All wet or all dry..I need to know

I'm so confused now after going trough the posts I needed to ask the question. I remembe many years ago when I took Temper to a vet he said that wet food was "bad". As most of us tend to ignore their doctors, I didn't ignore him, but I felt that if I didn't give Temper his fave, he'd starve.

Now I found this forum and from what I've seen it seems that dry food is "bad". I'm so confused!!!

Neither IS BAD...

Dry food is human made conveince ... it is harder to digest for kitty and thus harder on the bodies ... It lacks moisture

Wet food is closer to a cats natural diet... mainly water or broth it help s in hydration ... wt management ... and even dental care

Have you seen a kibble tree ??? but wet food mimics a mouse or other small prey of a cat

I just went through this confusion not long ago. Luna was on all dry since I heard that wet
1). leads to more bowel problems.
2). causes tooth decay
3). is expensive
4.) um..i can't remember any more but you get my point.

Then I read more about how wet was better b/c it

1). has more water
2). has more protein and less carbs (cats don't really need carbs)
3). is closer to what wild cats would eat (nutritionally)
4). aids in bowel movements
5). cats like it better (I happen to have a freak cat who likes dry better)
and the list goes on.

Anyway, when I took Luna to the vet for a weight management plan (after trying the highest of high quality dry foods in very small quanitities w/ no result) he recommended ONLY wet Purina DM (Diabetes management for cats who are that or are pre-diabetic) for her to lose weight. She's lost 3.4 lbs on this diet. Her poos are more smelly, but I don't plan on keeping her on it forever. (in fact, i may change it real soon. read another answer to your post about your new kitten) Anyways, I've read tons and tons more support for an "all wet can't hurt, and probably will help" platform. And since it seemed to work for my kitty, that's what I'm going with. I do give her a little dry food for a treat now and again....i sure spoil my cats!

Originally Posted by temperpolk

I'm so confused now after going trough the posts I needed to ask the question. I remembe many years ago when I took Temper to a vet he said that wet food was "bad". As most of us tend to ignore their doctors, I didn't ignore him, but I felt that if I didn't give Temper his fave, he'd starve.

Now I found this forum and from what I've seen it seems that dry food is "bad". I'm so confused!!!

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The same thing happened to me. My vet for years told me wet food was "bad" so I would never give it to my baby, and now she's obese, with probably a plethora of problems because of it.

So now everyone's on an all wet diet. The benefits seem enormous in comparison.

Originally Posted by miao_kitty

Anyway, when I took Luna to the vet for a weight management plan (after trying the highest of high quality dry foods in very small quanitities w/ no result) he recommended ONLY wet Purina DM (Diabetes management for cats who are that or are pre-diabetic) for her to lose weight. She's lost 3.4 lbs on this diet.

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GOOD TO KNOW!!! I have to try this!!! Where do you buy Purina DM?? I've never seen it!

DM is short for diabetes management ... it is a RX food

you may want to try any of the GRAIN free wets avail instead

I hate to be a pain in the butt, but is there anyway you could give me a few brand suggestions???

Looking at the cat food isle is like me trying to look at a shelf in an auto parts store sometimes...(which neither I am good at!!! )

You could always give them both or mix them. I give my cats both.

Probably the best is to give 1/2 wet, 1/2 dry. Most of my rexes were on totally dry all their lives (and were top championship cats). If you only have a few cats to feed, canned is not that expensive. But when you have a lot, the money can add up.

I did give my rex kittens canned foods for the first few months. And many of the owners continued it after they adopted the kitten.

A friend of mine rescued cats and had a lot of them - she fed canned and dry. I don't know how she did it expense wise, but she had a good government job and pension, and only a few normal bills - no credit cards - so it can be done


As far as brands - we feed Royal Canin dry and Friskies, Nature's Choice, and Natural Recipe canned (all gotten at Petco/Petsmart) - I do pick up Friskies at Walmart sometimes, but Petco has more variety.

I'm using Nutro for dry food, and Friskies and FF for wet food. A couple of my cats don't want to make the change to all wet, so we compromised.

My girls always have a dish of dry food available to them with a dish of water right next to it. They eat about 3/4 of a dishful every day. Every morning I split a can of Fancy Feast between them (2 cats) and at bedtime, they get a good handful of Temptations treats which they'll jump through hoops for.

They are healthy as could be and thanks to the crunchies, their teeth are in great shape too. I think the middle ground is to serve some of each as both foods have their advantages.

Some vets still subscribe to the idea that dry food cleans the teeth. That theory is losing a lot of ground as the years go by. Here is a good article on it, written by a vet

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...dcleantheteeth

I was motivated to eliminate dry food from the menu here, because one of my cats struggled with bladder issues. I got all 8 of them switched and now they are all on wet only (some raw). I am very pleased with the results. We won't be going back to dry.

Dry food was made with humans in mind, for the convenience factor. I really believe that cats need water IN their food. Cats that eat dry food and drink "plenty" of water still end up taking in far less water than cats on wet food who never visit the water bowl. Cats do not seek water until they are already slightly dehydrated. Kidney disease is very common in older cats, and I think a lifetime of dry food plays a huge part in that.

Some more articles...

www.catinfo.org

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...needcannedfood

Dry food, which is typically 30-50% carbohydrates also plays a big part in feline obesity and diabetes. Cats don't use carbs for energy. They need protein and fat. Carbs tend to stick to kitty's ribs....they don't need them.

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...=show&item=016

Feed your cats what they will eat. Cat food that meets AAFCO standards is designed to have all the vitamins and minerals your cats need and both dry and canned will give your cats the nutrition they need. You really can feed any combination you want as long as you are feeding a nutritionally balanced cat food so don't worry. Just keep this stuff in mind.

Canned food is better for your cat than dry food because it more closely resembles what your cat will eat in the wild. It contains lots of necessary water and has more protein on a dry matter basis than dry. It also is much lower in carbohydrates and doesn't have nearly as many calories as dry food.

It is ok to feed some dry food if you are on a budget or your cat won't eat enough canned to fulfill his/her nutritional needs. Millions of cats have done fine on it. It's just not as good for your cat as wet food. But that does not mean that your cat can't live a long healthy life on it. I do reccommend not feeding dry exclusively though if your cats are willing to eat some wet.

If your cats prefer wet food over dry food then it is not necessary to feed kibble. If my cat Spotty ate like my cat Rosie I may not even purchase dry food at all. But he picks at his wet and often doesn't finish it and that's where dry food comes in.

As far as urinary tract disease and diabetis are concerned there is a risk if you feed dry food but not all cats who eat dry food will develop these conditions. Diabetis is weight related and fat cats are more likely to develop this. Canned food can help prevent or control this condition because of the reduced amount of calories and carbohydrates. Cats that are prone to Urinary tract crystals should eat wet food. I don't believe that the majority of cats are going to get crystals but because you have no way of knowing if your cat is one of the cats that will be prone to crystals later in life you do run a somewhat higher risk by feeding an exclusive dry diet or a predominantly dry diet.

Dry food does not clean the teeth unless you are feeding a prescription dental diet which unfortunately is made with lower quality ingredients for the expensive price you would be paying for it. There are more premium cat foods for less money. But vets will try to sell you their Hill's T/D. It's up to you if you want to purchase it.

I try not to worry too much. Food is just one aspect of health. The rest is how well they live, love and affection, exercise, comfort and genetics. Genetics has a far greater influence of how long cats will live than diet. Diet just helps to some degree. I just feed my cats as much canned as they are willing to eat and supplement the rest with dry food.

Oh, and in case you didn't know most vets are not nutritional experts. They are influenced by the pet food companies and have short nutrition classes in vet school that are taught by pet food companies. Many vets will advise you to feed dry food because they like the convenience factor and were taught that it's better for your cat's teeth. But there are vets with different opinions and there are vets with nutritional training. Usually they're called holistic veterinarians. Here is a vet who really knows her stuff.
www.catinfo.org

none of the foods will kill your cat (unless there is an issue like with the recall) sure, but some foods will be much more nutritional for your cat. It's the difference between you eating fast food and a home cooked meal with fruits and veggies and protein that will you keep you looking and feeling your best. Wet food is best because it is the closest we can get to a natural cat diet (except for raw) so it is what is easiest for a cat to digest. It also had moisture and since cats don't drink as much as they need to they are prone to crystals, UTIs and blockages. You can reduce the risk of your cat getting these things by feeding more wet.

Some good brands are (ones i would honestly feel comfortable feeding my cats) these are wet foods that i am referring to

Innova
EVO
California Natural
Felidae (this is what I feed, it is less expensive than others)
Orijen
Wellness
Eagle pack Holistic (make sure it is HOLISTIC not the other type)
Tiber Wolf Organics (the cat food is called Serengeti)

Other food that are pretty good but I won't feed
Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul (I won't feed because it has Menadione)
Evangers (I won't feed because MOST formulas have Menadione, if you can find one without it then go ahead and feed it)
Merrick (I won't feed because of sketchy details on where the food is being made and some past problems it has had)

I might have missed a few but I don't think I did. If I remember some then I'll add them.

Our cats eat only canned food. We feed PetGuard Venison & Rice, and Chicken & Wheat Germ; Merrick (but some of us don't like pieces in our food, so we're not feeding this one as much); Wellness and Natural Balance. We feed a variety of flavors. OUr chubbers slimmed down; our UTI boy has been crystal free. It's been wonderful for our cats.

Dusky gets wet.. and a little dry...
Temper and Polkie get dry
They are my babies...

my sister is a vet. We havent talked for a long time. I talked to her today. She told me that dry is not so bad.

My family and I fed dry food with wet sometimes as a "supplement" for 13 years. We have very healthy cats that have yet to have any problems. Our old man who was born on the streets has not had one health problem. I'm not saying dry food is better, I can't disprove the evidence showing Wet food has more benifits. I'm just sharing my experience.

Originally Posted by temperpolk

my sister is a vet. We havent talked for a long time. I talked to her today. She told me that dry is not so bad.

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It depends on the dry. Some dry foods are not as bad as others. As the others were saying, unfortunately unless vets take extra courses to learn more about nutrition, they are "sold" by representatives of the various companies on how wonderful certain brands are. Our poor Bijou has packed on so much weight with dry food that I fear for his health. He is now being given half and half - but the dry food I've just changed to Orijen with no grains. Hopefully that will help him shed some of that excess weight. A chunky Siamese is not a pretty sight.

Wet is better but some kitties just won't eat wet, so then it's important to ensure they get a quality dry food.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

Wet is better but some kitties just won't eat wet, so then it's important to ensure they get a quality dry food.

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Luna was one of those kitties. But she mostly likes to eat, so she learned to like wet food. (the Purina DM) however, since i got a kitten, Luna's been sneaking his wet food, so I decided to switch to a food that both of them could eat. I decided on Natural Balance..(I think that's what it's called) and so far she loves it. But she still likes dry food so I give her some kibbles as "treats"

Originally Posted by beandip

Some vets still subscribe to the idea that dry food cleans the teeth. That theory is losing a lot of ground as the years go by. Here is a good article on it, written by a vet

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...dcleantheteeth

I was motivated to eliminate dry food from the menu here, because one of my cats struggled with bladder issues. I got all 8 of them switched and now they are all on wet only (some raw). I am very pleased with the results. We won't be going back to dry.

Dry food was made with humans in mind, for the convenience factor. I really believe that cats need water IN their food. Cats that eat dry food and drink "plenty" of water still end up taking in far less water than cats on wet food who never visit the water bowl. Cats do not seek water until they are already slightly dehydrated. Kidney disease is very common in older cats, and I think a lifetime of dry food plays a huge part in that.

Some more articles...

www.catinfo.org

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...needcannedfood

Dry food, which is typically 30-50% carbohydrates also plays a big part in feline obesity and diabetes. Cats don't use carbs for energy. They need protein and fat. Carbs tend to stick to kitty's ribs....they don't need them.

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...=show&item=016

Click to expand...

I think the only advantage to dry food is the convenience factor - and that's for our benefit rather than our kitties.

I had a bit of an argument with a work colleague recently about dry vs wet food. She pointed out that her previous kitty had lived a long and happy life eating only dry food. Turns out her kitty died at age 15 from kidney failure, and had a few UTIs in her latter years. Granted, 15 is a good age, but maybe her kitty would have lived longer had she been fed wet food. Or maybe not - who knows. But I know I'd put more faith in research based on large numbers of cats than in anecdotal evidence, and there is a lot of research now showing that cats fed on dry food only have much more concentrated urine than those that are fed on wet food, which does cast doubt on whether they drink sufficient water. Some cats will do fine on dry food, but if there's not really any way of knowing if a cat has a predisposition to kidney or urinary problems until they happen, and if the cat is fed on dry food up until that point, the chances of getting the cat to switch to wet are slim. So personally, I'd always start out by feeding some wet. My older cat (10 years) eats all wet and my younger (19 months) about 2/3 wet and 1/3 dry.