Getting your cat on a species-appropriate diet is the best healthcare decision you can make.
Don’t let that stop you – dry food is always bad for cats! Chasing a toy and pouncing on it mimics what cats would do with a would-be meal in the wild. Dry food is actually addictive for many cats. If you are moving to a carnivore-appropriate diet, the benefits will be WAY worth it.Ĭats coming off kibble may have a harder time. It DOES mean you’ll need a plan (and possibly moral support.) It generally takes around 3 weeks to get past neophobia, as long as you never give in to the begging. Neophobia is NOT being “finicky.” It’s being a cat.Ī neophobic response doesn’t mean your cat will never accept a new food. The goal is to broaden the finicky cat’s horizons with a healthier diet and to get the dry-food addicts off the stuff. He may eat it right off the bat, if you’re lucky… chances are better that he won’t. Cat expert Steve Dale with information regarding finicky cats, sometimes they are and sometimes may be masking a physical problem. The love and trust your cat feels for you does not extend to any new food you offer him. Most of all, it helps to understand why your cat acts as he does.Ĭats are wild animals. As a cat parent feeding a new diet, you need a saintly level of patience and perseverance. Neophobia keeps cats alive in the wild, but it can make your parenting job tough.
This is normal cat behavior, a positive survival trait, called “neophobia.” So you avoid it until you have no other choice, then eat as little of it as possible. In the wild, an unfamiliar food might kill you. Because of this behavior (and Morris!), cats are now commonly viewed as being “finicky.”Ĭats are not “finicky.” They ARE naturally leery of unfamiliar foods.
But also, the fact that you mentioned that she is. They cover it up or refuse to eat it, and beg for the old stuff with pitiful mews and huge eyes. Sometimes cats do become finicky because we inadvertently train them to be. Cats offered an unfamiliar food often react with apparent disgust. Morris the Cat, “The World’s Most Finicky Cat.” That ad campaign created one of the most harmful cat myths around - the Myth of the "Finicky" Cat. The Truth: Cats Are NEOPHOBIC (and may be addicts!)