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I currently have three cats and two of them are basically vacuum cleaners when it comes to cat food. Unfortunately my "kitten" (actually >16 years old) has in recent years become quite fussy.

I try to feed everyone "Friskies Special Diet Turkey and Gibblets Dinner". I picked that one out because it has the right caloric balance (fat / protein / carbs). Sadly my "kitten" only wants to eat dry food (I'd prefer not to feed any dry food). At first I was getting her to eat wet food by putting a few pieces of dry in the wet. Now she has learned how to just pick out the dry food and eat very little of the wet food.

Is there something I can put on the wet food to make it tastier?

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  • You might need to try a different food, the cat just might not like that one.
    – user53
    Apr 4, 2014 at 2:56
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    I would look at other flavors of canned food. Better the less-ideal caloric balance of another wet food to the less-desirable effects of the dry food, at least why you try to debug, right?
    – Monica Cellio
    Apr 4, 2014 at 13:43
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    My cats are picky about flavor too. I went though number of flavors and found two they really like, so I alternate those. Personally I would not be too worried if your cats like dry better than moist. Veterinarians disagree on which is better if any, therefore one is not clearly better.
    – Beo
    Apr 8, 2014 at 14:59

1 Answer 1

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In this answer I'm assuming that your cat has an adequate appetite for dry food, and you're just trying to get her to transition to wet food. If your cat has a generally low appetite, please see this answer on the dangers of feline anorexia and take your cat to the vet!

Food additives

Dry food is so appealing because cat food manufacturers use animal digest on it. One common way to get cats to transition from dry food to wet food is to put FortiFlora on the food. FortiFlora is a probiotic that is flavored with animal digest.

Some cats like parmesean cheese, so you could try a bit of that.

You could also grind up some dry food and sprinkle it on the wet food.

Behavioral Modification

Another way to make wet food more appealing is to stimulate your cat's appetite. Cats naturally follow a hunt-eat-groom-sleep cycle, and you can use this to your advantage. If you play with your cat with an interactive wand toy, or throw a small amount of kibble for her to chase down and eat. After the play session, feed her wet food immediately. She will naturally want to eat it.

In addition, some cats do better when fed alone away from the noise of the other cats, so try feeding her in a seperate room for a while (on the other hand, some cats are encouraged by watching others eat the wet food, it just depends on your cat's personality).

Finally, some cats can smell that there's dry food available in the house and will wait for it. In these cases you may need to store the dry food in the fridgerator so they can't smell it anymore.

Good luck!

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  • Ah, I love that last piece about the cat simply waiting for something it knows is there. Great answer altogether. Anything special about the high age of the cat in question?
    – Esa Paulasto
    Apr 4, 2014 at 18:48
  • @EsaPaulasto not if the cat is eating enough dry food. If the cat's appetite is generally low for both wet and dry food, that plus age would suggest some disease process and would require a vet visit. I'll make an edit.
    – Zaralynda
    Apr 4, 2014 at 19:31
  • I wish petsmart had that fortiflora which I'd forgotten the name of (thanks for reminding me). I got some shredded mozzarella for Pounce but sadly my wife ate it up first (a tap on the nose doesn't work as well on her, maybe I should try the squirt gun)
    – Dan S
    Apr 8, 2014 at 22:15

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