My kitten refuses to eat dry food

[Karen]

Dry food is NOT better for her teeth. The right wer food is perfectly fine and healthy. Dry food contains a lot of carbohydrates that cats do not need, and cannot digest well. It can cause dental problems because the carbs are what stick to the teeth. Wet food does not stick, as it is mostly protein. This is a subject we have discussed on the Ask the Vets radio show I do with some knowledgable veterinarians. In this case, I'd just stick with wet, and if you are concerned about her dental health, get her used to you checking her mouth and even brushing her teeth!

[Grace]

Canned food is also much better for her urinary system. Our Vet prefers that we feed the canned foods because it is significantly higher in moisture content. Cats, and people, need the water/fluids to keep everything working well.

If you are concerned she is not getting enough food - leave a bowl of the dry food out between meals of canned. If she gets hungry enough, she'll eat it.

[Karen]

Definitely, by the way, realize you can get her to adapt to your schedule. She will not necessarily starve to death if you push feeding time to a different hour!

[Janeway]

Canned food is also much better for her urinary system. Our Vet prefers that we feed the canned foods because it is significantly higher in moisture content. Cats, and people, need the water/fluids to keep everything working well.

If you are concerned she is not getting enough food - leave a bowl of the dry food out between meals of canned. If she gets hungry enough, she'll eat it.

She's definitely hungry on just one can kitten food (that's the small can) in the morning and one in the evening--she's very vocal about it! But then when I was feeding her two cans in the morning and two in the evening, she was still hungry. She is quite obsessed with eating her wet food. Sometimes she is so excited she will cry and talk while she's eating. I've kept a bowl of premium dry food out at all times, but she barely looks at it. One of the reasons I wish she'd at least snack on the dry food is that I'd hope it would take the edge off her appetite and just one can in AM and another PM make her less frantic about eating. I do understand the benefits of wet food, but I really want her to supplement her calorie intake with the dry.
You know that idea of "if she gets hungry enough she will eat it" seems logical, but Natasha has been proven to be very stubborn. She actually went over 48 hrs and still wouldn't eat the dry food. I did everything I could think of to make it enticing, like tossing a piece for her to chase like a bug, but she'd pick it up and then spit it out, stuffing a piece between her toes, sifting through it with my fingers.

[Grace]

You know that idea of "if she gets hungry enough she will eat it" seems logical, but Natasha has been proven to be very stubborn. She actually went over 48 hrs and still wouldn't eat the dry food. I did everything I could think of to make it enticing, like tossing a piece for her to chase like a bug, but she'd pick it up and then spit it out, stuffing a piece between her toes, sifting through it with my fingers.

She went 48 hours without eating dry food - were you giving her the canned food twice a day at that time? If you give canned morning and evening and she eats it all, she will be getting enough. The dry food is there - if she wants it.

Try giving her kitten canned food. That is more filling and might tide her over better.

[Janeway]

She went 48 hours without eating dry food - were you giving her the canned food twice a day at that time? If you give canned morning and evening and she eats it all, she will be getting enough. The dry food is there - if she wants it.

Try giving her kitten canned food. That is more filling and might tide her over better.

No, I withheld the canned kitten food (ProPlan - two cans in the AM and 2 cans in PM) for the 48 hrs. with the dry food available at all times. She chose to go hungry rather than to eat the dry.

Right now I am giving her 1 can of the kitten food in the morning and 1 can in the evening. She lets me know she's hungry, but still not eating any of the dry food that I have out all the time.

[Taz_Zoee]

Also, they have feeders that you can put wet food in and it turns on a scheduled time for you. I have two and they can be set to rotate every 6, 12 or 24 hours to the next tray of food.
There are ice packs under to keep the wet food fresh. This would be helpful for a weekend away if you needed to leave her.

[Janeway]

Also, they have feeders that you can put wet food in and it turns on a scheduled time for you. I have two and they can be set to rotate every 6, 12 or 24 hours to the next tray of food.
There are ice packs under to keep the wet food fresh. This would be helpful for a weekend away if you needed to leave her.

Thank you. That could be a real issue and that my be a solution. I've given up on this plan. She was just too hungry. So I guess it's wet food for her from now on. She is a lot calmer when she's not really hungry. My next move is to upgrade to really premium food that has no fillers at all hoping that she'll be satisfied on less total food. I'm going to try Blue Wilderness Kitten, which is very expensive. If this works out a real benefit is that her poop won't smell so bad, which I understand might take up to a month. The litter boxes are in the basement and I've never been able to smell it upstairs until now. My other cats always at premium dry food and odor was never a problem.