Tips for Fussy Eaters

by Katharine Babatzanis RVN

It can be extremely frustrating when you have a pet that's a fussy eater. Trying to figure out what they want to eat, offering different food options, and still to no avail. It can seem endless. Below are some tips for fussy you can try at home.

As always, any changes in your pet's health or behaviour should always be checked over by a Veterinarian first, to rule out any underlying health issues that may be causing the problem.

Warm Up the Food

Did you know that one of dogs' and cats' best senses is their sense of smell? Warming up the food will help entice them to eat as it enhances the aroma and improves the food's palatability.

Dry food: Warm dry food for a few minutes on low heat in an oven, then transfer food to their food bowl.

Wet Food: Warm wet food in a microwave (approx. 6-10secs) or mix in a couple of tablespoons of boiled water.

Remember, do not warm the food in the dish you will feed it to them in, and always test the temperature of the food before you offer it to your dog/cat to make sure they don't burn themselves.

Add a Little Something Extra

Unless your pet is on a specific diet for health issues, you can mix in a little bit of highly palatable canned food (usually supermarket canned food) with their usual dry food, will often increase palatability enough to induce eating. Most dogs can also be enticed with a small amount of canned cat food (however, this is only a short-term alternative as the protein levels found in cat food are far too high for dogs).

This rule can work backward for cats. While some cats will eat anything and everything you put in front of them, some are a bit more discerning and prefer their wet and dry food to be separate.

Change Their Feeding Set Up

Place their food bowl in a quiet, low-traffic area of the house, where they can feel safe to eat in peace. For some pets, this may be to eat in a common area of the house where there's a family member there most of the time. For others, it may be in a room all by themselves away from the majority of the house activity.

If you have multiple pets this may mean you will have to create space between pets and place their bowls on separate ends of the room, or even in different rooms altogether.

Take a Look At Their Bowls

As our pets get older they tend to develop sore joints and stiffer muscles which can make it harder for them to do daily tasks they used to be able to do so easily. If you've noticed it's getting harder and harder for your pet to bend down to reach their food bowl, you may need to slightly elevate it for them. Either by placing their normal bowl up on a box or purchasing a bowl that has a stand.

For cats, one of the most sensitive places on their face is their whiskers. When they eat from a normal bowl their whiskers can become easily fatigued from contact with the side of the bowl. You can help fix this issue by purchasing a purpose-built wide cats bowl (for their food and water) or feeding them off a plate.

Tough Love

This is the hardest one for most pet owners to do. For most of us, food and mealtimes have a sentimental place in our hearts, as we associate them with love and family. We also don't want to think of our pets ever going hungry. However, it is important to remember that if you have a healthy pet, they will eat when they are hungry.

They may have had success in the past in refusing to eat one type of food only to have someone give in and give them the food they want (even if it is not inherently good for them), e.g. table scraps or other high-value food. Which is why it seems as if they are playing the waiting game with you, knowing that you will just cave in and give them what they want eventually.

If your pet is healthy but chooses not to eat a meal, remove the food after they have had access to it for 30 minutes and then offer the same type of food for their next meal time. Just make sure it is a new serving, not the same dish from earlier that day.

It may also help to feed your fussy-eater smaller meals throughout the day; 3-4 small meals rather than 2 larger meals. They may feel overwhelmed by the amount of food in front of them and choose to only eat small amounts throughout the day.

Close For Comfort

Some pets prefer the company of their owner during mealtime. They may just like the comfort of knowing that you are near in order to start eating.

Hand feeding may be another option for a pet that doesn't like eating from a bowl. Some may also like being hand fed by their owner. However, this should only be for the short-term and you should work on reducing the need to hand feed your pet over time as we don't want them to become dependent on you.

Brushing your pet, especially with cats, may be all that is needed to help entice them to eat. This is because it is associated with the time when they were newborns with their mum and she would clean them while they were suckling.

DO NOT do or continue with these tactics if your pet is showing or has shown any signs of resource-guarding their food. Most common signs of resource guarding include but are not limited to: growling, stiff body when someone is near, turning away, and placing the majority of body and weight over the bowl.

PAPT Tips for Fussy Eaters.pdf

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