And -- have his thyroid function checked, if you have not done so,

It took awhile before my cats adapted, too.  Duffy was used to "whatever dry
food had been donated" when he was at the animal shelter (for 3 months), and
he simply wouldn't touch any of the quality food I bought.  I began by
gradually mixing Wellness dry into the junk food.  Then I started the
process of getting him to eat wet food.  I withheld food until he *would*
eat.  I really felt cruel and almost gave up a few times, but I knew it
would be better for his health -- and, in his case, he was pretty scruffy
and unkempt when I adopted him.  Now, both he and Holly are ready for their
food (twice a day), and I occasionally give a small amount of Wellness as a
"treat."

No, you definitely are not alone.  I fed Holly Fancy Feast for a few years,
too.  She loved it and was healthy.  However, I can still see a big
improvement in her coat since I switched to Wellness -- no more dandruff
(black cat), for example.  One person compared the process to trying to
convince a person that it is better to drink milk instead of eating a hot
fudge sundae!

MaryL

In the fine newsgroup "alt.cats", "Agua Girl"
<uknown@spamblock.net> artfully composed this message within
<news:CqGdnUlepJ_vrW3dRVn-gQ@adelphia.com> on 10 Jul 2004:

You're not the only one with this problem. My Bonnie, who was a
feral who ate whatever I put out, once "domesticated" will only eat
dry food. I've tried every trick to get her to eat canned, ANY
canned at first and she will stress out and pull her fur out rather
than eat canned food. When left to just dry (wellness now) she is
sleak and healthy so it was definitely an emotional problem with
the fur pulling. My others eat mainly canned so I hope some day
she'll be a copy-cat and eat what they eat. For the time being, I'm
ok with feeding her Wellness dry, and she does drink plenty of
water.

Cats rarely overeat (except for my indoor garbage-guts who is on a diet at
present), but even a fussy cat will not starve itself to death. If you are
worried about your cat not eating enough, make sure that you check its gums
to rule out any pain in the mouth. They should be pink, not red and the
teeth should be clean and white. Red gums can mean infection, gum disease
and/or fever. Extremely pale or white gums are also serious - that's anemia.
Yellow gums mean jaundice which is usually a result of poisoning. Sometimes
a cat may have dark pigment on their gums which is rare but makes it hard to
tell what colour they are, but rotten teeth are hard to miss. Cats are
well-known for being fussy eaters so don't stress too much.

-Silver
"I love cats because I enjoy my home; & little by little, they become its
visible soul."

- Jean Cocteau 1889-1963.