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Old April 10th, 2011, 04:22 AM
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Koteburo Koteburo is offline
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My cats are addicted :(

Scully and Mulder are 2 female cats that used to be on EVO 95% canned food. Not so long ago we ran out of food and the weather was awful so I fed them friskies for a couple of days, now they won't eat anything else. Scully semi tolerates EVO but Mulder won't touch it. I've been struggling for about 3 weeks now, trying different brands like GO, or different flavours from EVO, I've tried canned salmon and sardines (Which Mulder half ate and Scully didn't touch)
Today I tried a gourmet food that has 80% real tuna and first time they ate it, second feeding they won't touch it.
They're both hungry, they ask for food all the time, follow me to the kitchen, meow for food even stand on their feet. I know it's not a lack of appetite issue, I found out that what they want is Friskies that's all they will eat, if I don't feed then Friskies they will barely touch their food.
I feel cornered, I don't want to feed them friskies but if I don't they barely eat
Any advice to get them off friskies? I've tried so many foods and they just won't accept it. They must be addicted to those animal fats in the jelly from the byproducts
I've tried many things. Need help with these girls
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Old April 10th, 2011, 06:10 AM
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Throw the Friskies out! They can smell it as long as you have it in your place and they know if they hold out long enough, you will feed it to them. .

It would be like children seeing a cupcake on the counter and know if they don't eat their veggies, they will eventually get that cupcake.
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Old April 10th, 2011, 10:15 AM
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Lol, L4H, so true

However, if you're not a fan of cold turkey, you could try mixing whatever real food you're feeding with some Friskies and gradually lower the amount.
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Old April 10th, 2011, 10:20 AM
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That's canned Friskies, right? Start by mixing just the teensiest amount (like 1 tsp) of something better in with it for each meal. Very gradually, over the course of weeks if you have to, increase the amount of good food in proportion to Friskies, until you've eliminated the Friskies.

And then never let them get the taste of Friskies!
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Old April 10th, 2011, 10:35 AM
pattymac pattymac is offline
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Oh I know..I had the exact same problem..ran out of good stuff, roads were horrible, travel not recommended, the whole 9 yards!

So local store had Friskies....boys had to eat Friskies for a couple of days. Bobee is a pig, ate about 1/2 a can, threw it all up. So I did the mixing the Friskies into the good food when I was able to get them good stuff. I also got a few cans of the Almo as a topper. So now everyone is eating healthy again. I still have a couple of cans, but only for emergencies!

That stuff is like crack for cats or something.
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Old April 10th, 2011, 10:51 AM
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Love4himies Love4himies is offline
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Whoops didn't realize it was the canned friskies. I still say throw it out. They are not hungry enough and and waiting for it knowing you will give in and feed it to them.
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Old April 10th, 2011, 10:59 AM
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My kitty won't touch the friskies. She also does not touch the evo for some reason. Only two foods she eats is Wellness grain free (beef and chicken blend) and Fellidae grain free. Always leaves the peas in the bowl and that's it. I also fed once the BG canned grain free as well.
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Old April 10th, 2011, 06:22 PM
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Thank you so much for all the advice all of you gave me! I really needed an outside view because they're driving me nuts
I think (knowing how PICKY they are) I'm going to try the gradually mixing the good food with the friskies (I have a box of canned EVO that they wouldn't eat ) So that's it I'm starting today and I don't care if it takes me 2 months or so to fully change but I'll get them off the friskies.
I hope so... Gulp

Thanks a lot again to all of you taking the time to reply giving me some advice. You also made me laugh a lot (and it's all so true)
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Old April 11th, 2011, 12:34 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marty11 View Post
My kitty won't touch the friskies. She also does not touch the evo for some reason. Only two foods she eats is Wellness grain free (beef and chicken blend) and Fellidae grain free. Always leaves the peas in the bowl and that's it. I also fed once the BG canned grain free as well.
Oh good...I thought it was just mine that left the peas behind! 's!

Koteburo - have you tried the Go! brand? They have a grain free chicken/duck/turkey flavour. I have a friend with a "teenager kitty" and I've convinced her that kitty should be eating canned, grain free. She was feeding canned Friskies and Go! is the only grain free brand her guy will eat so far - seems to be similar in texture and flavour? Just a thought...
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Old April 27th, 2011, 12:00 AM
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Jeez cats are so stubborn!! I was talking to the manager of a local pet store here and we came to the conclusion that cats would starve to prove a point. It took 5 different grain free foods to find the one all of mine will eat!! 3 out of 5 of mine won't even touch canned food.

Good luck in trying to get your girls to eat better, it's really hard once they get a taste of the junk food!
Cats are so stubborn and difficult, but such a joy to have!
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  #11  
Old April 27th, 2011, 12:11 AM
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@luvsmallfurries
Actually I know the brand, I buy a small bag of dry Go because they like it as treats, so it might be a good idea to give the canned a try. It's more expensive than EVO but worth a shot.

@FurryMom
I couldn't agree more with you. That very day I tried starting with just a really small portion of EVO and 90% of Friskies. THEY KNEW IT. They wouldn't touch the food. Every time I try they attempt to starve and they won't touch it anymore. And it's known that long periods without food it's no good for cats. They could easily go 12+ hours without food if I didn't give up and offer the junk as long as they put something in their stomach.

I'll try the GO

And yes, stubborn!!! But so adorable and a joy to have
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Old May 25th, 2011, 05:55 PM
Twocents Twocents is offline
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Lightbulb Switching to canned or raw

Scroll down to see Tips for Transitioning cats to new foods on http://catinfo.org/

"The transition process often involves much more than just plunking down a new food item. Time, patience and tricks are often required."

Info is also there about not allowing cats to go too long without food or risk getting...

"Hepatic Lipidosis (Fatty Liver Disease): This is the most common metabolic liver disease of cats. Cats that go longer than 48 hours without eating, for any reason, are in danger of developing this serious, and often fatal, disease. Even though thin cats can end up with hepatic lipidosis, overweight cats are much more prone to experiencing this disease. Feeding a high-protein, low-carbohydrate canned diet helps keep cats at an optimal, healthy body weight and, in turn, makes them less likely to end up with fatty liver disease."

Our cats have been free of urinary crystals or cystitis since switching to canned food, then to grain-free canned food. One cat was especially difficult to transition, taking a couple of months. His urine is much more diluted now and he's at lower risk of developing urinary problems or blockages.


"Cats Need Plenty of Water With Their Food
The first paragraph on the Feline Urinary Tract Health page is as follows:(http://catinfo.org/?link=urinarytracthealth/

If I could have the reader of this webpage take away just one word from this discussion, it would be "water". If your cat is on a properly hydrated diet of 100% canned food - and no dry food - you stand a very good chance of never needing to read this webpage.

Water is an extremely important nutrient that contributes to overall health in every living creature. Couple this with the fact that cats do not have a very strong thirst drive when compared to other species, and you will understand why it is critical for them to ingest a water-rich diet. The cat's lack of a strong thirst drive leads to low-level, chronic dehydration when dry food makes up the bulk of their diet."


Best wishes
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Old May 29th, 2011, 03:52 AM
Bella's Bella's is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Koteburo View Post
Scully and Mulder are 2 female cats that used to be on EVO 95% canned food. Not so long ago we ran out of food and the weather was awful so I fed them friskies for a couple of days, now they won't eat anything else. Scully semi tolerates EVO but Mulder won't touch it. I've been struggling for about 3 weeks now, trying different brands like GO, or different flavours from EVO, I've tried canned salmon and sardines (Which Mulder half ate and Scully didn't touch)
Today I tried a gourmet food that has 80% real tuna and first time they ate it, second feeding they won't touch it.
They're both hungry, they ask for food all the time, follow me to the kitchen, meow for food even stand on their feet. I know it's not a lack of appetite issue, I found out that what they want is Friskies that's all they will eat, if I don't feed then Friskies they will barely touch their food.
I feel cornered, I don't want to feed them friskies but if I don't they barely eat
Any advice to get them off friskies? I've tried so many foods and they just won't accept it. They must be addicted to those animal fats in the jelly from the byproducts
I've tried many things. Need help with these girls

Mix a teaspoon of Evo in friskies and do that for about a 2-3 days that start adding more of Evo after a week. They won't realize you changed it on them :P and throw the friskes away once you add more and more of EVO and less of Friskies.
ahah I had to do that to my kitten I adopted she totally forgot about her science diet.
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Old May 29th, 2011, 08:56 AM
Longblades Longblades is offline
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Here is a trick my Vet suggested and has found to often work. Place a small amount of the new food in a dish beside the old food. The cat will eat the Friskies but over time will begin to associate the sight, smell and presence of the new food with what she is eating. The hope is that eventually the cat will try a small bit of the new food. In the meantime you throw out a lot of food. Once cat is eating bits of new food you start to reduce the amount of Friskies in the Friskies bowl and increase, s l o w l y, the new food in the other bowl.

I have not tried this but it sounds reasonable.
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Old May 30th, 2011, 11:39 AM
Twocents Twocents is offline
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Exclamation Dangers & Gradual Transition

Quote:
Originally Posted by Longblades View Post
Here is a trick my Vet suggested and has found to often work... I have not tried this but it sounds reasonable.
Yes, this method works well; it's one of the tips listed by Dr. Pierson on Catinfo.org, above (http://catinfo.org/), & one we've successfully used both for transitioning from kibble and switching from one brand of canned to another. (“Transitioning tips shortcut: http://catinfo.org/#Transitioning_Dr...o_Canned_Food_ )

A gradual transition is best. Suddenly switching to a new food can cause problems and make your cat really sick (diarrhea, loss of appetite resulting in hepatic lipidosis [fatty liver disease] from too much weight loss at one time, stress, stress-induced urinary problems, stress-induced infections, dehydration, ...).

A sudden change that leaves a cat too hungry also results in a cranky, agitated animal. Anyone with more than one feline knows this also results in more kitty disputes & fights.

My own experience has been that our cats do NOT like two different foods mixed together. Even if the food is the same brand & type, they dislike two different flavours combined in one dish. One of our cats was very stubborn; to get him off kibble we had to buy a variety of little cans of cat food to find ones he would eat. Then we had to transition him to the same food our other cats eat.


Since kibble and many treats are LOADED with bacteria, you should not add water to it and leave it out. This is why I would be careful about combining kibble together with canned food. If you want to prove this to yourself, put some pet kibble in a dish, add some water to it & leave it. If you do the same thing with canned food and compare the two, the wet kibble will go bad before the canned food because canned food is sterile.

People with kids in the house need to remember that pet kibble and treats should be handled like raw meat..


The Safety of Dry Food - http://catinfo.org/#The_Safety_of_Dry_Food


"Dry food is far from a clean, safe, and pathogen-free source of food for your cat. Please see the section on my Making Cat Food page which details just a few of the many pet food recalls due to contamination of commercial pet food with deadly chemicals, bacteria (salmonella, etc.), fungal mycotoxins, and storage mites. The issue of rancid fats in dry food is also discussed on the Making Cat Food page (http://catinfo.org/?link=makingcatfo...rs_of_Dry_Food).

…There is no doubt in my mind that many cats and dogs have become ill from the contaminants that are often present in dry pet foods yet nobody (including the veterinarian and pet owner) puts 2 + 2 together and realizes that the diet is the source of the pet's illness.

Keep in mind that dry foods are not refrigerated and they sit in warm warehouses, on pet store shelves, and in your cupboards for weeks or months before your pets consume them.

At the very least, dry food should be kept in the refrigerator but it is better to just refrain from feeding this type of food." Dr. Lisa Pierson, Catinfo.org
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