I have 2 Bengals who are 10+ and one 7+ they all have happily eaten dry food since kittens, primarily Royal Cannin but have eaten other brands. They have one pouch with jelly between the three as a treat at bedtime. I changed to Applaws senior three weeks ago and they do not appear to be eating the recommended minimum daily quantity for their weight. I chose Applaws because they did a 7kg bag of senior and none of the other quality foods came in a large size I buy in bulk so have purchased two 7kg bags!

I have a couple of questions is this a common problem and secondly should I mix it with something they like? From monitoring the cats they will eat some as soon as it is first put down but don't seem to graze. It does seem to have a strong smell and the kibbles appear to be very small compared to Royal Cannin

Thanks for any comments

Welcome to the forum. Cats are just super particular. It's not easy to change a food suddenly. Some cats go for a new type of food; others will refuse it, thus transitioning slowly is the best way to go. I know nothing about Applaws cat food, although some of the members here do feed it to their cats. I think your kitties are just trying to get used to the food and may not find it as appetizing as the previous food. You can always try something else. When I got my bengal, I went through dozens of cans and manufacturers until I finally found something he liked.

Several thoughts:

1. When you plan out your cat's meals, their eating preferences has got to be the #1 consideration. It does no good at all to feed them something they hate. Surely you can put yourself in their place and imagine a scenario where you were forced to permanently change your diet, arbitrarily to something you thought was awful with an "eat it or die" ultimatum.

2. When evaluating new foods buy in tiny quantities and be ok with tossing out the bag if it doesn't work out. Buying an enormous quantity of untested food is a huge mistake (you know this already). It's time to toss it out, give it away, or donate it. I've found that even after you've tested a new food a little, and the signs are initially good, even then it's risky to go "all-in" on that food. "It was a passing fancy" can easily apply to carts lol

3. Even if you've established that you are feeding them a food that they absolutely love, even then I'd be careful buying in huge quantities. I've definitely noticed that the cats enthusiasm for a newly opened bag can be initially high but go down pretty rappidly if it is not perceived as fresh. Sometimes I get 2/3 of the way through a modest sized bag and just end up tossing it and getting a new bag. When all three of my cats are sniffing it and walking away, that's a pretty good clue.

4. If it were just one cat eating a little, then walking away and not eating more, you could think maybe it's a tooth problem or something like that. But 2 cats? Nah, it's the food. Another possibility is that the particular bags that you got were old or bad.

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The little monsters 3