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changing your kittens food??

lemmysmommy

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I am trying to change Lemmy's food from Kitten Chow to something better. He will not eat any of it. I have tried Blue Buffalo and Wellness so far. I also have Innova and Felidae to try. I have tried to mix it with wet and dry food and just give it to him by it's self. I am going crazy...any help would be appreciated. Thanks
 

nbolin

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I feed Kreacher Taste of the Wild...I get it from Pet Supplies Plus. It's the closest thing to raw food, and it's got Venison, and Salmon in it, with no additives or fillers. Kreacher LOVES it!! It is for all ages. The only way I know to switch over foods, is to slowly add more of the new food to his bowl each day over a span of like 5 or six days until it's completely switched over. If you just switch cold turkey...you could give him stomach upsets, and digestion issues, which in turn will make him not want to eat it.

I don't really suggest giving him wet food unless he needs it for health reasons. Wet food = really nasty stinky gassy poopy kitty.
 

PitRottMommy

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Something that hasn't been mentioned is how long you're waiting. If you're expecting him to eat within 5 minutes of sitting the food down, try leaving it for half of a day instead. Give your cat time to realize this is now HIS food and go with it.

Use a 5 day switch:
Day 1: 100% old
Day 2: 25% new, 75% old
Day 3: 50% new, 50% old
Day 4: 75% new, 25% old
Day 5: 100% new

to make your switch easier on both you (and on his stomach).

Best of luck!
 

Brooke

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I am trying to change Lemmy's food from Kitten Chow to something better. He will not eat any of it. I have tried Blue Buffalo and Wellness so far. I also have Innova and Felidae to try. I have tried to mix it with wet and dry food and just give it to him by it's self. I am going crazy...any help would be appreciated. Thanks

I had a similar problem trying to switch my cats to a different brand. I would mix a little bit of the new food with the old, only to find that they would leave all the new food behind and only eat the old food.

The big problem here is that the companies that make the cheap food do things like spray chicken fat all over the food to make it enticing, so the new, healthier stuff doesn't seem as good. (Who wants to eat a salad when there's a pile of french fries sitting next to it?) You're doing a really good thing here, switching to a premium food. Stick with it, go slow like everyone says, and I'm sure you'll find one that Lemmy will like. I think I went through 3 or 4 brands before I ended up with Felidae, the one they finally decided they liked...

Here's a trick that I used that worked with my cats to get them to taste the Felidae for the first time, before I mixed it with their food, and then they ate it up:

I crinkled their treat bag and they all came running and meowing for treats and then I gave them each 3 or 4 pieces of the Felidae food instead of the treats. They were already in the frame of mind "yay, we're getting treats!" and gobbled them up. That night when I mixed it with their old food, I didn't have any problems getting them to eat it.
 

lemmysmommy

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I wanted to thank all of you for the great advise. I really like the "treat" trick. I think it has worked!! He seems to be liking the Innova. I will keep my fingers crossed that he continues to eat it.:Woo:
 
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