Does this texture/type of cat food still exist?

[Indigo Blue]

My cat just had a horrendous eye surgery and is wearing a cone. She’s about 9 or 10. She’s doing decently well, but she’s not her normal, happy self because of the cone. Her appetite has decreased. 
 

1) She has always been an extremely picky eater. She likes almost no cat food. She’s picky about table food that most cats would scarf down. EXTREMELY finicky, and only weighs six pounds.

2)She no longer has all her teeth due to extractions.

3) She has a flat face and has a hard time eating just for this reason alone. 
 

She just licks only the gravy off can food and leaves the rest to spoil. If her wet food sits out overnight, she won’t eat anymore of it. 
 

She likes those pouches of salmon, but only eats a few bites at a time. When I get the pouch out to give her more the next day, she’s not interested. 
 

BUT she loves pill pockets. She gets one after we put her eye drops in. I think she would eat the whole bag. 
 

Considering all this, I thought she might like some type of semi moist food, but I can’t find any. Years ago, there were lots of it. Does some type of semi moist food still exist that has decently clean ingredients? 
 

(There is a raw food available that I might try, but I very much doubt that she will eat it).
 

[MEmama]

What do mean by semi- moist? We feed our kitties wet food with gravy or sauce, some are like soup. Landmark has some very soupy foods and Wellness Signature Selects offers various cuts in lots of gravy.

[1234]

Our older kitty was also mostly just a gravy licker until I found these. She really loves these pouches but we do have to switch up the flavors for her daily because she is picky about eating the same one twice in a row. 🙃 I suggestions find them at the pet stores here but I usually just order from Chewy.

[Pawz4me]

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by semi-moist, either. But maybe something by FreshPet might work? Although their products have been in short supply for a loooong time.

Also, just in case it's helpful -- There are prescription appetite stimulants for cats, and there are some OTC high calorie supplements for cats. I think they're usually in a tube, in gel form. Probably your vet carries some sort of high calorie supplement.

[happi duck]

I'm not sure what texture a pill pocket has.  Meow Mix swirled pate has kind of a Jello mold texture if that helps.

Kitty hugs!

[Pawz4me]

When I think of semi-most I think of the old Gaines Burger type things. Probably some of you aren't even old enough to remember those! Looks like Purina makes a Moist and Meaty dog food. That's also what I think of as semi-moist.

[MercyA]

8 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

When I think of semi-most I think of the old Gaines Burger type things. Probably some of you aren't even old enough to remember those! Looks like Purina makes a Moist and Meaty dog food. That's also what I think of as semi-moist.

I have very happy memories of my grandma handing me a Gaines Burger package to crumble into her beagle's bowl. Full of red dye and junk, no doubt, but the dog lived a long life on those, table scraps, and Milk Bones. 🙂 

[Indigo Blue]

I’m old enough to remember these semi moist foods. They just don’t seem to exist now. Thanks, @Pawz4me, I didn’t know about high calorie supplements. I think I’ll look into that. Petsmart has Instinct freeze dried raw. I may as well go get those today and give those a try. 
 

Semi most is very much like soft, chewy cat treats. You used to could buy pouches of cat food with that texture. 
 

I had forgotten about the Gaines Burger! That brought back a memory. 
 

@Joker2, I’ll check that link. Thanks.

[Indigo Blue]

@Joker2…just checked your link. Lol just bought those …she won’t eat any of it. 

[Indigo Blue]

She’s only six pounds, but she’s not really undernourished, though. Her weight is actually ideal for her frame, but she’s very lean, and I don’t want her to get dehydrated or even thinner because she’s got to wear her cone for three more weeks, and she’s so hard to feed on a good/normal day.

Edited January 6, 2022 by Indigo Blue

[Stacia]

Indigo, I think you're are thinking of Tender Vittles (from the old days). I used to have cats that loved those but I haven't seen them or a similar food in many, many years.

I haven't looked at the links yet. But, when I have had older, ailing cats, sometimes meat baby food works.

Eta: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tender_Vittles

Edited January 6, 2022 by Stacia

[eagleynne]

I also remember Tender Vittles. They stopped calling semi-moist food "semi-moist" for some reason, but it still exists. Here is one brand I've heard good things about but not used myself https://smile.amazon.com/Natural-Balance-Platefulls-Chicken-Formula/dp/B0055300S4/ref=sr_1_3?crid=THD2HOWFBVQU&keywords=natural+balance+platefulls+cat+food&qid=1641484985&sprefix=natural+balance+platefulls+catfood%2Caps%2C140&sr=8-3

[Indigo Blue]

@Stacia that’s it! That’s what I was thinking of. 
 

Hadn’t thought of meat baby food….that’s an idea, even if only for her recovery. 
 

Going to try some of these suggestions today.

 

 

 

 

 

[KSera]

3 minutes ago, Indigo Blue said:

@Stacia that’s it! That’s what I was thinking of. 
 

Hadn’t thought of meat baby food….that’s an idea, even if only for her recovery. 
 

Going to try some of these suggestions today.

 

 

 

 

 

If you try baby food, make sure it is just the meat. Some kinds have salt, garlic or onion powder added. It’s not as high calorie as cat food would be, but would get a little food and hydration in her. 
 

I was also thinking maybe the FreshPet would work. It’s not like the chewy treat texture, but it still might appeal. 
 

My other suggestion was going to be Weruva BFF Chicken Checkmate Dinner. It’s a super liquidy wet food. My cat (who also likes the gravy part of food best) loves it. https://www.amazon.com/Weruva-B-F-F-Play-Chicken-Checkmate/dp/B07KNNBWDP

[Stacia]

11 minutes ago, eagleynne said:

I also remember Tender Vittles. They stopped calling semi-moist food "semi-moist" for some reason, but it still exists. Here is one brand I've heard good things about but not used myself https://smile.amazon.com/Natural-Balance-Platefulls-Chicken-Formula/dp/B0055300S4/ref=sr_1_3?crid=THD2HOWFBVQU&keywords=natural+balance+platefulls+cat+food&qid=1641484985&sprefix=natural+balance+platefulls+catfood%2Caps%2C140&sr=8-3

I got my hopes up, but from the photo, that looks totally different from what Tender Vittles were like.

Indigo, if you get baby food, be sure to check the ingredient list. My cats like only meat ones (not something with a veg mixed in) or other things like the pp mentioned. You can put some on your finger and pop their mouth open to put it on the roof of their mouth.

Also, one time, the vet told me that sometimes when cats are sick and don't eat, it's almost like they forget how. He says it helps to "prime the pump". Meaning, get a small sized hard food and give a few pieces like giving a pill a few times a day. I have also had this help spur my cats to getting back on track with eating after about a day or two of doing it.

[livetoread]

We have a FeLV+ foster who has been with us for about six months now and gracious is he picky! I think he has one tooth left and may or may not have a jaw tumor, so he has issues along with his FeLV status, but we've turned ourselves upside down trying to get this boy to eat. At first he was just a bundle of PTSD and was afraid to eat, then we thought we had it figured out, but over time we've decided he has short phases (like two weeks) where he only likes one type of food - pate, gravy, dry, moistened dry, etc. However, he must have a variety of flavors within that category. Then, just when you start to relax, he changes the type of food, but still must have variety. We have a closet full of food that we just rotate through. Yes, he's spoiled rotten, but he's only five and his mangled looks say he has clearly had a rough kitty life until now. He might not have a whole lot of time left given his FeLV status and/or possible tumor, so if he turns his nose up, into the trash it goes, we give him pets, and we try something else, lol.

FWIW, he finally started eating more and gaining weight after his vet at the shelter put him on gabapentin. If she's in pain, maybe that would help, plus I think it's an appetite stimulant in and of itself.

[Indigo Blue]

Interesting....just found this

https://allaboutcats.com/semi-moist-cat-food

And in this article it shows that Wellness does apparently make an air dried semi-moist food similar to semi-moist of old days. 

But this article also explains why you can no longer find semi-moist foods.

[KSera]

12 minutes ago, Indigo Blue said:

Interesting....just found this

https://allaboutcats.com/semi-moist-cat-food

And in this article it shows that Wellness does apparently make an air dried semi-moist food similar to semi-moist of old days. 

But this article also explains why you can no longer find semi-moist foods.

I wasn’t familiar with the old style semi-moist, but that article says this about fresh pet: 

Freshpet sells a cooked fresh food that comes in soft kibble-style niblets that are extremely similar in consistency to the old-fashioned semi-moist products. Learn more about Freshpet in our complete brand review.

You can find Fresh Pet in the refrigerated pet food sections. I’m able to find it on certain grocery store pet food isles, Target, and Petco. The version they sell at Petco has different packaging and a different name.

Another idea to get her appetite going are the liquid treats that come in tubes. 

[Indigo Blue]

29 minutes ago, KSera said:

I wasn’t familiar with the old style semi-moist, but that article says this about fresh pet: 

Freshpet sells a cooked fresh food that comes in soft kibble-style niblets that are extremely similar in consistency to the old-fashioned semi-moist products. Learn more about Freshpet in our complete brand review.

You can find Fresh Pet in the refrigerated pet food sections. I’m able to find it on certain grocery store pet food isles, Target, and Petco. The version they sell at Petco has different packaging and a different name.

Another idea to get her appetite going are the liquid treats that come in tubes. 

I fed my renal-failure chihuahua this until I began to cook for him. I vaguely remember seeing those cat morsels and bringing those home….and her not eating it. That’s why I don’t have my hopes up for Instinct freeze dried raw, but….

Petsmart says if she doesn’t like it, I can bring it back. So I may as well try a few things and see if she’ll like it. 
 

Weirdly, she loves the cat lax paste for hair balls. She no longer needs to take that, though. It didn’t work that great for her, anyway. 

[Kanin]

My cat ate turkey baby food when she had a cold and couldn't smell. She didn't want her other food. It's not ideal long term, but it's ok for a few days. Could you take off the cone while she's eating?

[Terabith]

For what it's worth, my cat was prescribed high calorie foods and it was described as "irresistible," and not only would she not touch it, but none of the other cats, even the one who will eat anything, would go near it.  

[lanabug]

If she has a dry food that she likes, you can add some warm water to make it soft and moist. I had to do that for my cat when she had an abscess on her chin and it hurt to eat dry food. She loved the softer texture of her usual food but won't normally touch wet canned cat food. 

[Kanin]

21 minutes ago, Terabith said:

For what it's worth, my cat was prescribed high calorie foods and it was described as "irresistible," and not only would she not touch it, but none of the other cats, even the one who will eat anything, would go near it.  

Yeah. Cats are so finicky. My cat is supposed to eat a kidney diet food, but she just will not. She held out so long that I thought she might actually die from not eating! I said screw it, she's really old so she's eating what she likes. 

[Terabith]

Just now, Kanin said:

Yeah. Cats are so finicky. My cat is supposed to eat a kidney diet food, but she just will not. She held out so long that I thought she might actually die from not eating! I said screw it, she's really old so she's eating what she likes. 

Yup.  We had the same issue.  I was like, "She is 18.  Her lifespan is limited.  I'm feeding her what she will eat."  

[Clarita]

Just in terms of feeding a cat with a cone. I found that if I elevated the food it made it easier for them to eat. 

[ktgrok]

4 hours ago, Pawz4me said:

When I think of semi-most I think of the old Gaines Burger type things. Probably some of you aren't even old enough to remember those! Looks like Purina makes a Moist and Meaty dog food. That's also what I think of as semi-moist.

For those wondering this dog food was the color and consistency of play doh - it looked like you had shoved play doh through a play doh fun factory thing in fact. 

4 hours ago, MercyA said:

I have very happy memories of my grandma handing me a Gaines Burger package to crumble into her beagle's bowl. Full of red dye and junk, no doubt, but the dog lived a long life on those, table scraps, and Milk Bones. 🙂 

I would BEG my mom to buy these for my dog, because they looked so cool and I'd get to crumble it in the food. We didn't g. et it often though as my mom realized it was basically junk food for dogs. They sure liked it though!

4 hours ago, Stacia said:

Indigo, I think you're are thinking of Tender Vittles (from the old days). I used to have cats that loved those but I haven't seen them or a similar food in many, many years.

I haven't looked at the links yet. But, when I have had older, ailing cats, sometimes meat baby food works.

Eta: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tender_Vittles

Oh man, I remember tender vittles!

 

[ktgrok]

1 hour ago, Clarita said:

Just in terms of feeding a cat with a cone. I found that if I elevated the food it made it easier for them to eat. 

We actually bought raised dishes for cats recently and it DRASTICALLY reduced how much they vomit! It was crazy!

[Indigo Blue]

46 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

We actually bought raised dishes for cats recently and it DRASTICALLY reduced how much they vomit! It was crazy!

Interesting. Her usual bowls are slightly elevated, but I may elevate them more when she goes back to them. Right now, I’ve rigged up a cone-friendly and elevated setup. 
 

[Indigo Blue]

Sadly, she can’t take her cone off at all. Doc’s orders. Also, it would make her angry if I tried to put it on and off. 

Edited January 6, 2022 by Indigo Blue

[happi duck]

Tell your cat I said "hi!"

eta:. I asked about cone alternatives but realized the cone is to protect the eyes

Edited January 6, 2022 by happi duck

[City Mouse]

I know what you are talking about. There used to be a brand of car food called Tender Vittles. It was individual pieces but no gravy or sauce. The pieces were soft enough to be squished easily between the fingers. Unfortunately, I looked for a similar product last spring when my cat was sick and couldn’t eat and there doesn’t seem to be a similar product now. 
I ended up using baby food meats and liquify cat treats. Those are not ideal solutions long term, but my cat only had a few weeks left.

[ktgrok]

3 hours ago, Indigo Blue said:

Interesting. Her usual bowls are slightly elevated, but I may elevate them more when she goes back to them. Right now, I’ve rigged up a cone-friendly and elevated setup. 
 

These are the ones we got that have helped so much. 3 cats, a total of maybe two puke incidents a week instead of 2 a day. 

https://amzn.to/3eYQ5rt

 

[AmandaVT]

I did an image search for tender vittles and this product from Hill's science diet came up. It looks similar?

[fraidycat]

I was looking for semi-moist like Tender Vittles for my picky eater about a year ago and had no luck. I hope you find something that she will eat!

[ktgrok]

9 minutes ago, fraidycat said:

I was looking for semi-moist like Tender Vittles for my picky eater about a year ago and had no luck. I hope you find something that she will eat!

Have you tried Sheba? I'm pretty sure at least one of my cats would stab me in the back to get some Sheba. I don't buy it often because I hate peeling open those containers. 

[fraidycat]

13 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

Have you tried Sheba? I'm pretty sure at least one of my cats would stab me in the back to get some Sheba. I don't buy it often because I hate peeling open those containers. 

We have wet figured out ... for now. She loves wet food. Lol I was looking for something that was possible for her to, you know... be a cat. Clean and fill all the litter boxes, fill the bowls of food, put out extra water and leave for the weekend type of thing - instead of needing a dang pet sitter to open a fresh pack of wet food for Finicky Feline Picky Princess (and her 4 feline roommates) 3 times/day. 😂

It's not a huge deal because, Covid. We're home every night and morning  and she will eventually eat a few morsels of dry food if she thinks she's absolutely starving so she'd probably be fine for a weekend if we did leave, but I was looking to see if a something like the texture of Tender Vittles existed to try. She doesn't even like hard treats. The other cats will rip your fingers off for Temptations, but this girl will only eat the dairy ones and only once in awhile.

[Indigo Blue]

2 hours ago, ktgrok said:

These are the ones we got that have helped so much. 3 cats, a total of maybe two puke incidents a week instead of 2 a day. 

https://amzn.to/3eYQ5rt

 

Hey I saw those while I was at Petsmart today. I’ve done a similar thing temporarily by nesting two different sizes of dishes inside each other. 
 

Usually, she uses the Neater Feeder, but that won’t work with her cone. 

My cat vomits too, but it’s hair balls. If I give her a blend of omega oils made for pets each day over her food, there’s pretty much no hair balls or vomiting  at all. It’s pretty amazing. And her hair grows out and she gets really beautiful and poofy. 

[livetoread]

My daughter who volunteers at a cat shelter (hence our foster, lol) says they hoard any Sheba they get for the picky eaters. Royal Canin Mother and Baby (either wet or dry) is another that many picky eaters like, apparently. 

[MerryAtHope]

On 1/6/2022 at 10:40 AM, Indigo Blue said:

Interesting....just found this

https://allaboutcats.com/semi-moist-cat-food

And in this article it shows that Wellness does apparently make an air dried semi-moist food similar to semi-moist of old days. 

But this article also explains why you can no longer find semi-moist foods.

Thanks for posting that! My cat loves her kibble slightly wet, and while I do just a small amount and she usually finishes it all, every once in awhile there’s a little left. Usually I see and toss it, but I’ll be more vigilant now that I know it could be bad if left out. 

[popmom]

On 1/6/2022 at 10:38 AM, Pawz4me said:

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by semi-moist, either. But maybe something by FreshPet might work? Although their products have been in short supply for a loooong time.

Also, just in case it's helpful -- There are prescription appetite stimulants for cats, and there are some OTC high calorie supplements for cats. I think they're usually in a tube, in gel form. Probably your vet carries some sort of high calorie supplement.

Didn’t read all comments, but we have used both of the above mentioned. The appetite stimulant is applied to the ears, so you don’t have to worry about forcing more medication. The calorie dense stuff in the tube …we had mixed results with it, but any little bit helps. 
 

We had a very, very sick cat with “fever of unknown origin” a couple of years ago, so we used these things after she came home from the hospital. 

[Indigo Blue]

Well, she seems to really love Solid Gold bone broth meal topper, and licks the gravy off the Sheba @livetoreadwet food but still eats a good bit of it! These two things are the best I’ve found so far. Today I’m going to try to blend the Sheba (food) with the Solid Gold (topper) into a smooth gravy-like consistency. I only bought one pouch yesterday. Maybe I can get her through her healing period like this ( it is super easy for her to lap up liquid even with her cone). If it goes well, I may continue feeding her like this. I bought the bowls @ktgrokposted above. They are FANTASTIC for eating with a cone, so I  highly recommend them for that! (Some cats can become irritated on their chin from using plastic, so just keep that in mind). But these bowls are the perfect shape and height. They have many different types of similar bowls made from different materials on Amazon. But these bowls are awesome. No neck straining, or trying to dig food out of a non-curved shape. 
 

This cat….seemingly SO finicky, but maybe she is having real trouble with physically eating solid food due to being flat-faced and having less teeth. I would also almost say she seems to have sensory issues with texture…..She is a gravy licker, so maybe I just need to work with that…..

BUT I think I can get her through healing now with these new bowls and food!
 

[happi duck]

Thanks for the update!