My kitty won't eat wet food

Hi there,
I was hoping someone could help me understand why is it that my kitty won't eat wet food. He's 4 months old and he devours dry food but whenever I open a can/pouch of wet food, we seems to just lick the gravy and leave the food intact. He also does this weird stretching motion from side to side but I don't understand what it means. :( I've tried several brands to no avail.
Other than this, the kitty is in excellent health condition, checked by a vet and shots up to date.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Is there a reason you want him to eat wet food? Dry food is much better, especially for teeth :)

I agree, dry food is better if you are feeding packaged foods. I feed my dogs and cats a raw diet so I have no experience with them turning down food. I do know that my vet reccomends dry if the cat is amenable to it, and wet as a treat or during Illness etc. Wish I could help more, but seems to me, that you have all your bases covered, vaccinations etc.

As above have said, dry food is better for the cat. I give wet / moist / canned food once per week or less, just as a treat. At 4 months, be THANKFUL he likes kibble!!!

Many cats do this with the canned food. They lick all the gravy up and leave the bits and pieces. I have 7 cats and 5 of them do this. There was another post about food and many folks said the same thing.


It could be that they know what they need and what they don't, what is good for them and what isn't - and most canned food includes gross stuff! You wouldn't feed it to your pets if you really knew. :eek:

Definitely NOT something to worry about.

The wet food that has gravy and chunks....ewww, my personal opinion. The chunks look like some synthetic foam, and I have seen many cats just lick the gravy. Can't say I blame them! :)

If you want a bit of wet food, try a couple of small cans of regular wet, something a bit better quality (which - again in my opinion - does NOT include Fancy Feast, Whiskas, or anything else of its ilk).

Good luck!

Shows how much I know. I see labels such as "steam cooked" and "Natural" and I think it's actually good for them. I guess I should be thankful that my kitty loves dry food then! I free fed him for a while but he started to get a little on the chunky side so the vet recommended half a cap in the morning and half in the afternoon. :)
As a post above suggested, I shall try some veggies and perhaps some salmon. I'd like to be able to treat him every once in a while. :D
Thank you very much everyone for your opinions.

I couldn't give my cat wet food because it makes me gag and stinks up the house. Your kitty might just be used to dry food.

:) I had a cat once that did not like wet food.. But loved dry.. I would not worry as long as we are eating good..

I agree with everyone else, dry food is so much better! By the way love your sign on name!! he he he! Foobar!!! :D

My Vet always tells me that as well that Dry Food is best for Cats and if your Kitten get used to it, thats great.

If your going to feed your baby salmon or other fish, be careful if he's male, since sometimes fish products can actually cause urinary tract infection if eaten in any great quantity with male cats.
Females are lucky, though, since they have nothing to worry about.
But if your going to give your fish treats then do so with great moderation, and not often. My mom almost lost Fritti (her little kitty boy) because she loved giving him tuna and salmon whenever we had any, which was often.
I'm not sure how common this problem is, but our vet had reccomended that one should stay light on fishy products when you have a boy kitty.

If you want to give him treats, though, you can always get turkey or ham or chicken pieces (shred it for them, and make sure its all natural with no additives or preservatives added when they cooked it or prepared it for sale).
We normally only go to health food stores, so whenever I make a sandwich I'm always sure to give my babies a tiny strip of whatever lunch meat we have.

My cats have access to my custom blend of premium dry food daily. However, in order to maintain the urinary tract health of male cats it is imperative that they get enough fluids in their diets. Since canned food contains lots of water, I make sure my boys get a helping once a day, just in case they aren't drinking enough water. Simply a preventative measure so they won't suffer any urinary blockages (which can be mistaken for constipation), and is a MEDICAL EMERGENCY if the cat is a male. I like to be on the safe side when it comes to my "children". :)

Through trial and error, my boys won't eat any canned food that is sliced or has hunks in it, so I give them the ground type, i.e. Fancy Feast Gourmet. Many other companys also make canned ground food varieties. My brat, Chaz, will only eat Natural Choice Chicken & Rice. I spent a pretty penny or two trying every canned food in order to tempt him. He gets a dollop once a day.

So, if you haven't already, you may want to try the ground type of canned food to entice him, unless you notice that your boy IS drinking plenty of fluids. If so, trying to get him to ingest canned food is probably unnecessary for his health . . . besides being tough on your wallet. :rolleyes:

My vet told me to feed my senior male cat wet food to keep enough water going through him to keep his urinary tract healthy. He definitely didn't like the idea at first! But I also have to give him Cosequin, a vitamin that he doesn't like at all. Luckily, he absolutely loves bonito flakes (I get the Kitty Kaviar brand), so I mash up his wet food with his vitamins, extra water, and a pinch of Kitty Kaviar, and he gobbles it right up! He still eats mostly dry food, but the wet food lets me get his Cosequin, extra water, and some psyllium fiber into his tummy (he was having hairball and constipation problems too) so I happily make him his "paté" twice a day to keep him feeling prrrrrrrrrr.

Love, Columbine