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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

Cat only licks the jelly on his wet food

24 replies

GimbleInTheWabe · 03/02/2017 11:30

Hello everyone,

Need a bit of advice here. My cat (called Monkey) only licks off the jelly/gravy from his wet food and leaves the meat alone. We only give him half a sachet every other day and we store the the other half in the fridge in a sealed bag. He's on the Royal Canin Instinctive food. He's always really excited when we're putting it in the bowl and runs to his food when we put it down but then just licks it dry. I'm worried he might be missing some important nutrients by not eating the meat. He hunts (were in London so it's normally mice) but never eats them. Should we change his food? How can we encourage him to eat the meat?!
Thanks in advance

OP posts:
Original poster
GimbleInTheWabe · 03/02/2017 11:32

Just realised it reads like I hardly ever feed my cat! He also gets dry biscuits too every day. He's not a 'gobble it down in one go' kinda cat he normally eats throughout the day. Dunno if it's relevant but he's a batteries kitten, tabby boy.

OP posts:
TheSpottedZebra · 03/02/2017 12:03

Do you fork it /chop it up a bit?

How old is he - and does he have vet checks ? My cats tend to only luck off the jelly when they have have sore mouths from bad teeth - but they're quite old now...

Fluffycloudland77 · 03/02/2017 13:50

I have a theory that it's when they don't like the food.

Wolfiefan · 03/02/2017 13:53

He prefers the dry?

OlennasWimple · 03/02/2017 13:56

Yeah, ours lick the gravy / jelly off but only sometimes eat the actual meat. We use wet food very much as a supplement to dry food for that reason

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 03/02/2017 13:59

We put the wet food down as our cat does the same- he LOVES the whiskers stuff in soup,but we also feed dry Applaws which is the good stuff and he really likes it. Also some raw now and again too.

TheWayYouLookTonight · 03/02/2017 14:00

My cat licks the jelly/gravy off wet food too. It's worse if he's less keen on the food anyway. I switched him to only pate-style wet foods which are all one consistency, and after a few days of resistance (only eating his dry food) he caved - problem solved!

I bulk buy mostly online, including brands such as Hi Life, Feringa, Smilla, Animonda Carny, Ropocat, Granatapet, mostly from zooplus.co.uk or the Happy Kitty Company. My supermarket fallbacks are Sheba fine flakes (he eats the flakes as well as the jelly) or Sheba classic terrines.

gleam · 03/02/2017 14:00

Have you tried him on something 'wetter' like a gravy pouch? Does he have ready access to water?

Mine really likes his wet food, won't touch dry, and is now drinking water (never used to see him doing it). I've put it down to his age.

TizzyDongue · 03/02/2017 14:01

None does this, he horses through dry though. Just doesn't seem to like wet unless its actual tuna

Tabbylady · 03/02/2017 14:51

Arrrgh ours did this for ages and we tried everything until we found that she will eat the Felix as good as it looks pouches. Except the beef ones. Confused so we have to buy her "ocean feasts".
She won't eat regular felix, or any of the wet pouches in fancy brands.

When she was an outdoor cat (she's indoor now after her sister got run over right outside our house), she would bring in mice and eat all but the heads so I have no idea what the picky little monster's problem is!

As long as your cat is also eating biscuits (and dreamies Grin ) I wouldn't worry too much

Original poster
GimbleInTheWabe · 03/02/2017 15:51

Wow! Thank you so much for all the responses! I didn't expect any replies so thank you for taking the time to respond to me Grin

Zebra I don't chop it up but it is very small and soft so wouldn't be difficult to eat I'd have thought. Maybe I'll try and cut it all so its smooshed together then he won't be able to lick the gravy off. He's about 2 and a half so still young. It may be something to do with his teeth.. although I have checked them and they seem fine. We have had an unending battle against the fleas so I don't know if that has something to do with it.

Gleam yes he's a veracious water drinker. Everywhere but a bloody water bowl in fact. Only from glasses (I don't drink from it after!) or the bath tap or some little dishes that we got for him and only tap fresh water (i know.. he's spoilt). The again I've seen him drink from a muddy puddle before so he obviously doesn't mind when he's outside! Hmm

Wolfie I think he prefers the wet as when we fill his dry food bowl he's usually non plussed but with the wet food he's at our feet mewing and purring and can't wait to get stuck in.. but just for the gravy.

Dame Yes I was interested in raw food, which brand do you use? May have to look into applepaws too.

TheWay Thanks for the brand suggestions, hadn't heard of that website so I'll have a look in to some of the other options.

Gleam His wet food is pretty..wet! and the meat bits or v soft, might see if theres something wetter out there that he might like or fork it all together so it's more of a paste.

Tizzy Monkey LOVES tuna and we gave it to him for a while until I read that it's not that good for cats too often. Maybe we should give him a bit here and then though. He also loves kale and spirulina.. he obvs knows whats good for him!

TabbyLady yeah maybe I' just going to have to shop around a bit until we find something that he consistently likes. He usually likes it loads for the first fews days and we think 'great job done!' and then he goes off it and just licks the damn thing!

Fluffy you may be on to a winning formula there ha!

OP posts:
TizzyDongue · 03/02/2017 16:00

No tuna isn't great for them.he doesn't get it that often. But he's is very addicted!! I have to lock the kitchen door if i open a tin for myself.

TrustySnail · 03/02/2017 16:05

Mine go bonkers for 'Gourmet' tins but they're not cheap! I mostly use them if I have to hide meds in them or after illness.

TheSpottedZebra · 03/02/2017 16:33

might see if theres something wetter out there there's all the soup stuff - have you tried that? All the brands seem to have them, and lots of retailers are bringing put their versions too.

Hipsters have their broth, and cats have their soup it seems. Foodie fashion.

Original poster
GimbleInTheWabe · 03/02/2017 16:47

Yes he did have the gourmet tins before Snail but as you say they aren't cheap and we wanted something that was a bit more balanced for him. Even with those he'd eat half of whatever we gave him.

I'll def have a look in to the cat soup stuff Zebra, I'd never heard of it before. Hopefully that's more up his street.

Thanks again for all the advice and suggestions. I'll let you know how I get on!

OP posts:
Olinguito · 03/02/2017 17:36

I copied an idea I saw posted in these forums to mix Nature's Menu (which is good quality and quite a solid pate) with warm water to make a sort of soup. My cat laps it up and eats quite a lot of the solid stuff at the same time. Thank you to whoever it was who recommended it!

Tabbylady · 03/02/2017 18:22

OH!
Just thought of another thing that worked great when ours were off their food after they'd been spayed. If your puss is a bit sniffy about the biscuits and likes "smooshier" food you could try boiling some water and mixing it in with the biscuits so it's like a porridgey texture. We did this with the royal canin chicken ones and it worked a treat. Obviously let it cool a little, but the hot water seemed to "bring out" the smell and they were much more inclined to tuck in. Also means that they're getting fluid intake.

We used to do that with our extremely picky dog with his dry food and it was all he'd eat too.

Tabbylady · 03/02/2017 18:23

Gah Olinguito should have looked at newer replies!
Glad someone else does this too though Grin

TheCakes · 03/02/2017 18:29

Ozzy is exactly the same, so I give him good quality dry food (Lily's kitchen) a pouch of soup in the morning, and because he's a big softy, a dish of warm kitten milk in the evening.
He loves his milk, so I don't worry so much about his waterworks with that and the soup to top up his biscuits.

reallyanotherone · 03/02/2017 18:33

What's a batteries kitten?

dementedpixie · 03/02/2017 18:35

I give mine wainwrights pouches and there is no gravy/jelly and they eat it fine. It is more expensive but has more meat than the cheaper stuff. It is the pets at home own brand stuff

Original poster
GimbleInTheWabe · 03/02/2017 22:27

Oops really I meant Battersea not batteries! Autocorrect...

Thanks tabby and olmguito I'll try adding more water to it to make it more soupy. Imagine if these cats knew what we went through for them eh.

Another vote for soup from thecakes so I think I may have to invest!

I think we tried the wainwrights one dementedpixie but he didn't seem to like it for whatever reason. Think I'm going to stick it out for this one for a while whilst I experiment and then try something else if he is being really stubborn. Thanks though.

OP posts:
SparklesandBangs · 03/02/2017 22:38

I've had 4 cats over the years and they have always licked the gravy first, 2 never ate the cut all meat. My current kittens are 7 months old now and will eat the meat but not when it is put down, usually about 3 hours later when it is dried up - weird
They live aplaws and rush to get their tea, if its fish it disappears within minutes, for. Chicken flavour it takes longer and some may get left.

They have dry biscuits as their main food the wet food is a treat.

Lovi87 · 30/08/2021 06:39

Don't let your cat drink from puddles.. Mine did that, and eventually he came across one with antifreeze in it. He's passed away years ago now.

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