Tempting Your Finicky Cat

We all know that cats are finicky. Sometimes they just prefer a certain type of food. Other times, they may have a problem like illness, age, or a nutritional deficiency. Sometimes when a cat goes off it's food, it may stubbornly refuse to eat for a length of time that is unhealthy. In this case, you will want to have something completely irresistible on hand to get your kitty started eating again.

Most of my cats will turn their noses up at the most expensive cat food, but one thing they will never refuse is jack mackerel. You can find it inexpensively on the shelf near the tuna at your grocery store. A sixteen-ounce can containing four almost-whole fish and lots of smelly juice costs under two dollars.

To keep jack mackerel snacks on hand for your cat, you can buy a can of jack mackerel and some zip-lock snack bags. Open the jack mackerel into a bowl and mash it all up with a potato masher. Give some to your cat (believe me, he'll be right there begging!) then divvy up the rest into individual servings in the snack bags. Put the small bags into a larger bag to contain the smell and prevent accidents, and stick the whole thing into your freezer.

When you want to give your cat a treat, just take out a snack bag to thaw. Be sure to just let the mackerel thaw in the fridge or set the bag in a bowl of warm water to thaw. If you put it in the microwave, it is incredibly smelly.

Broth is also very good for tempting finicky cats or cats that are recovering from an illness. You can make a broth with chicken or beef bones for your cat to drink. Just put the bones and fresh water in a pot, bring them to a boil, boil for five minutes, and then simmer for about half an hour. Your cat may like a little garlic added. Experiment with this to see if your kitty likes it.

Cats also like creamed soups like cream of chicken and clam chowder. You can dilute the soup with a little broth. I usually use half a can of liquid to a can of soup. You will want to divvy up the soup into three or four servings and freeze them or keep them in the fridge.

Be sure to serve broth and soups at a lukewarm or cool temperature. Cats don't like things too hot, and you don't want to burn your cat's tongue!

These special foods should do the trick to get your cat to start eating again if he has gone off his feed; however, be sure your cat also has access to a good quality of dry food and fresh water at all times. Jack mackerel, condensed soups and broth are not complete foods for cats - just treats to whet their appetites!