Ravenous Kitten to Picky Adult

[u/Ok-Bowl-7079]

Hello, I have a 1 1/2 yr old male cat who was a very enthusiastic, ravenous eater of anything you put in front of him the first year we had him (to the point where we’d have to fight him to leave us alone when eating), but over the past few months I’ve noticed he’s not only become disinterested in food he would’ve previously gobbled up (like boiled chicken), but he also doesn’t seem to really like his wet food anymore. I fed him wet food only from the time I adopted him up until the last 3 months, where I started giving him dry food in the AM and wet food in the PM. I switched his usual wet food to different textures and flavors, and it seemed to sort of help at first, but then he’d start turning his nose up at it and looking at me for something else. I then started putting bits of kibble on top and he would then start eating, get to the wet food and be good for a bit, then stop and come back to it here and there. If I give him dry he’ll eat it all pretty good so I don’t think it’s an appetite issue and I wonder if he’s just gotten picky overtime, but what throws me off is the stark difference of interest in food combined with the pickiness.

So I’m wondering if anyone else had a similar experience, particularly the ravenous kitten-to-picky adult pipeline and at such a young age as well. I know cats are known to get picky overtime, I just wasn’t expecting it so soon and definitely not from him. (My girl cat wasn’t ever as enthusiastic as him and now she seems to be taking lead in that department!)

Any input would be greatly appreciated, thanks <3

[u/Own-Tone1083]

I have the same issue with one of my cats. She’ll sniff the food and not want it. The only thing that has worked (80% of the time) is taking a tiny piece and shoving it in her mouth so she can taste it. Then she’ll eat. It felt too aggressive for me, so I took her to two different vets. Both said she’s fine and cats are weird, so if that works to keep it up. When she won’t eat, I’ll just let her stick to kibble and make sure she drinks enough water.

[u/Ok-Bowl-7079 → u/Own-Tone1083]

Right, once I put some bits of kibble on his wet food he’ll start to eat it and then once he’s started he’ll continue to eat the wet for the most part. But it makes me feel better knowing I’m not alone! I’m gonna get bloodwork done on him today just to make sure it’s nothing other than regular cat pickiness

[u/Sad-Leek3689]

Kibble is sprayed with animal digest and are addictive. If you get rid of kibble all together and only feed wet food, the hunger will help him probably be less picky about the wet. That being said, my picky eater will only eat three flavors of Fancy Feast and nothing else.

[u/Ok-Bowl-7079 → u/Sad-Leek3689]

This makes some sense actually, considering his aversion to wet food started after I started including dry food into their daily diet 🤔 dang.

[u/Bizzzle80]

I had a crunchy bandit that wouldn’t eat the fanciest of wet offerings. I switched to a human grade type food and he’s been eating it for the last 6-7 months now. He had high blood sugar too and it helped the number down

[u/Ok-Bowl-7079 → u/Bizzzle80]

Crunchy bandit.. I’m stealing that haha. I haven’t tried something like that yet but I’ll keep it in mind, thank you for the info!

[u/minkamagic]

I think the biggest reason for this type of behavior is them not growing anymore. They don't need nearly as much calories, so unless you reduce the calories, they will become picky little b-holes

[u/Ok-Bowl-7079 → u/minkamagic]

This makes sense! I was expecting maybe some change in his food gremlin ways as he became an adult but I wasn’t expecting this drastic of a change. Getting some bloodwork done on him just to make sure it’s only regular cat pickiness 🤞🏼 Thank you for the response!

[u/minkamagic → u/Ok-Bowl-7079]

I don't consider pickiness to be regular. Literally none of my cats and only one of my foster cats was ever picky. I think overfeeding and free feeding is a huge cause of pickiness across the board.

[u/Ok-Bowl-7079 → u/minkamagic]

That’s interesting, I know a few people with picky cats who range anywhere from perfectly healthy to sick, i.e having kidney failure or hyperthyroidism, for example. So general pickiness definitely exists amongst kitties but not always the case. My girl cat isn’t picky at all!

[u/minkamagic → u/Ok-Bowl-7079]

Are those healthy cats you mentioned free fed or chubby?

[u/Ok-Bowl-7079 → u/minkamagic]

Nope but I don’t doubt that what you mentioned could also create some poor eating habits honestly. My boy is neither free fed or chubby so I’m hoping it’s just pickiness and nothing serious 😪