How to make dry cat food more appealing? Fussy cat decided he now won't eat it :-(

[PurpleBananaPie]

My cat was put on a diet by the vet back in June, he has been eating Royal Canin Satiety dry food ever since, 3 times a day, no problems.

I've been buying the 1.5kg bag until the last one, when I realised a 3kg was more cost effective so bought that instead, exactly the same food.

The bugger won't eat it!! Is the stuff in the bigger bags different or something? I would have assumed it was the same?

He's got to stay on this diet so whilst he is back on Felix for today, I need to find a way of getting him to eat these biscuits. Any ideas? At the moment he is just sniffing them and walking off with his nose in the air!

Is he maybe getting food from elsewhere? My cats have got a sneaky way of getting snacks from well meaning neighbours when the mood takes them..

No, he has also been on cage rest since mid-june so hasn't left the living room, definitely no food other than what he is given by me.

can you put some kind of very weak gravy on? like a (reduced salt) oxo in water? just to moisten it a bit.

Would it be worth making them a bit wet? My friend swears that her cat won't eat dry biscuits unless she puts a bit of hot water in them and kind of mixes them up so they have an almost gravy type covering on them.

My suggestions would be to remove uneaten food after a reasonable period of time - 30 min or so - as it is not generally necessary to have food sitting in front of the animal at all times and it tends to have a depressing effect on the appetite.
Try to keep the cat somehow entertained; he may be a bit depressed.
Do not start tinkering with the food, adding things, hovering anxiously over him and so on. When an animal is actually ill, certainly it is appropriate to try different things to tempt their palate. But on an ongoing basis, once you are satisfied that the diet is healthy and reasonably palatable, simply offer it without any intense emotional investment.
I have many clients whose (healthy) animals take the absolute piss out of them to the extent of having six-dish buffets served to them with trembling hands on a daily basis.
Remember that the calorific requirements of a confined adult neutered cat are REALLY low.

I have had many cats and most of them have refused dry food. Even Royal Canin.

They might eat it for a week or two then it's just so dull for them and I think they find it hard to drink enough so as not to get constipated?

I think cats do better on wet food generally (IME of course) unless maybe they have been raised on dry from a kitten.

I would donate it to a rescue centre and get sachets - they are far better than tins, work out cheaper in the long run as none gets wasted - my cat used to have two a day and always ate the whole lot instantly.

and before anyone says why should rescue cats have to eat it! (though I know it is ££ and very good) - they will have an assortment of cats, some of whom might actually like it. Rather than one who definitely doesn't!

I agree with the put it down and remove after x minutes. When cat is hungry cat will eat what there is. They will not starve. Different if they are unwell. And yes they don't need that many calories as you can tell from all the fat cats on Instagram!

Thanks for all the suggestions. Its just very strange how he has been eating this food happily for 3 months and then yesterday (when the new bag was opened) has decided he doesn't like it. He has eated a ouch of Felix so its not that he doesn't want to eat, he just doesn't want to eat the biscuits!!

If it carries on I'll give the gravy a try, or a bit of tuna, he loves tuna and the stronge smell might cover the smell of the dry food.

I'm sure there are some differences in flavour from batch to batch.