Sounds like typical nutty cat shtick. I had a similar experience. Odessa had been eating out of a crappy old plastic (brite orange :-() dish that I had used for 20 years for my other cats. We remodeled the kitchen and I decided it would be a good idea to get a better looking dish that is also healthier stainless steel. I hope my husband never reads this, but I spent $80.00 for the Alessi cat bowl set...it really is adorable and looks great in the kitchen. But guess what...Odie refused to eat out of it...just like your cat! I had to take the food and put it on the floor, spoon by spoon.

I finally got her to eat from the bowl...what I did was sprinkled 1/2 a soft cat treat over the food...just as when I switched her from FF to Wellness during her tummy troubles. She would eat off the top layer of food, then would wait for me to spoon the rest onto the floor. Eventually she got the message...It was a gradual process and took a while, but now she licks her stainless steel bowls clean. I think she was objecting too the change in texture and shape...cats are creatures of habit.

Also, I don't use dish soap on her bowls...I just rinse them thoroughly with very hot water. Good luck.

Thanks. The only thing I can think of as to why she doesn't like to eat off the paper plate is because her old food had a lot of gravy and this food is such that she has to bite chunks of it off and the plate ends up scooting around the floor. It is also possible something about the texture of the plate is turning her off (she will sniff at the food on the plate and walk away or take one bite and she's done but she will eat the entire can of food off of the floor. She will eat it from my fingers or the floor like its the best thing ever. But on the plate, she turns up her nose and walks away. So strange... This is the most high maintenance kitty I've ever had.

Geez, put the food in the dish and the cat will eat when it gets hungry.

Geez, put the food in the dish and the cat will eat when it gets hungry.

Uh...no. That's really dreadful advice. I tried to make the switchover to wet food with my cat, because it's supposed to healthier and I wanted her to lose weight. She wouldn't eat any of it. And I worked on the theory that "Gee, if I put the food in the dish, she'll get hungry and eat it eventually, right?" Well, she didn't (we thought she was -- but our other cat was eating it instead). And then she went into liver failure and almost died.

Cats need to be watched very closely as to whether or not they're eating (especially if they're overweight), and if you have multiple cats, you can't just plop it down and assume the cat in question will eat it. The other cats will most likely be happy to oblige, and your other cat might starve.

The instability of the paper plate may be a problem for her...she might need a more stable dish now that she is eating firmer food?

L

I am so glad you solve your cat's diarrhea.. and you certainly can solve this one, too. Yes, wet food will stick to the plate if you leave it out to dry. I always wash the plate (good china just for them!) right after they eat so it doesn't have time to dry and stick. If I forget, I just let the plates soak a few minutes and then wash. Just WARM water, NO dish soap. They always use paper plates at the shelter, but the instability of the paper, as previous poster mentioned, is a problem.
Good luck,
Anne-Marie