as a general rule all mammals are lactose intolerant after weaning. Except humans, who drink the milk of a different species :lol:
[QUOTE=MunchingonHay;6933976]
as a general rule all mammals are lactose intolerant after weaning. Except humans, who drink the milk of a different species :lol:[/QUOTE]
well, a lot of them are, too 
I think the inter-species milk consumption is harder on some critters than others…
I think goat is more easily digestible than cow.
But don’t quote me, I found the (canned) goat’s milk horrid!
phew! I can’t drink goats milk, all I taste is billy goat. blach!!
[QUOTE=MunchingonHay;6934057]
phew! I can’t drink goats milk, all I taste is billy goat. blach!![/QUOTE]
Yes, that was the impression I had. I am surprised that goat cheese actually tastes pretty good…
I have largely switched mine over to wet food (still give them a bit of dry to get them through times when I’m away.
One of them is VERY picky and it took me many tries to find something he would eat. For him, it’s the Wellness Core brand and he only eats one flavor!
One “trick” that helped him migrate over to wet food was to sprinkle FortiFlora on it. The taste seems to be very appealing. FortiFlora is a nutritional supplement. It took this cat at least two weeks to make the transition, maybe longer.
In addition to a fountain (I like this one) you can try a raw egg every now and then. Add some tuna juice if they turn up their nose but I prefer sardines in water with no added salt.
You can also get chicken backs for $1 a pound and make broth. Just throw them in a pot or slow cooker with some water (2-ish cups for 4 backs) and cook until a spoonful of the juice smells like chicken. Pick off whatever meat you can and throw the bones away. I used to make a big batch for my cat in early renal failure and freeze the leftovers in small jars. He would drink it like water.
I did those things on top of an all wet diet and he was flooding the litterbox without any need for sub-Q. His kidney values never changed but managing his unrelated pain did him in. 
I’ve been there, OP - a couple of years ago, we found out that my parents’ cat only had one kidney, so after 10 years or so of eating only dry kibble, we transitioned her to a mixed wet/dry diet in the hopes of protecting that one kidney as long as we can. (At the same time, I managed to get my guy eating canned as well - prior to that, he’d eat canned, but would invariably puke it back up within a few minutes.)
It took some work, but I approached it as a training project/taste test, which (for me) made it feel less frustrating to me.
I ended up buying lots of different cans of cat food - different textures and flavors. We had already quit free-feeding the cats a while before, so that helped as well.
Every morning, before she had access to dry food, I’d open a can and offer a tiny bit of the new flavor - only about a half teaspoon. If she’d eat it, and look at me for more, I’d give her a little bit more (maybe a teaspoon full) and see how that went. If she rejected it completely, that was OK, too - we’d call it quits for the day and she’d get dry kibble (after a little bit of time - I didn’t want her to get the idea that rejecting wet automatically=get the dry stuff).
Over time, we established some general parameters of what was was on her "OK list) - it’s going to sound really goofy, but after each can, I’d strip the label off and mark it with a + or - symbol, and clip it onto the fridge. Once I had a small pile of them, I went through and had a good list of what was OK and what wasn’t going to fly, so I didn’t waste money on beef flavors (neither cat would touch those), for example.
I bought a few cans of the “good ones” and very gradually increased the amount I offered her at time. That seemed to be key to getting her to accept the new food - kind of like getting a little kid to eat something they don’t really want to - “the you only have to take 2 bites” philosophy. I never completely refused to give her dry food, but she had to eat a little bit of wet first - and if she was happy eating the wet, I’d give her a whole half can or so and let that be her breakfast.
It took a little while, but she now happily eats canned, and once she got used to it, we were able to “expand her horizons” and add different textures/flavors as well (which is helpful in the event that something’s on sale or out of stock at the pet store).
Sorry for the epic, and good luck!
[QUOTE=CrazyGuineaPigLady;6934332]
In addition to a fountain (I like this one)
I haven’t seen those before. I ordered one for the back bedroom. Hopefully the brood will like it as much as the drinkwell.
Thanks!
Thanks all. I’m definitely going to trying add juices/ broths to the food and see what works. The get fed 2x day, not free choice, so they’re always starving :lol: at feeding times but that doesn’t seem to matter to Cleo. She’ll take a few bites of wet and walk away.
I know wet food is better for them, but part of the problem of going the “wet food or no food” route is that after Cleo takes a few bites and walks off, if I’m not around to pick it up, the other two will finish it for her! So then I run the risk of making the other two fat! :eek:
I just got a new stainless Drinkwell 360 on Ebay for $55… Let’s hope the design looks like it will satisfy her “I wanna drink from the running faucet” thing! CrazyGuineaPigLady - I like the look of that fountain as a secondary one in the house, but it doesn’t say what it’s made out of? Plastic is a no go for me, but could try it if it’s ceramic…
[QUOTE=MunchingonHay;6933976]
as a general rule all mammals are lactose intolerant after weaning. Except humans, who drink the milk of a different species :lol:[/QUOTE]
No, all cats are NOT lactose tolerant. And cats who are lactose tolerant drink milk of a different species too.
Yes, I understand the OP’s cat can’t handle milk. But it bugs me when someone makes a sweeping generalization (in this case about felines) that isn’t true.
The Hagen is plastic, unfortunately. I haven’t had problems with acne but their chins don’t need to touch it to drink. It’s really easy to clean, also. I can take it apart, fill with hot water, wipe with a paper towel, rinse everything (including the filter) and have it ready to use in 5 minutes.
[QUOTE=Alibhai’s Alibar;6933372]
It’s pricey, but Stella & Chewy’s might tempt your cat to eat wet food: http://www.stellaandchewys.com/cat-products.php
My guy loves it. I add water to the freeze-dried poofs.[/QUOTE]
HOW do you get the poofs to absorb the water?? My guy does well on the freeze dried - but whenever I put it in water it just sits there and doesn’t soak a bit up. Help, please!
[QUOTE=texang73;6934889]
Thanks all. I’m definitely going to trying add juices/ broths to the food and see what works. The get fed 2x day, not free choice, so they’re always starving :lol: at feeding times but that doesn’t seem to matter to Cleo. She’ll take a few bites of wet and walk away.
I know wet food is better for them, but part of the problem of going the “wet food or no food” route is that after Cleo takes a few bites and walks off, if I’m not around to pick it up, the other two will finish it for her! So then I run the risk of making the other two fat! :eek:[/QUOTE]
Heck, with that routine, you’re halfway there if you decide you’d like to get her eating wet food!
If she’s generally willing to eat two bites before she walks away, only offer her one bite - that was a big deal with my folks’ cat - too much in the dish, and she wouldn’t even try it, but give her just one mouthful, and she’d eat it, and then look at me like, “Hey lady - I’m still hungry here!” I learned that I had to resist the temptation to just give her the whole can at that point - apparently, even if she acted like she was “staaaaaaaarving”, too much of something new was a total turnoff. While we were in the “training process” I’d generally be happy if I could get her to eat a tablespoon of something wet as an “appetizer” to her dry meal. Once she was pretty reliable about eating the canned, I just stopped offering any dry in the mornings at all.
Oh, warming the canned food in the microwave can help it be a bit more interesting as well!
And as for the other two - lucky them, they can have the stuff that she rejects! (Just take it out of their regular meals!)
I also like the idea of the fountain - I should suggest that my parents look into one of those, so thanks to everyone who suggested it!
[QUOTE=grayarabpony;6935383]
No, all cats are NOT lactose tolerant. And cats who are lactose tolerant drink milk of a different species too.
Yes, I understand the OP’s cat can’t handle milk. But it bugs me when someone makes a sweeping generalization (in this case about felines) that isn’t true.[/QUOTE]
Did you miss where MunchingonHay says “as a general rule”? Because she (or he) is correct that the average cat is lactose-intolerant. I’ve seen some people feed their cats Lactaid milk, but I"m not sure if that is healthy otherwise.
OMG! :eek: Clam juice is a HUGE hit with ALL three girls! :winkgrin: It was so funny, I poured a couple teaspoons (in each bowl) of it on their dry food and they all rooted around to the bottom of their bowls to lick up the liquid before gobbling up the soaked kibble.
You would’ve thought I had hung the freakin’ moon! :lol:
Yay!
I’m glad you found something they like : )
OMG! :eek: Clam juice is a HUGE hit with ALL three girls! :winkgrin: It was so funny, I poured a couple teaspoons (in each bowl) of it on their dry food and they all rooted around to the bottom of their bowls to lick up the liquid before gobbling up the soaked kibble.
You would’ve thought I had hung the freakin’ moon! :lol:
[QUOTE=In_;6935863]
HOW do you get the poofs to absorb the water?? My guy does well on the freeze dried - but whenever I put it in water it just sits there and doesn’t soak a bit up. Help, please![/QUOTE]
I use warm water and sometimes I microwave it for just a few seconds (5-8 seconds or so). I feed it on a little saucer, and turn the poofs over when one side is damp from water. My cat prefers it dry but also likes it wet.
[QUOTE=texang73;6936531]
OMG! :eek: Clam juice is a HUGE hit with ALL three girls! :winkgrin: It was so funny, I poured a couple teaspoons (in each bowl) of it on their dry food and they all rooted around to the bottom of their bowls to lick up the liquid before gobbling up the soaked kibble.
You would’ve thought I had hung the freakin’ moon! :lol:[/QUOTE]
Glad that worked for them!
Thank you Abberlaze.
And grayarabpony, I would love to see sources that state a weaned mammal (besides humans) continue to consume milk into adulthood.
[QUOTE=Abberlaze;6936379]
Did you miss where MunchingonHay says “as a general rule”? Because she (or he) is correct that the average cat is lactose-intolerant. I’ve seen some people feed their cats Lactaid milk, but I"m not sure if that is healthy otherwise.[/QUOTE]
I am a she 
