ANOTHER cat food question

I used to feed my cats canned food years ago. (and dry too) I stopped feeding canned because it seemed like whenever my cats threw up it was the canned and it was such a pain to clean up. I also was under the impression that it was bad for the cat's teeth. And feeding dry food free choice seems very convenient. But now, reading all these uncomplimentary things about dry food makes me wonder if I should switch to canned.

For those of you who feed canned, how do you know how much canned to give each kitty at each feeding? Feeding the dry free choice is so easy. I would worry I was either feeding too much or too little at each feeding with the canned. What if you go on vacation? I have a friend take care of my cats and she comes in once a day to scoop litter, replenish water and dry food. If I switched to canned, would I have to have her come twice a day? (she's a busy person, seems like a lot)

I almost wish I had never read about this. I would have gone on, happily feeding my dry food and thinking it was great. :tounge2:

I feed my cats a mixture of both, from what I heard and read, a combo is the best for them...so I would suggest leaving the dry food out and giving them wet food once a day, so the person who comes in can comes just once a day. Do you have more than one cat? I used to free feed when I had just one but now I have three and it's easier to monitor how much they are eating by feeding them twice a day, also to notice if one isn't eating enough/ or too much!

Cat's should not throw up food on a regular basis (wet or dry) unless they have a medical situation, either way, a change in the brand of food is probably necessary. It has become more and more common that some cats don't agree with certain cat foods, and the owner must do a little investigation to what type/brand the cat handles best.
Good luck!

oh I feed my cats Medi-cal Prevetative food form the vet, and the wet food too, but I also give them other brands of wet food...

I do it the way Cookie does - our cat gets both dry and canned food, even when he's being looked after by a sitter. Generally you can go by the manufacturer's suggestions, adding or subtracting up to 10% according to need. JC prefers dry food, which probably is much better for his teeth, but I want him to eat canned food, too, in case he should develop a medical problem (urinary tract or kidney trouble) requiring a canned diet.

Yes, I have three cats right now and will be getting a fourth for sure and possibly a fifth. They didn't throw up the canned food "on a regular basis" but when they did throw up, it was usually the canned and not the dry. There seem to be a lot of dyes in canned cat food and I find it difficult to get it out of the carpet. I think I will go back to feeding them some canned food (I'll have to decide if I want to do it once or twice a day) and supplement with dry. That way, they'll get a more rounded diet.

I've had cats on wet food only dry food only and a combo of both. My 3 cats are on dry food 2x a day (we don't free feed with this gang). And they get wet foot about every 3 days, sometimes every 2 days, mostly as a treat, but they get a decent helping of it.

I have done research on all types of feeding, I generally prefer a GOOD QUALITY dry food diet mainly if it comes to wet or dry food. But I will adjust accordingly to the needs of each animal, I wont feed a food simply for a convincince factor for myself. From the many cats I have fed, yes wet food does seem to effect their teeth, they have a lot more plaque and their breath is quiet stinky! I can't say this for ALL cats, but I have seen this happen with most cats I have cared for, or care for for my clients.

Check with your vet about the throwing up, monitor which brand(s) he throws up during. It's possible he really likes the wet food and just eats it too fast when you give it to him, and that can cause them to throw it up as well.

I would say that they threw up very possibly because they were so thrilled to get the canned food, that they scarfed it down so quickly and it just came right back up.

I think what concerns me about the dry now is reading that it is so high in carbohydrates and the concern about it pushing some cats into obesity or diabetes.

I am going to do more research. I have a feeling my vet won't know, they can't keep up on everything. It's a lot for them to keep up on the medical end of things, without having to do a lot of reading about nutrition too. (I used to work for a vet so I know how busy they are)

Cind: Yeah it's good to arm yourself with your own research as well. Not all vets will know everything and have trouble keeping up with new findings all the time as yes most vets are very busy. Even nutritionist will vary in opinions about foods and the ways to feed them, so it comes down to that, your research, and what you feel comfortable about feeding your animal.

Feeding a high quality human grade food with the proper protien, fiber, fat, moister contents can help reduce the chance of suffering from obessety and diabeties, when in comparison to something like Meow Mix, or even Science Diet or Iam's.

If you are really concerned, perhaps you should look into the RAW/BARF diet for your animals.

Hi, I have an interesting article written by a Vet that is very informative. Hope this helps you, and right now I am feeding mine canned plus little dry. I have done some research on it and you really have to watch the calorie content.
http://home.earthlink.net/~jacm2/_wsn/page3.html

If your cat is throwing up cause of eating the wet food to fast, break it up, I do that sometimes too when they appear to be eting to quickly, i give the a spoonful, when they are done wait a minute or two, and give more, mostly I do this because some cats try to steal from the other's bowls! I agree from what I read wet food only is bad for teeth, but the combo of both shouild be enough to ge the benefit of dry, Feeding a good quality dry is most important, and lot of the top brands offer the same food in wet form. Bad breath however I don't think should be an issue from wet food, maybe just soon after eating (same with dry), but otherwise the cat should not have particularily bad breath, that would indicate a medical problem.
I have also seen cats only on dry that have bad teeth, so I am not totally convinced wet food is the primary cause, it known to be genetics too..

Hi I just read that article and I had read most of that stuff before, and I do agree, because even after eating wet food my cats go to drink, the same as after thay eat dry (maybe they drink more after dry that I don't see ofcourse), so overall they are getting more water, and I was surprised that they stiil drank right after eating wet food that is 78% water, ofcourse I am not complaining the more they drink the better! I aslo beleive that the grain content contributes to obesity, at my vet there are so many fat vat's eating the prescription food, it does make you wonder. I have also read about cat's losing wieght when overweight on kitten canned food because it is more like their natural diet. kinda like the zone diet for cats.
One more point now there are alot more dry foods with no grains, so this is another option for cat's addicted to dry, but I still believe at least giving some wet is more benefical than dry alone.

Wouldn't it be nice if I took care and knew as much about my own nutrition as I do my cats! My cats are all fit, wher I could definely loose a few!

I feel conflicted between both. I still feel for most cats mostly dry is best, but I prefer to feed dry and some wet.

There have been studies showing cats do get more plaque and stinky breath over short or prolonged usage of a lot of wet food, I have seen this first hand, and I mean down right STANKY breath, and there shouldn't be any real reason for this, we have had those cats checked out by vets and there is no medical condition they suffer from. But as I said there are some cats who eat wet food and do not have this problem. Same studies with dry food.

Bottom line, there is still so much we don't know about proper animal nutrition, specially when it comes to it's limitations of the canned and dry kibble. Information keeps changing, what's great now, we'll find out to be bad next year, and it goes on and on.

That can be very annoying. "They" say one thing about nutrition at one time and then change their minds and say oh no, we've decided that's not good and you should be feeding this instead.

Sbd45, that is a good article, I am going to print it so I can refer to it.

Cookie, that is a good idea about giving them some food now and then waiting a little bit and give more so they don't eat it all at once and have it come back up.