only eats soft food

[alyssa060911]

Olivia (14 weeks old) was eating hill's a/d for about 2 weeks because she had stopped eating her hard kibble. (perscribed by the vet, there was nothing wrong with her.) She's getting a little plump so I got her the hill's science diet adult hard cat food. She refused to eat it. I just got her a couple cans of hill's adult wet cat food and she is eating that perfectly fine.
She will also eat baby food chicken, Gerber graduates chicken sticks, and Gerber sweet potatoes.
Also, she finally ate a treat tonight. First treat she has taken. She had 4 mealworms. Is that too many for one night? How often and how many should she get of these?

Could it be she just does not like hard kibble anymore?

Is there any hard kibble out there that she would not be able to resist?

I have no idea what I should be feeding her right now. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[moxieberry]

Was she eating kibble fine before she stopped? Was there any change in her diet (or anything else)? Some possible reasons for not eating kibble are if it's too large/hard, general pickiness, or other health/physical issues (like a sore tooth) which I assume the vet ruled out. The first thing to try would be to crush/break the kibble into small pieces, or even a gritty powder if the smaller pieces don't change anything. You could also try moistening it so it's softer.

[MurE]

I have some Science Diet at home (which I'm slowly phasing out because it's not as good as some other cat foods). The kibble is quite large. Poggles always drools a lot when he eats it, and it takes him a lot longer to eat. Maybe the kibble is a bit hard and big for her? The other cat foods that I have mixed in are Natural Balance Duck and Pea (a fan favourite) and Natural Balance Chicken and Pea. They are small round disks that I call "cookies". These are much easier for Poggles to eat and he seems to love them.

You could try the Natural Balance ones and see if she likes them. I have noticed that Blue Buffalo also has some small kibble sizes and I have heard good things about that brand too.

[alyssa060911]

Originally Posted by moxieberry

Was she eating kibble fine before she stopped? Was there any change in her diet (or anything else)? Some possible reasons for not eating kibble are if it's too large/hard, general pickiness, or other health/physical issues (like a sore tooth) which I assume the vet ruled out. The first thing to try would be to crush/break the kibble into small pieces, or even a gritty powder if the smaller pieces don't change anything. You could also try moistening it so it's softer.

She was eating a mix of katz-n-flocken solid gold and innova. She has been eating that mix since
before I got her. She just stopped eating it for some odd reason.(I got her when she was 8 weeks) No changes. I counted the kibble when I put it in at night, and when I woke up. I even made sure they were whole pieces in case she took a nibble. I tried softening it, and she just basically smelled it and walked away. When I offered her the hill's kibble she licked it, then wanted nothing to do with it.

[kat]

when Mustard had UTI she was put on Royal Canin urinary s/o wet cat food for about a month. when the month was over, she decided she was never going back to kibble! her mouth was periodically checked just in case something was wrong but the vet found nothing. I think she just found it easier to chew the wet cat food.

[alstewar]

I had this same problem with Nutmeg, the vet decided the cause was that I spoiled her with soft treats and softer foods.... to get her to switch back I first fed her the soft food she would eat with a little softened kibble added, slowly more softened kibble, less favorite soft food, once the favorite food was transitioned out, I offered softened kibble with less and less water. You may have to go back a stage every so often... our hedgies can be quite stubborn....