So my bengal, Moxie, is five years old. He's active and loving and shows no sign of illness (besides the occasional puking).

However, I've noticed recently that he looks and feels thinner than usual. Moxie always has a full dish of dry food and I've seen him eat from his bowl. I recently purchased several treats for him and have begun to offer them regularly when I return home from work. I wonder if this may have anything to do with the rejection of his typical dry food. I will also occasionally feed him packaged wet food, which he eagerly consumes entirely.

So, my question is, how can I ensure that he is eating adequately? Should I stop offering him treats? Should I change his food to something more flavorful, and perhaps this is an indication that he's no longer interested in his daily food? I've fed him the occasional wet food before and not had this weight loss issue. (I also fed him Blue Buffalo on one instance, during which he dug through the food to get to their "lifesource bits" and left the rest all over the floor.)

For information's sake, his dry food is Taste of the Wild venison flavor, and his treats are either grain-free or freeze-dried chicken. His wet food is typically grain-free as well and I try to stick with brands that don't have filler or artificial ingredients.

Additionally, while I know it is a great option and I'd love to do so, I don't feed him a raw diet because I simply don't have the time to prepare it nor the trust in myself that I'd adequately provide him with proper nutrients.

Thank you for your insight! Gotta make sure this little bugger isn't unknowingly starving himself.

re: raw, it is available in a commercially made and complete diet. I make my own but also feed Nature's Variety Instinct Raw duck formula. My cat is the healthiest I've ever seen. He's 4 years old.

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~ Kyenta

Cats go on and off of food when they get older, and it doesn't pay to stubbornly just feed the same thing after his rejection of it. It sounds like he's ready for something new.

You mention raw food, my Gaga gets pre-prepared raw food, from these guys:
http://www.radfood.com/
which is hands-down her favorite. No hassle for me at all, just taking tubs out of fridge and spooning into her bowl, plus managing a supply of them in the freezer.

Other than that though, it sounds like you have some experimenting to do. It sounds like he might like some canned food (which would have other benefits for him as well). If you can get weruva or earthborn hollistic (canned), you might give those a try. They may be more similar to the wet packaged food you mentioned that he loved.

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The little monsters 3

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The little monsters 3

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The little monsters 3

Do you think your cat is too thin? Can you see the ribs? Here is chart:

I don't see his ribs due to fluffy fur, but I can see his hip bones and divots in his hips/back legs. I can feel his spine more than usual when I pet him. According to the chart, I'd say he'd be a 4, but I'm in the process of scheduling a vet visit so hopefully they can provide a better assessment.

Essentially I want to make sure he has nothing like an internal parasite, kidney issue, or otherwise that would cause him to suddenly lose weight. Thank you for the insight into the raw diet options! I'd still like to offer him daily 24/7 food, however, as it provides assurance that he's fed if I, for one reason or another, am out of my home too long to feed him.

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The little monsters 3

Yeah Grace and Blondie have different likes and dislikes. I try to get food they enjoy equally so I dont have to track their intake. Three must be challenging at times

Well I thought I'd return to this thread.

I started feeding Moxie exclusively dehydrated chicken treats and, lo and behold, no vomiting! And he loves them!

I also bough that Rad Cat chicken as recommended by this thread and he loved that too. I am a bit wary that I defrosted the chicken on Sunday and fed him the last of it Wednesday night, so I hope it was still good. I'm going to keep an eye on him as I probably shouldn't have fed him raw chicken that many days old.

Lastly, I took Moxie to the vet and, while he is a tiny 8.8lbs, the vet said he was healthy. He had a clean fecal analysis and seems to have good muscle tone. What a relief!

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The little monsters 3