HELP, how do I get my cat to eat another food?

We are in big trouble, my cat eats only one kind of dry cat food. (And that is ALL he eats. He won’t eat anything else, including human food.) The company has stopped making that dry cat food :eek::eek::eek:. What am I going to do? How do I get him to eat some other brand of food, or even canned cat food?

I’ve never owned such a picky animal, never had this problem before. Canned cat food, even canned tuna - won’t touch it. I’ve gotten samples of Iams and such - won’t touch it.

He’s always got a bowl of kibbles available. My plan is to very slowly start adding a little of another brand of food into his regular food. Over I don’t know how long a time, he should start eating more and more of the other brand.

Will this work?

You can probably get him to to eat if you use a hammer. Go to Lowes and ask if they have an M.C. in stock.

When our old cat started have appetite issues we started feeding him in a new place. He equated the new spot as getting a special treat and upped his eating levels again.

There’s a school of thought that says when your cat gets hungry enough, he’ll eat whatever you put before him; he won’t starve himself to death.

Of course, your cat may vary…

Any variance of that degree and I’d consider the cat to have factory defect. I imagine the warranty has run out at this point so your best bet is to run it as long as you can while looking for a replacement feline.

I was in a situation where my cat only had one food available. She hated it. And there really was nothing I could do. She’d eat eventually, but she was grumpy and would bite me all the time. I felt horrible, but really it was all I had to give her.

I think the tapering idea sounds good. Cats are creatures of habit and I doubt they have great long term memory. It’s probably the change that is freaking him out, not the food itself.

Yes, this is exactly what I would do if I were in your position.

I would add a little more of the new food every few days, and see how that goes.

How old is the cat?

He’s about six or seven. I’m really distraught over this because he never ever eats anything except that one type of dry cat food. I was hoping someone else on this board had a similar situation and would relate their experience.

I have a fat (but strangely always starving) catshark who will only eat Purina cat chow…when I run out and I give him my emergency back-up of canned food and/or another brand, he will wander around crying and sobbing about it like I’ve tried to stab him.

It’s annoying and he hates me during this period, but eventually…looking horribly resentful and angry the whole time…he will lower his standards temporarily to eat whatever the replacement food is. He still cries about it, and acts as if I’m starving him to death, but he WILL eventually eat the other type of food.

Cats are picky and funny and what-not, but your cat isn’t going to starve. He may resent you and make your life hell for a bit, but he’s not stupid. He will eventually eat. It’s going to suck for both of you, and adding the new kind to the old kind will help…but don’t feel guilty about it when he bitches. I’ve yet to meet a genuinely suicidal feline. He’s going to get hungry enough to eat whatever you give him. I promise.

I can’t promise he won’t hate you for awhile though. This is how our feline overlords control us.

I also want to add–for novelty’s sake–that he has never liked human food of any kind, or even canned tuna or cat treats…he looked at me like I was bitch slapping him for even putting any of it in front of him…

Until I got a second cat who LOVES basically everything.

Suddenly Parker–the original fat feline overlord who runs my household–would eat pretty much everything his new little brother would eat. I consider it basic sibling rivalry. Parker couldn’t handle not being given the same treats. He started eating them. Jealousy drove him to open his mind to new foods.

I’m not kidding. He now eats beef, eggs, cheese, cake, chicken, tortillas, tacos…in tiny tiny amounts of course, but nonetheless. He’s completely changed his mind.

He just couldn’t stand the idea that his little brother was getting something he wasn’t getting.

This is why I’m saying…your cat will get over the new food. Trust me.

We’ve switched our furballs from one brand to another by tapering them. We started by putting a few scoops of the new stuff on top of the old food in the old bag, and stirring it in by hand. After a couple of days, add another few scoops, and mix well. As you keep feeding from the old bag, it will become more and more the new stuff.

I like Audrey Levins suggestion that you get a new, younger cat to make the old one jealous, but that’s a bit extreme, and could lead to a whole raft of other, unrelated problems.

Oh, one other thing that crossed my mind. Has this cat been to a vet lately? Sometimes they prefer only one brand because it hurts to eat the other stuff. If your cat has some dental issues, mouth sores, etc, that might be the reason that it eats only one brand. It’s unlikely in a healthy cat, but it’s still a possibility.

Not helpful, Rhythmdvl, and jerkish. Cease.

Ellen Cherry
MPSIMS Moderator

Thank you for the advice. I know he isn’t going to starve, but I read something that said a cat that stops eating for as little as two days can get very ill and come down with liver failure… I would love to get Marco a companion, but we have had two singleton cats in the past. When we introduced another cat into the house, they got along together OK (after a brief hellish introductory period), but then they started spraying to mark their territories and ruined our wall to wall carpet (and they were both neutered!). So the rule now is one cat at a time…Marco does have a touch of gingivitis according to the vet but that hasn’t stopped him (the cat) from munching down hard dry cat food with mucho gusto. I’m going to buy some more nutritious dry cat food that he SHOULD be eating and try mixing it in very slowly, a little teeny bit at a time, and see how that goes. I won’t be at all surprised if he eats his favorite and spits out the new food and leaves it in the dish. But we’ll see.

Put some of the new food someplace out of the way but where he could get to it if he really wanted, then tell him he is absolutely not allowed to have any of that food or he will be in big trouble.

Holy shit I’m sorry. Really. I didn’t mean it as jerkish or violent or anything of the sort–I meant it as a play on “won’t touch it”/M.C. Hammer. I even thought about the forum, saw that it was not in GQ (where early joke responses are less well received), so that an non-answer wouldn’t violate the individual forum’s rules.

I’m glad you’ve read about this. Some of the advice in this thread is technically correct, the cat isn’t going to starve after a few days of not eating, but that’s because its liver might shut down before it gets a chance to starve. It might not, of course, but it can be a risk and is something I’d be careful with.

For the record, if the cat does stop eating to the point of damaging the liver, your vet can give you little appetite-enhancing pills. I had to do that with an older, ailing cat a while back. They seemed to work - he got the munchies not long after we’d give him one.

Also, I love **Wile E’s **contribution! :slight_smile:

Well,* I* got it, and I thought it was funny.

Another vote for tapering new food into the old food if you can.

I snickered, once I got it.

Definitely try tapering, that’s always the best way to change a pet’s food to reduce tummy upsets. Hopefully your plan of only putting in the tiniest amount to start with will get him used to the new flavor before he knows what’s going on. Good luck!

I can tell you what didn’t work for me (again and again): lining up 5 different types of kibble and letting her choose. She was a bit curious, tried them, but returned to her usual brand. It’s not even a good brand! :frowning: