You know what the real difference is between dogs and cats besides the obvious ones? Dogs eat anything and cats won’t. It can be downright challenging to get your cat to try a different food. So how do you go about transitioning your cat from dry food to canned food? That’s what we asked ourselves and we came up with some interesting information that we wanted to pass on to you about cat food.
Your Cat Could be Addicted
Don’t worry, just have a giggle about that. What happens is that your cat – very much like you – becomes addicted to certain foods and craves them. Sometimes your cat can even become addicted to the shape of her food and cat food designers are plugged into this fact in a big way. The most important thing in cat food is that it’s balanced nutrition for her.
How Do You Make the Switch?
The first thing you need to realize is that this is a marathon, not a foot race. You want to make sure that any changes you introduce are done slowly and that you give her plenty of time to decide she likes it. If you push a new food on your cat too fast, she could decide to go on a hunger strike and that’s never a good thing.
How Long Will it Take?
Honestly, it could take as long as a year to transition your cat to a better diet. It’s going to take patience and a lot of it. But the reward – your cat’s robust health – will be well worth it.
If your cat was living in the wild, she would probably be eating a lot of mice. Why? Because mice have the exact protein and water ratio they need to thrive.
This is part of the reason why experts at the American Association of Feline Practitioners want to try to get cat lovers to move away from dried food to canned food. Yes, there is the argument that dry food is better for your cat’s teeth because it’s more abrasive. But the canned food better mimics what she would eat in the wild and, therefore, keeps her healthier.
How it’s Done
If your cat uses a continuous feeder of dry food, the first thing you need to do is stop that practice. You want to make your kitty hungry and if she has an all night and all day buffet, she won’t be interested in the least.
Pet healthcare providers suggest dividing your cat’s daily allowance of dry food into three separate meals at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Once she has accepted this feline penance – she will think you’re punishing her even if you’re not – you can swap out one of those dry food meals with a serving of canned food.
Just make sure that the caloric intake stays the same when you transition to canned food. Repeat this method twice more until your cat is eating only canned food at all three meals. Make sure that the transition period between each switch lasts at least several weeks. Transitioning her to a diet that more accurately mimics what she would eat in the wild will give you a happier healthier cat.
