How to Transition Your Cat to Natural Wellness® Kibble

So you have made the decision to provide your cat with natural Wellness^® cat kibble! That is the first step, but now you need to get your cat to eat it, and sometimes that can be even more challenging than trying to find the best formula to feed. With cats, the best thing to keep in mind is “slow and steady wins the race”.

Whenever you are introducing your cat to a new food, it’s a good idea to gradually transition to the new food recipe over a 7 – 10 day period. An extended transition time frame allows acceptance of the new flavor in the food bowl. And, it will also avoid potential stomach upsets that could cause diarrhea or vomiting as a slow changeover allows the digestive system to adjust to new ingredients.

Add about 10% of the new kibble to the bowl every day. If after a few days, your cat notices the difference and there are signs of resistance, reduce the new food by 10%, and, if necessary, hold off on the transition for a couple days before trying again. There is no rush! In fact, cats differ from dogs during the transition of food, and some will refuse to eat to the point of making themselves ill, so make sure they are always eating a good portion of the food or take a step back in the transition for a few days.

At the same time you are transitioning the new kibble into the food bowl, consider serving it to her as a treat. It can be as few as five or six kibbles. If you feed more than that, remember to make the calorie and amount adjustments to her food bowl so that you are not over-feeding during this transition phase.

Serving the food in the right bowl can help with the transition too. Some cats like to eat out of broader, flatter bowls so that their whiskers don’t touch the sides. This is known as “whisker stress”. Avoid very tiny bowls for both food and water all together.

Always ensure that the food bowls are not placed in a high traffic area. Cats like privacy when they eat, and this is important when transitioning over to a new dry food recipe. Also make sure that there is plenty of fresh water available near the kibble bowl as well as in other locations throughout the home. It’s important for a cat to be properly hydrated especially on a dry food diet.

Keep you pet’s dry food it its original packaging. Do not decant directly into a plastic container as this may taint the taste of the food. Rather, place the entire bag in an attractive can to ensure it remains dry and fresh.

If your cat is particularly persnickety, you can first find a treat or topper they really like and add it to the original kibble up to 10%. Then slowly transition the base kibble as described above, disguising the transition with the tasty treat or topper with Wellness^® Kittles™ or Wellness Bowl Boosters. Once fully transitioned, you can wean them off the treat/topper or keep them for meal time variety.

Finally, talk to your pet while preparing the food bowl and putting it down. It’s a wonderful way to spend quality time together, especially during the transition phase. Consider it the feline equivalent of sitting down at the table for a meal with family.

What Is On The Menu
The Wellness^® Complete Health recipes offer cats a variety of protein options in a small round kibble that cats of all ages are able to pick up, chew, and digest easily. The Adult Chicken Recipe has deboned chicken as the first ingredient with chicken meal and rice. There is a grain-free option too, ideal for cats with sensitive tummies. The Wellness^® Complete Health Adult Natural Hairball recipe is made from chicken meal and rice to prevent hairballs from forming and to aid swallowed fur to move smoothly through the digestive system. There is a chicken recipe for kittens as well as a salmon and herring meal recipe suitable for cats with a more sedentary indoor lifestyle to control weight management.

Similarly, the Wellness CORE kibble recipes offer indoor-weight management formulas made from chicken with turkey and chicken meal as key ingredients or a delicious salmon and herring option. The Original Turkey recipe offers cats a diet that is 65% protein with turkey as the first ingredient. Wellness Core Digestive Health offers formulas that support digestive and immune health with added digestive enzymes to help break down the food, prebiotics to feed the good bacteria in the intestinal tract, and probiotics to support a healthy bacterial population.

All the ingredients are clearly highlighted on the packaging for easy decision-making. The guaranteed analysis highlights many of the included important nutrients that support your cat’s health, and all formulas have a full nutrient profile online for you to review with your veterinarian for cats that have special dietary needs.

Remember, if your cat is really resistant to a particular new recipe, the unused food, still in the original bag, along with the receipt can be returned to the store where it was purchased for a full refund. All Wellness dry food recipes are covered by this Catisfaction Guarantee.

[1] With added vitamins, minerals and taurine

Click here to get a $5 coupon off any Wellness ® dry dog or dry cat food mailed to your home