When we first brought the jerks home, we were told they liked Science Diet. Chicken flavor. Loaf form. So we bought cases of it. They loved it!
We placed an order online for vast quantities, and I threw in a case or two of Iams too. We were only going to feed them the best, and we felt good about buying the healthy food that would allow them to live longer, healthier lives.
Then one day I was in the drugstore and bought them a can of Friskies just for fun. Just to see if they’d like it.
Oh, they liked it.
They liked it so much they absolutely refused to go back to the healthy stuff. Friskies is like the McDonald’s of cat food. That stuff is like kitty crack. But now they will not eat anything else. Believe me, I’ve tried. For a few weeks there, I decided that I was in charge and I was buying the food and I could make them eat it. Eventually, they had to get hungry enough to eat what was put in front of them. It was a battle of wills.
They won. For a week, Pants turned up her nose at everything I put into her dish. During that time she ate nothing, and she’s pretty small to begin with. She started to wither away, so eventually I caved and gave her some more crap in a can. She devoured it, and I realized I was a moron for even trying to convince myself I was in charge. They’re cats. I should have known better.
Now we have cases of leftover food that they will not touch. If I put some in their dish, it sits there until I throw it out the next day. So for refusing the eat the hundred dollars worth of food sitting in my closet, cats, you are serious jerks.
Donate it to your local animal shelter.
Boo Iams!
Bet it’d look nice next to the fancy £50 cat bed I bought.
Why don’t you mix it in with their kitty crack?
[...] My Cat is a Jerk #30: She Whines For Food and Doesn’t Eat It 6 08 2010 I’ve mentioned a few places that Pants is a picky eater. This is probably an [...]
You should give it to one of your friends with cats. Most cats treat wet cat food like cake or ice cream. It’s a fantastic treat. They’ll pout whet it gets taken away, but they’ll still eat their food.
it’s alright, science diet it NOT healthier. it’s a scam, vets are paid to recommend science diet. in actuality vets aren’t trained on the real dietary needs of pets.
anything with “meal” or corn anything is crap.
you want something really healthy look into blue wilderness (the dry food is one of the best dry foods out there… however dry food in general is not great).
wellness, taste of the wild, fussie cat, weruva, before grain, merrick… these are all GREAT brands and you never hear of them. why? because they use their money on IMPROVING the food instead of ADVERTISING
at any rate,y ou’ll probably never see this comment (unless you get an alert to new comments). I just thought I’d leave it anyway. but I highly suggest doing some research on the crap they put in cat food… the reason cats like friskies and such is the pump it full of artificial flavors
Get them Orijen. They will love it, I swear. Its the best food out there too. Make sure to give them the serving size. Its filled with protein, so they’ll need to eat less because they will be getting what they need.
I enjoy your kitty ramblings, as I too, am a crazy kitty lover. However, it seems that most of your kitty issues are simple behavioral issues and could be solved with simple stimulation activities. Also, reading your blog, if you think that IAMS is a “quality”food, you are sadly misinformed. IMAS barely begins to scratch the surface of what cats need nutritionally, and is pretty much feeding your cats the bare minimum of what you can provide for them. There are many more options that you could feed, most of them will ultimately cost you less while providing your cats with more of the basic nutrients that they require. Best of luck to you!
You can always donate the food they hate, and I am sure some other cats will be grateful. Same thing happens with me, and always when I buy a bunch of food.
If you have a Trader Joe’s by you, I’d suggest you give their cat food a try. It better quality than Friskies and the price is reasonable. My old and younger cats have liked it. Also, try mixing the old and new food. If you want to try real healthy food for cats try wellness, innova, by nature etc.
http://www.petsmart.com/family/index.jsp?f=Taxonomy%2FPET%2F2768975&categoryId=3155759&lmdn=Cat+Food+Center&f=Taxonomy%2FPET%2F3155759&fbc=1&fbn=Taxonomy%7CNatural+%26+Organic&fbx=0