Benny is my 2 year old rescue cat that I have had for about 6 months now. When I first got him he was fed on Gourmet and Whiskas as that was what he was used to at the rescue.

I then decided to switch him onto something much better for him. I tried Grau at first but he wouldn't even touch it. I then tried Bozita, which he tried once and wouldn't eat after that. I am now in the process of trying Smilla (he's eaten it a couple of times but now it gets left). I have always given him some of the new food with some of the Gourmet so if he doesn't eat the new food he doesn't go hungry. If he doesn't eat it immediately it gets left until dinner time when I put some fresh out!

I've also tried him on Animonda Carny Ocean which I know is complementary but this seems to be the only new food he will eat! He has approx 2 tins of this a week mixed in with something else. He also occasionally has Sheba complementary chicken flavour food as well.

Can anyone provide any advice?? I'm really struggling with what to give him. I don't want to go back to Whiskas but I don't want him to be hungry either!

He also has a little raw as a treat every week as well. He has 2 small bits of lamb heart a week and a few bits of raw chicken if I'm cooking it for us.

Hi Rachel,

My one year old cat sounds a bit similar - she loves Felix (but only the As Good As It Gets range) and I find it very difficult to get her to eat any of the high meat content foods recommended on here.

Kinvara won't touch Grau, or Mrs Smilla, or Animonda Carny. And she won't eat Bozita chunks in jelly or gravy (although she used to), but she WILL eat Bozita pate, as long as it's reindeer! And even with that, I often have to mix it with Felix AGAIG.

So, don't give up - try different flavours and styles. If you've only tried the bozita chunks, you could try the pate style. I think there's an offer on zooplus at the moment for the reindeer flavour pate.

There'll be others on here who can give you advice about the raw feeding - it sounds as though Benny would take well to having a raw diet if you wanted to move over to that completely.

If anyone has any advice about how to stop a cat being fussy, please share!!!

My cat's are the same, i have such a hard time trying to get them eating the good stuff.

Mine won't eat Schmusy tins but will eat the pouches: Schmusy Vollwert Flakes 12x 100g Mixed Variety Pack: Great Deals on Schmusy Cat Food at zooplus.

Also have a try of the Miamor pouches: Miamor Ragout Royale Trial Pack: Great Deals on Miamor Cat Food Pouches at zooplus and the Animonda pouches: Animonda Rafiné Soupé Trial Pack 8 x 100 g: Great Deals on Animonda Cat Food at zooplus

Butches Classic orange tins get eaten up and are much better than Whiskas, although it's cheaper.

I tried the reindeer Bozita pate as well but he didn't like that either! He also wasn't keen on the Bozita chunks in any flavour!

He usually loves his food so the he must really not like the new food to leave it!

I do think he would take to raw but I'm not sure I want to completely make that switch. I would prefer him to have some raw and some wet food really as with raw diets they can miss out on things and need supplements. Plus a raw diet makes it more awkward for someone else to take care of him if we go away! I will do some more reading up on raw though as I would like him to try more raw food of different types.

Thanks for responding and good luck with your fussy kitty

I will have a look at those links and maybe try him on some of that! I hope all this trying new food types isn't contributing to him becoming more and more fussy!

Has your cat tried Grau, Bozita etc?

Hey Rachel001, a couple of thoughts.

Firstly, it is quite a leap to make from Gourmet/Whiskas to the likes of Grau. Initially when I was reading this I wondered whether it is the consistency that your cat objects to but then you say that he likes the Animonda Carny fish one, which is also a pate, isn't it?

Instead of trying more foods, I am wondering whether he could be "persuaded" to eat the food that you would like him to eat using some trickery. Here are a few that I know have worked on fussy cats in the past

1) if he has some favourite treats, then try crushing them up into a powder or bits and coating the food you would like him to eat with it. If that works then over time gradually reduce the amount of crushed-up treats you are using

2) the same as above but using his favourite kibble

3) tuna water. Considering that he likes the Carny Ocean you could get a human tin of tuna, decant it all into a tuppaware, top up with water and put in the fridge. Then drizzle some on the food you want him to eat. If that works then again just gradually reduce the amount of tuna water you use until he eats it without any trickery.

4) Brewer's yeast - just sprinkle some on the food - a lot of cats cannot resist. Don't use on cats with kidney issues though (high in phosphorus)

5) crushed up/powdered cat-nip and sprinkled on food.

6) With the Grau, did you try the tuna/fish version?

Considering that he seems to like the bits of raw he gets you could explore feeding commercially prepared raw for some, half, or however many of his meals.

Hope that helps

Hi,

The Carny fish one isn't a pate. Its flakes of fish with prawns added in. Its only a complementary food and I think its called Ocean but I might be wrong.

The only persuasion I've tried so far is mixing the Smilla with some of the complementary Sheba chicken he likes but he completely ignored it! I will try crushing some of his Smilla Hearties into it as he absolutely loves these!

I will definitely try the tuna water, catnip and brewers yeast (I don't know what this is but I intend to find out!) I will give this a go and report back!

Nope I didn't try the fish Grau. I didn't know there was a fish one. I bought the meat multipack with all the different flavours like chicken and beef but he wouldn't eat any of them.

I would prefer to give him actual raw meat rather than the minced ones as I've just been reading your sticky on raw feeding and I definitely would prefer to try this. At the moment he just has a very small amount of heart with this Smilla twice a week but I am looking to experiment with different types of raw.

Thanks for responding

Oops my mistake re the Carny Ocean. I don't bother with complementary foods but just presumed that because it is from the Carny range, the texture would be the same. Well, never assume, right?

Ok, so it could possibly be a texture thing. But you said that you have also tried the Bozita. Did you try the chunks in jelly/gravy?

Yes, they've had most of what Zooplus sell now. I've got a new order arriving next week with some Yarrah for them to try. They basically dislike everything that is good for them. All 3 hate Bozita in all varieties, it didn't even get a lick. Schmusy, Smilla didn't get touched either.

I'm trying to get them to eat Grau, but they're not very keen. I think because my cat's have been on Felix and the like for most of their lives, it's like putting a salad in front of them instead of their usual happy meal.

I want to get them some NI mince, it's just finding the room in the freezer for all those tubs.

So far I've been blessed with cats that are total gannets, so have never had to worry about them clearing the bowls.

However, I also keep ponies, and it can be a battle to get them to accept changing from feed sweetened with mollasses, which they adore, to sugar free feed that's much better for them. The generally accepted way to do the switch is to start by mixing a small amount of new feed in with the old feed, then gradually increase the proportion of new feed until eventually the old feed can be discarded completely. That way the animal's taste buds have a chance to adjust gradually to the change..... maybe you could adapt something similar with your cat?