Good point. My stepmom’s cat eats this brand that I think is comprised of “X” shaped pieces. She is a messy eater so will break the pieces apart as she eats. She will eventually pick out the intact "X"s, but will start to avoid the pieces that look like "V"s or little chunks. It’s like survival of the fittest kibbles ‘n’ bits.
I can’t either. Why is this so important to her? She saved a buck or two with a coupon – big deal. It’s probably already cost you more in damage to stuff the cat has pushed off the desk, to say nothing of the time to clean up stuff (including a crapped-in bowl). Some battles just aren’t worth fighting.
Donate that new food to the local animal shelter, and get a charitable deduction write-off on your taxes. Then you aren’t out much money.
P.S. What does your wife do when the grocery store has a big sale on some food that both of you dislike? Does she still buy some, because th price is such a good deal?
No, it is not so bad. Bad would be having a fat wife who shits in her soup bowl. Just feed her the unwanted kibble and move on.
He is eating Fancy Feast right now.
This is not the first time she has declared war on Boris’s picky eating. About 5 houses down the street lives cat lady. She has about 7 cats and feeds feral ones in her garage. When wife attempts to train Boris on cheaper food, it winds up at cat lady’s house. I am sure the dry food will go there.
Ok, everybody who bet on gonzo’s wife pay up.
Quoth my vet: “A dog will eventually get hungry enough that it’ll eat whatever you put down. A cat will starve himself to death first.”
Catzilla gets what he wants. He’s an obese kitty with a thyroid problem. I don’t recommend trying to play power struggle with a cat. Dogs, sure. Cats…? Mmmm probably not gonna work out for the humans.
Ergo logic dictates that, for future cats, you never feed them anything unless you’re willing to risk them eating only that thing for the rest of their lives. Get cheap wet food and start them on it young. Always buy the same flavor, keep it simple, and hope it never gets discontinued. And for god’s sake, avoid table scraps at all costs. A cat who’s never eaten fancy feast cannot insist on eating fancy feast.
My uncle’s cat had a huge cheeto problem. You couldn’t bring cheetos into the house without giving half of them to the cat. If you wouldn’t share, he would pry them from your cold, dead hands. He would strategically knock them to the floor, too, because he was smart enough to know that humans won’t eat floor food–but he would.
My former cats ate science diet food but would happily scarf down a rat’s head. Can they really be that choosy?
Also, I have never met a cat that would not slit my throat to get at the tuna.
Gonzo?
gonzomax can correct me if I’m wrong, but the cat gets fed on the desk because the dogs would get at the food if it was on the floor.
My feral cats gratefully eat the cheapo dry cat food I put out for them. And I’m okay with it if they don’t want to eat it.
I’m not sure this is over. If one of the two of them ends up dead this week by suspicious means, you better have an alibi bruddah…
Now, now. Let’s not have any beatings! 
If my cats were happy and healthy on Fancy Feast, I’d buy it for them by the metric ton.
I have one cat, the most annoying one, who is allergic to just about everything. We treated him for flea contact dermatitis extensively (and expensively) before starting on dietary elimination. Latest thinking is the little bastard is very probably allergic to CHICKEN, which is in just about every form of cat food.
Since all three cats steadfastly refused to transition to scheduled feedings (from free-feeding), they now all have to eat the single-protein-source kibble. Thankfully, PetSmart has started stocking Blue Buffalo Basics because there was no way in hell I could afford to have all three pigging out on Science Diet prescription venison and green pea kibble.
So, er, anyway. Fancy Feast, yay!
This is a good indicator that she will probably lose.
However, on the off chance that he starts eating it…I’m assuming Boris is a neutered male. Make sure that the dry catfood is VERY low on ash content. High ash content will cause urinary tract blockage in neutered males and will kill him quickly and not painlessly.
We used to feed out cats on top of the dryer so the dogs wouldn’t get it. Nowadays they all get fed on the floor. The cats hated the raw dog food I feed the dog and the dog wouldn’t touch the cheapo cat food with a ten foot pole.
Most cats aren’t that picky, I don’t think. Mine will eat pretty much anything I give them (and often things I don’t give them, I have to put corn chips where they can’t reach), it’s just the occasional cat that’s extra stubborn about it.
But if the human happens to die before the cat, then the previously finnicky cat will nom-nom-nom down on the ex-human.
In my town, a old fellow who had a lot of cats died. His cats chewed away on him to survive. Eventually some neighbours smelt something wrong and called the authorities. His children, who lived in town but who hadn’t been arsed to visit him, sued the town for not looking in on him. His neighbours tried to sue his estate for him devaluing their property values by being eaten by his own cats.
I think the cats were the only sane sentients in the whole affair.
I’ve read about the same thing. Dogs will sometimes starve to death by the side of their deceased owner, the less loyal ones will at least wait a few days to be sure you’re really gone before they chow down.
My cats start pawing at me in the morning 8 or so hours after their last feeding. I’m pretty sure it’s a preliminary test to see if they can safely take a bite.
Our cat Roxie started life as a housecat (we think) but then became a stray we adopted. She mostly eats Iams dry indoor cat weight/hairball control, but we try to supplement with wet food periodically. Unfortunately, we’ve had to drop it down to no more than half a can at a time because she’ll bolt it and then throw it back up. 
Is this normal for a cat that’s been a stray? I figure it is, but was curious about others’ experiences.
(Oh, and I knew Boris would win. Gonzo’s wife never stood a chance.)