If cat food stayed the same, it would not be a problem feeding a finicky cat, but unfortunately brands change, specific varieties may be discontinued, or you may have to change your cat’s food for health reasons. If your cat is a finicky eater, this can be a huge challenge. There are a few things that may work to help.

The best thing to do is prevent the cat from becoming finicky. This is easily accomplished while the cat is a kitten. Do not feed your kitten only one brand and flavor of food. Offer the kitten many different brands of food and flavors as well as textures.

Most cat owners do not consider the texture of the food, how the food feels in the cat’s mouth is important. Cats are aware of the appearance, smell, taste and feel of the food. With so many aspects to consider, it makes substituting one brand of food for another more difficult.

If you must change the cat’s food, offer the new food in a separate dish next to the cat’s normal food at feeding time. Another method that can work is to mix a small amount of the new food with the food that the cat likes. Gradually add more of the new food until the cat will eat the new food exclusively.

There are a few other feeding tips that can help a cat. I like to feed my cat both dry and wet food. Feeding dry food will not harm the cat as some people believe, nor will it cause dehydration. If your cat is on a self-feed system, the dry food will stay fresh longer. It often works well to leave a dish of dry food out and twice a day offer wet food.

Each meal does not have to be the same amount of food. For example, the cat may get a smaller amount of dry food in the morning with a larger portion of wet food, and then in the evening, more dry food and less wet food, or more of both at one feeding and a less amount of both at the next feeding.

Cats may enjoy food puzzles because they satisfy their hunting instinct. Food puzzles also encourage the cat to exercise as they work the food out of the puzzle. If food puzzles are new to the cat, offer them on a quiet day at mealtime. Put their normal amount of food in the puzzle and offer the puzzle as close to their normal eating area as you can. Be sure to thoroughly wash the food puzzle with hot water and soap after the cat is finished with it. Because of a cat’s very good sense of smell, be sure to thoroughly rinse the puzzle so that the cat cannot smell the soap.

If the cat will not use a food puzzle, dry food can be hidden in and on a cat tree if the cat uses one. For example, my cat is blind so a food puzzle will not work with her. I have a three-tiered cat tree that has a “den” in the middle of it. I scatter her treats on the cat tree in different places. She loves to jump on it and using her sense of smell, find the treats. If you do not have a cat tree, you can hide treats around a room. Let the cat see you place one treat and show the cat where it is. You can tell the cat to find the treat as you do this. As the cat gets the idea hide the treat in a place near where you started and tell the cat to find the treat, gradually expand the area. Most cats will get the idea quickly and enjoy the game. This too satisfies their hunting instinct.

The bottom line is do not give up trying different foods and puzzles to keep your cat healthy and happy.