Fussy cat - advice needed.

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ricecakes
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Fussy cat - advice needed.

Post by ricecakes »

Hello, new user here.
Our cat is 12, been with us since he was a kitten and is an outdoor cat. The last few years he has become very fussy with his wet food. We do also have dry cat biscuits for him which he eats occasionally but he still hassles for wet food.

I don’t know exactly when it started to happen but, now most of the time he tends to just lick the jelly and not eat the meat chunks or just doesn’t touch the wet food at all. Even when we mash it up and mix it in with biscuits he just licks it off/turns his nose up.

We have looked online for any answers but none of the advice offered has worked or we are already doing it/tried it (eg: keeping wet food at room temperature, cleaning his bowls every day, giving the cat space when he eats, changing brands slowly, feeding him on a schedule).

We have tried changing brands on multiple occasions, changing the food itself (eg, going from jelly to patte, soup or just dry food on its own), changing the age range of the food etc.....nothing is working.

We have ruled out tooth/gum problems as the vet has found nothing wrong with them and he eats hard biscuits and treats just fine.

So, what do we do? It’s getting a bit ridiculous now as we are wasting so much money on food he won’t eat. Could this be a health issue that neither us nor the vet are aware of? A behaviour issue? Or is our cat just very fussy?
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fjm
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Re: Fussy cat - advice needed.

Post by fjm »

Have you had blood tests done? If there is no physiological reason for low appetite I would try meat - half a raw chicken wing, or some chicken thigh meat, raw or cooked (no cooked bones, of course). If he enjoys those you can consider working out a balanced home prepped diet, and if not you can always eat the rest yourself!
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Kay
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Re: Fussy cat - advice needed.

Post by Kay »

Mouth problems don't always show up during an examination because cats are not up for opening wide - my vet missed an infected tooth until I asked for an examination under anesthesia. Eating biscuits isn't always a useful sign, as a lot of cats swallow them whole, whereas wet food can sting if there is a sore place in the mouth.

Try giving his mouth and breath a good sniff, as a foul smell would be a real giveaway
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