I thought my cat was intolerant of food changes. When I adopted her, she came with canned food, grocery store variety, most of which she would not eat. She’d been raised in a household with two other cats, so I think now that perhaps either she ate canned food there because of the competition or she did not eat the canned food at all, unnoticed. I’ll never know for sure. I bought a large variety of canned foods, narrowing down her dislikes (a very long list) and her likes—a very short list.
She liked fish.
I bought every flavor of fishy canned cat food that I could find. She would try a few bites and reject the rest, leaving it to go stiff in her bowl. I would have to throw out most of every can, which was not only wasteful—it was becoming spendy, too. I was convinced there must be at least one canned food that she would eat consistently, but, regardless of her initial interest, she did not like any single flavor enough to eat all of it. I was buying the most expensive canned cat food available, and my cat was still hungry.
I bought tuna, salmon, shrimp—all made for humans—which she would try, then reject as soon as I invested in more. It was frustrating. Eventually, I gave up completely on the canned food. It was simply too pricey to throw away when the cat turned up her nose at it. I settled on a dry food, grocery store variety, that she did eat. It wasn’t the highest quality, but it was what she liked, or at least tolerated. Her fur looked shiny, her eliminations were healthy, all was good . . . until one day I could no longer find that brand in the stores. It had been discontinued.
What to do now?
I settled on another grocery store brand, a new variety that appeared to contain many of the same ingredients as the discontinued food she had enjoyed. It had been years since a food change. My hope was that she would not reject it completely. If she did, what would I feed her?
She did not reject the new food!
She didn’t even seem to notice the difference. I’d love to read my cat’s Yelp review of it, but since that’s not possible, I could judge only by how much and how often she ate—and all of that was normal! I was delighted. The only downside of the new food was that I noticed her eliminations were somewhat more smelly than they had been on the old, discontinued food.
I mentioned that change to the owner of the non-chain pet supply store where I buy dog and ferret food. Yes, I was told, it was possible that a different nutritional component could cause smellier eliminations. Plus, of course, the new grocery store brand had just as many unnecessary ingredients (fillers) as the old grocery store brand. I was given several small samples of dry food to try, since my cat was picky. I did not try those samples immediately, but when I did, I was truly surprised.
I probably wouldn’t have tried the samples at all if I hadn’t been running out of cat food. It was a very hot week and the air conditioning in my vehicle was out, so I wanted to hold off going shopping until early the next day, when it would be cooler. I opened one of the samples and poured it into my cat’s almost empty feeder, feeling guilty that I had nothing to offer her except a food she would no doubt reject. The cat almost immediately proved me wrong.
She ate it. She liked it!
When I shopped the next day, ironically, I was unable to find the grocery brand to which I had recently switched her, even though I went to two stores. They both carried the chicken version, but not the salmon. It was very frustrating. The increasing heat outside made me deeply reluctant to search out yet another store that also might not have what I was looking for. Instead, I bought an entirely different brand of dry food that resembled what she’d been eating. I feared rejection. (I wouldn’t have blamed her!)
The cat did not reject it. Surprise, surprise!
She ate it as if she could not tell the difference.
I promised her I would go back to her most recent “old” salmon-flavored food as soon as possible, although it now appears that none of the stores at which I regularly shop carries it any longer. I guess it didn’t sell as well as the chicken version. Instead, when I shopped at my local family-owned pet supply store, I explained about my cat’s (former) pickiness and consulted with the sales staff about the samples she had liked. This store’s policy on foods “rejected” by critters is that open bags can be returned for store credit. That makes it very easy to exchange one food that doesn’t work for another that might better please the animal. In other words, there was no financial risk in trying a new food.
I bought a very good-quality dry cat food—salmon and tuna–flavored—which compared favorably cost-wise to several other possible choices. It does not have different colors and it does not have different shapes. I am firmly convinced that neither my cat nor I care one bit about the shapes and colors of her food! She wants it to taste good. I want it to be healthy for her and affordable for me. It’s the content of the food, its nutritional value, that counts, not all the fancy processing and packaging.
I brought home a small sack of the new food and poured a cup of it into the remains of the most recent grocery store cat food, then mixed them together. It wasn’t long before the cat hopped up to her feeder on top of the fridge (where it will never be interfered with by the dogs) and checked it out.
She didn’t just like it—she appeared to love it! And she still does.
I’m now watching my slender cat carefully to be sure she doesn’t overeat. Once I poured the rest of the good-quality kibble into her feeder, every time I go near the fridge, she’s there on top of it, eating! This food is the biggest hit my cat has experienced in her years in our home. Hurray!
Nothing stays the same, of course—cats can change, too. I had made up my mind that my cat was picky back before the food she finally likes was even invented! And I found that food only through a long process of elimination, trying all available alternatives until I hit on one that stuck.
Years ago, veterinarians and animal nutritionists advised choosing a food your animal will eat and feeding him that food for the rest of his life. We were told that switching brands or formulas could cause our pets digestive upsets, diarrhea, vomiting. We were told, if we had to switch, to mix the new food into the old food over a month’s time or more, to decrease the possible ill effects on the pets. Today, the advice is different.
Why?
To be honest, it’s mainly because of recalls.
That’s right. These days, your pet’s food could be recalled—taken off the market suddenly—at any moment. It doesn’t happen just to small, independent manufacturers. It happens to the biggest, most popular, most profitable brands, owned by huge national corporations with huge advertising budgets.
Pet foods are recalled every day, for a broad range of reasons. And all those reasons have to do with one thing: someone discovers that something in or on the pet food may be harmful to your pet. It could be salmonella. It could be foreign objects. It could be poison. Or the company could simply not find it profitable any more to make the product. You’ll walk into the store and your pet’s food will no longer be available on the shelves. Which is why, these days, you need alternatives.
Now, I’m not suggesting you switch your pet’s food haphazardly.
As always, you should do the research. Luckily, that’s easier today than ever, with so much information online. Look for sources that are objective; there are many. Compare the nutritional content of what you’re feeding now with similar varieties. Is there something better available at a more reasonable price? Talk to staffers at a locally owned pet supply store; they are usually extremely knowledgeable about brands and varieties, and they can run comparisons for you online right there at the point of purchase. Take home samples of various foods that look likely—ask your pet’s opinion!
Don’t make the mistake of assuming, as I did, that your pet’s tastes won’t change. Keep in mind, too, that your pet’s needs are likely to change over the course of his lifetime. Your veterinarian may prescribe a different diet during an illness, because of an allergy, as a result of weight or age. Your pet will be best served if you offer him a lifetime of food variety, encouraging him to be open-minded (or at least open-mouthed) when a change must be made.
BRATTY BARKING UPDATE
My bratty barker has not stopped bratty barking. He was not any worse during the week I had company, but he was not much better. Since our company left, though, he has been remarkably quieter . . . leading me to speculate that a great deal of the barking during the visit was about the dog’s frustration at not being where he wanted to be at all times—where the humans were. Message received, oh bratty one. But if that’s what you want, you’ll have to earn it. With your silence.
