What dry or wet food will my picky senior cat eat besides treats?

If Christian is doing well ont he Fancy Feast, I would just continue with this, as it is a safe food and as long as he doesn't have any other health issues should be fine if he is eating it well. I would, however, recommend having him examined by a vet to ensure there isn't a reason he stopped eating hard food such as oral pain, and also as a senior pet it is recommended to have a check up and bloodwork yearly. Canned/wet food is actually ideal for cats due to the fact that they often don't get enough water through drinking so the wet food is better for urinary tract healthy, but any time we have a change in appetite, it should be investigated!

Good Afternoon...thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I empathize with your struggle and Munchkin's picky diet. I certainly do not want to cause alarm, but many times cats will become "picky eaters" for many other reasons other than their teeth. As a veterinarian, this symptom always give me pause. Cats with dental issues still usually have a normal appetite, even with a bad tooth - they will still eat. There are many other conditions which can cause an older kitty to change their eating habits and influenced "what tastes good to them" - conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease (even with no other GI symptoms), kidney disease, liver disease, and many types of cancers (that can be within any organ of the body...) can cause an older kitty to change their appetite preferences. I would want to know if Munchkin is maintaining her weight, or has she lost weight? If she has lost weight, this is also more concerning. I would recommend you monitor her weight very closely - if she is maintaining (and has not lost weight within the past 6-12 months...). You may want to consider a visit to your veterinarian for additional diagnostics including a full senior bloodwork/urine profile, and possibly an abdominal ultrasound and chest radiographs to ensure nothing more sinister may be going on. I hope this helps, good luck!

Senior cats can certainly be a challenge. You didn't mention if Tony eats canned or dry food. Since you are having to change every few days, I would suspect that it is canned. One thing that will entice my older cat to eat is if a grind up dry food and sprinkle it over the canned food. Dry foods have a number of flavor additives in them and grinding them up (in a coffee grinder) seems to make them smell better to an older cat. (You can also do this if Tony has a favorite dry treat.) Adding small amounts of the water that canned tuna, salmon or chicken are packed in can also be a good way to get them to eat if he likes those flavors. There are a number of companies that make food "toppers" that are ment to be extra flavorful. Some cats really love liver, so dehydrated liver treats or toppers are a great idea for senior cats. Finally, sometimes we rotate foods on a regular basis instead of just feeding him a food for as long as he will eat it. Good luck! I hope that was helpful and gives you some ideas. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! If Lady Patches is losing weight, it can definitely be due to her dental disease. However, other causes for weight loss include underlying medical conditions such as hyperthyroidism, diabetes, IBD, and cancer - all of these and others can be ruled out by your vet. You can definitely encourage Lady Patches to eat more by moistening her dry food or getting a food that is in smaller pieces. There are multivitamins available for senior cats, but they do not provide many calories. I hope this helps and am happy to answer any other questions you have!

It is pretty likely that he has a tooth ache, has severe gingivitis or other problems in his mouth that make eating hard dry food difficult, so he will not eat enough to satisfy his hunger. Keep giving him more wet food and schedule an appointment with your vet for a dental exam. Older kitties often have dental problems and eating with a tooth ache is horrible.

If your cat has problems eating his dry food, then he likely has bad teeth, excess tartar and/or severe gingivitis. He does not need his fangs for chewing. So I strongly suggest you have Bud's teeth checked by your veterinarian. He may need a dental cleaning and removal of any bad teeth. You can give him the baby food provided there is no xylitol in it (checck the label) as an interim feed. Unfortunately baby food does not fit the nutritional profile of a senior cat, so is not suitable as permanent food. You may want to try other canned kidney diets for your kitty.

You may want to look at his teeth, especially his molars (cheek teeth). Mikkel may have a lot of tartar on his teeth and severe inflammation of his gums which then hurt when he eats dry food. If you see brown concrements on his teeth, then he should be seen by a veterinarian and get his teeth cleaned under anesthesia. There is no need to have a tooth ache, and the bacteria in tartar can actually cause heart and kidney problems.