It can be incredibly frustrating, not to mention worrying, if your pet is refusing to eat. We are all trying to watch our budgets right now with the rise in the cost of living, so letting good food goes to waste feels like something we can’t really afford. But we also can’t afford to risk the health and happiness of our pets. If your pet is consistently turning its nose up at its food, then the chances are that it is trying to tell you something. Don’t just keep putting the same plate of food down again. Here are some tips to help you get started.
Talk To Your Vet
First things first: if your pet is refusing to eat, it may be because they are uncomfortable, in pain or not feeling well. If your cat or dog is not eating, then you should contact your vet to see if they can find anything medically wrong with them. If there is no cause for alarm, then they may be able to suggest some steps that will help you to help them. This may include your behaviour around their eating times, or staggering meal times if you have more than one pet.
Look At Their Food
The general conception out there is that cats are very fussy and that dogs will eat anything. Anyone who owns a dog, or a cat knows that this is not necessarily the case. There are a lot of different pet foods on the market, and if your pet is choosing not to eat what you are giving them then it may be time to think about why. A lot of pet foods contain high quantities of grains, which can leave an animal feeling bloated and uncomfortable. A natural pet food diet is made up of, as you would expect, natural ingredients that a cat or dog’s body is designed to digest. Encore Pet Food offers a range of meaty meals for cats and dogs from broths to beef steak. You can find out more about their process on their website.
Consider Your Set-Up
This point particularly applies to cats, but it goes for dogs too. Cats like to eat somewhere where they do not feel watched or threatened, so if you have got their food bowls in the middle of the kitchen then they may be getting stressed out at mealtimes. Try to make sure that you place their bowl somewhere quiet where they feel safe. You also need to remember that cats and dogs have a very powerful sense of smell, so keep their feeding area away from their litter trays.
Cats in particular may also be very particular about the bowls and dishes they are eating from. Try a ceramic, glass, or metal bowl if they seem interested in the food but uncomfortable eating or drinking from it. Remember that if your cat has long whiskers, then a flat dish may be better than a deep bowl with high sides.
