What do you do when your cat gets so finicky that it will only eat treats and not her regular food which is the same food she has eaten for years?

Answer 1

First I would suggest taking it to a vet. My sister's cat was the same way. It could be due to the cat being given so many treats that it is now spoiled and doesn't want to eat it's regular food. I would also suggest buying canned cat food and either mixing it with it's food, or just letting them eat it straight up. Somtimes cat's tastebuds undergo a change and (just like kids) no longer like what they have been eating for years. I used to like black olives as a kid, but I hate them now. I hope that offers some help.

ANSWER

first there is the fact that just like people, cats can get bored with the same old same old every day for years, a little change, a little treat, some chicken, some salmon etc. they could have changed an ingredient in the food that it doesn't like the taste of, so trying another food is definitely something you should give a go,

check the flavour of the treats and try other foods with that flavour, and then there is age, cats need a different more suited diet when they reach older years for their health and maybe your cat is well aware of this.

if you try these and find your cat is simply being picky then theres really not much you can or really need to do, as long as it is within your means and its is healthy but if it is somehthing you are worried about always ask your vets advice and keep the cats health under surveilance.

f4

Yeah, i agree with both of those up there. I've got 12 cats (no kidding!!) and they sometimes are very finciky about their foods. Sometimes, we just put their food out and if they don't eat it, then too bad. let me put it like this: If they are hungry enough, they'll eat anything. And also, i wouldn't spoil her anymore, it makes it harder. Good Luck!!

Answer

I totally agree with the above answer. Humans like to eat snacks, and so do cats. But it's also because of the "bad" things in food. There are more "additives" in human snacks compared to regular human everyday meals, and so is true for a lot of cat treats. I've only found a few items in cat treats that doesn't contain random chemicals like most others do. (I try to feed my cats good food - none of those food that state anything other than 'chicken' or 'fish' in the beginning of the ingredient list is no to me. Especially that one cat food which stated 'rice gluten' as the very first ingredient, it's not even ANY protein... I would never feed that to my cat.)

So cats LOVE to snack. When they were young kittens I used to give them different types of food to see which they like more, with at least once a week wet can food (I don't really give pouch food since it's very hard to find good pouch food without bad ingredients), and supplemented with cat milk and such, too. But as they grew older, they didn't want to have milk anymore so I just give them dry and wet food once in awhile. After we got them some nice treats, though, one cat stopped eating regular food altogether, she kept crying meowmeowmeow trying to get attention and treats, brushing against your legs and all.

In such case, JUST IGNORE IT. She doesn't get a treat unless she's done something GOOD. If you just give her treat just 'cause she keeps crying for it, it'll teach her bad habit. It's okay to give the cat treats when they're just being affectionate, but not when they're just wanting treats. The difference of those two is: if they're being affectionate, even after you give them a treat they'll lick your hand or show you how much they love you, etc. and still hang around you. If they're just after the treat -_-... then they'll just TAKE/NAB the treat then just clear the coast or just meow to get more instead of being affectionate. They'll be demanding.

Best thing is just give treats when they do Good things, follow treat rule you establish, and make them learn they can't just have treats any time. They'll eventually get very hungry and start eating regular food. In my case it helps to have two cats. Because when one cat refused to eat, and I just kept putting food out like usual, she found out the other cat ATE ALL THE FOOD while she was gone. Now she eats when he eats so she doesn't miss out on it and get hungry.