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We give our cats (2 of them) wet food every other day but still always keep two bowls of dry food out for them. Our oldest, biggest, and grumpiest cat does not eat her dry food any longer and holds out for wet food. We don't want them only eating wet food expensive and we know dry food is good for their teeth and we buy quality wet and dry cat food because we care about what they eat. I think she's really hungry and grumpier on days we don't give wet food. Solution?

We give our cats (2 of them) wet food every other day but still always keep two bowls of dry food out for them. Our oldest, biggest, and grumpiest cat does not eat her dry food any longer and holds out for wet food. We don't want them only eating wet food expensive and we know dry food is good for their teeth and we buy quality wet and dry cat food because we care about what they eat. I think she's really hungry and grumpier on days we don't give wet food. Solution?

Updated On January 18th, 2017

Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Female | spayed | 12 lbs

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Answered By Destini R. Holloway, DVM

Veterinarian

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In this type of situation where the pet is holding out for wet food and going on hunger strikes, it is actually more harmful to try and force Gambino to eat the dry food; than to just give her what she wants. Yes dry food does help with the teeth, but so does daily brushing and/or dental treats (Greenies work extremely well for my cats and come in all flavors). The benefits of wet food is far superior in my opinion because it helps keep the kidneys and bladder happy and healthy, which in grand scheme of things is a lot harder to correct once they start to malfunction than periodontal disease. So I would say stick with the wet food, because even though it is more costly at least you are not wasting money on dry food that you will have to toss anyway because she refuses to eat it, and you can't make her because quite frankly she's a cat, but it will lead to an overall healthier cat with potentially fewer medical visits dealing with urinary and/or kidney problems in the future.

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    Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

    Veterinarian

    It does sound like Gambino is being picky! I love that you care about what your cats eat, and you are correct dry food is better for their teeth. If she getting starting to refuse to eat her dry food, you are going to have to take away the wet food for now so she starts eating the dry again. There are a few tricks you can do to get her to eat the dry food. One thing is to take away the dry food for the whole day. No free feeding. Do it when you are at work so they don't make you feel guilty. This will make her really hungry, and once you come home, she should come running for the dry food. Natural hunger should work in your favor. Another trick is to soak the dry food in gently warmed low sodium beef or chicken broth, or tuna juice. This will make it more tempting to Gambino, and over time, slowly decrease the amount of both or tuna juice you add to the dry food until she is eating the dry food only. You may have to make the wet food an occasional treat only so she stays eating the dry food.

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