# Process to Introduce New Food



## spockally (Mar 7, 2011)

I tried to find an answer over the internet but I couldn't, so I wonder if somebody can give me some help. My cats were on kibble over 10 yrs and I recently tried to let them have canned wet food for better diet. I started giving them Wellness Chicken canned food little by little about 12 days ago and gradually increased amount. Since they liked it and they are doing ok with it, I started adding new kibble (Merrick BG) to the Cat Chow they have been eating and am gradually increasing the amount of new kibble to ease the transition. One or two times they vomit ( I think they overate...) but other than that they are adjusting good, I thought. One of them, Spock, though, does not want to Wellness chicken canned food anymore. I wonder if it is because he got tired of the same taste of Wellness canned food which he has been eating 12 days, so I wanted to introduce new taste of canned food (I have Wellness turkey.) My question is: Is it ok to introduce new canned food while they are still adjusting to the new kibble that they just started trying from Wednesday (3 days ago)? Or should I wait to introduce new canned food until they finish the transition of new kibble which will take about 7-10 days? The reason I am still giving them kibble is that they get used to kibble and still like eating kibble. I give them about half a can per day per cat and offer kibble available. I remember when I had my baby (human), I learned to introduce new baby food only one kind at a time taking a week to see reaction or sort. I was wondering if the same rule applies to cats as well. I appreciate if someone can give me instructions. Thank you in advance.


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

If your cats are now used to eating canned food, then you should be able to switch flavors or brands without needing any transition time...and you needn't wait until they're eating a new brand of kibble. 

If your cats are prone to allergies, then it's a good idea to introduce new food slowly and wait to see if there's any reaction. However, if they've never had any issues with allergies, you needn't wait a week before introducing other foods.


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## spockally (Mar 7, 2011)

Susan:
thank you so much for your help. My cats do not have allergies so far, so maybe it is ok to try new canned food while still trying the new brand of kibble. I feel relieved now to know these things because I don't want to cause any stomach upset on them. Thank you again and have a great weekend!


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## Gramaray (Apr 1, 2011)

My Triskit is like your Spock (love that name) She will eat different canned food for awhile then turn her nose up at it. She is on an all canned diet due to FLUTD. I know she really wants dry food. For many years I gave her just Purnia dry cat food. She always ate it. I switched her to a better dry then canned and she ate both. No problem adjusting to wet. She always ate all dry food no matter what the brand. I am at my wits end with wet catfood for her. I even tried wild kitty. First pouch free just pay shipping and handling. She really like it. I ordered more. Now she won't touch it or eats very little. She has lost weight. My other cat sweety still eats dry and wet. I would stop giving dry food to sweety too if I didn't have so much dry food left. I am trying to use up the dry catfood. I also believe that canned or raw if you chose to feed raw to your cat is the best. Good luck.


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## spockally (Mar 7, 2011)

Gramaray:
Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I am sorry to hear about Trikit's FLUTD. I understand why you want her to be on wet food. I know that some kitties are picky or change their mind quickly.... That is good that Sweety seems to be non-picky eater and you can make good use of the canned food that Trikit did not like. We want them to eat good and healthy but do not want to waste money, right?!
Last night, Spock did not even come near to the wet food, Wellness Chicken, although Ally was just gulping. Later I approached Spock with his bowl in my hand and then he ate good  Oh well, he just needs lots of love and attention?! This morning I introduced new flavor, Wellness Turkey. They both just gulped! Amazing the different taste will do on Spock! Maybe he was just bored with eating the same chicken flavor?! Well, a little later Ally just vomit after she ate soooo much and fast, poor thing  I hope they will eat this turkey again. Meanwhile I need to get variety of canned food so they will not get bored with the same things. 
Sometimes it is frustrating, but we need to figure out what is good or acceptable to them. Good luck on Triskit and Sweety as well 
PS The name "Spock" comes from Mr. Spock in Star Treck. When we adopted him at about 10 weeks old, his ears were so big that my husband named him Spock! Cute


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

You've mentioned twice that Spock and Ally have thrown up because they ate too much, too fast. You might try raising their food bowls a bit. Perhaps you have an old phone book or something similar lying around that you can put their bowls on top off. That should helps to slow down their eating, and perhaps they then won't throw up due to eating too quickly.


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## spockally (Mar 7, 2011)

Susan:
THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I will defintely try to elevatte the eating area using phone books! I was wondering why they eat better and calm down when I put their food bowls in my hand and then lift it up. I thought they are just spoiled kitties, but I was foolish to think like that.... I cannot thank you enough for giving me such a wonderful idea  Ally, Spock and Tora will be happy as well! THANK YOU


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## MinkaMuffin (Apr 1, 2011)

When I switched my cat from SD dry to 75% BG canned/25% BG dry, I did it over a 1 week period. At the end of the week he was eating 25% SD/75% BG canned and on the 8th day, I removed SD completely. He seemed perfectly fine and doesn't even beg for his SD anymore.


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## spockally (Mar 7, 2011)

MinkaMuffin:
Thank you for sharing your experience. Taking over a week like you did makes sense. I am getting close to one week since I started changing and about 90 percent of dry food is now new one, Merrick BG. Ally vomit twice today and I was told by the vet to take it slow but not necessary to go back to her old diet so far. I just hope the transition is smooth for their tummies  Thanks again!


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## MinkaMuffin (Apr 1, 2011)

Try putting a rock or two (big ones) in her bowl so that she has to eat around them. That way she won't eat so fast.


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## spockally (Mar 7, 2011)

Another idea to let my fast eater slow down! Thank you! But, do I need to put rocks IN her bowl or AROUND her bowl? If they are IN the bowl, I put her wet food around the rock? It is kind of funny!


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## MinkaMuffin (Apr 1, 2011)

You could also hand/spoon/slow feed her in which you only give her a spoonful at a time and then wait a minute for her to digest and then next spoonful etc.

The rocks actually go IN the bowl. They don't have to be TOO big since cats mouths are so small, but yes, put the food in the bowl and then just _plop_! right on top.


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## spockally (Mar 7, 2011)

MinkaMuffine:
That IS funny    I guess I will let my kids look for the best rock in our yard tomorrow or I might want to steal some green or blue precious ones from their collection (my kids love to collect strange rocks since they are learning "rocks and minerals" at school!). I need to make sure I wash it well  Another method with hand/spoon is cute  I sometimes do that, acutally! They somehow like licking from spoon... funny  Thank you again for many good ideas!


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## MinkaMuffin (Apr 1, 2011)

Welcome ^^


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

The rock idea (another more sanitary suggestion is a golf ball) works well for kibble...not so great for wet food. To slow a cat down when eating wet food, spread the food out and smush it flat on the plate so it's a thin layer.


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## MinkaMuffin (Apr 1, 2011)

doodlebug:
Golf balls are really light though, so the cat could just push it right out of the bowl, and they (presumably) both have touched dirt and ground, so I can't see how one would be more sanitary than the other since you would wash them anyways.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

I put little bits of wet food in 3-4 separate dishes for Gigi and put them in different places in her bedroom. This way, she has to look around to find them, so she can at least take a breath between bites. I feed her that way several times a day. She's my cute little Hoover.


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

MinkaMuffin said:


> doodlebug:
> Golf balls are really light though, so the cat could just push it right out of the bowl, and they (presumably) both have touched dirt and ground, so I can't see how one would be more sanitary than the other since you would wash them anyways.


Not really light and if there's a enough of a lip on the bowl they cat can't get it out. I wasn't suggesting a used golf ball...


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## MinkaMuffin (Apr 1, 2011)

marie73 said:


> I put little bits of wet food in 3-4 separate dishes for Gigi and put them in different places in her bedroom. This way, she has to look around to find them, so she can at least take a breath between bites. I feed her that way several times a day. She's my cute little Hoover.


Hoover, thats cute xD


doodlebug said:


> Not really light and if there's a enough of a lip on the bowl they cat can't get it out. I wasn't suggesting a used golf ball...


But rocks are free, why would you want to buy a 12 pack of golf balls just to stick in cat food?


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

MinkaMuffin said:


> But rocks are free, why would you want to buy a 12 pack of golf balls just to stick in cat food?


The surface of a rock is not completely smooth, it has small indentations (like pores), crevices and even cracks that can collect bacteria creating the conditions that cause feline acne. Washing regularly even in a dishwasher doesn't always flush out the bacteria. Golf balls are much easier to get clean and they can be bought individually...


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