Well, she's addicted. For the last few days she's not been eating her normal food (wet pouch food)
Is there something wrong? I feel bad when she's meowing at me and sitting on the computer, nuzzling her face against me at every opportunity possible and she isn't eating. For the facts, she's stuck at my feet, and still meowing at me, looking at me. :o( I'm unsure what to do.
blazinglily
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I hate to say it, but I think you've fallen victim to your cat. Your cat has learned that you will give in to her pestering as long as she sticks with it long enough. I completely understand how difficult it is to not give into such a sweet adorable creature, but you have to show her who's boss and take back control!
I recommend taking all food away from her for a few hours. With picky cats, you usually don't want to leave food out all the time at first. It's okay to let her get pretty hungry (obviously don't wait too too long) and then present her with food. If she's hungry enough, she'll be smart enough to eat what's put in front of her. If she doesn't eat it, then take the dish back up and try again in an hour or so. I would stick strict to this regimen for about 24 hours. You need to train her that this is her opportunity to eat so she better take advantage.
If she's STILL not eating after 24 hours, don't give in by giving her Dreamies, or any other treats!! I would consider buying the same food you usually feed her, but perhaps a different flavor. Then do the same thing as before by presenting her food only a few times a day and not leaving it out. See if she prefers a new flavor. Some cats are picky eaters! Most cats aren't, but imagine how boring it might get if you had to eat the same tuna sandwich every day for the rest of your life...
Maybe if this STILL doesn't work, try to put a Dreamie deep in her food. Make her eat through her food to get the treat. Then maybe she'll realize, "hm, this other stuff actually tastes okay and I need to eat anyway." Just really make sure to not give her too many Dreamies... one with each meal (2 - 3 meals a day) is more than enough.
Another thing you can do is use the treats as REWARDS. Only give her a Dreamie after she eats her meal. And only give her one! It can act as a dessert. This way, she should start to associate that eating is good behavior and will be rewarded.
I would try to stick to this routine of designated meal times in general. Make sure you're leaving her water out all day as well throughout this experiment.
Brytney
This happens to my dog when I give her to many treats :) In the past, I've just set out some of her normal food out and refused to give her treats for a couple of days. When she gets hungry enough, she'll eat her normal food. It sounds cruel, but it really does work! After those few harsh days, You can start giving her treats again, but not in an overload. Start weaning her off of the treats, and soon she'll be eating normal again!
Hope this helps!
Anonymous
My cat won't eat wet food either so I bought a holistic dry food for him. He really enjoys the dry food and he's healthier than he has ever been. I would not leave the wet food out and make that the only thing available for your cat. I heard that cats can and will starve themselves if they do not want that food so you may have to keep shopping around for various wet foods or just end up giving her dry food. Good luck!
Anonymous
My cats also have an addiction to dreamies but they will eat their normal food, I think all you can do is to stop feeding her cat treats for a while, She will start to eat her wet food once she's hungry enough, you could try her on dry food maybe ? :)
KiSaBoS
I would stop giving her the treats. Once she gets hungry enough, she will eat her normal food. She might be sad but it's what's best for her. Animals are sometimes too smart for their own good, lol!