# Kitten only licking his food - help!



## destinyyx (Jun 20, 2011)

Hello, I have a 12 week old kitten, Lazy, who has been here since Friday. I was told by the lady who had him that he was eating Tesco kitten food, so I kept him on it but he is only licking the jelly/gravy off! He hadn't had dry food before so hes currently on Applaws which he is eating fine. I've tried blending it with the Applaws (didn't work), mashing it up (didn't work)

Is the Applaws dry enough for him or would he need a wet food too? If so, what can people recommend? I bought one Whiskas pouch but he did the same but his poos were fine when he "ate" that. He is a playful kitten and is drinking water.

Thank you 

Forgot to put, he'll eat cooked chicken/fish though - my 2 year old gave it to him before I even noticed.


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## hobbs2004 (Mar 12, 2010)

Have you tried mashing up the food a little so that he cannot just lick the jelly/gravy? 

Have a read around this section of the forum, hun. There is plenty of information on here as to why a dry only diet, or even a diet that has a high proportion of dry food, isn't a great idea for a cat.


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## destinyyx (Jun 20, 2011)

Yeah we've done that, he'll still lick it all off until its just the chunks. Even put a little bit on his paw, he'll lick it, chew it, then spit it out - did that with both Tescos and Whiskas. We put half a pouch of Tescos down over night before and woke up to just the half chunks we mushed up for him. 

Having a read of it all this morning, I can see what you mean. Is there anything you could recommend for my fussy one? I don't want to get something and he turns his nose up at it, again. Can obviously order in if need to.


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## Celador (May 12, 2011)

destinyyx said:


> Yeah we've done that, he'll still lick it all off until its just the chunks. Even put a little bit on his paw, he'll lick it, chew it, then spit it out - did that with both Tescos and Whiskas. We put half a pouch of Tescos down over night before and woke up to just the half chunks we mushed up for him.
> 
> Having a read of it all this morning, I can see what you mean. Is there anything you could recommend for my fussy one? I don't want to get something and he turns his nose up at it, again. Can obviously order in if need to.


Have you tried more of a pate style food to see if he'll eat that? There isn't really much to lick off the pate type's of food. The only one I personally know of that is quick to get hold of to try it out is the Purely - Scrummy, Yummy ones from Pets at Home.

I wouldn't say that I recommend the purely over other foods. Although they do have a high meat content and the rest of the ingredients look pretty good, after speaking to hobbs about it, some of the other important information needed to judge the food isn't available. But it's something to try out to see if he'll actually eat it.


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## hobbs2004 (Mar 12, 2010)

destinyyx said:


> Yeah we've done that, he'll still lick it all off until its just the chunks. Even put a little bit on his paw, he'll lick it, chew it, then spit it out - did that with both Tescos and Whiskas. We put half a pouch of Tescos down over night before and woke up to just the half chunks we mushed up for him.
> 
> Having a read of it all this morning, I can see what you mean. Is there anything you could recommend for my fussy one? I don't want to get something and he turns his nose up at it, again. Can obviously order in if need to.


But there aren't any chunks when it is all mashed together? Or do you mean, that even when it is all mashed up, he sucks up the jelly and then spits out the meat? Clever, contrary cat!

TBH, that is a near impossible question to answer. As cats can be so individualistic it will be trial and error (and cost and waste) until you find foods that he likes.

The only thing that I would say is that you should try to feed more than just one brand of food and more than just one flavour. Research has shown that cats who are fed a variety of foods and textures when they were kittens continue that feeding pattern and seek out new foods, whereas cats just fed one flavour of one food tend to become finicky eaters; something you very much want to avoid.

Also, by feeding more than one brand of food you help prevent potential nutritional deficiency (there is no such thing as a perfect food, though some may come close) and you are not scrambling around for another food to feed in case the recipe changes or the food gets axed.


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## destinyyx (Jun 20, 2011)

Celador said:


> Have you tried more of a pate style food to see if he'll eat that? There isn't really much to lick off the pate type's of food. The only one I personally know of that is quick to get hold of to try it out is the Purely - Scrummy, Yummy ones from Pets at Home.
> 
> I wouldn't say that I recommend the purely over other foods. Although they do have a high meat content and the rest of the ingredients look pretty good, after speaking to hobbs about it, some of the other important information needed to judge the food isn't available. But it's something to try out to see if he'll actually eat it.


You know what? I saw that in there yesterday but wasn't sure if it was like Whiskas, but will try that with him. Thank you.


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## destinyyx (Jun 20, 2011)

hobbs2004 said:


> But there aren't any chunks when it is all mashed together? Or do you mean, that even when it is all mashed up, he sucks up the jelly and then spits out the meat? Clever, contrary cat!
> 
> TBH, that is a near impossible question to answer. As cats can be so individualistic it will be trial and error (and cost and waste) until you find foods that he likes.
> 
> ...


Yep! We mash it up, leave him to it, I've seen him lick it up (meat and jelly) and think FINALLY! Then the meat part of it has been spat out.

Oh so it could actually be a hes fed up of Tescos food? He's had that since weaning, so best thing to do is a lot of trial and error really? Cost isn't really an issue, I just want him to eat 

Ooh er I didn't even think that they'd change recipes etc.. glad I joined the forum now otherwise if I found something he liked, sticked to it, and they change it I'd be stuck again.

Thank you for the advice, I shall stock up on a few different types of wet. I went into Pets at Home yesterday and they bloke suggested Applaws wet.. but I'm sure thats not a complete food so didn't buy it.


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## cazcatz (Jun 14, 2011)

Just a thought - have you thought about taking him to the vet to make sure there's not an underlying problem with his mouth? Perhaps he is finding it hard to chew or something is sore? Or even that he has difficulty swallowing? Hopefully it's just that he is being picky


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## ameliajane (Mar 26, 2011)

If you're sure there's nothing wrong with his mouth you could try mashing his food up thoroughly and adding a little water to turn it into a gravy. Leave a few very small chunks to try to get him used to them. Works quite well with the Scrummy Yummy/pate type foods.

My cat much prefers his food like this - if given solid wet food he just licks it too


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## K337 (May 20, 2011)

I had the same problem with both my kittens. They were weaned onto Whiskas but only licked the jelly off it. Mashing it resulted in little turned up noses, and I wasn't game to try waiting it out with them.

It took ages (4 months of trying different foods) but I now have one slightly pudgy cat that wolfs down Bozita, and one 'perfect' weight (or so the vet says, i think he's a touch skinny) that eats Grau but prefers raw chicken or cooked human food. He also loves applaws, chicken & cheese or chicken & pumpkin, but as its complementary he rarely gets it. They both eat smilla but aren't that keen on it. Still on a quest to get husband to help feed a raw diet, at the very least for the one who likes it!

It will take a while, but I think reading through the A-Z list and then trying anything that seems good will be a good step. Wish I had found it much earlier


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## destinyyx (Jun 20, 2011)

Thank you for your help guys, it really has been much appreciated. 

Turns out, hes a fussy one! I added extra water to it and really mushed it up as ameliajane suggested... it worked and hes now ate a whole pouch of food.  Before I was just mashing it slightly.


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