How do i get my cat to eat cat food again?

Chester

My mom feeds my cat human food all the time and now my cat stopped eating cat food at all. He only eats our food. How can I make him eat cat food again. Weve stopped feeding him food off the table now but he still isnt eating his food!



Alla

If hes hungry enough, he will eat the cat foodId make sure your Mom or someone isnt still feeding him when your not around.



Catarina

Just dont feed him any more human food period. Once he gets hungry enough he will eat the cat food. It could take a day or two. If you give him any human food at all he will ignore his cat food and just hold out until you give him more human food. So dont let anyone give him any! He has to know he is not getting any more human food and the only way you can communicate this to him is to not give him any more!



Maida

Please do not just think your cat will eventually get hungry enough and eat the cat food. I did not used to think that it was dangerous for a cat to not eat for a few days, but then my cat ended up getting very sick and had to be put to sleep due to liver failure. She had not eaten in a few days, but I did not think it was a big deal because she had been a picky eater her whole life. My vet told me that it is dangerous for cats to not eat even for just a few days because of how quickly they can develop these sort of problems. I would recommend trying a wet cat food that is chunkier and in a gravy rather than the pate style. I recently had success with Friskies Meaty Bits wet food when a picky foster kitten refused to eat. If that does not work, then you can try mixing decreasing amounts of human food in with the wet food until you are just feeding wet food and then do the same thing with a mixture of wet and dry food. I am a firm believer in not spoiling animals and giving in to their every whim, but I have learned that a cat will refuse to eat if they do not like the food and they can get very sick if they dont eat for a few days. I lost my cat due to a complication of not eating and if I had not been shown by a vet tech how to force feed the foster kitten, we probably would have lost her too. It is much safer to try and slowly change the cats eating habits to what you want them to be. I hope this helps.



Belva

I had the same problem my cat only wanted human food he would not eat his cat food. But then we bought different cat food it was the same brand because he has to eat special food but it was chunkier. His old food was just mush and the new food was made out of little chunks and now he runs to his food when we put it out. You should also stop feeding him too much human food because then he will be too full to eat his cat food. Hope this helps! =]]



Alane

You can get a little bit of the human food and mix that flavor (not like chunks that the cat can pick out of the bowl) into the cat food. Gradually the cat can get used to the chow again. But stop your mother from feeding the cat people food! Even if he/she looks at you with those adorable sorry eyes and rubs whiskers against your leg, always purring and-and meowing and ohhh. *clearing throat* No, so really NO PEOPLE FOOD FOR CAT. Another good suggestion is to keep the cat out of the kitchen when cooking or eating. They will obviously jump on the table and try the ol cute thing again.



Eusebio

Youre on the right track! Dont give in to the cuteness and start feeding him human food. Stay strong! He will start eating again. A couple of tips and tricks you could try:~ Dont mix human food in with his cat food.~ Mix some wet cat food in with his dry (if you feed him dry) cats generally prefer wet food. Gradually decrease the amount of wet food you give him until he eats all dry again.~ Dont give him canned tuna fish. This has a high sodium content which is bad for cats.~ Get some fish oil pills (they sell them at walmart or any drug store). Puncture the gel coating of one pill and squeeze the oil onto his food. Cats like this.~ Make sure his food is fresh. If you have had his food sitting in a dish for several days, it is probably stale and he wont eat it. Give him fresh food. It sounds like your cat is just being stubborn. However, if none of these tricks work, and he still isnt eating for several days, you may want to consider taking him to the vet because there might be something wrong. (However, it shouldnt come to that.)



Cecily

Its amazing how little people really know about the animals we choose for pets. Cat food is HORRIBLE for your cat. Especially if its dry. Wet food is better, but only if its a natural brand made with human grade ingredients. Yes, some human food is bad for cats. Chocolate and grapes for instance. However, cats are meant to eat raw meat. Feeding your cat chicken and turkey and whatever other meat is GOOD for them. No wonder your cat loves eating human food. How would you like to eat cereal filled with useless ingredients your body cant process for every single meal of the day. Learn to feed your cat a raw diet and hell be happy and you wont have to worry about him eating "cat food" because hell be eating what cats are meant to eat. Do animals in the wild eat rendered dry cereals that taste faintly like meat? No, didnt think so. Animals in the wild dont have the same periodontal disease and kidney problems our pets have and other illnesses. (Getting eaten by a larger animal/ hit by a car is not an illness). Do some research about how cats should be raised and stop trying to force crap on your cat who obviously knows better.



Basil

Cat is not daft, You have to buy it chicken etc and fish rather than cat food... You can get quite cheap cooked chicken bits and so on from Tesco



Jenette

I would start mixing some tuna fish with his food. About every few days to a week, mix less tuna fish, to the point where you just pour the oil or water from the can over the food. Then eventually stop putting it in there all together. That should work, if not, try switching cat food. Maybe of those prepared meals, like fancy feast, and serve it in the food dish. Start putting dry cat food back in the dish after a week or two. That will teach the cat where to eat the food. One thing about cats, is they are a creatures of habit. If you get them in the habit of eating at a certain time of day, out of a certain dish, and so on...they will start right just out of habit.



Billye

I have to agree that proper meat is much better, If your cat likes fish you can get what are sold as frozen "white fish fillets" which actually work out cheaper than catfood. Just thaw one fillet overnight in the fridge cut it up when you need it. Fish isnt quite a complete food for cats so give him dried food in his snacking bowl. A small piece of raw pigs liver will probably be greatly enjoyed and very good for him If you buy a package of this and freeze it in separate pieces it will last for ages as they shouldnt have it too often. When you make spag bol save a tablespoonful of raw mince for him. You get the idea. One of our cats was so disgusted with catfood he went and caught a mouse and brought it home and put it in his dish, as if to say, "There, thats meat. How about it?"



Reyes

Cut off all human food. Feed only cat food. Cats are picky eaters and can certainly hold out for a day or two on just water until they finally decide to eat their food. If you want to be a real, ah, p ussy about it, I suppose you could mix human food with cat food and decrease the amount of human food gradually (though cats can eat around the food they dont like if its not well-incorporated.)I say, cut the kitty off. My cat refuses to eat sometimes--they do that. My dog does, too. As long as theyre still drinking enough water and acting normal other than their little food tantrums, theyre fine. Lay down the law! (and Ill laugh as you try to assert yourself...no...itll work. Eventually.)



Aiko

Hell do it eventually because he will get hungry. It might take a couple of days, but dont back down. Just make sure he has plenty of water to drink. But...I just had a thought - was he eating wet cat food or dry? If he was eating dry, you could switch him to wet - hed probably be more likely to eat it, as it will more closely resemble what he was getting off the table.



Abby

Hell eat when he gets hungry enough but whatever you do, dont start feeding human food again or youll never get him to eat cat food. Congrats for getting your mother to stop feeding him human food. Cats have very particular dietary requirements that cant be met with human food.



Heriberto

Put the food down and leave him alone. Cats wont starve themselve to death. When he gets hungry enough hell eat it. You may want to break him in slowly by mixing a little dry food in with a good portion of wet food and then gradually reducing the wet food and increasing the dry.



Adella

You have to continue not to feed them human food, eventually it will begin to eat its food. Its natural instincts will kick in. Its NOT good at all to feed cats human food, so you better stop it before something real bad happens to your cat.



Rebecca

Tell your cat to come to the kitchen then feed it some cat food and shout eat it in its face it will then eat the food.



Alisa

He will not starve himself. He is just being spoiled. If you only offer him cat food, he will eventually "settle" for the cat food. Dont worry, hell be fine.



Anderson

DONT FEED HIM ANYMORE PEOPLE FOOD IF HES HUNGRY HE WILL EAT HIS CAT FOOD. Try WET cat food its what theyre suppose to eat anyways and its tasty!



Anastasia

Hell eat when he gets hungry...just stop feeding it regular food! Its not good for a kitty :(



Elyse

Oh hell get hungry sooner or later dont worry