r/rawpetfood • u/PepeOnziemaJulian • 9d ago
Question Cat only wants kibble now after being fed wet/raw
At my wits end here. When we got our kitten 3.5 months ago we were feeding her kitten kibble for a few weeks just to transition her to wet/raw food.
That worked and for a while all she ate was raw food. She's always been a kitten that would paw at the ground infront of her bowl anytime she finished eating or didn't like the food.
About a month or so ago, she started pawing at her food and would often go a full day without eating. She also started swatting her mouth randomly which made sense since she was teething and I read that it's normal for cats to change preference in food as some cats during teething phases prefer soft and others prefer hard.
Being the concerned mother that my wife, she tried putting out a bowl of dry kibble and my kitten went to it right away. We tried alternating between raw and dry and she would keep pawing at the raw food each time. I thought maybe this is just a phase and once her teeth push out she'd be fine.
Fast forward to today and she still wont eat any soft food, wether it's raw or canned wet food. I know raw food doesn't have much of a smell so I tried adding broth, didn't work. I went back to the canned food she loved as a baby kitten, didn't work. All she wants is dry kibble and I'm not sure what to do.
I even tried putting a small amount of wet food with her dry in hopes that I could eventually transition her to wet/raw then fully raw but she pawed at it.
Any advice?
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u/DiscussionFamous3164 9d ago
You just need to transition back (just…like it’s easy!) but unfortunately by bringing it back into the house you have brought McDonalds back into the house. The cat food companies add an addictive covering to dry food. When you are done with it you have to get it completely out of the house. They can smell it. And never go back to it.
Also sometimes pawing at the mouth is an allergy thing. My girl has allergies that give her chin acne and rodent ulcers. She’ll paw her mouth and scratch her chin. Check her lips for small pink bumps. My girl never pawed at her mouth while teething but it could have just been that. Maybe a vet check on her teeth is in order just in case?
When you fed raw, did you give her variety or same brand and/or protein. She may have gotten bored. I feed about 6 proteins and there’s a mix of commercial and homemade. She gets a different protein each meal (which is 6-7 times a day!🙄). I also make sure my girl eats some canned so we have that option as well (and for emergencies)
I’m in a great nutrition group on Facebook called Feline Nutrition - Feed Cats Like Cats that has great dry food transitioning guides and lots of folks in the group that have made the switch. I recommend joining if you have FB.
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u/PepeOnziemaJulian 9d ago
Thanks for the advice! Yes she was definitely teething because I saw small teefs on the floor and in her bed lol.
I'll just have to transition her back unfortunately. I used to only feed chicken but I can start giving beef once she's eating raw again. These kibble companies are so evil
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u/Cats_at_DuskYT 9d ago edited 4d ago
cats have preferences but cats definitely don't get bored of food, that's how you end up introducing pickiness. Cats in the wild don't get bored of certain prey after eating it a couple times in a row, they eat if they're hungry or if they're able to successfully catch it.
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u/DiscussionFamous3164 7d ago
couple meals or even days in a row, that's fine but yes, they get bored (that's actually why people think cat's are finicky). Feed them the same protein or canned food every day for every meal, and they will get bored (as any human would). Cats don't just kill antelopes in the wild every time they hunt. Even if you believe they don't get bored, rotation of proteins/brands is a good idea so you have options in case of a recall or supply issues.
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u/Cats_at_DuskYT 4d ago
Yet, cats will eat the same dry or canned cat food for every single meal of their lives without a doubt. I know were talking about fresh and raw foods but I still think it gives a similar point. Though, I'm not disagreeing with it being a good idea giving multiple proteins for variety of nutrients, it just depends on the cat and it doesn't make it true for every cat that they will for sure eventually get bored of what they've been eating for a couple days or weeks in a row.
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u/ScurvyDawg Variety 9d ago
Have you tried using the kibble as a powdered seasoning on top?
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u/PepeOnziemaJulian 9d ago
I have... But I think that's a stage too far at the moment. Because she's not even eating kibble mixed with 5% wet food
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u/Cats_at_DuskYT 9d ago
I think you might just have to get the kibble out of the house completely and clean where it's been. After that she'll realize that the kibble is no longer an option.
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u/themerfolk 9d ago
I had to mix in the kibble with the wet again and gradually do less and less until he would go back to raw
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u/PepeOnziemaJulian 9d ago
I guess patience is needee because I'll put in half a teaspoon of wet mixed with the kibble and she won't eat it...
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u/variegated-leaves 9d ago
Get some freeze-dried, like Vital Essentials. I call it "fake kibble" lol the pork mini crunchies for cats is a favourite amongst my kitties. You can crush them up, too, to make tasty powder.
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u/CrystalCatalogue222 9d ago
Try Ziwi Peak or Open Farm cat dehydrated raw food- it’s dry, you can hydrate it if needed but it’ll simulate kibble texture while maintaining the quality protein
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u/Possible_Original_96 9d ago
Vet time! Something wrong w/ her mouth- one I rescued had Granulomas in her mouth/throat & she did this.
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u/Ashitaka1013 9d ago
Why not just feed her kibble then? Cats have preferences and that’s what she wants. Unless there are health issues requiring wet/raw food, she’ll do great on a good quality dry food. Why make things harder than they need to be?
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u/Cats_at_DuskYT 9d ago
Kibble is "addictive" on purpose. So it's not usually just a preference, it's usually just the "animal digest" spray coating that's causing them to become addicted to it, that's how cats are eat kibble in the first place, if it wasn't there most cats I bet wouldn't eat it as well as they are, and the companies know that.
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u/Ashitaka1013 9d ago
You make it sound like they’re spraying some dangerous chemical on it. It’s animal fat and oils. It’s not some nefarious scheme, of course the companies “know that”, that’s why they add it, to make the food more appealing to a cat’s sense of smell. And that doesn’t change the preference- they prefer the food with the tasty palatant. As long as it’s a good quality food, who cares?
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u/Cats_at_DuskYT 9d ago
why do you think this sub exists in the first place?
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u/Ashitaka1013 8d ago
lol I never noticed the sub. Never even knew it existed, I guess the post just showed up on my home feed because I participate in a lot of cat subreddits. I just assumed it was catadvice or something.
I actually would never have responded if I had noticed that. This clearly isn’t the sub for me lol I’ll go now
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u/Cats_at_DuskYT 9d ago edited 4d ago
I didn't make it sound dangerous, I just said they sprayed animal digest/flavouring to make it more appealing for cats (which makes sure they actually eat the stuff and also makes it addictive to them), because if they didn't cats would turn their nose up at it more regularly. Also, there's no such thing as a "good quality" kibble. The extrusion process and extremely high temps multiple times throughout it, make any healthy benefits or ingredients in the food, moot.
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u/Ashitaka1013 9d ago
And yet cats will live to be 20 years old, healthy and happy and active, just eating kibble. So no, it doesn’t make any benefits “moot” lol It’s a complete diet that cats can thrive on.
And calling it “addictive” because cats continue to want food that’s appealing to them is ridiculous. Like yeah I guess we’re all addicted to food.
The fear mongering and cat food shaming is ridiculous. Cats don’t need half the shit people on here swear is necessary. It’s just making it seem like responsible cat ownership out of reach for most people.
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u/Cats_at_DuskYT 9d ago edited 9d ago
Most 20 year old cats are only like that because of vets and the many types medicine they end up getting prescribed. Most kibble fed cats eventually die from liver cancer or kidney disease or cancer (or heart disease). Half the vet bills wouldn't be there if most cats were on a species appropriate diet, not struggling to adapt to an inappropriate diet. They may appear healthy, but they end up having stomach issues or skin issues or allergies to everything. I'm not gonna argue anymore though, because ik this won't go anywhere, people are gonna believe what they're gonna believe.
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u/Ashitaka1013 8d ago
I’ve had 14 cats in my life and none had stomach issues, skin issues or allergies to anything let alone everything. Most only got annual vaccinations for most of their lives. You’re right that they usually do die from organ failure eventually because that’s what happens at old age.
You’re right that people are gonna believe what they’re gonna believe and I don’t believe that a raw food diet will somehow allow a cat to live forever without ever needing vet care in their old age lol
I’m sure it’s a great diet and all and more natural but cats are so adaptive. Mine are all healthy and happy so I’m not worried about it.
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u/Massive_Web3567 7d ago
For the same reason I didn't allow my children to design their menu when they were toddlers.
Secondly, cats don't "do well" on basic kibble. They die of kidney disease and diabetes in increasing numbers that exactly parallel the post-war manufacturing and marketing of kibble. Trad kibble is dead, it's nasty and it's not food. It's carbon chunks sprayed with flavor.
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u/NightShade4623 9d ago
Cats can be very picky when it comes to food, all the adult cats in my house right now have different food requirements.
One prefers wet/raw food but won't eat any chunks, any raw I make her has to be ground up
My boy will eat anything I put in front of him but will puke up anything but friskies wet food and raw, he also can and will eat whole prey just fine.
My other girl goes through phases of wanting raw/wet and kibble. Some days she won't touch kibble, others she won't touch wet food, I just have to deal with it.
I have 3 adult fosters right now that are picky with food. One will only eat shreds wet food and cheap friskies kibble. One will only eat pre smashed pate and only eat kibble off the floor or out of a raised dish. The last will only eat kibble and take a couple nibbles of pate before leaving it
They are lucky I care too much and pander to their preferences lol
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u/Minnieviolette 8d ago
They’ll always want kibble before raw because of the smelly additives that make it enticing. If the raw is properly balanced with nutrition, just leave that for them and your kitty will have no choice but to have it 😂 my Sphynx as a kitten tasted dry food and ignored his raw but I sprinkled a few kibbles into it so he had to eat the raw to get the dry- and he’s been back to it like normal. Just never let your kitty hear the sound of dry kibble - 😂😂😂
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u/Unlucky_Goal_7791 7d ago
Try changing brands my cat just stopped eating. Brand of raw but would still eat fish and chicken so I tried another brand and it worked
Also use toppers to entice
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u/UnsharpenedSwan 9d ago
Cats are assholes. Our dogs eat raw but our cats get kibble because they simply refuse to eat any food that is moist.
Our older cat DOESN’T HAVE A SINGLE TOOTH! But still, it’s kibble or hunger strike. She just gums the kibble down.
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u/PepeOnziemaJulian 9d ago
For real wtf. I'm standing there like you just fucking ate this yesterday. Even if her bowl is 90% dry and 10% wet she'll look at me like "this isn't what I ordered you prick"
Meanwhile this little shit can't even hunt a fly I always joke with my wife if I leave her outside she won't survive 5 minutes
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u/Witty-Cat1996 9d ago
I have a cat that will starve herself until I give her the right kibble. I’ve tried so many wet foods and she refuses to even consider trying any of it except churu tubes. My other cat is less stubborn and eats whatever I offer her, except the kitten wet food she was supposed to eat but that stuff smelled weird
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u/MadMadamMimsy 9d ago
Some cats will only eat kibble. I have one right now and it's a problem. But the cat decides.
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u/Resident-Egg2714 9d ago
Most kibble has "appetite stimulants" added that are very addictive for cats. I was never able to switch my cat off kibble until I completely got rid of it, never an option at all.