Did you know the cat is among the most sensitive pets that require maximum attention for them to thrive well?
If you are planning to keep one consider treating her like one of your family members at your home.
However, in this article, we won’t dwell generally about the cat but we are going to address why your cat suddenly stops eating her wet food and learn some of the solutions that will help your cat gain her appetite for her wet food.
Despite them being sensitive, did you also know that cats often act according to their habitual behaviors? Okay, let’s get straight to the point.
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Why Has My Cat Stopped Eating Wet Food?
As the introduction states that cats are sensitive and they often act according to their habitual behavior, therefore, there might be a lot of reasons as to why your cat has stopped eating her wet food. So next time if you see your cat not eating her wet food know that there could be other possible reasons that could be unknown to you, they are as follows;
• The temperature of the wet food
The change in temperature of the cat’s wet food has a great impact, meaning it enhances the cat’s appetite to eat. Thus, cats do prefer her wet food when it is still warm with the nice aroma, flavor, liquid in form, and tasty thereby enticing/appetizing her to eat it.
When the food is extremely cold it loses its aroma and flavor, becomes thick, but not liquid at all. As she is used to warming food, the cats become less attracted to it because it lacks its original properties as it was warm thereby discouraging her from it.
• Repeating the same food for too long
Repeating or doing the same thing frequently is monotonous to the human being, likewise to the cat.
Feeding her the same brand of wet food for too long becomes boring for her because it is used to the same flavor, aroma, and taste.
So if you have been feeding her the same wet food for about a year you should consider changing because it might be the reason triggering her to keep off from it.
• Dental issues
Another factor that might make your cat quit on her wet food is her dental health issue.
Dental health is also essential that requires your maximum attention because when the cat experiences dental pain it becomes difficult for her to chew the food. Thus, you will easily notice if you find your cat licking her bowl a not chewing the morsels.
If you notice this take her to a Vet for a checkup.
• Cat’s dishes and bowl
Cats are instinctively driven to avoid consuming bad-smelling food. Thus, if your cat smells an odor from its dish it discourages her from eating her wet food.
Ideally, it is good to avoid using plastic bowl and dishes because it retains the smell for too long as compared to metal or ceramic material vessels.
Secondly, also the design and the depth of the feeding vessel might discourage her from eating her wet food. This is because cats to find it hard to feed on dishes with slippery sides which makes the food to be slippery and eventually spilling out. Therefore, you should keenly check the type and the design of the dishes and bowl.
• Formula change
The same wet food may come in different batches with its formula changed. Since cats are highly sensitive, the moment they realize there is a difference in aroma and flavor in the new batch it will make her refuse to eat it. However, it is unusual but if there is a slight change in its formulation consider this possibility.
What Do You Do When Your Cat Won’t Eat Wet Food?
The moment you realize your cat rejects her wet food you should take a keen interest and find out why it behaves that way and address the issue immediately.
Wet food is an essential meal for your cat because it adds the moisture needed in its diet. Only drinking water is not enough.
Below are some of the measures you can take to handle this issue;
• Give her warm wet food
Giving your cat warm food/ or warm the cold food for a few seconds for the wet food to regain its aroma, flavor, and taste because cats’ appetite is driven by the aroma of the texture and aroma of the food.
• Maintaining proper hygiene of the feeding vessels and you may also consider changing
Always ensure your cats feeding equipment like bowl or dishes are clean because letting it unhygienic might attract germs and also smell bad. Since cats are instinctively driven to avoid bad-smelling food.
Therefore maintaining her feeding equipment clean will help to curb the issue.
Or if you have been feeding her using plastic materials this time you may opt for stainless steel or ceramic dishes or bowls because are easier to clean and do not retain the bad odor than plastic materials.
Besides, when changing the cat dishes simply go for the ones that are elevated in design because some cats do not like deep or narrow dishes since it constricts whiskers.
• Trick her with her favorite treat hidden in the wet food
Try to hide her favorite treat in the middle of the wet food, this will make her anxious and elate her appetite. Hence, she will immediately go for the treats, but following his reaction will be eating its whole meal without ceasing because she is appealed to her favorite treat.
However, when doing this trick you should ensure you stick the treats deep inside the wet food while leaving the top exposed for your cat to smell them.
• You may try to mix the dry food with wet food
Continues feeding your feline the same wet food for too long becomes monotonous for the cat. Therefore you may consider introducing a mixture of dry and wet cat food but you should carefully mix them to balance to avoid feeding her too much because the mixture could be highly palatable.
The reason behind mixing both foods is that wet food helps to diversify the cat’s diet due to a variety of textures while dry food meets the cat’s natural dietary needs.
• Introduce a new cat food brand
In case your feline does not eat her wet food for several meals, you may opt for a new food brand because she might become weary of it after a long time of using it.
Changing her food brand will also make her miss her wet food after several days of using the new brand. Therefore, after changing, it is more likely for her to eat again her wet food. But if you do not want to change her food you may try to trick her with flavors to attract her to eat her wet food.
Think about trying other brands that might provide the same medical or health benefit. Your cat might find the change refreshing.
• Find out if the cat is okay
Sometimes if your cat rejects her wet it does not mean she dislikes it. So you should try to find out if she has a gastric problem or if she is in pain. Digestion problems or pain may discourage her from eating her wet food. If this is the case bring her to the vet for treatment.
What Is Whisker Fatigue And Is It Real?
Whiskers fatigue is also called Vibrissa. Whiskers fatigue is a cat health issue, which is the overstimulation of the sensory system of a cat’s whiskers.
When the cat’s whiskers are over-stimulated it sends signals to the brain and sensory system thereby resulting in an overload of sensory messages which are then transmitted to the brain. This overload effect causes fatigue making the cat more agitated, stressed, moody, and even lose their appetite for food.
Therefore, this could be also another reason why your cat might not eat her wet food. Therefore, the cat’s whiskers collect information on the cats surrounding. When your cat experiences whiskers fatigue it show the following symptoms, they include;
• She will refuse to eat or drink from her food bowl
• Becomes more aggressive around food or treats when given out of the food bowl
• Paws and pulls the food from her food bowl.
• Meowing consistently and pacing in front of the food bowl.
Since whiskers fatigue is caused by over-stimulation of the whiskers, therefore, you can prevent your cat from developing whisker fatigue by feeding her using whisker-friendly food trays, dishes, or bowls that have a wide and shallow shape because it limits or prevents the whiskers from brushing against its walls while eating.
What Type of Feeding Bowl Is Best For Your Cat?
Cats are pretty picky about their feeding tray/bowl. Therefore, their sensitive behavior extends to their choice of the bowl and it is essential to ensure your cat is eating in a friendly bowl to allow her to enjoy the meal comfortably.
Thus, when it comes to choosing the best feeding bowl for your cat you should strictly consider checking on its size, design, shape, and even the material used to make the feeding bowl. For instance, based on the mentioned features it should look as described below;
• They need to be wide and shallow enough to allow a cat to use them without having to lean too far in. This can cause your cat discomfort if the bowl isn’t quite right because it will over-stimulate the cat’s whiskers.
• Should be scratch-resistant to stop it from becoming damaged through use. A scratch in a bowl can become a breeding ground for bacteria, a good cat bowl should avoid these problems.
• Should be made from stainless steel or ceramic which is easy to clean and does not hold odors from the past food compared to the plastic one that is prone to this effect.
Dry Food or Wet Food?
Cat food is categorized into two aspects; dry and wet food. Both of these foods are beneficial because they are well balanced so your choice greatly depends on which one is suitable for your cat.
Therefore, if all along you have been asking yourself which one is the best it will depend on their formulation and the benefits they offer.
-Benefits of dry food
Dry food is well known for its lack of moisture because it is formulated for long shelf life. However, their nutrient concentration is maintained to supply your cat with nutritional value. Below are reasons why you should feed your cat with dry food, they include;
• Dry food has a long shelf-life; therefore, it allows free-feeding since some cats prefer eating their food over the day rather than the specified time.
• It is easy to use with food dispenser toys as a means of environmental enrichment and to provide mental stimulation.
• Some dry foods have beneficial dental effects. Thus, reducing tartar formation or slowing down plaque accumulation.
• Dry food has a higher energy density which makes it suitable for cats that cannot self-regulate their energy intake and obesity.
• Dry food is also enriched with a high concentration of nutrients and they are concentrated in small volume thereby maximizing the nutritional supply.
• Dry cat food will also make the cat drink a lot of water thereby reducing the risk of dehydration and its symptoms.
Recommended dry food for cats:
-Benefits of wet food
Typically cats have evolved from low moisture surrounding for their urine to be more concentrated rather than drinking a lot of water. Therefore, feeding your cat with wet food will offer the following benefits;
• It promotes more dilute urine which is useful for the prevention of urinary tract problems because it lowers the concentration of inflammatory components in the bladder.
• Wet food reduces dehydration risk thereby preventing constipation and risk factors for several diseases including kidney diseases.
• Wet food does have a lower energy density than dry food and since water does not provide calories but bulkier thereby it can help with weight loss in cats.
• For a cat who has lost some teeth or a cat with a sensitive stomach, wet cat food could be helpful because the increased moisture content makes for easier digestion, reducing hairballs.
• Wet cat food, in general, contains more meat than a kibble diet.
Recommended wet cat food:
Conclusion
When your cat refuses to eat her wet food you should not panic or get worried because there might be a lot of reason behind it and mostly this issue can be single-handedly handled by you if you keenly observe the cat’s behavior change and health because they are the major reason that could trigger her from eating her wet food. But if it is beyond your comprehension you may seek professional advice from the Vet.
