CATS: SWITCHING TO FRESH FOOD

Cats who have eaten nothing but dry food or even canned food are often a challenge to switch to fresh food. They are very opinionated and imprint on food at an early age. Cats who eat other foods (real meats, fruits, vegetables, cheese) will be much less of a project. It might take days, or it might take months. It’s worth the effort! Cats will starve themselves, and they are not good candidates for the tough love approach. Some very serious conditions can occur if cats do not eat for an extended period of time.
The “Slow and Successful Method:” move away from a dry food diet and toward more canned food. Consider dry to be a snack only, not left out all of the time. Mix ¼ to ½ of a cube of thawed Steve’s food into an entire can of canned food. Work your way up slowly. Offer bits of other kinds of fresh food that you are eating. They may be refused, but one day they won’t. Cats of our acquaintance have taken from 6 months to a year to totally switch, but many are much faster.

This method may be used with dry food too: in that case use and even smaller amount of Steve’s in a small amount of food. The canned approach works better, but if your cat absolutely refuses canned food it will be the way that you start.

Cat whiskers are very sensitive. If food is offered in a bowl that interferes with whiskers it could be enough to keep that cat from considering the food. A flat dish works well.

Cats generally prefer their food between room temperature and body temperature. You can add warm water, or warm food in a baggie submerged in warm water. At the beginning, that fraction of a cube will not generally affect the temperature of the whole dish of canned food. One of the factors involved is smell: the food cats are used to eating is designed to be very smelly. Warming the food releases the flavors and fragrances.

Leave the food out for no more than an hour after serving. If you have dogs, you know what to do with the leftovers. Trickery has been known to work with cats: put the food on your plate, or hide it in a location cats are known to be forbidden … creativity helps.

That first bag of food may take a long time to use: double bag it of pout the food in a substantial freezer container to keep it fresh.