What is it with cats?!

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

When Harry broke his jaw we spent a fortune trying to find a decent wet food that he liked and could eat. We settled on Wainwrights tuna and since day one he's practically inhaled it. Until yesterday when he started looking as though I was trying to poison him. I have 89 pouches in the cupboard and a cat that only wants his dry James Wellbeloved!

[cozietoesie]

They usually wait until you've been lulled into a false sense of security, thinking you've finally found the food they like. Then they do the Big Shrug and walk away when you've just bought out the week's special offers.

[coffeeisnectar]

Is it really warm where you are?

I have started adding a bit of water to our cats wet food and they tend to eat it then. Stops it drying out really quickly and although girl cat still only eats the jelly and laps up the water and leaves the meat, boy cat will go and hoover up her leftovers later.

Girl cat 2 has never eaten wet food. I've tried every brand and she will only eat Purina biscuits.

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

I've got more cat food than Pets at Home!

It is warm here so I'm hoping that's affected his appetite, although there was no problem with the biscuits! He's just had another few mouthfuls and is now sulking because it's still the tuna (which hasn't been down long). We've already decided to stop giving him wet food for breakfast as we don't really want it down all day when we're at work. I think he's trying the emotional blackmail route to go back to his James Wellbeloved.

If this comes down to a battle of wills I think we know who will win!

[Fluffycloudland77]

Dh bought ours skinless and boneless salmon last night. Cat keeps looking at me hopefully.

[cozietoesie]

Seniorboy won't tolerate the same flavour for long. (Four flavours, rotated at each meal, usually do the trick.) Are there any other flavours you can insert into the menu?

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

We tried chicken, salmon, and turkey and he turned up his nose and would only eat the tuna. He's eaten duck biscuits for years and has only recently started eating fish - he's very much a creature of habit...

[BarbaraofSeville]

I make sure I buy a variety of brands (that they allegedly like), flavours and textures, but I find myself in the same position as cozietoesie. When the advert says '8 out of 10 cats prefer Whiskas' I have the other two feckers .

I wish they could understand me when I tell them that I will send all the food they are refusing to eat to Cats Protection or the Food Bank (for pets not people obviously) and they can sort them bloody selves out.

Which would be preferable in some way because it might mean that they actually eat the mice and birds they bring in rather than letting them go so the furry ones run under the TV unit while the feathered variety fly round the light fittings or into the window.

[gamerchick]

Maybe a small splattering of tinned crab just to give it that crabby smell? Mine gets a tiny bit in her food as a treat and practically mugs me for it. Just a little bit though.

Asda do this crab flavoured tuna wet (encore)? She mugs me for that as well.

[cozietoesie]

If Seniorboy was a younger, fitter cat, I'd hang much tougher but he's really got me cold on this one. Not only does he need all the calories he can get, delivered in an easy, predictable way but he also has to have reasonably timed meds - so I'm pretty stuck. I've managed to switch him to Nature's Menu but that's really as far as I dare go. Luckily, that has four flavours available.

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

I'm going to take up the offending tuna and put down his usual biscuits when I go to bed - I'm not having a rancid bowl of tuna in the kitchen all night! Tomorrow he's getting biscuits for breakfast so fingers crossed he'll eat them. I might let him go back to his biscuits for a while and give him the odd pouch - thankfully they are OK until the end of 2018!

[Vinorosso74]

We have 3 bags of different hypoallergenic dry food and wet z/d for our cat. They are taking up a fair bit of space in the kitchen!
As she was losing weight vet suggested plain chicken/turkey to get appetite going again. This worked very well and on the odd occasions she has this happily sits on the kitchen floor while it cooks and meows when the beeper goes to remind me. She isn't a very vocal cat either.

[cozietoesie]

Everybody should keep a good eye on dates and have genuinely spare nosh off to the nearest rescue/food bank in good time for use. Those dates can fair sneak up on you otherwise.

[bluetongue]

I feel you pain OP. My cat has inflammatory bowel disease and is on a restricted diet. Finally found biscuits she likes and that don't make her vomit only for the manufacturer to discontinue them. Not happy.

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

That's typical bluetongue, your poor cat.

I'm beginning to think there could be more to this than Harry going off his food. He was sick last night and doesn't seem himself so I'm wondering if he's bunged up. He's eaten some biscuits today but not a full bowl. He's due at the vet for a check up on Wednesday so I'm going to phone first thing tomorrow to try and get his appointment brought forward. Not what I need on my first day back at work after holiday but it can't be helped.

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

Well Harry's been back to the vet this morning as he's been sick a few times over the weekend and hadn't eaten anything. She can't find anything obviously wrong with him so he's had an antisickness injection. If that doesn't work he's back tomorrow for XRays. I'm really hoping it doesn't come to that as he's been sedated so many times this year.

On a positive note DH gave him half a pouch of tuna when they got back and within a few minutes there was only crumbs left!

[cozietoesie]

I hope he does better soon. Seniorboy started being sick a lot about 5 or 6 years ago but that was stopped by doing his teeth. They often find it so distressing though.

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

I don't think it's his teeth as they should be OK for a while now. The vet found a very small bit of pus in one of his fang sockets but it didn't bother him when she squeezed it (last time he was there he even flinched under sedation).

This is the first time he's worried for food since Friday morning so hopefully that's a good sign. I will be treading carefully when I go in at lunchtime though!

[Vinorosso74]

Blue what biscuits does your cat like? I'm hoping it's not my cat's favoured ones-she's also on a restricted diet.
Pink hope Harry is back on his food soon. They do like to worry us.

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

I gave Harry another half pouch at lunchtime and that didn't last long. A close inspection of the house didn't reveal any sick so I'm hoping that he's now on the mend. We'd decided to keep him in all day but he was making such a fuss that I let him out before he broke the cat flap!

[Thumbcat]

My cat used to get standard tins of Felix until she broke her jaw and I bought all kinds of posh pate and mousse type food for her. She's been thoroughly spoilt ever since. Hope your boy is on the mend.