Kitty won't eat dry food.
 

My boyfriend and I adopted a 6 year old shelter cat from Petland 2 days ago.
She is wonderful, but she won't eat the dry food we are trying to feed her. She has only taken a few nibbles of the dry food we have set out for her since we got her. The formula is Nutrience adult indoor cat. She will eat canned wet food, but seems to dislike the dry food.

I have tried mixing some of the dry with the wet, but she only took a few nibbles and walked away.

The reason why this is a problem is because i am a college student and i can't afford to feed her wet food everyday.

Any suggestions on how i could make the dry food more appealing to her?

Any tips would be great. Thanks.

P.S.
We named her Cheshire Cat. :)

[IMG]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a383/Clawzz/Cat/IMG_0842.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a383/Clawzz/Cat/IMG_0845.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a383/Clawzz/Cat/IMG_0843.jpg[/IMG]

You know,dry food is not good for her anyway,wet food(canned)is much better for her health.
I know good canned like Wellness,Innova and others are not cheap,but in the long run will keep you out of the vet-office.
Here a 5,5oz of Wellness is about $1.89+tax and I would think I can/day would do it for her.
I realize you are a student,but in adopting a kitty,which is great:thumbs upyou have to try to do what is best for her.
She is beautiful,by the way:cloud9:
Actually even Fancy Feast is better than dry food.

A good web site for you to read is [url]www.catinfo.org[/url]. It will help you understand why canned food, or raw, is so important to your cat's health. Please consider keeping her on canned and ditching the dry. Nutrience is not a cheap dry food either. I bet in the long run it evens out.
Thanks for adopting an older kitty. That is wonderful!!

I do understand that wet food is better for her and if i could i would feed her that all the time, but i just simply do not have the money. My father is supporting me until i graduate college. When i start working as a medical administrative assistant i will be able to afford it. I just really can't right now. I went and bought 7 5.5 oz. cans of Wellness chicken and lobster formula and it cost me $20. That adds up to $80 a month. :(

[QUOTE=claw;1017443]I went and bought 7 5.5 oz. cans of Wellness chicken and lobster formula and it cost me $20. That adds up to $80 a month. :([/QUOTE]

Where the heck are you buying Wellness from that it's costing you $2.86 per can? Here in Calgary, it's only $1.89 per can, and if I get the larger 13 oz cans, it's even cheaper per ounce. Plus many pet stores will give a discount when you buy a case.

But even feeding cheap canned Friskies or 9 Lives or getting a case of Fancy Feast when they have it on sale at PetSmart would be a better idea than feeding kibble. At the very least, make sure you feed half of her meals as wet food.

The cheapest option of all would be to make your own raw diet, provided you do some research first and ensure it's balanced for all the essential nutrients. [url]http://www.catinfo.org/?link=makingcatfood[/url]

Right now our Canadian Tire has Friskies on for .49 a can. If you can stick to the pate style and not the chunky or shredded styles it isn't that bad. Even at .59 a can which is the regular price it is $18.29 for 31 days plus tax. Surely the dry food costs about that or more if it is good quality? You could throw in a can of Fancy Feast or two for a treat occasionally and it would still work out less than your dry. Then once you are working at a job where you could afford to feed her better food you can do a slow switch to the better food. Would that work for you?

[QUOTE=sugarcatmom;1017456]Where the heck are you buying Wellness from that it's costing you $2.86 per can? [url]http://www.catinfo.org/?link=makingcatfood[/url][/QUOTE]

Petland. I am a club pet member, which is supposed to give me a discount on everything i buy in the store, but i was so tired and preoccupied when i went there that i didn't notice that the cashier forgot to ask me for my club card, so i didn't get the discount. :(

I know i could probably budget better to be able to afford the good quality wet food and in a month my rent goes down to $0, and i will only be paying hydro, phone, and internet bills as my boyfriend and I will be apartment building caretakers.

[QUOTE=claw;1017464]Petland. I am a club pet member, which is supposed to give me a discount on everything i buy in the store, [/quote]

Yikes, how much of a discount do they give you? Looks like they jack the price way up first, so in reality you aren't getting much of a discount at all. I'd suggest going to PetSmart instead, if you can. They're having a huge sale right now with tons of canned food at much cheaper prices. Avoderm is only 85 cents a can, Authority is decent and only 75 cents, Innova is $1.80 for the big 13 oz cans, Blue Buffalo, Pro Plan, Nutro, etc are all on sale. [SIZE="1"](Another reason to stay away from Petland is that they sell puppy-mill pups).[/SIZE]

Wow,$ 2,89/can,Pet-Land is ripping you off for sure:yell:
SCM and 14+ have given you very good options and I would cancel the Club member-ship to Pet-Land,especially if the support Millers.

You can buy a large can of Fellidae under 2 bucks and that's the grain free, the other one is even cheaper.

There is only one Petsmart in Winnipeg and it is no where near me. I would have to drive for an hour to get there and drive another hour back.
Also, i don't really think that Petsmart is any better than Petland regarding the mills and such.

Thanks for all the help.

Petsmart works through shelters, SPCAs, for the animals they have for adoption. They do not act as a broker for millers. Just an FYI

[QUOTE=14+kitties;1017530]Petsmart works through shelters, SPCAs, for the animals they have for adoption. They do not act as a broker for millers. Just an FYI[/QUOTE]

Petland does the same thing. Also that doesn't change the fact that i can't get there.

Would Petvalu work? There are a bunch in my current area and in the area i'm moving to.

[QUOTE=claw;1017535]Petland does the same thing. Also that doesn't change the fact that i can't get there.

Would Petvalu work? There are a bunch in my current area and in the area i'm moving to.[/QUOTE]

Actually, PetValu would more than work!!! They have most good brands of cat food. Some even sell raw now. I would be going there. The PV we have has very friendly and knowledgeable staff.

Pet Value has a house brand of canned food, Performatrin than is decent food. Perhaps that will be in your budget, even if you mix it with a less quality brand.

Another more inexpensive cat food that is decent quality is Felidae. It is sold in the large cans which is much more economical.

[QUOTE=14+kitties;1017536]Actually, PetValu would more than work!!! They have most good brands of cat food. Some even sell raw now. I would be going there. The PV we have has very friendly and knowledgeable staff.[/QUOTE]

We posted together :lovestruck:

Fantastic. :) I will head there the next time i need to buy cat food. Thanks so much you guys. :D

[QUOTE=Love4himies;1017538]We posted together :lovestruck:[/QUOTE]

:thumbs up:lovestruck::grouphug:

[QUOTE=claw;1017535]Petland does the same thing.
[/QUOTE]

While Petland does also make space available for rescue groups to display animals available for adoption, they ALSO sell puppy mill pups. [url]http://www.animallawcoalition.com/companion-animal-breeding/article/620[/url]

But nevermind all that, definitely go to PetValu instead. I'm glad you have other options! Happy shopping.... :thumbs up

Just a thought, would Petland Canada and Petland USA be the same? It looks to me that the article you posted is about Petland USA.

P.S.
I went to Petvalu this afternoon and the cashier was super helpful and polite. She knew a lot about every product that i asked her about. She knows way more about the stuff they sell than the apparently highly trained staff at Petland. When my boyfriend and I adopted Cheshire Cat from Petland the girl that was helping us didn't seem to know much about anything. She didn't even know what DSH stood for, i had to tell her. She didn't even know that they sold cat food dishes. :S

P.P.S.
They gave me a free 3 oz. can of Performatrin Ultra chicken stew cat food. :)

[QUOTE=claw;1017543]Just a thought, would Petland Canada and Petland USA be the same? It looks to me that the article you posted is about Petland USA.[/quote]

Petland Inc, based out of Ohio, is the parent company of Petland in Canada. So yes, they are the same.

One of the board of directors of PIJAC (Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council of Canada) is Robert Church, who also happens to own a Petland store here in Calgary. I've heard him on radio and TV interviews defending Petland's practice of buying puppies from the Hunte Corporation, the largest (and sleaziest) puppy broker in North America.

Hmm. :( That sickens me. Puppy mills are horrible!

I can honestly say that i won't be going back to Petland. Not just because of the mills but because they are super over priced and their staff don't seem to know what they are doing in the least. My boyfriend use to work in the Petland location we adopted Cheshire Cat from and he told me that the store staff (my boyfriend worked in the office doing data entry) have to pass a written test before they are allowed on the floor to sell stuff and do animal adoptions. Apparently they don't train the employees very well or their written test is just that easy because they really suck at their jobs. How do you not know that the store you work in sells cat food bowls? Ugh.

Higher Protein?
 

Hiya Claw,
I'm glad to hear you rescued Cheshire Cat, she's gorgeous, I love the markings on her face. Because she's a mature cat, could her dislike for dry kibble be as a result of sore/bad teeth? An extraordinary percentage of dogs and cats over the age of 3 suffer from periodontal disease of some sort, I'm not sure what her background is but its possible that might be the cause.

If that isn't the case its entirely possible she's just being picky, cats are notoriously finicky eaters.

This is very possible. I've looked at her teeth a few times and something doesn't look right to me. I am going to take her to the vet asap to get her teeth checked. I also really want to book her for a teeth cleaning.