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Have always heard cats were finicky eaters but had never seen it till now. My vet recommended that I suppliment our foster cats' dry food with wet food. The concern is that since their sense of smell is affected by these colds they may not be eating enough. After turning their noses up at a few flavors, I've found that they like the liquid (aka "gravy") in the shredded turkey flavored food. They lick at the food until all of the moisture is gone but are leaving most of the so called "meat". They are drinking water & are using the kitty litter regularly so I'm mostly concerned about nutrition rather than hydration. Should I keep trying flavors to find one that they will eat or is there enough nutrition in the liquid part of these foods? It is common for cats to separate their food down to the different elements?
LOL - I'm calling this "lesson 2" of my "Cat 101" course. Thanks!
they may not have much of an appetite from the stress caused by the turns their lives have taken the last week or so ... in combination with the colds they have..... i wouldn't get too worried about their not eating alot for another day or 2 .... once they start to feel better from their colds and feel a little more settled in their new surroundings, my guess is they will start eating more normally.....
I think its common for the cats to lick the gravy separately. Its neater for them, and you know how cats are about neatness. Eating it all at once would be like eating barbecue, and that's very messy. Whatever the reason, my cat does it. But I leave the platter of food out there, and he does go back and eats the meat later on, after he's digested the gravy first. You might want to try leaving the food out for a while and see if they go back and eat it.
If your cats are sick though and not eating because of it, I'd be concerned that this trial and error approach is going to take too long, and if you do hit on the right flavor, it won't be soon enough. Have you discussed vitamin supplements with your vet? That might be a more expedient route to getting them the basic nutrition they need. Then you can worry about finding their favorite food flavors later when they have recovered.
We had the same problem. Our cat had to switch to soft food, but would only lick up the gravy.
This week, our cat loves Avoderm cat food with avocado oils. It's a very soft food. We mix with more water and she drinks it up. Her fur is starting to look very good too!
Next week, she will hate it and we will have to try something else. She is evil that way.
I think its common for the cats to lick the gravy separately. Its neater for them, and you know how cats are about neatness. Eating it all at once would be like eating barbecue, and that's very messy. Whatever the reason, my cat does it. But I leave the platter of food out there, and he does go back and eats the meat later on, after he's digested the gravy first. You might want to try leaving the food out for a while and see if they go back and eat it.
If your cats are sick though and not eating because of it, I'd be concerned that this trial and error approach is going to take too long, and if you do hit on the right flavor, it won't be soon enough. Have you discussed vitamin supplements with your vet? That might be a more expedient route to getting them the basic nutrition they need. Then you can worry about finding their favorite food flavors later when they have recovered.
I should clear up that these are not MY kitties. They are with me as a short term emergency foster. Unfortunately, while confined at the shelter, they contracted Feline Herpes Virus so I'm working to get them healthy again so they can get back to the family that loves them and misses them so much. The dry food is being eaten, their weight is good at this point and the vet recommended the wet food more as a preventitive measure so they do not START losing weight. They are very very sweet kitties but I'm looking forward to getting them on their journey home. I've just realized that I haven't posted pictures of these little girls. I'm please to introduce Bela and Nala! The long haired one is Bela and the short hair is Nala. Still not feeling very well but still very pretty girls just the same.
If you can be "bothered" (as it were - Lord knows you're bothering enough already! ) I'd recommend a bit of a home made meal.
Boil up some chicken - thighs with bones are good. Don't use too much water because you want to use it. If you can, ideally you want throw in some chicken livers and whatever other "bits" you can buy.
Remove skin and bones after cooking. Feed the skin to the dogs who will definitely approve of my recommendation.
Put all the meat in a food processor adding the cooking water until you have a nice, runny "pate" type consistency. The word I want to use here is "slop" although that doesn't make it sound too appetizing! You want a runny, doesn't-have-to-really-be-chewed finished product.
You know yourself when you have a cold that it's hard to eat and breathe at the same time. That might be part of the problem and just not being familiar with the food + stress + everything else, might be another part.
With the homemade recipe, you'll get very necessary moisture into them. It's not "complete" insofar as vitamins, minerals, taurine levels etc. but it should tide them over. I've yet to find a cat who's turned up his/her nose at it.
If you can be "bothered" (as it were - Lord knows you're bothering enough already! ) I'd recommend a bit of a home made meal.
Boil up some chicken - thighs with bones are good. Don't use too much water because you want to use it. If you can, ideally you want throw in some chicken livers and whatever other "bits" you can buy.
Remove skin and bones after cooking. Feed the skin to the dogs who will definitely approve of my recommendation.
Put all the meat in a food processor adding the cooking water until you have a nice, runny "pate" type consistency. The word I want to use here is "slop" although that doesn't make it sound too appetizing! You want a runny, doesn't-have-to-really-be-chewed finished product.
You know yourself when you have a cold that it's hard to eat and breathe at the same time. That might be part of the problem and just not being familiar with the food + stress + everything else, might be another part.
With the homemade recipe, you'll get very necessary moisture into them. It's not "complete" insofar as vitamins, minerals, taurine levels etc. but it should tide them over. I've yet to find a cat who's turned up his/her nose at it.
As usual - your advise is worth its weight in gold! One question though....thighs can be pretty greasy. I use boiled chicken breast & brown rice for my dogs for the occasional upset tummy. I've tried it once with thighs (since they are less expensive) and certainly did not like how their digestive tracts responded Do kitties have stonger digestive systems so that the extra greasiness doesn't cause diarrhea? Thats one problem I'd really like to avoid since they are staying in our best guestroom
Oh and yes....my dogs think your suggestion is an excellent one. Boiled chicken skin is a special treat that they crave & love!
My senior cat, who has always been the perfect weight for his frame size, licks the gravy off the chunked food and leaves the junior cat (aka "Doublewide") to eat the rest of it. If we go with a pate-style food that doesn't have gravy, then he will eat about 1/4 of the pate from their morning can of squishies, leaving the rest for the other cat.
As long as they seem to be happy, eating the dry, and drinking the water, I wouldn't worry about it.
Dark meat is greasier yes... but it's also tastier and those thighs give off wonderful.. well, "icky stuff" when boiled. Icky stuff is quite delectable to the feline palate. I've never had any upset tum with thighs and cats - but I trim the fat off after cooking and all skin removed.
Here, do a deal: go half and half between dark and white meat.
Our cats don't like ANY "lumps" in their food. They eat Wellness chicken or turkey wet and I add a little water so they feel like they are getting "gravy" as well.
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Thanks!
) I'd recommend a bit of a home made meal.
Do kitties have stonger digestive systems so that the extra greasiness doesn't cause diarrhea? Thats one problem I'd really like to avoid since they are staying in our best guestroom
