What is the difference? wet and dry

Well I know the literal difference, but how is it different for cats?
Are there any special scenarios when a cat should be fed wet food instead of dry food. Or is dry food only fed for a certain amount of time and then wet food should be start?

My kitten is 4 months old now, he's been eating IAMS kitten food (purple bag), but I recently went to Pet Valu and told me how "evil" IAMS was and they don't carry it, and also because IAMS is mostly corn. I think the real reason is probably because they cannot beat Walmart prices.

Anyhow the Pet Valu employee gave me samples of 2-3 other types of dry food that she said is a lot better bcuz they have minimal or no corn at all.

Now I am also curious about wet food. Should I switch my kitten to this Pet Valu - recommended dry food or switch him to wet food (if so, which brand), or keep him on IAMS kitten food?

Thank you.

The Pet Valu recommended food is Felindae and Solid Gold Katz.

Iams is FULL of corn( the least digestable veggie/ grain) .... Chicken by products ( heads ft and intestines)....

They should not have said evil but should have explained that the felidea would be much more digestable and far far better for the cats skin and coat .... Solid gold is a GRAINY food but for many works when fat needs to be lower and they dont want diet food

wet food is close to natural prey ... iams makes a few good ones like but they are adult ...

Wet food is closer to the cats natural diet, i.e. high in moisture, and cats fed on purely dry can end up being dehydrated even if they drink a lot of water, and they can be more prone to urinary and kidney issues.

Thank you everyone for the response.
So does wet food end up costing just as much or generally a lot more than dry food? What is a good cheap wet food for 4 month old himalayan male kitten?

Thanks.

After living with a cat with CRF (chronic renal/kidney failure), and now a cat with no teeth, I've learned the value of getting a cat to like wet food. Cats that live for years on dry sometimes don't like wet and as a cat ages, there are a number of medical conditions where it is very important to have wet - the above plus urinary tract infections, not drinking enough water, and others. Wet food is often a very good way to slip in medicines, as you can crush a pill and put it in their wet food. A lot of people have a rough time in giving their cats meds.

Mine get dry, but also a serving of wet daily.

Originally Posted by bfman

Thank you everyone for the response.
So does wet food end up costing just as much or generally a lot more than dry food? What is a good cheap wet food for 4 month old himalayan male kitten?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

It can depending on what wet the cat likes ...

define cheap???

under 50 cents for a 3 oz can

under 50 cents for a 6 oz can

under 1.00 for 6oz can

under 1.50 for 12 oz can

I don't know how much your kitty weighs but an all wet feed kitten will eat 1/2 oz to 1 oz per lb per day ... so a six lb kitten would at MINIMUM eat 3-6 oz possibly more if it is a all stage food

I fed 1/2 dry and 1/2 wet for yrs ... My RB Kandie was a BIG girl 13-14 lb s , she ate about 6 oz wet and 3/4 cup dry ... when she went to all wet for a while it was 10-16oz a day ...

by contrast my Zoey is not a wet fan ... at about 9 lb s eats 3/4 cup dry and about 1oz wet

Originally Posted by bfman

Thank you everyone for the response.
So does wet food end up costing just as much or generally a lot more than dry food? What is a good cheap wet food for 4 month old himalayan male kitten?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

We too have a 4.5 month old himmie male. He's a real cool looking cream point. What colors is yours?

We do 95-100% wet w/ an occasional small amount of dry (10-15 kibbles) every other day or so, just to ensure that he will eat dry when we travel.

We feed Eagle Pack, Evanger, Felidae, some Merrick, some Wellness. They are about $1-1.35 per 5.5oz can. There are a few other quality brands out there, but our kittie is allergic to fish. Search around this forum, and you'll find a whole gamut of other premium brands.

We feed him a can a day and will likely have to expand to at least 1.25 can per day real soon. One can is usually recommended per 8 lb of cat, with up to twice the amount for a kitten. So you can do the math. He's slightly more than 4lb and have been begging for food after being fed complete meals recently. We're acclimating him to go up in food uptake slowly so he doesn't become an obese eating machine.

Just remember, himmies and persians tend to be mid-size cat and not as big as some other breeds. This should have an influence on how much they're supposed to grow (read somewhere that an adult persian should be 8-12lb fully grown).

Thanks for your input.
My kitten is flame point

My cats are a fan of Natural Balance and Wellness. Both are sold at the feed store for .99 for a 5.5 oz can. To help offset the cost of that, I also give them Natural Life from Walmart for .78 for a 5.5 oz can.

Just wanted to add that some folks may tell you to feed dry because it "helps clean their teeth". This is NOT true. I learned that the hard way.

Felidae and Solid Gold are both great products.

Thank you everyone for helping out.
I have decided to go with a mix of wet and dry.

I will leave the dry food in the bowl all day, but will only serve recommended servings of wet food daily. Does this sound ok?

Thanks.

Originally Posted by bfman

Thank you everyone for helping out.
I have decided to go with a mix of wet and dry.

I will leave the dry food in the bowl all day, but will only serve recommended servings of wet food daily. Does this sound ok?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

A growing kitten can be free fed the dry, as long as she'll still eat wet food. Once she's an adult, you may have to measure the amount of dry food you give her if she tends to get pudgy.

Here are some helpful articles on the wet vs. dry issue:
http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...needcannedfood
http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...dcleantheteeth

I switched to Felindae as both wet and dry food.
As I said before, the dry food stays in bowl all day, and I feed him wet food twice daily. Once before going to work in the morning and once after I come back from work. I noticed that his stuff really started to stink when I started wet so I stopped it for a while and it didn't stink as much. Now I started it again and its not so bad so far. Should I switch to another brand of wet?

Btw, he doesn't actually eat but only licks the wet food. Sometimes I feel its being wasted. Then its left in the bowl to dry and he doesn't eat dried out wet food so I have to throw it away. He still eats more dry food.

He's 5 months now.

At five months, he could make do with 3 meals a day. Maybe you should try leaving just a measured amount of dry out for lunch, and see if that leads him to eat more of the canned. Felidae is a good brand, but some cats don't like the texture of it, and prefer something chunkier, or with gravy.