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Lottamoxie- I was trying that but if it wasn't sitting on top he wouldn't go for it.
For all of those who think you "can't force them to do something they don't like" do you use the same thought process for your kids? Well, they don't want to eat veggies, so can't make them?
While you may not be able to "force" them to, you can certainly teach them to. And considering my kitten isn't much of a drinker, it's even more important to get him eating at least some wet food the sooner the better.
In any case tonight I succeeded. I took some treats he loves and put one half in the fresh wet food. He licked around looking for it, and I fed him a treat out of my hand. I repeated this a couple times, then stopped half burying treats and just pointed to or tapped the bowl, he'd eat some, I'd give him a treat. Eventually he started fining the treats that were buried in there and I stopped giving him treats.
Not long after, I gave him some dry food so the wet food isn't too much of a shock to his stomach.
I'm sure I will have to do it more than just this once and with multiple different foods. Tonight it was a gravy lovers kind. I'll have him eating it independently, and a variety of it, soon enough.
I don't have any children but I'm all for 'hiding' nutritious ingredients in yummy food. With kids I would do what Jessica Seinfeld does (and she wrote a book on it)--using fresh steamed & food processed veggies as ingredients in various entrees where the veggie cannot be easily detected, in addition to serving veggies as part of a regular meal.
With the cat it's a little more challenging since she has the gift of smell.
I'm decreasing the amount of kibble I leave out, and sprinkling a little kibble on top of the wet food, and it's working! She ate most of the wet food (with kibble on top) that I left for her yesterday.
I still have to hide treats in it at first to get him to start eating it but he's been eating more of it. So far only the kinds with chunks in gravy (various brands and flavors though, so far!) but no luck with the pate kind. No problem, I'm not as fond of those for no apparent reason. But it's getting easier to get him to eat the chunks in gravy kind at least, I don't have to feed him as many treats outside the food anymore. He actually takes his time finding the treats in it, which is fine by me. He's actually in there eating it right now without me! SUCCESS! I just need to get him eating it without my hiding treats in it. I shouldn't have doubted myself, I am a behavioral therapist... operant conditioning is my job.
Im having the same problem. I have an 8 month old cat who refuses to eat ANY canned food, but the others love it! Ive tried different brands and different flavors, but hes just not having it! Its all I can afford right now since I got laid off from work and my hubby is the only one working. Its damn near close to a week since hes eaten cat food, but somehow he will find little pieces of human food SOMEWHERE! What should I do???
Don't starve your cat! A cat will refuse to eat and can get very sick and die. If the cat eats kibble, then let him have some kibble, just a lesser amount. Give him a wee bit of wet food so he can sniff it, along with the kibble.
This is a long process to get a cat to eat wet food. Check out catinfo.org for expert tips.
Full disclosure: I have not read everyone's responses, but I am sure it is full of great advice.
If I had a cat who was not used to eating canned foods, I would initially mix a bit of it with their usual dry food, and slowly introduce it - adding more and more within a span of a few days or weeks. I believe this should be the tactic of introducing any new types of foods. I do think dry food alone isn't as healthy for a cat, and there are many proponents who would say an all wet food diet is the way to go. For MY cat, it was a mixture of dry and canned. I also ONLY feed my cat the highest quality foods available - right now it is Blue Wilderness, grain free, although I do give treats of varying brands occasionally.
When I see pet owners buying Friskys, FancyCat or Cat Chow or other cheap brands, I do cringe inside. To me, that is the equivalent of fast food. Cheap, good-tasting, but not as healthy. However, I do understand that not everyone is willing to shell out a few extra dollars, because perhaps they cannot afford it or maybe they don't realize the difference? (I hope it is not due to the fact that they just don't care).
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