How can I stop my cat being so fussy?

[Tenbears]

How can I stop my cat being such a fussy eater? I feed her dried food. She'll start a pack with gusto, but start refusing it by the time I get halfway down the pack. If I switch brand or flavours, the same thing happens - she's fine at first, but seems to get bored with it. But then she won't got back to things she's previously tried and got bored with. I'm running out of brands and flavours to give her!

[mikewith]

Are you keeping the pack sealed, or at least closed, in the meantime? The food may be going off so that, by the time the pack is half empty, your cat no longer wants to know. (Of course, kitty may just be incredibly fussy - it wouldn't be the first!)

[WendyW]

You just have to accept the fact that Cats are Cats ... they are fussy ... they go off food without reason. Just keep trying different things. We ended up buying Royal Canin and so far our Cat has stayed interested in this for over a year ... Is this a record? However ... just as you buy a large bag the little devil will so off it.

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The joys of having a Cat!! :)

[honkytonkman]

My cat was THE fussiest of eaters, never touching the same flavour or brand twice in a row. We had a whole assortment of past favourites to tempt her with. Once, we decided to repeatedly put down fresh food of one brand to see if she'd eventually give in, but it seemed she would rather starve to death than eat it. In the end, she lived on those extortionately expense meals in little foil dishes and even then we had buy every flavour in every brand. Perhaps a little treat of tuna chunks or similar on top of the food might swing it but don't bet on it. As WendyW says, that's the world of cats! I love 'em for precisely this independent streak and wouldn't have them any other way :)

[paulperoni]

STOP spoiling it!! THATS why its fussy. god sake, these people who treat pets like humans, its insane!! just give it the food, when it get hungry enough, it will eat it. i guarantee you that!

[Tenbears]

Actually, PaulPeroni, I have tried the starvation technique and, like honkytonkman's cat, she seems to prefer to starve than eat something she doesn't want. Or she eats my plants, steals from the cupboards etc instead. I do take your point, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to be that simple, or I wouldn't have asked the question. But at least I can take heart that it's not just me experiencing this problem! My other cat, incidentally, eats anything given to her.

[Taurwen]

... Beginning to think my cat's an abnormality for lack of fussyness probably because he knows we'd stop giving him food if he didn't eat it. Not that that would matter much. He hunts as well.