Cats are so fussy they're underweight - help!

[Horizon32]

I have two cats, mother and daughter aged 8(ish) and 6, who are the fussiest cats I have ever met. I have tried every food going and they just won't consistently eat anything for longer than a day before they turn their noses up at it. I am constantly buying new food and throwing it out or posting on community groups to donate almost full boxes. Sometimes I try to stick to a brand but they still only eat a little bit and then leave it to go dry and stale. They will graze a little on biscuits throughout the day but they do want wet food. I don't know what to do. They've both been seen by a vet who has said there are no medical issues and it's just fussiness and to try different types of food. I'm at my wits end and they are both underweight but hungry. I've tried giving them kitten food to pack some more calories in but nothing seems to work. Does anyone have any recommendations? Every time I give them a new brand of food they gobble it up the first day, but then the next day they look at me like I've served up dog poo and meow for ages because they're hungry! I've tried the premium brands, middle of the road brands, and the cheap stuff, but it's always the same response of eating it for one day and then refusing it after that!

I think you need to just be stubborn. Present them with a quality high meat content food and offer nothing else.

I understand the stress I have one girl that picks and barely eats. Usually around day 3 she eats loads.

Have you tried freeze dried food? You can rehydrate it with bone broth to make it really appealing.

then lots of high calorie snacks, my cats like sprats, dried quail egg yolks. They go crazy for Carnilove cat food, the dried reindeer one.

I haven't heard of freeze dried food before, thank you I'll look into that now! I try to give snacks and treats as much as possible but I worry they become a substitute for their proper meals. Although at this point I just want them to gain some weight so I'll give anything a go!

I once had a cat who would only eat defrosted but uncooked raw minced beef. I know it’s not an ideal diet but it was literally the only thing he would be eat and he seemed to be healthy enough

Try crumbling chicken Thrive treats over food. We call it kitty crack. Their wet chicken food is very good too.

Stuff like this

https://mcadamspetfoods.com/en/cat/freeze-dried/?srsltid=AfmBOooy2TXDeqI5VCILpLDfEzchBe9G0eAasRSUgpXKAgeL3eoeyFzr

i haven’t tried it for mine though.

Have you tried them on Katkin? Is cooked meat out the freezer.

My fussy one loves it and the other 3 are not interested.

You can get money back through Quidco for your first order, I can send you a referral code for money off too.

Ultimately you may just have to be more stubborn than them though 😬🙈

www.katkin.com

When our cat goes through fussy phases we give him plain roast chicken which he can never resist. I sympathise, ours used to love Blink, then went off it; then he was really into Untamed but eventually turned his nose up at that after a few months. He is currently enjoying KatKin, but who knows how long that will last!

If you search cat food toppers then there's a few options to try (google and amazon)

Salmon oil was much loved by my old cat, if I forgot it he would come and yell that I forgot to "season" his food
Nutritional yeast is a good topper as well

Have you tried warming it slightly. Not enough that it makes it hot, but just so that it smells more. This usually did the trick for my old cat.

How often do you feed them and what times of day?

I second warming it. Older cats lose their sense of smell and with it some taste. If you warm it it smells more.

One of mine refuses wet food unless a sprinkle a bit of ground up freeze dried food on top. He would happily eat just the freeze dried on its own, but it's expensive he has to have it mixed into his wet food.

My vet gave us an ointment to stimulate the appetite of an underweight cat, it was an antidepressant that is used on humans (mertazapine) but the formulation we used was obviously for pets (ointment not pills). It worked well.

Instead of giving away the food they go off, just start rotating foods, so each day they have something "new". I had to do this with my last old boy in his senior years as he suddenly craved variety. I had a mahusive stock of multiple foods, but I just cycled through them.

Can't you just feed them a rotation of different foods? Have a supply of 5-6 brand and just do something different every day?

What body condition score has your vet given them 4-5 out of 9 is normal. Cats should look slim with a neat waist, a very large number of cats are overweight.

I can sympathise. My cat will only eat this wet food. She has dry food throughout the day, but wants wet food for tea. I've tried so many different brands and types - jelly/gravy/mousse/pate in varying qualities. This is a slightly modified version of their old melting heart mousse and when they stopped selling it she would eat a bit of their savoury cake, but there were always bits left over.

When she was spayed the vet couldn't believe she wouldn't eat boiled chicken or the easy digest sachets they provided!

Mine was in at the vets refused to eat and looked mournfully at the boiled chicken
(I could see him thinking "why doesn't they roast it like my mum?"

Anyway I went to pick him up and the little git was sat on someone's lap being hand fed roast chicken from the Morrisons hot counter

A relative's cat would only eat if you sprinkled the biscuits on the wet food!
If you're literally changing their food daily OP then you aren't giving their (v v sensitive) digestive systems time to adjust.
What I've found works for mine when they go through a fussy spell is to just feed biscuits (their usual brand, which is a complete food) for a few days, then gradually reintroduce wet food over a couple of days. It might be worth a try.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I feel a bit more hopeful with some new things to try! I have tried keeping them on the same wet food, then changing it for a day, going back to the old brand etc but they're really just so fussy. I've ordered a trial box of Untamed to see if they'll have that, although I've tried premium brands before and they've inhaled them but then refused it the next day. It's reassuring to hear others have had extremely fussy cats too!

Odd question, but what are you feeding them from? I randomly discovered that mine would eat far better from a plate than a bowl. Also better off crockery than plastic.

Have you tried a squirt of lic lix on the food?

We've got ceramic bowls and plates which we alternate, they're fine with either but I did read some cats can be fussy about the bowl itself! I've got a trial box of Untamed which came today and they wolfed the chicken down but turned their noses up at the tuna