Cat Chat Feline Forum

For some time now, one of my four cats has got a taste for what we eat. Like ham, chicken, turkey, mince, all the usual meats that us humans eat. He used to like the science plan Vetessentials, and Whiskers with whitefish, but now wont look at them! Soon as we have our meals, he is around our feet mewing for our food. He goes ages without cat food waiting for us to have have our meals in the hope of some tasty treats. Tried shutting the kitchen door when preparing food, but with his strong sense of smell, tries to claw the door down!
So how can we get him back to eating cat food? Some say "he will eat when he is hungry", but that is not the case. Do we let him starve until he decides to eat his own food? Anyone else had this problem?

have you tried him on any of the high end high protein foods sold by Zooplus? Grau, Catz, Feringa etc - they are very meaty, and much more like the meat on your plate

they cost more than supermarket food, but less is required because these sort of foods don't contain fillers

I'd also offer a high protein dry food overnight, such as A Taste of the Wild, or any of the other grain free types

Our cat Max spent most of his life eating human food - he would eat cat food but loved all things we had - soup, mince, fish, chicken, tuna and his favourite of all toffee yogurt. It didn't matter how hard we tried to dissuade him he would still be there tapping my husband's leg each meal time who of course had started this in the first place by giving him stuff! The second I entered the kitchen to start cooking a meal there he was behind me. I'm sure it can't have been good for him but he was almost 14 when he passed away a fortnight ago. I'm afraid I've no words of advise on how to stop your boy other than perhaps mixing his normal food with a few titbits gradually reducing them till he's back to eating normally.

People that say "They will eat when they are hungry enough" don't understand cats - that includes some vets. I agree with Kay re trying high meat content wet food. You could also try Nature's Menu.. I probably give my far too much 'human' food, but thankfully, they also eat cat food. Tonight, One of mine (new boy, Domino) had canned tuna AND some of the mince I was cooking for Burritos (only browned mince, no spices) but enough is enough and so he has cat food down. Annoyingly the 2 cat foods he seems to favour over his own are Lazarus's prescription food and Kylie's Hill's 11+ food.

The bottom line is, as log as they are eating some complete cat food, I don't think our food will do them much harm.

Maybe you should sit with a plate of cat food and let him beg for it

Bear in mind that starving cats for more than a couple of days can cause fatty liver disease.

Kylie isn't a fan of real meat, but she loves fish. I adopted her when she was 2 and she is 15 now. She has had fish, either tinned tuna or boiled (microwaved) coley most days since I adopted her, and she is doing fine.

MarkB wrote:Maybe you should sit with a plate of cat food and let him beg for it

I can picture the scene, sitting at the table with a plate of Felix AGAIL in front of you, going 'mmmm num num num' and the cats shugging their shoulders saying, 'yeh whatever, does that mean we can have the chicken you've just cooked?'

I was in Pets at Home last week. A woman was buying foil trays of dog food. She told the assistant that it was delicious - the assistant smiled and the woman said "Well it smelled to so lovely, I thought I would give it a taste and it was lovely - no wonder my dogs love it so much"

I forget what the brand was. I know Dog and Cat food are entirely different. I often taste meds, but would fancy trying cat food

I recently started my lot on James Wellbeloved Fish dry food. They love it - and I have to admit it does smell nice. Not sure if I'd try it though

Hi Kev:). What about mixing some of your food with some cat food? You might be able to slowly increase the cat food until he's used to it again.

After trying lots of different cat foods, finally found one he likes. Gourmet Solitare. Come in small 85g cans, different flavors. So far the three I tried him with, likes the plate clean. Could be expensive? 50p a can in Asda. Have to see if I can them anywhere cheaper?

I think 50p is a reduced price, I'm afraid

have you tried any of the other kinds of Gourmet? Zooplus sell them in bulk, at a price cheaper than the supermarkets, but not the Solitaire, and there are some mixed packs you can try out

my two like the Pate and the Double Delicacies, and seem to prefer the tinned stuff rather than the pouches, which suits me, as it's easier to clean and recycle tins, as well as get the last crumbs out