Getting a cat to eat dry food!

[Desley (booktigger)]

I would stop pushing it, leave it for a few days until he is more relaxed, and then try again, as long as he is eating something.

[McHaggis]

Hey Lottie
how the feeding going ???
I hope he's not too hungry 
He looks amazing , cant wait to meet him 
Hope he's doin fine 
xx

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Yes available at all supermarkets I believe, it may be called whiskas crunch and comes in plastic boxes like a cats head and is pink 

Its near where you see dentabits and temptations but the box is taller.

[Claire_smc]

I think they're a bit like small treats which you sprinkle over normal food, I'm sure I've seen them at Wilkinsons before.

[Lottie (Team Svartalfheim's)]

At the risk of sounding totally stupid what is Whiskas topping and where would I buy it from?

This is all the more annoying due to the fact that until he came to the UK he ate dry quite happily Little large wotsit that he is!

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Have you tried Whiskers topping as a way forward to dryer food?

Misa will not eat any treats but will eat these by themselves and it may be way forward..........or not 

[Lottie (Team Svartalfheim's)]

He has not eaten any more of his wet food since I 'contaminated' it with a bit of dry food  *sigh*

[Zenith (Liz)]

Zenith: I will get some ham when shopping tomorrow and give that a try. I would happily let you have number 6 but I think Chelle might say something about it 

Are you a mindreader?    I'm sure she wouldnt be able to say much once number 6 were here 

Luna (well all three) love the giant box obstacle course my house has become.  I'm only moving to the opposite end of the same street but the cats will have lots more space in the new home 

Oh i've just sent you a picture text from this morning, I wake up with her cuddled alongside my body which is super cute until she starts chasing her tail in the early hours - I don't know if she'll grow out of that one yet 

[Lottie (Team Svartalfheim's)]

I've now mixed a bit of dry into his food and scattered some on the top and he is eating some of it but I'll check out later if he eats the lot or manages to leave some of the biscuits. I've also measured out some dry in his scoop so I can see if he is eating any of it at all (just in case he is eating a tiny amount of it when I am not out there but not enough to make the bowl go down noticibly.

I have also put his treat board down with the Natures Menu treats on it and some of the treats from his kitten pack which he loves and I have also scattered some dry food down on that so I am hoping he might brave going to investigate the treat board (he's still very shy as he's not even been here a week yet) and eat the treats and eat some of the dry as well.

Clare: I've tried hand feeding and he just gives me a look as if to say "and why would I eat that when I can eat meat??"

Zenith: I will get some ham when shopping tomorrow and give that a try. I would happily let you have number 6 but I think Chelle might say something about it 

[Zenith (Liz)]

If he's starting to trust you Clare's idea seems a good one, You could shred teeny bits of ham onto to dry and mix them in - Nova's sense of smell isn't great but chicken and ham are his faves

And Lottie it's off topic but i'm moving house today and I need number 6!!!!!

[clarenmax]

I wonder whether hand feeding some dry food so it seems like a treat might get his appetite going for the dry stuff?

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Have you tried mixing a few kibbles of dry in with his wet?  Maybe if they get a bit softer in texture from the wet he might eat them.  Ditto to moistening them on their own.  I know you can't leave them down for long like that due to bacteria, but they'd be ok for a bit.

[Lottie (Team Svartalfheim's)]

I tried putting some of the Natures Menu treats broken in half to make them smaller on the dry food and he very carefully picked them out, ate them and then went and sat back into the scratchpost 

[Tiggy's Mum]

Does he like treats? You could grind up some dreamies/tempations and sprinkle the powder on top of the dry food.

[Lottie (Team Svartalfheim's)]

Orion is refusing point blank to touch dry food. I have got a bowl of Hills, a bowl of Royal Canin and a bowl of Iams out for him and he won't touch any of them but will eat any wet food or raw food you put down and he will also do anything for Natures Menu treats (blue bag).

I have checked with his breeder and he ate a variety of dry foods over there (including Hills and Iams) and his breeder thinks that Orion is pushing me to see how far he can go to get meat as he will do anything for meat.

I have tried cutting down his wet food and didn't put any down for him at all yesterday figuring that if he was hungry he'd eat the dry. He has still not eaten any dry and I am not quite sure what to do  I know he can't go long periods without food especially with having only just turned 11 months old so I am about to go and put a small amount of wet down for him so he actually eats something but I am at a loss as to how to get him to eat dry.

Any tips on how to persuade him to eat the dry food???  I am perfectly happy to feed him a predominantly wet/raw diet but he will need to eat dry food when we are away and of course I can't leave wet/raw down all day especially over the summer and all my cats are free fed rather than fed at set times of day.