Wet food addiction?

[WetFoodCatLover]

Is this right? I don’t rate my vet anyway but it’s the only one locally I have any chance of getting to in an emergency so I stick with them.

Vet said my cat is addicted to wet food and I need to cut down their consumption. He said to give 2x wet food meals a day, 1x dried food, and if possible swap 1 wet food meal to something like fresh roasted chicken or fresh fish.

My cat seems so hungry. She’s become aggressive since I’ve done this, but not sure if I need to wait it out. She’s never touched dried biscuits, I’m giving the Royal Canin ones the vet recommended (available in pets at home and similar) but she won’t eat them, she just whinges for food and scratches me and my furniture. She won’t eat fresh chicken, and has never liked any kind of fish. The chicken or whatever I give (sometimes pork, beef, even turkey or duck if I have it) with gravy sits in the bowl and she just meows for wet food. She only eats gravy cat food so I’ve been putting gravy I make on the food when I make hers. She licks the gravy off but leaves the meat.

So she’s living off 1 wet food meal a day as that is literally all she will eat.

Vet said not to give in and she’ll have to get used to the new diet.

She was overweight on just wet food and is indoor only so can see why the vets suggested a new diet but I feel guilty she’s only eating once per day, I wouldn’t like it.

Anything I can do? And is a wet food addiction even a thing in cats?

Will add here vet hasn’t physically seen my cat since March, I contacted him because cat was constantly asking for food even with wet food and he’s basing her being overweight on the last time he saw her. She’s flead and wormed regularly as in none covid times my job involves vulnerable people who may not keep their pets up to date and I could bring them home.

[VenusClapTrap]

Very odd advice from your vet.

There’s nothing wrong with wet cat food if you buy the high meat content ones - Thrive, Encore, James Wellbeloved, Lilly’s Kitchen, Almo Nature, Canagan etc etc. Zooplus have a good selection as a pp mentioned. They will fill up your cat without making her overweight.

Human food doesn’t contain elements like taurine, that cats need, and is best avoided.

Royal Canin is recommended by vets because they earn commission from selling it. It’s full of grains and has a low meat content.

There are lots of high meat content dry foods on the market that you can try. Cats are very picky - you probably just need to try a few till you find one she’ll eat.

I’d you’re not happy with your vet (and I wouldn’t be, on that advice alone) then find a new one. It’s worth travelling further to find one you trust.

[Prestel]

I'm glad to hear your cat is enjoying her new, more varied diet OP. Getting a cat to lose weight is not easy, so I'm impressed.

[WetFoodCatLover]

Update:

Got her eating 2x wet food pouch or 1x wet food pouch and 1x chicken/meat meal per day.

I also found a dry food she likes, Hill's Science Adult so she has that at lunchtime. Had to be the most expensive one didn't it? (insert rolling eyes emoji here)

She's lost a bit of weight but not been weighed so not sure how much and she's much happier too which is lovely. She's so affectionate again which I love.

[JaceLancs]

I have 2 cats and feed them 3 times a day
They either have a pouch between them or 1/3 of a can of wet food per meal
They only eat fish in jelly!
Although they are 3 and 12 prefer kitten biscuits (dry food) which I put down as a side to the wet food
I rotate between Tesco own, whiskas pockets and kit e kat at each of their 3 daily meals
They supplement with birds, rodents, rabbits and squirrels with the occasional spider
Vet says healthy and good weights for ages

[QueenStromba]

Wet food is generally a lot better than dry food. Some wet food is complete crap though. Try her on something that's pure meat - Butchers Classic in the supermarket or something from Zooplus. Animonda Carny and Smilla are both good and fairly cheap. Wild Freedom, Grau Gourmet (the specific grain free ones), some flavours of Macs and Nature's Menu are all just meat and good but a bit pricier.

[DeusEx]

The proportion of meat in wet foods is usually horrendously low - less than 10%. They literally have ash in them. Could try the fancy high-meat content ones eg Lilly’s Kitchen?

[DeusEx]

That all seems very peculiar. Seems odd the wet food would be ‘very bad’ for her given most cats have at least some wet food in their diet. Is she eating too much, is that the issue?

I have an older, somewhat cat and she and my young cat - both indoor cats - both love James Wellbeloved ‘Light’ food. They turn their noses up at Whiskas and Waitrose own brand but can’t get enough of the James Wellbeloved. That said, the old lady does like Royal Canin dental food - to the point where she has to have one of those hedgehog shaped feeders or she’ll just wolf it.

[Prestel]

I think perhaps the main thing here is your cat still feels hungry after eating these foods and it may be because proportionally they don't contain enough protein for her. In my experience dry food tends to contain more protein proportionally for a similar price than wet, hence the vet's suggestion. Likewise, cooked chicken or fish has a high protein content, which can supplement the balanced cat food and help her feel full on fewer calories. A high protein wet food could achieve a similar effect, perhaps.

[WetFoodCatLover]

She has either Sheba in Gravy or Gourmet Pearl in Gravy she won't eat any other cat food brands available at Supermarkets.

The vet said wet food was very bad for her and she was addicted so need to cut it and to feed human food instead. I don't know whether this is right? I just want the best for her, she's like my other child.

[dementedpixie]

Mine eat thrive dry and encore dry. I buy them from amazon

[TooManyDogsandChildren]

I have fussy cats who only like purina one. Whilst it's not the best quality it is cheap and I do like them to have one biscuit meal a day for their teeth. Worth a try? (a small pack is about a fiver). Many bags of Iams, Hills etc have been spurned and passed on eventually to friends with less fussy cats.

Try popping three or four Dreamies in top of the dry biscuits too.

[Prestel]

Have you tried introducing biscuits by mixing a few with wet food? Combining a new food with an established food is usually the best way to introduce a new food. Having said that, it's just advice. I don't think it's worth worrying about too much, just feed according to the pet food instructions for the weight you're aiming for and swap out for treats where appropriate and wanted.

[dementedpixie]

Human food won't contain all the right nutrients for cats. You'd be better with cat food for both meals

[HelpMeh]

I wouldn't be feeding my cat plain "human" chicken/beef. They need the extra blood and guts minerals that are in cat specific foods.

I have the opposite problem and mine are biscuit addicts. I don't think it's healthy. Wild cats don't eat biscuits.

What wet food are you feeding? She might fill up better if you buy a higher quality one. 3 packets isn't a particularly excessive amount of food.

A lot of vets have their own sales agenda - particularly with Royal Canin...

[WetFoodCatLover]

@eddiemairswife

Mine has 2 pouches a day; when I get up and about 7 in the evening. Doesn't drink water, except for the odd puddle. She will steal anything tasty that is left out. Doesn't seem overweight, has a catflap, but stays in most of the time (except for wees and poos) and is very sedentary. Typical cat I suppose.

Mine has the option to go out on a private balcony but never does, sticks her head out the door occasionally but thats it.

I think I'll keep up with 1x wet food pouch and 1x proper food meal (like chicken or beef etc) or wet food if what I'm having isn't suitable.

[eddiemairswife]

Mine has 2 pouches a day; when I get up and about 7 in the evening. Doesn't drink water, except for the odd puddle. She will steal anything tasty that is left out. Doesn't seem overweight, has a catflap, but stays in most of the time (except for wees and poos) and is very sedentary. Typical cat I suppose.

[WetFoodCatLover]

I managed to get her to eat the chicken and gravy last night so I'm happy to keep pushing that I just don't want to keep pushing biscuits if she's not going to eat them. Is there an alternative to the biscuits that's not wet food?

[WetFoodCatLover]

@dementedpixie

Are you sure she's overweight as 3 pouches isn't a huge amount if they aren't eating dry food. Did you say the vet hasn't even weighed her?

She was weighed in March and was slightly overweight not massively she’s supposed to be something like 4.5kg and she weighed 5.1 or something I can’t remember exact figures.

[thegcatsmother]

My 17 year old feline overlord has a Sheba fine flakes in jelly for breakfast. He gets topped up with Sheba rabbit in sauce, or chicken and lamb chunks at lunch if he asks, then has half a roasted chicken leg with his meds, then Nature's Menu for dinner, either a Country Hunter or an adult complete meal, and if he is signing the song of the starved before I go to bed, he has more aluminium tray Sheba to keep him going.

I can tell the weather is on the turn as he is eating more to build up his fat stocks for winter, despite having lived with me for almost 11 years with central heating, fleece blankets and cat food on demand.

[dementedpixie]

Are you sure she's overweight as 3 pouches isn't a huge amount if they aren't eating dry food. Did you say the vet hasn't even weighed her?

[Bargebill19]

I was thinking along the lines of give her what she will eat - but spread it out through the day, more frequent but smaller meals. I don’t think I worded my pp very well.

[WetFoodCatLover]

I also rarely give treats, and nothing between meals unless I absolutely have to.

[WetFoodCatLover]

She used to have 3 wet food meals I usually buy pouches, 1 at 6am, 1 at 12-1pm depending when I stopped, then 1 at 7pm so roughly 6 hours between each meal.

She doesn't like Jelly Cat food, I've tried her on it before and she'd rather not eat at all.

Vet suggested that she have 1x wet pouch in the morning, dried biscuits at lunchtime, then a "proper" meal of fresh chicken/meat at night or wet food if what I'm having isn't suitable. So she's only eating the wet food in the morning.

[Bargebill19]

Sorry but not all cats like the same things. Just like humans. She may just not like dried food. She sounds hungry and I would just feed her what she will eat.
To say a cat is addicted to wet food also seems bizarre. Feral cats would be eating wet food by the very nature of what they could kill.
If she’s over weight and that’s a worry, then just spread out what she can have as snacks through the day.

[dementedpixie]

If they've never eaten dry food then you might have battle on your hands. Could you not just give less wet food?