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Picky cat: Friskies or Whiskas?



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 3rd 05, 07:34 AM
Newbie
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Default Picky cat: Friskies or Whiskas?

My cat simply refuses to eat any of the nutritious premium foods I have
bought after much research! First I thought she simply doesn't like
paste and prefers chunks in gravy texture. However, that turned out to
be only half true. What she likes are chunk/gravy cans from cheaper
brands like Friskies and Whiskas! She ignores chunk/gravy food from
Science Diet: if that is the only option, she licks the gravy off but
leaves all meat behind.

Today I served her Friskies and SD side by side. To me they looked
similar: beef pieces in bad smelling brown gravy. She zeroed in on
Friskies, lapped it up, and didn't touch SD, even gravy.

This is quite perplexing to me. I have tried many tricks but I think
she has figured out that I can't see her go hungry and would eventually
break down and give her what she likes. So, between Friskies and
Whiskas which one will be better for her?

I must confess that I have avoided Fancy Feast, because their small
cans seem like rip offs to me, but she has turned down just about every
other premium food I have tried, canned or dry.
  #2  
Old August 3rd 05, 07:57 AM
-L.
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Newbie wrote:
My cat simply refuses to eat any of the nutritious premium foods I have
bought after much research! First I thought she simply doesn't like
paste and prefers chunks in gravy texture. However, that turned out to
be only half true. What she likes are chunk/gravy cans from cheaper
brands like Friskies and Whiskas! She ignores chunk/gravy food from
Science Diet: if that is the only option, she licks the gravy off but
leaves all meat behind.

Today I served her Friskies and SD side by side. To me they looked
similar: beef pieces in bad smelling brown gravy. She zeroed in on
Friskies, lapped it up, and didn't touch SD, even gravy.

This is quite perplexing to me. I have tried many tricks but I think
she has figured out that I can't see her go hungry and would eventually
break down and give her what she likes. So, between Friskies and
Whiskas which one will be better for her?


Friskie's. Whiskas is high in fat and carbs.


I must confess that I have avoided Fancy Feast, because their small
cans seem like rip offs to me, but she has turned down just about every
other premium food I have tried, canned or dry.


From what Phil P. posted last week, Fancy Feast is now more "premium"

than it used to be.

Don't worry about it too much.

-L.

  #3  
Old August 3rd 05, 02:27 PM
Phil P.
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"Newbie" wrote in message
...
My cat simply refuses to eat any of the nutritious premium foods I have
bought after much research! First I thought she simply doesn't like
paste and prefers chunks in gravy texture. However, that turned out to
be only half true. What she likes are chunk/gravy cans from cheaper
brands like Friskies and Whiskas! She ignores chunk/gravy food from
Science Diet: if that is the only option, she licks the gravy off but
leaves all meat behind.


Have you offered her any of the 'loaf' type SD diets such as Liver &
Chicken Entrée, Gourmet Turkey Entrée, Turkey & Giblets Entrée, Savory
Chicken Entrée ?




Today I served her Friskies and SD side by side. To me they looked
similar: beef pieces in bad smelling brown gravy. She zeroed in on
Friskies, lapped it up, and didn't touch SD, even gravy.


The reason for that is probably the triple sodium content and higher
phosphorus content of Friskies which cats find very palatable. A similar
flavor enhancer (digest) is used to coat (enrobe) dry food nuggets and
pellets otherwise cats wouldn't touch the stuff.



This is quite perplexing to me. I have tried many tricks but I think
she has figured out that I can't see her go hungry and would eventually
break down and give her what she likes. So, between Friskies and
Whiskas which one will be better for her?


The last time I researched the Whiskas line, I found it completely
unacceptable. Friskies, however, puts out a few diets that I've found
acceptable and would recommend if the budget was an issue: Three of the
first 4 ingredients in the "Fine Cuts" line (pouches) contain meat or fish
as the primary protein sources and relatively low phosphorus and sodium
contents. The Prime Filets with Chicken in Gravy (can), Seared Filets With
Turkey & Giblets (can), Seared Filets with Salmon (can), Shredded Chicken &
Salmon Dinner in Gravy, and Sliced Gourmet Grill (cans) are also acceptable.



I must confess that I have avoided Fancy Feast, because their small
cans seem like rip offs to me, but she has turned down just about every
other premium food I have tried, canned or dry.


Actually, the cost of two 3 oz. cans of Fancy Feast is very close to the
cost of one 5.5 oz can of 'premium' food. FF tends to be less expensive in
Petsmart than anywhere else (.40/can). FF Chicken Feast in Gravy contains
more meat products, much higher protein and lower phosphorus than most of
the other 'premium' brands including Wellness.

Phil





  #4  
Old August 3rd 05, 06:57 PM
Newbie
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Phil P. wrote:

: Have you offered her any of the 'loaf' type SD diets such as Liver &
: Chicken Entrée, Gourmet Turkey Entrée, Turkey & Giblets Entrée, Savory
: Chicken Entrée ?

Yes, indeed. Here is the hisory.

At first, I bought food by price; they were mainly Whiskas and
Friskies. By sheer chance (I didn't pay attention to texture), they
were bits-in-gravy type. She ate them happily.

Later, after receiving nutritional advice from a few persons, including
here and including comments from you, I bought an assortment of premuim
cans (SD, IAMS, Max Cat, Nutro). Again by chance most happened to be
paste or loaf type. She was quite resistant (but she did eat a little).


I still had a few Friskies left; when offered those she ate
enthusiastically. Maybe this was a mistake, because after this she
stopped accepting paste-like premium food completely!

At this point I theorized that maybe she likes the bits-in-gravy
texture better than paste. So I went out and bought several SD Savory
Cuts.

Now her discrimination became more perplexing:
Offered SD alone, she would lick the gravy off quite happily and leave
most of the meat behind.
Offered Friskies alone, she would finish everything.
Offered both side by side, she would eat Friskies and not touch SD.

This is where we are now.

: The reason for that is probably the triple sodium content and higher
: phosphorus content of Friskies which cats find very palatable.

Figures, :-)

: The last time I researched the Whiskas line, I found it completely
: unacceptable. Friskies, however, puts out a few diets that I've found
: acceptable and would recommend if the budget was an issue: Three of the
: first 4 ingredients in the "Fine Cuts" line (pouches) contain meat or fish
: as the primary protein sources and relatively low phosphorus and sodium
: contents. The Prime Filets with Chicken in Gravy (can), Seared Filets With
: Turkey & Giblets (can), Seared Filets with Salmon (can), Shredded Chicken &
: Salmon Dinner in Gravy, and Sliced Gourmet Grill (cans) are also acceptable.

Thanks. In the near term, Friskies is it; this list will help.

: Actually, the cost of two 3 oz. cans of Fancy Feast is very close to the
: cost of one 5.5 oz can of 'premium' food. FF tends to be less expensive in
: Petsmart than anywhere else (.40/can). FF Chicken Feast in Gravy contains
: more meat products, much higher protein and lower phosphorus than most of
: the other 'premium' brands including Wellness.

Petsmart and Target happen to be most convenient for me (I prefer
Petsmart because you can buy individual cans). I am certainly prepared
to pay more than 32 cents/can Friskies cost me. I was able to buy most
premium cans for 49-59 cents on sale (which is why I stocked up), may
have paid 69 for some. Those prices are fine. With FF, it wasn't so
much the price, but my "alert consumer" personality, :-) maybe I will
get over that and try a few of those as well.

Besides shopping carefully within the Friskies line, I am toying with
the idea of blending a little bit of SD (savory cuts), increasing its
portion gradually, to see if she can be taught to eat SD.

I would love to be able to feed her loaf- and paste- type food as well,
just to increase her variety and my options, but I don't know how to
approach it. I don't want a stand-off with my cat and I don't think
blending paste into gravy would work well. :-)

At friends' homes I have seen cats that rush to the bowl and eat
whatever is offered. It is really eerie, though also a little cute, to
watch this cat inspect and sniff the bowl, think for a moment or two,
and then decide to either eat or move and sit quietly a few feet away
waiting for something else.
  #5  
Old August 3rd 05, 08:20 PM
cathyxyz
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Newbie wrote:
My cat simply refuses to eat any of the nutritious premium foods I have
bought after much research!


Don't feel alone. Our two cats are the same. They will only eat the
Friskies Fine Cuts - pouches... (they won't touch Whiskas). We have also
tried all the more "healthy" brands too - to no avail. However, they are
not too fussy about dry food, they will eat various brands. Both are
healthy and happy, so if your cat like Friskies, let him/her eat it!

Cheers
Cathy

  #6  
Old August 3rd 05, 10:06 PM
jmc
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Suddenly, without warning, Newbie exclaimed (03-Aug-05 7:34 AM):
My cat simply refuses to eat any of the nutritious premium foods I have
bought after much research!


What she likes are chunk/gravy cans from cheaper
brands like Friskies and Whiskas!


My cat's the same. My vet calls her a 'junk food junkie'. She won't
touch Whiskas though. She likes 9 Lives and Felix, a grocery-store cat
food here in the UK.

I keep trying for the premiums, since she's prone to cystitis and some
of the junk foods are truly bad for her. Fortunatly, she will eat
premium dry, it's only the wet she doesn't like. And if it doesn't have
jelly, forget it. Gravy's not food, according to Meep.

jmc
  #7  
Old August 3rd 05, 10:30 PM
John
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On Wed, 03 Aug 2005 06:34:44 GMT, A strange species called Newbie
wrote:

My cat simply refuses to eat any of the nutritious premium foods I have
bought after much research! First I thought she simply doesn't like
paste and prefers chunks in gravy texture. However, that turned out to
be only half true. What she likes are chunk/gravy cans from cheaper
brands like Friskies and Whiskas! She ignores chunk/gravy food from
Science Diet: if that is the only option, she licks the gravy off but
leaves all meat behind.

Today I served her Friskies and SD side by side. To me they looked
similar: beef pieces in bad smelling brown gravy. She zeroed in on
Friskies, lapped it up, and didn't touch SD, even gravy.

This is quite perplexing to me. I have tried many tricks but I think
she has figured out that I can't see her go hungry and would eventually
break down and give her what she likes. So, between Friskies and
Whiskas which one will be better for her?

I must confess that I have avoided Fancy Feast, because their small
cans seem like rip offs to me, but she has turned down just about every
other premium food I have tried, canned or dry.


Try giving her the packets of Whiskas in Jelly. Especially the fish
varieties. Our cat loves this stuff.

We also buy the Purina One dry food. He likes this too and often eats
it. He mainly eats the Whiskas soft food though 75% of the time.

We only put a small amount of dried Purina food out for him at any
time, because dried food goes stale "VERY" quickly, and cats hate
stale food. We will put out a small handful of dried food out for him
in his tray downstairs and his other tray upstairs. We replace this
every 24 hours. If there is anything left it isn't much and we just
throw what is left. Saves money to just put out a small amount of
fresh dried food, and your cat wants to eat it if it isn't stale.

John


  #8  
Old August 3rd 05, 10:51 PM
Newbie
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John wrote:

: Try giving her the packets of Whiskas in Jelly. Especially the fish
: varieties. Our cat loves this stuff.

She'll eat Friskies and Whiskas as they are, without any extra
incentive.

But I don't know how to encourage her to eat premium canned food that
has paste- or loaf-like texture. I have quite a few of those cans.

: We only put a small amount of dried Purina food out for him at any
: time, because dried food goes stale "VERY" quickly, and cats hate
: stale food. We will put out a small handful of dried food out for him
: in his tray downstairs and his other tray upstairs. We replace this
: every 24 hours. If there is anything left it isn't much and we just
: throw what is left. Saves money to just put out a small amount of
: fresh dried food, and your cat wants to eat it if it isn't stale.

I didn't realize this. Wet food I can see drying up, but dry food looks
and smells the same to me after many hours. A few times I put the
uneaten dry portion back in the bag. Maybe this is why she doesn't like
dry as much now. Or it maybe she thinks/knows that if she doesn't eat
long enough I would eventually show up with a Friskies can.

One Petsmart emlpoyee suggestes mixing little bit of dry with canned
food (he said he does that). Some Nutro cans explicitly suggest that
too, 75% dry 25% canned if I remember correctly. But we haven't
bothered. We use very little dry and only rarely.
  #9  
Old August 4th 05, 12:53 AM
Michael Rhino
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"Newbie" wrote in message
...

My cat also prefers Friskies to Science Diet dry food. The previous owner
gave her Friskies. I switched her to Science Diet for kittens. She ate
that for a while. When she was about 6 months old, I let her taste Friskies
and she never went back to Science Diet. Once a day, I'll giver her a Nutro
Natural Choice packet (Salmon or Tuna and Oceanfish). She loves the gravy,
but doesn't eat the food (Nutro). After licking the gravy, she'll go eat
some Friskies.


  #10  
Old August 4th 05, 01:25 PM
Shawn Hirn
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Default

In article , Newbie
wrote:

My cat simply refuses to eat any of the nutritious premium foods I have
bought after much research! First I thought she simply doesn't like
paste and prefers chunks in gravy texture. However, that turned out to
be only half true. What she likes are chunk/gravy cans from cheaper
brands like Friskies and Whiskas! She ignores chunk/gravy food from
Science Diet: if that is the only option, she licks the gravy off but
leaves all meat behind.

Today I served her Friskies and SD side by side. To me they looked
similar: beef pieces in bad smelling brown gravy. She zeroed in on
Friskies, lapped it up, and didn't touch SD, even gravy.

This is quite perplexing to me. I have tried many tricks but I think
she has figured out that I can't see her go hungry and would eventually
break down and give her what she likes. So, between Friskies and
Whiskas which one will be better for her?


I don't think it matters from a nutritional standpoint which brand of
food you feed your cat. I think those premium cat foods with premium
prices are just a way to separate consumers from their money. My cat
isn't a big fan of Science Diet and the other high end cat foods either,
but she will eat them.

My suggestion is that you let your cat decide which cat food brand she
likes best. My cat will eat most brands of sliced cat food, but she
really gets excited over Whiskas. I usually buy the brand that's on
sale. My cat's never complained.
 




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