How can I get my cat to eat WET FOOD when she won't eat wet food.?

Question

My cat of 5-years of age, refuses to eat wet food. She keeps having reoccuring infections where she cannot pee or if she does, very little amounts. The vet told me she needs to be eating wet food. She eats normal hard food and drinks plenty of water just fine. I have tried numerous flavours of wet food, but she just won't touch it. Is there a secret on how to get her to start eating wet food? Thanks

Answer 1

I can't believe the vet is recommending wet food. A diet of quality dry food & water is all she should need. I'd go to another vet.

Answer 2

There are several ways you may be successful with. What brands of canned cat food have you tried? May I suggest canned Whiskas. They have a variety of flavors and they can even come in pouches. Whiskas is most appealing to cats because they smell like people food sometimes. You don't want to give her a lot of canned food because she is not used to it. Give your cat a half of a teaspoon of canned cat food mixed with her dry. Once she gets the hang of it and eats it, then gradually move up the amount of canned cat food. If by some reason she won't accept the wet food, then you might be able to boil some chicken without skins and bones. Then take the chicken and put it in the blender with chicken broth. Grind it down and give your cat this with her dry food. Don't add any salt or seasoning, just make it bland. Once again a small amount first until she gets the hang of it. If this fails, you may be able to gather up ideas from your vet or local pet store.

Good luck and I hope you and your cat have a beautiful relationship and friendship that will last many, many years to come.

Answer 3

Yes. You cannot make a cat do anything, being notoriously high-strung animals. But, you can trick it into thinking the wet food is what it wants.

Get rid of the dry food and put put only wet food. The cat may turn its nose up at it for a while, but when kitty sees that wet food is the only thing to eat then she's likely to dig in.

Answer 4

why does she have to eat wet food? There are plenty of specialty dry foods for cats to help prevent uninary tract infections that she should be able to eat. It is the ash content in the dry food that causes the infection, not the dry food it's self. It may be a little more spendy than your regular dry food, but since your just wasting money on food she won't eat anyway, it will probably all balance out. Talk to your vet about it.

Answer 5

Contrary to a few of the answers on here, if your vet said to feed your cat wet food, heed his/her advice and FEED YOUR CAT WET FOOD! The wet food is higher in water content and is easier to digest than dry food. And to avoid a urinary or bladder infection, follow your vet's advice. The last thing you want to happen is for your cat to develop crystals and/or kidney stones that cause urinary blockages. They can be incredibly painful to the cat and very expensive to you if you need to put your cat on dialysis to remove the blockage or worse, resort to a surgical procedure that costs close to $3500!!! Your vet is trying to prevent your cat from reaching this stage and wet food helps!

That being said, here is a suggestion that I have found to be fool proof. Get some baby food - plain chicken, turkey or beef. I find that chicken baby food is the most palatable. Make sure it's just the chicken, not a chicken dinner, and make sure you get the premium brand without added preservatives, salt and sugar. Put a little bit of baby food on your finger and let your cat lick it off. She will likely LOOOOOVE IT. When you feed her, mix in some of the chicken baby food with the other wet food. This will often do the trick. Alternatively, you just may not have found the brand of food your cat likes. Again, I highly recommend chicken but you can also try a fish dinner too. One brand you may want to try to get your cat in the habit is Whiskas Choice Cuts (not the Tender Bites or the Pate) in a pouch. It's not the most premium quality food, but cats just totally love it. Mine go bonkers for the stuff! Again, the poultry flavors are the biggest hits and other cats must love it too because they are always the first flavors to disappear off the store shelf whenever they're on sale! The Whiskas Choice Cuts are little morsels of wet food. So if your cat prefers chewing on pieces instead of licking up a gruel she may prefer this type of wet food. Slowly but surely you'll convert her. Good luck!

Answer 6

First, try warming the food up slightly in the microwave-it shouldn't be hot, just barely warm. Cats have to smell their food and cold food is harder to smell.
Most kibble also comes in a wet food. Get kibble in the food your vet recommended and mix a little of the wet in with it. A little at first then more as she accepts it. If she still won't take it, start with water to make the kibble soggy (like breakfast cereal). Then try to mix in wet food. Cats are creatures of habit and hate change. She'll get it eventually, be patient it can take weeks.
Good Luck.

Answer 7

You should crush the hard food first with your hands. Then wet it down about 30 minutes before you feed her. Then it will have the same effect as crushed dry food but it has partially dissolved which is your destination for the cat food in the first place.

Answer 8

Wean her onto it... first a lot of dry food with a little wet food. Keep adding more and more wet food a little bit at a time casually day after day untill one day you give her/him nothing but wet food.

Answer 9

i don't understand why the vet wants her to eat wet food if she is drinking plenty of water, ask the vet about special dry food

Answer 10

You have tried flavors, but have you tried other brands? Have you tried going to a pet store and getting a good quality food? My cats are picky eaters, and one of mine will only eat Wellness canned dog food and only Venison and Sweet Potato flavor. She will go outside (push the screens out of the windows if she has to) and catch her own food before she will eat anything else.