As he gets older, my 15 year old kitty Taz (named after the Tasmanian Devil because that's what we thought he was when he was little. Boy was he wild!), is becoming very finicky with his dry cat food and he doesn't like the senior food at all.
However, he does "love" the liquid from our tuna when we make tuna salad, and cries for it whenever we open a can. He will eat anything I drizzle tuna juice over. We buy the tuna in water, and I have started saving all the liquid whenever we open a can. I put it in the fridge, but if I have a lot, I make ice cubes out of it to keep in the freezer in a Ziploc. I then thaw a cube as I need it.
When we feed Taz, we drizzle a tablespoon of tuna juice over his dry food, and he very happily eats every bite. The tuna softens it a bit, makes it taste better, and as an added bonus, it's good for him!
By Judy = Oklahoma from Tulsa, OK
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I put both dry and wet food. I have tried fish flavored food for Maxx, but he only eats that rarely. Maxx is very picky. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
By Donna from Foymount, Ontario
If both are healthy then don't worry about one eating more than the other as I have 8 all have different eating habits and all are healthy. Just love them
MY daughter also had this problem... (one fat cat & one picky-eater skinny cat)... What she did was buy a small R.F.I.D. pet door for around $65 - $99 for her bedroom. This pet-door will only let the cat in that has the correct RFID tag on it's collar. You put the food for the skinny cat into a different room, like a bedroom or a laundry room & only the skinny cat with the RFID tag can open the pet door to get the food!
They make many models of electronic pet doors including RFID, Magnetic, Microchip, etc but the RFID is the most lightweight & you don't need a microchip inside your pets skin. I have done hours of research & like the "Cat Mate Elite Series" best:
www.petdoors.com/
Here's a site that sells all types:
www.petdoors.com/
* Note:
These pet-doors are sold to keep other animals out of the house, but we turned our cat-door around to keep our kitten inside while letting our big cat go outside. This voids the warrantee (turning the door around) but we don't care. We put ours on an inside door that goes out to a covered porch. They install just like any regular pet door. We used a jigsaw & a screwdriver in our metal door & it took about 45 minutes (because we didn't know what we were doing!)
You can buy unsalted chicken broth (or make your own) & add this to the dry pet food. Be sure the broth is not salted or it can damage your cat's kidneys!
You can also add Salmon Oil to the picky cat's food. Most cats love salmon oil & it adds good calories too!
There is a dried cat food on the market that all cats love! It's not cheap, but it has an amazing 50% protein content & no grains! It is made with herring & salmon... I split a bag with my daughter to use for treats... My cat's go crazy for it & her picky cat does too!
It's called: EVO Herring & Salmon Formula Dry Cat & kitten Food.
* Don't confuse this with their Herring-Salmon treats.
Here's more information:
www.westcoastpetsupply.com/
www.evopet.com/
Don't worry about the cats. Keep food available to them 24/7. Animals have a very strong instinct for survival and they will not allow themselves to starve. If one starts losing a lot of weight, then it's time for a trip to the vet to find out why. Otherwise don't worry.
The cat I have now is so finicky he won't even touch wet food! He will only eat dry.
I have 2 dogs who are the same way. One is fat and will eat anything, anytime. The other is not so fat and very picky. I used to worry about him constantly till I realized he was gaining weight. The last trip to the vet, she actually told me he was getting a little bit too heavy! So he's eating, just not when I am around to see.
I have a suggestion: I have a half Siamese cat and she is very picky. she will play with the dry food and dip it in the water, but she will not eat wet. I noticed that she was getting really skinny and the vet told me a small spoonful of regular tuna in water once every morning will not hurt her.
Thanks very much Mnmtwin, I will try that he will lick some of the gravy in cat food but wont eat the meat. I have found he like the dairy treats, so I do give him more of them.
