Where to find cat food during shortages when they refuse other brands
Specialized prescription foods, particularly for conditions like urinary tract issues, are completely out of stock across multiple stores and direct suppliers. When stores run out of a cat's specific diet, owners are forced to buy alternative brands that their pets refuse to touch, leaving them with no options left.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1sprinkling snacks or treats the cat loves on top of the new food
- 2buying multiple different brands to see which one the cat will accept
- 3ordering the usual brand online as soon as possible
- 4switching to wet food or raw cat food temporarily
- 5giving unwanted food away to someone else with a less picky cat
- 6dipping a finger in the food and booping the cat's nose so they lick it off
- 7Searching online marketplaces for alternative similar products (like incline scratch pads)
- 8Replacing only the worn-out component (such as the cardboard insert) rather than the whole item
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“so i had to buy a different brand of cat food because they didn't have in stock what i usually buy. and they refuse to touch it.”source ↗
“it's out of stock everywhere and I cannot find it :( im hoping the wonderful magic of reddit can help me locate an exact match for my sweet girl”source ↗
“i cant, even the supplier directly doesnt have it. i dont know what do”source ↗
“so heres a problem. i need to buy cat food specially tailored for cats with urinary tract problems. and everywhere i asked, they dont have that specific type of cat food regardless of brand.”source ↗
“i have to buy food for cats with urinary tract problems, and across five stores, i found only one store selling one brand. im completely out of options come to think about it”source ↗