Tuesday Taste Test (#ChewyInfluencer)

Pup Astrid got to try out some tasty food toppers last week as part of the Chewy.com Blogger Outreach Program. Now, it's the kitties' turn. For them, the picky little feline eaters that they are, I chose Blue Wilderness® Tasty Toppers Wild Cuts­™.

As I said, the kitties around here are picky eaters. There are roughly 2 kinds of moist food that I can buy with a guarantee that roughly 2 kitties will actually eat it. Thimble and Evan are the most likely to eat moist food, with housemate Toby somewhere behind them. Eddy, she won't touch the stuff. She lives and breathes her beloved dry food, and that's it.

So, when I saw these Blue Wilderness® food toppers, I figured it couldn't hurt to give them a try. I thought that maybe, just maybe, my kitties would like these enough that they would be tempted to more consistently eat their moist food if these Blue Wilderness® food toppers were added to it. Then again, as the product description indicates, these toppers can also be given as a treat by themselves. So, I thought, maybe my kitties would even like them as a moist food meal.

I chose the chicken flavor Blue Wilderness® Tasty Toppers Wild Cuts­™­­ morsels for my chicken-loving kitties. And these are legit, real chicken pieces. They also contain no grain, wheat, corn, or soy. They are also served in a juicy gravy, which is always a plus with my gang.

These morsels are perfectly moist and tender. They almost look like a chicken stew good enough for me to eat. But, I'm not the one reviewing the goods today.

I decided to give the kitties these food toppers plain at first, rather than start off by putting them on some food. To be honest, I didn't want to add any to their food unless I knew they liked them. It's hard enough to get my little felines to eat, so I didn't want to turn them away with something new that they might consider offensive.

Evan, always my kitchen assistant, was the first to give the Blue Wilderness® food toppers a try.

He seemed intrigued, gave them a good and long sniff, but then walked away.

Next up was housemate Toby.

Toby actually gave the morsels a couple of licks, which is usually a pretty good sign here at our house of picky eaters. But, then, he also walked away.

Soon enough, then, Thimble came in for a try.

And you know what? She also walked away.

Now, sometimes leaving the food out for a bit leads to stragglers coming by for a second try, which sometimes leads to a realization that the goods are actually pretty good. This time around, though, that didn't happen. The food sat there with no takers.

But that's not the end of it. Why? Because my parents' kitties, all 7 of them, like the Blue Wilderness® Tasty Toppers Wild Cuts™! Oh, and so do the strays and ferals that I feed outside, as well as the neighbor's cat who likes to hang out in my back yard. Seriously, I got a dozen other cats to eat these delicious things without hesitation, yet my kitties won't touch them.

Anyway, while my kitties may not be offering any paws up, pretty much every single other kitty I know gives them 4 paws up. All in all, I'd say that's not too bad of a review for these Blue Wilderness® food toppers.


(Disclaimer: As members of the Chewy.com Blogger Outreach Program, we received Blue WildernessⓇ Tasty Toppers Wild Cuts™ in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are our own. We only review products that we believe will be of interest to our readers, and we never recommend a product that we do not believe in.)

Wishing everybuddy a tasty Tuesday!

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Our Doodle of the Day:

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Our Tip of the Day:

Cats can be notoriously picky eaters. However, there are some tricks and other methods you can try to get your finicky feline to eat. Before we get to those, though, keep in mind that you should seek veterinary assistance if your furbaby suddenly becomes a picky eater when they were not this way before, and if they show other concerning signs alongside inappetance. Also always consider your individual kitty's age and health status and how that will affect their dietary needs, and seek veterinary guidance with any dietary questions or concerns you have. And, of course, always be cautious about switching up your furbaby's food too fast or too often. Some furbabies don't handle frequent dietary changes well, and sometimes changing food too quickly can lead to diarrhea, vomiting, or other similar consequences. Especially when changing their dry food, always be sure to transition the food over a few days, slowly mixing them until they are switched from the old to the new.

Now, that all being said, for those generally picky eaters out there, here are a few tips you can try to perhaps get them to eat some goods:

• Try different flavors of food, such as chicken rather than seafood, or beef rather than chicken. Perhaps even go for something a little more different, such as duck or venison.
• Cats are very tactile, so try different textures of moist food, including pate, chunky, and others, to see if there is one your kitty likes best.
• Try adding water to the moist food, or even the dry food, as some kitties like theirs extra soupy. (For dry food, though, don't let it get too soggy and spoil!)
• Perhaps add a little something extra special to the food, such as food topper treats, or pieces of chicken or tuna.
• How small or deep is your cat's food bowl? Cats often don't like their whiskers to touch the edges of the bowl when they eat, so make sure they have a low-sided bowl or dish from which to eat.
• In multi-cat households, make sure there are enough bowls for all of the cats, or that each one has their own bowl.
• Is your picky kitty being fed in the middle of the house? Perhaps try giving them somewhere private to eat. On the other hand, if your cat's feeding station is somewhere secluded and they don't each much, then perhaps they would like to try eating nearer to the where the family and activity is.
• Some cats get bored easily, so try making meal time different and fun, such as by moving around the food bowl to some place new on occasion. You can move it across the room, to a different room, or perhaps onto the cat tree or a favorite shelf.
• In desperate situations, such as when a kitty is extremely picky yet still simply needs to eat, try a can or two of, for lack of a better term, lower-end kitty food. Let's be honest, cheaper kitty foods are often to them what a Big Mac is to us. Not the best source of nutrients, but it sure is tempting and tasty. If possible, don't make this your kitty's primary diet, but it might wet their appetite, and can perhaps even be added to some higher-end food to make it more appetizing.

Whew. Talk about a wordy tip. Of course some of these tips may work for some kitties, even some of those pups out there, but not work for others. And again, if you have any concerns about your furbaby's eating habits, please do consult a veterinarian.