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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Upset and need advice about diet

29 replies

idril · 05/12/2016 17:13

We rehomed a cat 3 weeks ago. He is six years old and was pre-loved rather than a stray. He was very friendly in the shelter - seemed to like strokes and rubbed up against out legs.

We brought him home and no major issues. Seemed to settle well and although he didn't like cuddles, he was happy to sit near us and would sometimes lean against our arms when we were sitting on the sofa.

But then it turned out he was a dry food addict. Our last cat recently died and we had a variety of food left over including dry food - James Wellbeloved or Lily's kitchen which are grain free ). Our old cat rarely ate dry food - I bought it for times when we needed to leave her overnight just as a back up. I mainly wanted to use it up so I gave him some.

Anyway, he then refused wet food and held out for dry so I decided to take action and gradually cut down the dry food but the only wet food he would touch was Whiskas. Everything I read said the most important thing was to get rid of the dry so because he was still settling in, I decided to go with that as his main food but gradully try to introduce better quality wet food.

But since he's been on only wet food, he's been miserable :-(. He is much less affectionate and hardly purrs (he wasn't much of a purrer anyway). It's really upsetting me and I don't know what to do.

We started letting him outside at the weekend and to train him to use the cat flap, we used some 100% meat treats from Natures Menu. That seems to have put us back to square one as he is currently refusing the Whiskas (mixed with a small amount of butcher's choice as he will reluctanly eat that if mixed in). He keeps hanging around the catflap looking longingly for treats Sad. He was purring round me asking for more.

It would be so much easier to give him what he wants (i.e. the dry food) and it would make him happier.

What would you do? I really hate feeding him Whiskas and he doesn't particularly enjoy it. The dry food is at least better quality and grain free. My aim was to use Whiskas as a transition food and try to mix in better quality food but all my attempts so far have met with refusal to eat and a miserable cat. It's making me feel very stressed too. I know it's early days and maybe I'm expecting too much too soon. I don't want to go back to dry food if ultimately I'm going to switch him to better quality wet food. That would seem like a step back.

But I want him to be happy and to like living with us. At the moment I feel like he'd prefer to be back with his old owners who probably gave him 100% dry food.

OP posts:
Fluffycloudland77 · 05/12/2016 17:42

Why fight it though? Can't he have applaws dry?.

LivingInMidnight · 05/12/2016 17:46

I wouldn't worry too much if it's high quality dry food and he's drinking enough! Have you tried him on higher quality wet food? When I got one of mine they said she only ate dry, but now she loves wet food!

thecatneuterer · 05/12/2016 18:11

I wouldn't fight it either. As long as you give good quality, such as Applaws, then it's not too much to worry about. As long as he's not eating Whiskas or GoCat dry then I wouldn't worry.

PurpleMcPants · 05/12/2016 18:15

Round here the cats protection feed all their cats on dry food, I don't know why it is supposed to be so bad as long as they drink water? I thought a quality dry food would be better than a poor quality wet food.

Weedsnseeds1 · 05/12/2016 18:19

Mine only eats one flavour of one brand of dry. I have tried him on every variety of wet known to mankind, some of which, weight for weight, cost as much as pure gold. He was having none of it so I have left him to his self imposed limited diet. It's good quality and he drinks plenty.

Original poster
idril · 05/12/2016 18:29

Thanks for your replies.

I'm surprised that the consensus seems to be to let him have dry food!

If you google, you would think that dry food was poison.

The only thing that is holding me back now is that when he was eating the dry food, he seemed to want more and more. He was a bit overweight when we got him from the shelter and apparently dry food is more likely to make them obese and get diabetes.

I can obviously restrict the food but then he'd probably hound us all the time for more food.

Arrgh. This is so stressful!

Thanks everyone - useful to get some perspective.

OP posts:
Weedsnseeds1 · 05/12/2016 18:33

Measure it out per meal, don't let him free feed if he's a bit of a gut bucket!

JennyOnAPlate · 05/12/2016 18:35

Could you try mixing some dried food in with wet?

Fluffycloudland77 · 05/12/2016 18:36

Applaws is very good quality food though, go cats awful but a high protein diet like that has to better than whiskas.

hollinhurst84 · 05/12/2016 18:59

Will he eat natures menu wet food if he likes the treats? Or meowing heads? Mine also likes harringtons

hollinhurst84 · 05/12/2016 19:02

And yes to early days. Mine still doesn't know what food he likes consistently after 12 months! He does more reliably eat now that I found he loves salmon oil mixed in with his food

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 05/12/2016 19:36

I would just let him have dry food. Mine was on dry food only (James Wellbeloved) until he broke his jaw earlier this year. He now has Natures Menu but, if he hadn't had had an accident he would still be on dry.

Original poster
idril · 05/12/2016 21:53

Thanks for extra replies.

He won't touch Nature's menu wet and that includes even when I mix a tiny bit in with Whiskas. Also tried raw food but won't even go near the bowl!

Also tried Lily's kitchen, Bozita, Butcher's choice (which he will tolerate if I put a tiny amount in with the Whiskas), Animonda Carny. He even refused cooked chicken at first but he caved in on that after a couple of days.

Tried mixing the dry food with wet but it got completely refused too.

If he was already established with us, I'm determined enough to be strict but I feel like it's affecting the bonding process and making me anxious.

We gave him dry food tonight and he was so happy and he seems much more relaxed and less agitated so we've decided to let him eat what he wants for a while and then tackle it again at a later date. I would prefer him not to be on 100% dry but I don't want it to affect his relationship with us.

OP posts:
Hettielove · 05/12/2016 22:18

If you google you will also find sites that say dry food is best. My vet and vet nurse both said dry food is good and they would recommend feeding dry only (and no they weren't selling me any) i dont understand the determination to have him on wet if he so prefers dry and drinks plenty

Shriek · 05/12/2016 23:00

Dry is pretty adddlictive, overworks the kidneys as cats are suppose to draw moisture from their food and causes teeth/gum problems when they are not eating any kind of bones.

Also dubious about fillers which pack out the food and unnecessary for dcat.

Weedsnseeds1 · 05/12/2016 23:00

Dry food is more concentrated, so calorie rich. As long as he drinks ( if he goes outside I can almost guarantee he'll drink manky rainwater) it shouldn't be an issue to eat dry, but don't feed equivalent volume to wet, measure it. It looks like starvation rations but my cat is a huge, muscular lump on 80g a day plus a once or twice a week treat.

Shriek · 05/12/2016 23:01

Those are just a few of the many reported issues

Hettielove · 05/12/2016 23:18

But wet food doesn't have bones does it? i admit i dont have extensive knowledge so dont claim to be an expert my cat has dry food and wet and a water fountain which she loves and seems to encourage more drinking just seems a shame that the op is getting upset thats all

Shriek · 05/12/2016 23:42

Nothing short term is going to cause any lasting harm and worth sticking with what dcats glhappiest with until feeling happy and settled .

GardenGeek · 06/12/2016 00:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Weedsnseeds1 · 06/12/2016 05:20

Wet and dry both have bone in them, it's ground down. The cat needs it for calcium.

Toddlerteaplease · 06/12/2016 10:15

Mine only have dry. They are happy and healthy.

cozietoesie · 06/12/2016 11:12

Dry food in a treat toy. (As much as possible, anyway.) Make him work for it just a little - he'll likely enjoy that even more. Smile

TheWayYouLookTonight · 06/12/2016 12:16

Reading with interest as before joining MN I found the area of the internet that subscribes to the 'dry food = death for cats' school of thought! As a result, Mr T is on about 2/3 wet to 1/3 dry.

Applaws dry is 80% meat and no cereals - it's not cheap but gets better value if you get the really big bags (get a little bag first to see if kitty will eat it).

I'd wait till he's happy and settled and then try again if you want to introduce wet. as he is not a kitten and as long as he is drinking plenty, you just have to win the battle of wills until he caves in to his empty belly.

ittybittyluna · 06/12/2016 13:05

When we fostered cats we aimed not to change their food for a few weeks. We tended to have long term fosters so it was doable. Until they have really settled into our house the important thing was that they ate and drank enough and toiletted regularly. We didn't worry about anything else.

What we have found is that lots of older cats who came to use were carb junkies. They tend not to enjoy the higher quality food, and like the cheaper varieties which invariably have fillers which they are "addicted" to. Now that we have adopted an older male cat our vet recommended actively pushing the better quality wet stuff and watching his water intake to avoid kidney issues. It's been a long process (and now turns out he's allergic to something) and now he's on a mostly raw diet. He's not madly keen, and we feed him dry food sparingly in the form of treats... A water fountain was a good investment.

I'm waffling but they tend to go through a withdrawal of sorts, like if you were on Atkins and felt rubbish before you felt great, or when you cut out sugar. Our cat goes mad for bread, which made you wonder what he was fed in his previous home.

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