How do you make a cat each fresh meat or wet food?

Question

My cat, Joey, refuses to eat any type of wet food (even the most expensive ones). He will only eat dry food (any flavour). Over Xmas I really wanted him to try some fresh turkey etc - but he sniffed at it and looked at me as if to say, 'yeah right!' How do I introduce this type of food more into his diet. Is it healthy 4 him to keep eating dry food? Many thanx

Answer 1

If you want your cat to eat "fresh meat" that is a very specific diet that you must make up with proper supplements to be balanced and healthful for him.

For wet food I would use Natural Balance or Wellness for starters as these are high quality foods and won't upset his digestion. Lick Your Chops is good too as are canned foods by Nature's Logic or Nature's Organic. Fancy Feast, Whiskas, Friskies, Science Diet are very inferior foods and if you feed them you are really not helping your cat at all.

It can be very difficult to convert a "kibble addict" to a canned diet and the only way to do it is to just offer that as the cat's food. Your cat can safely "fast" for 24 hours - 36 if he is not extremely overweight. Usually a cat will be hungry enough by then to eat what you serve him. As long as he takes a little bit each day he will be fine and should eventually accept this as his food.

I did that with a cat this spring and it took over a month for him to eat a great deal of the new food. He is doing fine now and has no dry food in his diet at all.

I do feel that "wet" food is extremely important for male cats to forestall the possibility of urinary problems. So you are moving in the right direction if you use a QUALITY canned food. You could try a homemade raw meat diet after he has converted to the wet food.

Answer 2

I have a four year old cat who also distastes all wet food. After asking my vet, I was informed that this is normal for some cats and as long as you provide fresh water and your cat is drinking it, then eating only the dry food is not a problem. The same nutrients are in the wet food as dry. My vet also recommended that if my cat was going to eat only dry food, that I be sure to spend a little extra (still less than the cost of wet and dry) and buy a complete formula, such as Purina's complete cat chow or indoor formula.
In regards to feeding the cat real meat or human food this can be disastrous to their eyesight. If given enough human food, which contains additives and preservatives, the cat can contract blindness or lessened eyesight along with digestion problems.

Hope this has helped!
Happy Holidays

Answer 3

Yes dry ushually has a very high and unhealthy amount of carbohydrates. It also is low in water so feeding 100% dry puts them at risk for urinary tract infections. So 100% dry is a nono. Canned and/or raw food should make up 50% of the diet or more. some exceptions to the rule include grain-free high protein dry options. I feed Sprinkles EVO dry cat food a couple times a week. It actually has less carbs then some canned foods, so I'm 100% ok with feeding it often. for instance EVO dry cat food has 7% carbs and Friskies seafood sensations has 38% carbs. It's an amazing one of a kind dry food. I feed a combo of Evo and sometimes natures variety instinct dry food, a few brands of average-grade canned, and raw. ps. Lexi has no clue what she's talking about and neither does Sarah.

Answer 4

There is a website that has suggestions for switching your cat over. My cats are 4.5 years old. They ate primarily dry food for the first 4 years of their lives. My boy is now diabetic. I thought that I was doing the best for them. They ate only the "good stuff" Science Diet and Iams. Since his diagnosis I did a lot of looking for how to feed a diabetic cat (I know this has no relevance to you, but bear with me) In my searching I found websites that say a cat should not eat dry food. They suggest a raw food diet. Now I can't do that. But I did switch my cats to wet food. They are now eating Fancy Feast. In the last 2 months both of my cats have improved coats. My diabetic cats sugar is not perfect yet but he does maintain a lower reading. He used to have really stiff fur but he is a lot softer. I totally never thought Fancy Feast was a good way to go but now that I've done it. I won't change back!

www.catinfo.org

Good luck getting him to switch. He'll be healthier for it!

Answer 5

If he doesn't like canned food that is fine. As long as he is eating a good dry cat food he will be fine. Actually it is better that he doesn't eat canned food and you will save money. But you should make sure you are feeding him a good dry cat food. Not grocery store dry food that has a lot of fillers and animal fat. Nutro cat food is very good for them. There are many others but you can only buy them from a vet clinic or reputable pet store. Ask for a recommendation for the brand of food that best suits your cat as far as age, weight, etc. Good Luck!

Answer 6

Its not unhealthy for him to just eat dry food.If he has been eating it for a while,he may only be used to eating dry food.I reccomend you dont change the brand of dry cat food everytime you get your cat some food though.Keep your cat on th same brand of cat food,sometimes there are certain brands of food your cat deosnt like,and he wont eat it.That would be a waste of money.My cats love the Special Kitty cat food,its healthy for them,and they wont eat anything else.Also keep in mind that cats may become bored with a certain type of cat food,so to treat this,keep using the same brand of food,just with diffrent flavors.

Answer 7

As a long-time cat owner, I can safely say that you can't *make* a cat do anything!!

Having said that, however, good dry food is actually better for your cat than wet food. Crunching on the kibbles keeps his teeth clean and his gums healthy, which wet food can't do. Remember, animals have personalities and personal preferences just like people do, and our pets are like our children in that we have to love them for who they are, not who we want them to be. So, just relax and let your kitty be himself - a cat who prefers dry food.

Answer 8

Every cat within a 5 block radius knows when I've opened a can of tuna. If this do'snt evoke a response from your cat then nothing will. Count yourself lucky when your not being "shredded to pieces" to satisfy your cats hunger.

Answer 9

It is good to give him other things too, just not raw meat. If you put a few pieces of dry food on top, he might be more interested.

Answer 10

When you first got your cat, was he like this? Because it sounds like you were feeding him too much dry food when he was younger and hes got so immune to it, he cant eat anything else.