not keen on wet food

[meatloaf]

having lots of cat questions today.

she isn't keen on wet food. tried all sorts - James well beloved, hills, WAITROSE own brand (liked for a week), whiskers... all sorts.

even steamed some white fish once. and fresh prawns. only thing she has vaguely been interested in is raw chicken and chorizo.

will she be ok? doesn't drink that much water. only rainwater from trays in the garden.

worried now more because of the heat and that she wasn't her usual self tonight (other thread re. poo on coat).

[cozietoesie]

How much is she actually eating, meatloaf ? And is there a chance (as she goes out) that she's getting her nourishment outside the home? (Either 'on the hoof' or from another house/thieving.) She sounds to me like a cat who isn't that hungry.

Does she normally look in good shape/of a reasonable weight?

[NaturalBaby]

I was told cats don't need wet food after spending a fortune on getting my cat's teeth cleaned up.

[meatloaf]

She eats a reasonable amount of dry food (Royal Canin) - I keep her bowl topped up.

Only been going out of the house for 2 weeks, so def wasn't eating anything that I wasn't aware of.

Am just worried about dehydration as she doesn't appear to drink that much either (although I have caught her in the past drinking from the toilet!).

[cozietoesie]

They can get water from unorthodox places eg toilets, dripping taps, rain butts etc but it may be that you've got also a fussy one with the taste of water - although the water from a toilet should be the same as from the tap. (Fingers crossed here that you don't put any toilet blocks in the toilet or cistern.)

How often do you change her water?

[Tigerblue]

You could always try putting down a lot less dry and see what happens for a couple of days. Over the years, I've tried different brands on my two and the only ones they both stick with are Whiskers simply pouches and Butchers Classic. My vet actually said she would rather see a cat on a cheap wet diet rather than a dry diet, so it's worth doing what you can to change her mind. Another option might be to put a few dry crunchies (say about 15/20) on wet food and see if she'll eat a little of it with them.

[meatloaf]

cozie I change her water in the morning and in the evening. DD gave the cat some water in a plastic beaker this morning and she seemed to like it. Wondering now if she doesn't like the water bowl!

Tiger I did try the wet/dry mix and she had a sniff and walked off! Butchers Classic is something that gets mentioned a lot on here, and going to try and find some locally and she what she thinks.

The other alternative is getting a chicken and then butchering it, but that's so much work for me!

[cozietoesie]

Gawd - a cat that is fussy about her water container. Still - would you enjoy champagne out of an old mug? Give different containers a try I guess.

Maybe she'd enjoy a raw diet? There are posters on here who give that to their cats so they might comment. (You have to be a little careful so that they get the right mix of nutrients.)

At the moment, I guess my advice would be not to buy large quantities of anything until you find out what she'd like. (My credit card occasionally sits quivering in the corner of the room when I find something that Seniorboy likes and buy a bulk. To the inevitable consequence that he turns his nose up at it later on in the week and I have to donate the food to CPL or someone. His only consistent favourite is the Coop own brand Gourmet Chicken in gravy: if he stops eating that, I'm doomed.)

[meatloaf]

the beaker of water appears to be working!

[cozietoesie]

Oh well done that DD.

[meatloaf]

children do have uses!

[kimthomasandaimee]

Yay .. you're cat is clever and knows exactly what it needs ~ raw food!

Raw chicken is an excellent start and it's brilliant that your cat will eat it but you can't feed ~just~ raw chicken as you will be missing out on many vital nutrients. You'd need to do some proper research into a raw diet but put very basically it's a ratio of:

80% muscle meat/heart.
10% bone.
5% Liver.
5% other secreting organ such as Kidney.

Or if you want to give just chicken breast/thigh .. you can buy a product called Felini Complete to mix with it and get the nutrient balance better.

Or there are companies out there that make raw mixes that they courier to you. I use Honeys and Natural Instinct and there is a new one called Nutrient which is getting good reviews.

I also give Day Old Chicks, Rats and Mice which I buy frozen from online reptile supplies.

Raw is great for cats. You should be proud of yours for figuring it out :)

I'm not sure about the chorizo though!

Please get in touch if you have any questions :D

[purplewithred]

My cats absolutely refuse point blank to drink water from the tap. They get theirs from the pond, puddles, the rainwater catcher by the greenhouse etc etc. They much prefer rainwater to chlorinated water.