Our cat will not eat cat food and is starving. What to do?

[ShowOfHands]

Have had two cats for a week. They are brothers. One eats cat food no problem. The other will not touch it, wet, dry, different brands, nothing. He cries for our food whenever we cook/eat. We found him in the bin today looking for scraps. He stole leftover cauliflower yesterday and was wolfing it down but will not eat even one mouthful of cat food. He will eat anything but.

The cat that eats cat food has grown visibly in a week and looks healthy. The refuser is skinny and desperate for any scraps or crumbs we drop.

Why oh why?

[Oldmum46]

I believe the reason is that propriety cat food doesn't contain anything that cats recognisè as food.
I watched a bluebottle fly circle my cats bowl in the summer and fly away.
Years ago if you left your cats bowl down you had to be really careful because flies laid eggs on them because they contained meat.
It tells you something if the fly says 'No thanks' I now buy a mix of cat pouches, cooked chicken cubes, ( iceland) raw chicken livers, and dry food and I never give them the same thing twice.
I have friends who are really struggling, throwing food away.
It costs a bit more initially to feed as I do but if I balance it out with the plates of food I was throwing away I prefer it.