My cat won't eat her food anymore...?

Question

My cat eats Purina One hard cat food as her primary diet. For the past couple of months I have given her some soft cat food with real chunks of shrimp and chicken once a week as a treat. She really loves it. Lately, I've noticed that she isn't eating her dry cat food anymore. She use to eat 1 cup a day and now she eats maybe 1/4 cup. She keeps meowing at me and looking at the spot where I usually give her the soft treat and meows when I get a plate out of the dishwasher. I think she's refusing to eat her hard cat food because she only wants the soft food now.

What should I do? I don't want her to starve herself to death or lose weight from not eating. My husband says not to give her anymore soft food and eventually she'll get hungry enough to eat her dry food again. She went to the vet last week and is healthy, weights 7 pounds.

Now I feel guilty for even giving her the soft food to begin with. Any advice?

Answer 1

cats are smart, and just a little wet food will spoil them and that will be all they want. However, cats are also smart enough not to starve themselves. Offer food ad-lib (free fed) and if she is still stubborn, try switching to a different dry food that is a little different. If she still isnt eating, then you may want to consider a health issue.. cats wont starve themselves just to get a little wet food. Just keep a close eye on her and offer a variety of dry until she is back eating normally. Try to avoid the canned food if possible!

Answer 2

Purina One is really a very low-quality cat food and with all the fish in the "soft" food I suspect you have chosen another bad food.

Go to www.littlebigcat.com and read some articles on good cat nutrition by Dr. Jean Hovfe such as "Why Cats Need Canned Food", "Selecting a Good Commercial Pet Food", "What Cats Should Eat" and "Why Fish is Dangerous for Cats."

Scroll down to the end of about fifty articles as all those are at the end (alphabetical order by title).

Answer 3

Have you tried getting her a different brand of wet food to see if that helps? I'd also leave dry food out for her all day so that she can eat when she wants to. If after doing this she is still not eating enough and is acting hungry a vet visit is definitely in order. Lack of appetite can be a sign of illness.

Answer 4

I fear your husband is right, my cats have done this several times. I have learned to give them a very small (1 spoonful) treat at the same time every day. Make sure she has dry food available all the time. Then ignore her begging. She will quickly learn when treat time is, and when it isn't. If she continues to tease for the soft food, take her to the vet, she may be missing an important nutrient that she is getting in her treat. Good luck with your kitty friend. :)

Answer 5

Soft food isn't great for their teeth unless it's raw chunks of meat. So you can take away the soft food temporarily and leave out plenty of dry. She will eat if she's hungry. If you don't notice an improvement, there could be a medical reason so off to the vet to have her teeth and kidneys checked. Cats prefer wet food because they aren't good at drinking water. In nature, cats get all the fluid they need from the meat they eat. It could be a sign her kidneys are going so it's best to be checked out.

Answer 6

Your cat isn't going to starve. She is wanting to be spoiled more is all. I would say to continue what you were doing and keeping her dry food out fresh with fresh water out there. Maybe if it gets to you enough (because we are their mommies) put a little of the soft food in her dry and mix it up a little. This way she is getting the best of both. She should eat it that way. We all love spoiling our babys. Good luck!

Answer 7

You have a smart cat! Well maybe not, but canned food is the best commercial food you can give your cat, and you're lucky that she prefers it.

It took me two weeks and a few wasted $$ to get my two cats converted from dry to canned.

But it was well worth it.

I suggest you start trying the foods from this list (What to feed) and throw out the dry food.

In spite of the recall, canned food IS best. Dry food has no benefits whatsoever - it doesn't clean their teeth and it's merely convenient for us.

Answer 8

Give your cat wet food and leave a little dry food for her to nibble on and clean her teeth. They really enjoy the wet food, why deprive your pet of such a simple pleasure.

Answer 9

give the cat some hamburger and rice mixed up with her hard food my cat would not eat hard food just put more hard food down every day it will eat it all soon

Answer 10

she will eventually because she won't starve. When she gets hungry she will start eating the dry when she sees your not going to give her anything else.