Picky Eater! Any advice?

[Alp613]

Hi all-

My boy "King" is just about 8 months old.

Recently I switched him from wet pate canned foods due to loose and stinky stools. I started him on the freeze dried raw pellets rehydrated which he loved for the first few days and now won't touch. He will eat unhydrated as a treat but not when presented rehydrated at meal times.

Any advice? Should I try frozen raw? We can't go back to canned his stools improved within 2-3 days of the switch clearly was not a good fit for him. Anything I can add to the rehydrated pellets to make it more intriguing?

He does have access to his kibbles throughout the day and will eat those without issue.

I am from Canada so can look into what is and is not available here from your recommendations

Thanks everyone!

 

[Bailey21]

One of my 3 is also very very picky. All of them are on a raw diet, and my picky boy is basically only happy if I'm feeding him kangaroo. I've been giving them 3 different proteins and I can tell I have to switch the other 2 after about a month since hes starting not to eat them unless I sprinkle some freeze dried raw treats on top. I guess he has fancy taste My other two will inhale anything I put in front of them

Since you're in Canada as well you'd be able to get the brand I feed. If you wanted to look into it, its called Big Country Raw I get mine at my local Pet Valu but its sold in a lot of retailers or directly from them online.

 

[Alp613]

I've heard of big country raw I'll give it a try I have a pet valu store close by. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Toa and Ross]

Maybe try to mix the unhydrated with the rehydrated to see if he'll start to eat it again. I would give only a little kibble to make sure he is hungry and knows het needs to eat the raw food

 

[Alp613]

Would you recommend taking away the kibbles during the day? I have always just followed the breeder recommendation which was to always have dry food available.

 

[Yoda mom]

welcoming you and adorable King to the lair family. I personally free feed dry kibble. I don't do raw and will deflect to our raw food feeders who are amazing

@Condo commando , @Xandria

 

[pussiette]

Would you recommend taking away the kibbles during the day? I have always just followed the breeder recommendation which was to always have dry food available.

@Alp613 No do not take the kibble away. Especially if it is balanced and complete. Good for teeth, vitamins and stools, especially if not causing skin or stool issues. Don't change what is working it's so hard to find things that work when you do it's fantastic.

Handsome lil one you have there.

 

[Condo commando]

@Alp613
Raw food is balanced and complete food so you don't need to feed anything else. That said, kittens need to eat more than adults, so many people leave some kibble when they leave the house to go to work. You can even buy a timed container that pops open at a set time to ensure that your kitten won't eat all the kibble right away.

If you end up leaving kibble, don't overdo it. Leave just enough for him to get a meal out of it. You need him to be hungry when you get home from work and give him his next raw meal. Also it's better if they kibble has passed the digestive tract before you feed raw.

I will respectfully disagree with the comment that kibble is good for stools. Just on the Lair there are plenty of members that transitioned to raw food from kibble because of diarrhea. Just search on runny poop, poopy butt and similar terminology. With raw food, they poop solid and it doesn't even smell.

One trick you can try to get him to eat his raw food if he doesn't seem to want to eat is sprinkle a tiny bit of parmesan cheese on it. Don't stir it into the food; cats judge food by the smell so all you're doing is sprinkling it on top for him to get a whiff. If your cat really likes his kibble, you could alternatively crush a few pieces of kibble and sprinkle that on top of the raw food. Or do what @Bailey21 does and sprinkle some freeze dried raw on top.

 

[Alp613]

Thank you so much! Going out today to pick up some raw food hoping to get samples to see if he will be interested. I must say over last few days with him refusing to eat the rehydrated freeze dried his loose stools are back! Raw must be the way to go for his little system.

 

[Bailey21]

I would start with something simple like duck or chicken! If you do decide to go raw and need help transitioning BCR has a great transition page on their website, feel free to PM me anytime too.

 

[Sheldon13]

Another thing you can use to make the food more enticing is a sprinkle of nutritional yeast. They love it.


Love and Sphynx ~ It’s all you need

 

[Alp613]

That's a great tip thank you everyone! It's going well after a few days he seems to be eating the raw without anything extra added to it