fussy eater?

Continuing the subject diet, what do you do if your cat is a fussy eater ?
I am sure that most cat owners have been in this frustrating situation. You may be surprised to learn that, providing they are given good food, it is not a natural part of a healthy cats behaviour to refuse food. Most of the fussyness is a learned response to our over pampering.

I have done it myself. Pussy turns its nose-up at some tasty morsel that you have brought back from your weekly hunt around the local supermarket. What do you do !? Feeling a little shamed that your choice has been met with utter contempt, you proceed to open an array of goodies, which probably includes a can of wild salmon, until his/her majesty is satisfied with your final offering, but only after much suspicious sniffing and scrabbing.
Next week your back in the supermarket again and join the throngs of cat owners all pondering what treats may be offered up this time. Here, at the shrine to the fickle feline, the often repeated mantra may be heard “ oh my cat wont eat that, he/she is a fussy eater and will only eat……….(you fill in the blank !)
Hard as it may be to accept, you (and I) are the problem.

I know that it is very difficult, but if you finding your cats fussy eating habits hard to cope with, then a fairly harsh regime may have to be resorted to. Try the following:

20 minuets and up

Give your cat food that you know it has eaten before. If after 20 minuets the cat still refuses the food then take the dish away. Do not, under any circumstances, give treats, snacks or other food stuff in lieu of the main meal. At the next feeding time, replace the dish and repeat the process. Repeat again at subsequent meals.
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Other tricks for the fussy eater

• Always keep to a strict time table for meals. Feed only twice a day.
• Do not feed straight from the fridge, cats like food at body temperature
• Lightly cover the discarded food with a preferred option
• If you have more than one cat, try feeding it in a separate room, some cats prefer this.
• Move the food away from the cat litter tray, its not nice to eat in the loo!

Now comes a major battle of wills ! Keep this up for at least 24 hours, be strong. Do not give in. It will do your cat no harm to miss a few meals. Water should always be available.
Some would advise to keep up this starvation method for longer than 24 hours, I don’t know that this is wise and would prefer not to put my cat through this. However you may want to try giving half the quantity of a food they will eat. Hunger is a great incentive and compromise may be reached.

If your cat has a long bout of not eating and seems out of sorts, you should refer to your vet for qualified advise.

Good luck
Jenny