I always told people who has constipated cats to switch to wet food but I know it's not that simple. Especially cats who grew up with eating only dry food. Goma used to eat only dry food, then I have to switch him eating wet food when he was diagnosed with Megacolon. I must say it wasn't easy but with different techniques it is totally possible. Here are some ways you can switch dry food to wet food.
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First of all, patience is a key when it comes to switching food. Don't give up with just first try. Never give food that you want your cat and stop their old food. This is dangerous.
• Try sprinkle your cat's favorite treats on to the wet food. Sometimes Goma refuse to eat wet food that is new but when I sprinkle
Bonito Flake, he will eat them. If your kitty likes chicken stock, cheese and milk etc... you can also put that on top of the wet food as well.
• Try blending the canned food with food processor
. Goma likes the smooth texture and heightens the yummy smell. Also it is easier to eat as well. Sometimes the can food has bigger chunks Goma won't eat it. Blending it also warms the food little bit as well and Goma likes that even more.
• Food dish can make a huge difference. Goma used to have simple ceramic bowl that was low on the ground and he didn't like that. So I changed it to
footed glass cup he started to eat more of the wet food! I know it is strange but sometimes that's all you need to do. Each cat have different preference when it come to food dishes so experiment with that. For flat face kitties like Goma and Persian kitties I recommend raised dish it is simply easier for them to eat.
• Mix it up. Like humans cats gets tired of eating same flavor of wet food every single day. I normally have 3-5 different flavor wet food in hand and try to switch it around. I think this way is the best because he can get diverse nutrients that way. In order to do this you need to try many different kind of wet food but after a while, you start to learn what your cat likes. For example, Goma likes Tuna and Anchovies flavors. So I know as long as his wet food contains either ingredient he will eat it. I've been feeding Goma wet food for 3 years now and now I have few brands of wet food that he likes on my list that I can give. Following are Goma's favorite wet food now!
Did you try everything? Don't give up. For kitty who refuse to eat wet food no matter what. here is something you can still try:Step 1. Take the dry food and add water in it. Start with little bit of water and if your cat eats that then increase the water gradually day by day.
Step 2. When your cats gets used to it then next you can try to smash the dry food with water. You do this so your cats gets used to eating wet food's texture.
Step 3. Take the smashed wet food, mix it with wet food that you want your cat to start eating. To start 1 tbsp and increase the amount gradually until your cat can eat whole can of wet food! This method also works if you are switching low-quality canned food to high-quality ones as well.
Last Resort....• Syringe-feeding the wet food. I don't really recommend this because it is time consuming and very hard for cat. But this is only sure way that your cat will eat the wet food. But only try this when everything else I recommend fails. If this is too much then you can syringe feed water instead, since the main purpose of feeding wet food is it's moisture content.
Do you have any other tips that was helpful? Please
e-mail me so I can add your tips to this list! Thanks.
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