I recently transitioned my 6 year old cat to wet food. She took the transition really well and lost interest in her kibble faster than expected (she'd eat the wet food around the kibble) so the transition was faster than expected. However, she's eating considerably less than the suggested amount for her weight. The food I'm using suggests ~3 cans/day and she only eats ~1 can/day. I feed her 3 times a day - 8am, 2pm, 8pm; I leave her food out for ~2 hrs (with dry food I'd only leave it out 1 hr but trying to see if she'll eat more if she has a little more time) and but she leaves a lot in the bowl. I'm not sure if this is because of the fast transition and her body is still getting used to the food, the higher moisture content is filling her up more so I should do more meals or something else. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciate.
I'm not an expert here (just researching a lot for our recently-adopted kittens) but can you share with us your exact food your feeding? What are the ingredients? And do you switch it up — use various flavors (and maybe brands)? Is your cat active??
I would like to hear a vet's opinion on this topic.
Good on you for switching away from dry kibble.
—sketchur
Hi Aparna! This is a great question, but I think it would be best suited to the nutrition forum as our behaviorist is not able to answer this particular question. I have submitted a request to have your question moved to the nutrition category and you should get a vet's reply soon. Best, Mallory
Thanks! Since posting this a month ago I've learned a few things:
-My post originally was about Wellness Chicken Pate. One day she refused to eat it and she's refused to eat it since then.
-My cat really likes fish - but fish doesn't like her. When she stopped eating the above, I switched her over to Wellness's tuna and salmon recipe and it made her pretty sick a few days later. I confirmed this by then having her go on a bland diet, getting her system back to normal, and once reintroducing the food seeing the same behavior. But she would eat the fish fully (based on the recommendation on the can)
-After that, not knowing what she'll eat, we went back to some good ole dry food which she ate happily and at the amount the bag suggested.
-I'm now trying Instinct's Chicken Pate to see if she'll go for another chicken recipe. The thing is, she actually seems to like eating it? She smells it and happily eats a few bites and then walks away (I am using some forti flora to make it a little more interesting but she's interested even without it). But the volume is really low.
So, since she's fine with the smell, is it a texture preference? Or just eating less on a new food? Or should I keep trying other brands and meats?
Not an expert - Could be a texture preference though sometimes I think the word preference is misleading and it's more of a texture requirement.
My cat eats drastically different amounts of food based on the texture. She demands a creamy, smooth, loose no chunks pate. Mousse style. She only licks/laps her food, no bite. She'll eat 2.0 in about 4 minutes. If it's a food that is a bit more solid or grainy (Fancy Feast classic pate) she'll lick, and lick, and lick, and just stop after 10 minutes and not eat more than about 1 oz. She just can't mechanically/physically eat that food.