Yellowrose Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 For a while Ive wanted to change our two cats over to dried food. There are many reasons, mostly the mess and the smell, plus a toddler messing with wet food etc... Anyhow theyve always had dry food down in addition to their tinned stuff as a snack or back up. Ive recently been reducing the amount of wet (tinned) food and today I used the last of the wet food up. This morning they are driving my crazy meowing for grub despite ample dry food. One of the cats is half siamese and very vocal and protested loudly this morning. He's still going on about it 3 hours later!!! They do eat the dry stuff, they just expect some tinned too! They are 13, is it too late? Should I try another variety of dried? AT the moment they have a mixture of Whiskas complete Senior and Supermarket own brand complete. Any advice would be gratefully received! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowrose Posted December 2, 2006 Author Share Posted December 2, 2006 Can anyone help with this? Any of the cat shelter people had experience of this? Pleeese? Im close to giving in!!! Which brands are best? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strix Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 If they're eating it, stick with it Cats can be very 'just so' about their environment, and I have heard of cats demanding their usual bowl of biscuits next to their food bowl - even though they've never ever eaten one of those biscuits! Swaping and changing the dried food now will most likely only unsettle them more, and you may find they won't eat the new brand, then won't go back to eating the current mix either I'm sure Medusa will have more info to add to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowrose Posted December 3, 2006 Author Share Posted December 3, 2006 Well Im persevering but they are nagging me. Ive given them a little cream today which I let them have occasionally and they both enjoy. I know that these days they say dont give cats milk, but Im a bad mummy sometimes! I wish there was a dried food I could find that was so tasty they wouldnt mind so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medusa Posted December 3, 2006 Share Posted December 3, 2006 I'd question whether you've got the right dried food Yellowrose firstly- they vary enormously in flavour (so my cats tell me) and there are quite expensive crunchies that my cats would rather go hungry than eat- despite the fact that they're gutbuckets that normally eat anything that holds still long enough. If you're sure that you've got some dried food that they like and is nutritionally doing what it's meant to (I'd personally recommend Hills, Royal Canin and James Wellbeloved as good quality biscuits for sole feeding) then the easiest way to get them off the wet food and onto the dry food is to start mixing them together, or at least putting the biscuits on top of the wet food and feeding twice a day as usual. With cats it's somehow as important to go through the show of putting the food in the bowls as it is to make sure that the food's available- they like you to go to the trouble of putting food down for them at dinner time. If you take away the routine of dinner time they do the 'all dressed up with nowhere to go' bit- so maybe you need to get a little bit more wet food, start with a little bit of wet food with some crunchies on top, and gradually reduce the quantity of wet food but retain the act of dinner time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowrose Posted December 3, 2006 Author Share Posted December 3, 2006 Thanks a good point. I will top up their dried at feed time so it retains the routine. They are eating the dried food, its just that they are obviously asking me for the wet food too as they are used to it. I have asked for samples of James Wellbeloved cat food as I used to give it to a hyper dog. He didnt think it was so special though and I had to soak some in stock. I will try and get some of the others too as I have to go to a specialist pet shop for something this week anyway. Are the "senior" varieties of cat foods worth bothering with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowrose Posted December 3, 2006 Author Share Posted December 3, 2006 BTW Medusa,which of the ones you recommended to the cats really lap up i.e. find really tasty? Is it necessary to rotate the flavours like you would with tinned? Thanks for your advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medusa Posted December 3, 2006 Share Posted December 3, 2006 My lot really like both Wellbeloved (I've bought all 3 sorts and they seem to prefer the chicken one) and whatever Royal Canin ones I've bought. They don't seem to need a rotation in flavours (but to be honest I'm not sure that my lot taste it on the way down- it's doubtful whether it hits the sides enough!), but there are different varieties for you to try with most of the dry foods these days. If both of your cats are over 7 or 8, and both are relatively picky eaters (by that I mean they don't inhale whatever you put in the bowl in 30 seconds like dogs, and one of mine) then getting a senior biscuit is a sensible plan- they have a different calorie and nutrient balance to compensate for lower activity and less eating. I think all of the brands make a senior food- if you shop at somewhere like West Street Pets I know that you can usually get some samples of different brands to try to narrow things down without going to the expense of buying a whole bag. Good luck with this- I'm sure your furries (and their teeth) will thank you in the long run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzy Posted December 3, 2006 Share Posted December 3, 2006 I always have these problems with my 2, and end up giving in as they drive me bonkers. Though they do occasionly stop eating wet food themselves, and i throw lots away, then when you decide to stop giving them it they drive you mad for it. Though i do sometimes worry about the ginger one surviving on just dry food as she only has 3 big teeth left. I might get there one day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowrose Posted December 3, 2006 Author Share Posted December 3, 2006 Funnily enough, my white cat has only a few teeth left but he is the one who eats the most dried (any!) food. The black one has a full set but is more slender and picky. However, he protests the least. At the end of day 2 we arent doing too bad. I cant shop on West ST but there are quite a few pet shops round Hillsborough, so I will try and get JWB or Royal Canin there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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