I have already put this post on Cat Chat but was advised to move it here as more advice might be given.. So there it is:

Well.. I think ive got a problem here.. 2 of my cats dont really eat as much as they suppose to.. I mean.. I used to think I was feeding Charlie too much as he was being sick etc but then I stopped leaving food over night and giving him similia and the sickness stopped.
Charlie used to eat 200g a day, if not less than that, when he was on his own. As we both work full time I just assumed he sleeps for most of the time this is why he hasnt got time to eat
Then we got Dennis, and now they seem to eat 200-250g between them a day! I fill their bowls up in the morning and as I dont want to waste anything I normally leave it until they finish with it.. The bowls are fully empty by the next morning, I do also leave dry over night, they nibble on it occasionally - not too much. I leave dry throughout the day but I know they dont eat it..
I feed them different kind of food.. Bozita, Animonda Carny, Grau Gourmet, Applaws, Almo Nature, cooked chicken & turkey.. I dont think they should be fussy or complain
I try to feed them Applaws and Almo Nature not as often as other brands because I wouldnt like them to get bored with them very quick but these 2 types (apart from the fresh cooked food) seem to be cats' favourite. If I put tin of Applaws down - 70g this will be eaten within 5 min, but if I put lets say Bozita etc I might have to wait whole day for 100g to be eaten..
I dont know what to do anymore
I think my concern might also be money as for 420g Almo Nature I would pay £5, but for 6x360g (2160g) of bozita just under £7.. I get over 5 times more with Bozita..
Both kitties are young - Charlie is not even 6 months old, Dennis is just over 3 months old. I feed them food for adult cats as I was advised here.. They are so-so active, not over the top - mainly at night.. They sleep for most of the day, lazy boys.
So.. How do you deal with ur fussy cats? Have you got any advice for me ??

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How much do they weigh? Are they putting on weight?

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Have you looked at their teeth? When kittens are fussy about food, it can often be due to teething trouble. If they have a few loose baby teeth which have been hanging on for a while, they can be very picky about what they will and won't eat. Mine just loves small dry kibbles (Hills) and hardly anything else!! He will SOMETIMES eat some wet Hills or Iams (as they are small, tender chicken chunks in gravy) but if his teeth are sore he will ONLY eat Hills dry!

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Ive just weight them.. The way Ive done it is to weigh myself and then pick up the kitty and go to the scales again.. so..

Charlie (5 months, 2 weeks and 3 days old): 2.7 KG = 5.9 LB
&
Dennis (3 months and 3 days old) 1KG = 2.2 LB

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Dennis sounds a little too light for his age.

The other reason why you should limit feeding applaws and almo nature wet is because both are only complementary foods; i.e. they don't contain all the nutrients cats needs and are therefore only the occasional treat food. Plenty of people on here will also testify that the shredded texture creates fussy eaters - not something you want them to get hung up about.

Would they perhaps be interested in raw food? You can get prepared minces - just wondering as you are already providing home cooked food; which again is just a treat as I don't think that what you are providing is balanced.

So, depending on how often you feed the homecooked food and the complementary wet it could just be that they are not getting the nutrients, inc fat, they need.

What would happen if you just stuck to the complete food and used treats (such as crushed up thrive treats) or other appetisers (such as brewer's yeast or forti flora) to get them to eat? Was the transition to pate food too quick?

they dont like any treats apart from the cat sticks.. Charlie has been with us for over 2 months now and he has always been fussy.. i dont think transition to pate food was too quick.. at the begining both of them really liked new food, but they just get bored so quick i try to only feed them applaws and almo nature as a treat but if i see that they had only couple nibbles troughout the whole day of normal complete food Id rather give them this "treat" food than have them being hungry..
As I said in my earlier post.. If i leave the rest of food in their bowls over night they will eat it.. Then in the morning Ill wash the bowls, fill them up with lets say 80g-100g food and the cirle is repeated, they will nibble a little bit and then just leave it.. Today I took dry food away for the day, I will only put it down in the night as maybe ive missed them eating that during day..

Also they are fed adult cat food - not the one for kittens..

Oh and maybe if that helps at all.. They do poop, roughly twice a day, never seen a runny poop either, which is a good sign i believe..

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Taking up the dry food is a good idea but the other way you could tell whether they are actually eating the dry food during the day is to weigh it in the morning and then again in the evening.

Cats aren't stupid; you are losing the fight of the will if you give them their treat food when they aren't eating their proper food. Treat food will fill their tums but will not provide them with the nutrients they need - so it really is something that you need to try to unlearn.

You say that they initially liked the food you were feeding them and that they are now bored. Does that mean that you need to include a few more brands in the rotation to make sure they don't get bored? Or did the new fussiness arise when you included the likes of applaws or almo nature? Or were they always part of their diet?

Personally, I would be inclined to get them a new, good quality complete food and to cut out the treat food completely. I think the other trick will be to find something that makes them eat their food and that is down to individual cats. My now-no-longer kitten will literally eat anything with certain chicken treats on it while one of my other cats will eat anything with certain dried prawns on it. Yet another one eats anything with brewer's yeast (while my fourth eats anything full-stop so doesn't need encouragement).


Edit: Would it be possible to change the way you are feeding slightly? Again, all cats are different but none of mine would touch food that has been out for too long and that is getting crusty. I also make sure that they get a clean plate for their next meal. I know that yours eat the food during the night but I am wondering whether they would perhaps eat more if the food was fresher? Just a stab in the dark really....

charlie became fussy before i introduced applaws and almo nature.. i thought that maybe they are so fussy cos they know ill change it to something different if they stop eating it.. i thought once.. i will give them some whiskas and will see what happens.. they had some and then left it.. lol strange cats.. they seem happy tho, they play together, play with their toys, they dont like any kind of treats like dreamies or whiskas temptations.. like i said only cat sticks..
i never used to feed charlie dry food when we first got him.. he was on wet high quality food only, but then i noticed that he wasnt eating enough and decided to put some dry down..
then when we got dennis, the breeder said he didnt like anything apart from dry and cooked chicken or turkey.. after a day he was eating charlies animonda carny and i was so so pleased.. but then it just stopped.. hes nibbles for 5 min and then leaves it :/
i dont even know which one has the leftover food at the night time when were asleep..
how would i know if the cats were hungry if they dont even come to the food bowls or meow if theres something they are not happy with..

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Okay, another stab in the dark - you could just stick to one brand of food for the foreseeable future so that they learn that hope (for some different, better, tastier food) doesn't spring eternal.

Really hard to say whether they have had too much variation of good quality food or not enough. Those cat sticks; can they be smashed to pieces and the dust/bits be used to sprinkle on the food?



PS: I really wish some breeders would learn a little more about responsible feeding of kittens and cats. Dry food and homecooked food, eh? Lovely.

i tried the sticks with food.. they would eat sticks from the top on the food but if i mix it with the food they will sniff it and leave it lol

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