Cat food (wet) that Tom might like? - Update post #29 on Oct 7

[Peggy]

Any suggestions for a more palatable and also healthy wet cat food? I found some threads on this but they were 5+ years old and I figured that something new might be available.

He was eating the Merrick Purrfect Bistro Rabbit Pate quite happily and then lost interest.

I bought an assortment of food from a local place that has a good selection and good prices and he seemed to like the Nulo. So I got one flat of duck/tuna and another of chicken/turkey. He, of course, promptly decided those were both el mas no bueno. He’ll eat part of them, especially the first portion out of the can and even the second portion if I pour warmish water on it and mash it up. But sometimes he eats little to none.

Meanwhile, he did like the Tiki Cat (is that actually crack for cats?) and this flaked salmon Fancy Feast with gravy that I had on hand for the barn cat at the barn I now only half lease a horse at (but that’s a story for another day).

I’m pretty sure that part of the problem is that the cat sitter gives in and gives him a fair amount of the Nulo dry cat food.

Any ideas???

Thanks in advance.

[AllTheCarrots]

The Carrot Kitties highly recommend all of the Earthborn flavors. Grain-free and made with recognizable bits of meat and fish.

[CHT]

Have you figured out if he prefers Pate, shreds or stew? My cats seem to pick food based on texture as much as flavour (6/8 are Pate kitties, two will eat anything).

With so many, we just feed Fancy Feast or Friskies, but for special occasions, they get GO! or cans of Hills Science diet. I find mixing up flavours keeps their interest longer than waiting for them to go “off” a food.

I read a vet study, which showed cats develop their preferences as kittens (so seafood vs chicken, wet vs kibble) and that it can be hard to change that, but also that feral/free range kitties tend to be pickier eaters/need variety as compared to their domestic/house raised cat friends.

[Peggy]

@CHT

Have you figured out if he prefers Pate, shreds or stew?

Other than a fondness for gravy, I haven’t figured out much. The Nulo is pate. The Fancy Feasts is shreds.

[CHT]

Someone needs to market a kitty food sampler pack…

[Simkie]

When I have a cat that’s eating well, and then not eating well, I take that as an indication that their belly is troubled. They’re hungry, so they eat, but their tummy hurts, so they stop, and they blame the food, so they don’t want that flavor again.

A bit of Pepcid usually makes a world of difference. It’s cheap & OTC. If that doesn’t do it, mirtazipine usually does. RX, but cheap. Teeny pills, so easy to dose. Works really nicely as an anti anxiety & appetite stimulant.

Any more, I see kitties as a lot like horses. Anxious with change, and prone to ouchy bellies when stressed. I even have one that went off her food after an easy vet visit. Pepcid fixed her right up, she’s cleaning her bowl again.

[Peggy]

I had thought of that. And the warm weather we had, which is when it got worse. I wouldn’t have described him as an enthusiastic eater before that.

I think we’re also due for a vet visit, as we’re coming up on our one-year anniversary, and I was going to ask then.

How much pepcid? 5 mg, which would be half a tablet of regular strength?

[Simkie]

2.5mg once to twice daily. I like the generic tablets from Walgreens, they’re teeny tiny, so it’s easy to drop in to their food (once they pick up a bit) or hide in a treat.

Mirtazipine is great to just have around. I quarter the 7.5 mg tabs, and dose twice a week or every other day. Pull up GoodRX for pricing near you

[CindyB59]

Our cats, for the most part, like Weruva brand, and the bff flavors in particular

B.F.F. OMG! (Oh My Gravy!) - Weruva | Because We Luvya

[hybriseris]

My exceedingly picky guy seconds the Weruva recommendation. He also liked the Tiki you mentioned, specifically the Aloha Friends cans (not pate, even tho he’s usually a pate fan, go figure). He DID like other Tiki flavors but decided they were gross - Aloha Friends continues to please. There’s a lot of liquid in those, and whole pieces of shrimp or white fish that I think appeal to him. I also find if I top dress with a few treats or a few pieces of dry food it almost seems to get him started. He gets a bite or two and is like oh yeah, I DID want to eat this.

[erinmeri]

Weruva a is my go to (Tiki behind it) for healthy cats. Once you get into kidney and other issues, those brands aren’t ideal. But I am a big Weruva and Tiki fan.

[StB.YM]

My cat would not touch any of the fancier wet foods - like the ones that actually looked like flaked chicken . Such a picky eater. But she was a big fan of the American Journey minced, in gravy food. She also loved the Tiny Tiger chunks in extra gravy.

[erinmeri]

Also, just an FYI for anyone looking to switch to wet… I didn’t know dry was so bad for cats and had to switch to wet quite abruptly when my cat got sick. Sometimes, you just have to pick whatever they will eat and then slowly transition to what is ideal. I have done this many times…. Using “junk food” wet and slowly mixing in the better brands!

[Peggy]

@Peggy

@CHT

Have you figured out if he prefers Pate, shreds or stew?

Other than a fondness for gravy, I haven’t figured out much. The Nulo is pate. The Fancy Feasts is shreds.

And cooked chicken. He quite happily ate a small piece of the chicken I was using in a salad.

[FrittSkritt]

@CindyB59

Our cats, for the most part, like Weruva brand, and the bff flavors in particular

Second this. My parents’ cat is VERY picky and usually won’t eat his entire meal in one sitting, but he will finish the BFF and lick the plate!

[Kyrabee]

Stella and Chewy recently came out with a new pate in the small cans called Carnivore Cravings. Grain free and no carrageenan. I am trying to get my new cat onto that vs Fancy Feast. She is eating it but not quite as readily as the FF. I have a few more cans to try. It comes in lots of varieties.

Susan

[BatCoach]

I actually have a little notebook filled with my own personal cat food trials. I tried SO many different brands, textures, and protein sources to find something that would suit my 4 cats. What resulted was many, many wasted cans of barely eaten food, cat rescue donations from flavors that were once deemed “delicious” and than ignored the next week, even raw food that came in fancy dry-ice deliveries that my cats refused to even look at as a food source. Finaly, one winner emerged. You know what finally won the day? Fancy Feast Chicken Pate

Having a multi-cat household definitely made things hard, so you might have much better luck with having to satisfy one cat palate. I definitely went into a cat food wormhole since there are plenty of sites out there dedicated to cat nutrition https://catfooddb.com/ https://allaboutcats.com/cat-food-reviews both of which ranked the stuff my cats will eat as B- or even below average.

I felt like such a bad cat mom since my spoiled creatures would refuse the healthier foods. I talked to my vet who said that sometimes you just have to listen to the cat. Fancy Feast isn’t the worst, and honestly my senior cat handles it better than any of the fanicer, ‘healthier’ caned foods. Pate is better than the gravy-based stuff, and since I add water and Platinum Performance Feline to it, they are getting nutrition and the flavor they like. They also get Royal Canin Kibble per the vet’s recommendation, so I’ve thrown in the towel and decided that my kitties have simple tastes and are happy with their FF/ RC mix.

[deweydee]

Our cat likes Wellness, Nulo, and Daves cans. The Feline Nutrition group on Facebook has a ton of “guides” on transitioning or encouraging them to branch out. She loves nutritional yeast and we’ve used it to encourage her to try new options for the first little while.

They’ve got a super extensive list here on the canned food options they recommend:

Canned Food List 2022 by Feline Nutrition - Feed Cats Like Cats (dry matter basis)

[Obsidian_Fire]

I have 4, all on wet food. They like Sheba, Wellness, Canidae Balanced Bowl, and the beef flavor Fancy Feast pate (the canned kind and the mini-size). Their decided preference is minced/chopped with gravy, over pate. So that’s what they get. Chewy and I are on a first name basis, I swear.
I don’t like Tiki Cat or BFF, etc., mostly it is tuna - the dark meat. They hate it. The only variety they like is one called ‘Pumpkin Jack Splash’.
I have tried some seriously expensive foods, only to have them flat-out rejected. Even the ferals wouldn’t touch!
Even the cheapest wet food is better than dry, so consider that. I do my best to provide mine with quality food that actually gets eaten. I buy as “clean” as I can afford.

[Displaced_Yankee]

Our guy liked the Sheba Perfect Portions (cuts in gravy, never pate). The portions are just about…perfect…for him. No waste and no half cans of wet food in the fridge.

I don’t think we could get him to eat a larger portion. He likes the fish options. He will turn his nose up at the chicken or beef for about 5 minutes before he realizes that is his only option.