just giving him his 1/4C of dry at night and then when he's done eating at dinner I take it back and just leave out his wet and then wet in the morning. He ate more wet this morning than normal (even after DH gave him dry earlier before I got up!) so I think we're getting there.

 

There is stuff called "Fortiflora" you can get to sprinkle on the wet food. It smells yummy and the cats like it. Cheat if you have to.

 

Try sprinkling crumbled freeze dried chicken breast over the top of stuff. It's good for them and my cats go CRAZY for it. It also comes in beef liver (which doesn't crumble well at all) and some fish (which isn't good in excess but SMELLS wonderful :lol: )

I buy Pure Bites (100% chicken breast only) Cat treats. I've found it at several pet stores. Yesterday I found a much larger bag marketed to DOGS of the exact same product (Pure Bites 100% chicken breast only) which cost A LOT less per gram.

 

I keep forgetting to look in the dog stuff for treats. I can't find any freeze dried cat snacks here. Well, I did find salmon and anchovy. I found some dehydrated chicken and he won't touch it. :roll:

 

In that case, I think I would search for that Fortiflora stuff online. I've never used it but read many others have luck with it.

 

Dry food is like kitty crack. They are really addicted to it. They can smell it.

My newest foster, Doug, has been dogging me everything I open the pantry to get food. I have some dry stashed in there for emergencies (including Royal Canin Baby Cat). Still occasionally am asked to take a little of kittens :smile:

Didn't close the door tight one day last week. I should put a spring on it. I really don't want to do that again!

Oh what a mess. The baby of BabyCat had been attacked. They took the big clip off and tore two different holes in the bag. I think everyone had a turn, judging from the BG readings. Everyone's numbers were up for a day or two.

Claudia

 

I don't know if this might work, but it seems like you currently have a cat who is okay with wet but loves dry. Can you gradually mix into the dry a kind of dry that is less loved? Then increase the percentage of less loved dry until dry becomes a gradually less yummy. Feeding for a period where the dry is no longer as favored over the canned might make it easier to transition to all canned. Id you want to take a look at my Basil's ss, you can see when we changed (cold turkey) to all canned and how his BG changed after a few days.

 

That's what we were doing, mixing the 2 and he wasn't eating much. He's still not eating much now but we're getting better. I let him have some dry yesterday b/c he was pestering me mid day for food. So I let him eat what he wanted out of the 1/4 C I gave him and when he left the kitchen I threw it out. I figured if he was starving he would've eaten it all and he didn't so that made me feel better. He hasn't had insulin since Tuesday morning now. I haven't checked his BG this mroning though and I've figured out he hates chicken. So, no more chicken cat food, lol. He doesn't like venison and I don't think he likes fish but we'll try that again.

 

I can't remember if you said before, but you mentioned that he was "pestering you mid day" Are you leaving wet available for him during the day?

Most cats really like to graze and mine were miserable with 2 meals /day (kind of made them crazy) so now since I'm home, I feed them 4-6x /day and they are much happier. It should also be good for his recovering pancreas to get regular smaller meals. If you work or are out during the day (and asleep at night) you might do well with a timed feeder. Mine love SCHEDULE and know when its feeding time (6x/24hr day!) This might really be good as he goes OTJ.

 

Still no insulin today! He does have wet available to him all day, but it's only fresh 2x a day. Maybe we'll try the smaller amounts more often so it's fresher. I'm home most of the day usually so that's no big deal. I get worried he doesn't eat enough b/c he never eats a lot when I put it down, but I know part of it is finding what he really likes in the wet food. Thanks to whoever reccomended the Pure Bits dog treats, he's digging the Beef Liver flavor! I'm so excited to have something for him!