Ever tried to switch your cats over from one food to another, or try out a new brand? You wouldn't think that barn cats would be that picky about food. I mean, the four that have taken up residence at our house are regular hunters and help us with mouse and vole patrol around the farm. Basically, they earn their keep. But they also get fed a little cat food at night, and come feeding time they're always excited.
Recently, I received a free sample of Rachel Ray's Nutrish Zero Grain Food to test and review via Influenster. Perfect opportunity to give the cats something other than what was on sale that week at the store. Or so I thought. Apparently our barn cats are picky about their food and don't like change. (The dogs, however, thought it tasted pretty good when they found the cat's leftovers. Ha!) |
- "Old Man/Old Yella" - (pictured above) He's the senior feline resident on the farm, and has to be in his teens. He was born in the horse barn and has stuck around ever since. He takes his seniority seriously.
- "Tux" - I bet you could easily identify him without a description. Tux and his sister, Thelma (also on the review panel) were barn transplants. Tux is both a traveler and a talker - you always know when he's back from his latest adventure, and I swear sometimes it actually sounds like he's yelling "hello!!!" through the barn.
- "Thelma" - The lone lady cat of the farm. Thelma has quite an attitude. You may only pet her when she asks, and only in certain spots. She also assumes the role of cat barn bouncer, and refuses access to the other feline residents as she pleases. She has a specific disgust for me as I was the one who took her to the vet to get her spayed. Enough said.
- "Mig" - Son of Thelma, and one of the most easy-going, friendly cats we have. He's everyone's friend and always wants attention.
So as suggested by the guide enclosed in our Influenster VoxBox, and no different than how we'd transition our horses to a new feed, I slowly started mixing the new ZeroGrain cat food with their current kibble.
At first, this was all fine and dandy. They didn't notice much change, ate what they wanted, and went on their merry way. However, once I started gradually mixing more of the ZeroGrain food in their meals, they started giving me "that look." You know, the "how dare you try to make me eat something different you crazy human" look. So for a few days, they just ate around it. I'm not sure if it was the chicken and potato flavor that they didn't like, or that the food had a different smell, or what, but they were not impressed. Eventually, we just mixed the remaining Zero Grain food with the Friskies cat food they were originally eating, so as to avoid wasting good quality food.
Personally, I think had the food been their only option, they would eventually broke down and eaten it. But I decided for this experiment it probably wasn't worth the battle.
From a human's perspective, the food was nice and small in size, so that any cat could easily eat it. It didn't have a strong odor that some cat foods come with, and I liked the thought that it was made of all natural ingredients. I doubt the food will ever been on our barn cats' menu in the future, but if you're looking for a new cat food to try out, it might be a good option to look into!
And as always, I'm grateful that Influenster allowed me to test the new product!