Adrian is fussy about what he eats out of. Infact, it seems that any bowl, plate, other item found in a kitchn, is not doing it for him and the only acceptable option is for me to pick out individual bits of food from bowl/plate/silver salver/you name it, and place it on the kitchen floor just infront of him. He will then deign to wolf it down.

I've tried sprinkling with Brewer's Yeast (thanks for the tip Hobbs2004), but he's not interested, same with catnip. I've tried different types of food - loaf, pate, mince/raw. I've tried him on every type of brand of food that we've got out here. I've tried mixing with water/not mixing with water/mixing with dry (urgh)/not mixing with dry. None of it makes any difference........... do I have to resign myself to feeding him off the floor? And giving him one bit of food at a time?

Maybe I need to feed him off a chopping board or something and spread his food out for him? Has anyone got any other ideas as when we go away I don't think whoever looks after them will do this?

Oh, and he's got no problem with his mouth, its been checked (although I doubt the ability of the vets out here) and he chomps down on his food quite happily when its placed neatly infront of his little paws.

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I had been told that the training procedure with cats was difficult. It's not. Mine had me trained in two days. ~Bill Dana

Talk about being firmly wrapped around his paw!

It seems as though you have explored every single receptacle in the household and he still prefers eating off the floor? So, I take it you have tried a flat plate (and a silver platter lol)?

One of my boys thinks that the meat tastes particularly lovely off the floor, so he drags his raw meat off the plate right next to it and eats it there. Not much of an issue as the floor is wipeable.

Raw feeders, particularly in the US, feed their cats (and dogs) off towels that than can be washed. Since you are feeding commercial food though I am not sure whether that really is an option for you as I could just about imagine the mess a pate food would make

What happens when you put the food on a plate or other relatively flat surface? He doesn't touch it all? Even if you persevere?

You got it! One look at his little cat face....... I'm pathetic.

Yep, even a flat plate doesn't work - I've even tried a see though plastic plate as well as an opaque one. (I'm half bloody tempted to get the silver out! )

I'd be fine with that, but he won't even pull his food onto the floor himself.

indeed!

He'll sniff it, give a few half-hearted licks, maybe one bite then walks away.

I think my husband is inclined to just leave him, and I've tried that, but he just starves himself and he's not fat at all, so he's no spare capacity. Should I just try for longer? <gulp>

Thanks for the discussion and help, I've got two and a half months to sort something out before we go on holiday for 10 days.

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I had been told that the training procedure with cats was difficult. It's not. Mine had me trained in two days. ~Bill Dana

Am liking the towel idea for raw food.

Hi Fluffed- Sorry I can't help at all with suggestions but cats can be really weird, I'm assuming he has a good appetite? has he always been like this? if his appetite is good it could just be a funny phase he's going through and he may get over it. Or he may not be overly keen on the food your giving him although I know you said he's the same with all food. Is there anything he really loves as a treat, chicken, tuna etc? If so if you put it in his bowl is he the same with this?

My cat used to refuse to eat boiled chicken unless I picked it out of her bowl and put it on the floor one piece at a time. Now she can't get enough of it, so much so that last time she had diarrhea I put her on boiled chicken for two days and when I started to mix in cat food she would refuse to eat it and just pick the chicken out. I had a right time trying to get her to eat her normal food again.

This morning I used a chopping board and spread the food out over it - that seems to have been more successful than anything else so far. I think I have a cat that can't eat when any bits of food are touching. He has OCD.

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I had been told that the training procedure with cats was difficult. It's not. Mine had me trained in two days. ~Bill Dana

What type of floor do you have? For sheer convenience sake I would suggest getting a tea tray with a low edge that matches your floor (if wooden) and have this as his cat bowl. At least that way it will be easier to clean If you have tiles then I guess a spare tile?

They develop funny little habits and rituals. After getting a virus a while ago, Girly started insisting on being hand-fed her food on the counter (with pate food, you can imagine the mess on my fingers). It took ages because she eats quite slowly. Since I realised that there is no way a cat sitter could be expected to do this, I eventually got her to eat from her bowl again (by picking up the pinch of food and then lowering it back into the bowl..repeat endlessly...). However, she still insists on being fed on the counter and one of us standing next to her until she finishes eating.

Honestly speaking, if it was my cat, and I had made sure there wasn't any actual problem with the food/area/bowl it was served in, I would leave him to it. He would eat when he was hungry. A cat without a medical problems would not starve itself.

I won't accept any fussiness from my son, so I certainly wouldn't do so with my feline friends.

Change of food would be the only thing I would accept as a reason for them to turn their noses up, but thankfully they have been happy with all flavours/foods so far (thanks Hobbs) - oh, except raw chicken and scrambled egg!

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I know it's not ideal, but if you get really stuck, you could always just use a cat placemat

Cat Placemats: on Sale now at zooplus

At least you can pick it up off the floor and wash it

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"Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it."