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How to get picky cats to eat dry food only without tummy upset?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Russian Blue | Male | neutered | 6 years and 5 months old | 12 lbs

I have 5 cats on Whiskas dry and wet food. I would prefer them to be on dry food only. One of my cats vomits when eating wet food but not dry. Another one of my cats is overweight. However, they “ask” for wet food (meowing and pawing at me). How do I get them on a decent dry food without offending them and without upsetting their tummies? I don’t mind paying more for decent biscuits. What are the best brands for protein and health, etc... ? Thank you!

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1 Answer

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Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on June 16th, 2018

Your cats are so cute! Given that one of your cats vomits on wet food but not dry, it's a good idea to put them on dry food only. If you want them only on dry food, slowly decrease the amount of wet food you give them until they have the dry food only. To switch brands of dry food, start mixing the new and old food together starting with a 75/25 mix of old food and new food. After about a week, increase the amount of new food and decrease the amount of old food. Continue doing this until they are eating the dry food only. Brands I recommend include Royal Canin, Hill's Science Diet, Purina ProPlan, and Iams. Purina is a good supermarket brand. Best of luck, I hope this helps!

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