Feeding an all wet food diet?

I was considering feeding my kitties an all wet food diet. I have heard mixed opinions about it, some saying that without the kibble, their teeth rot easy and they have a higher chance of having bad teeth, also that it's bad for them. I have also heard its good, because they get all their water from the wet food. Does anyone here only feed their cats wet food? If so, how many times a day? I have 3 cats and my roommates cat, and the 4 of them eat one small can in one meal, so two cans a day would be about equal to what I pay for a huge bag of cat kibble.

I know several people who feed all wet food diets. For the most part I hear that wet food does not harm teeth anymore than dry. While I wholly agree that dry food does not CLEAN teeth (at least not where they need to be cleaned, up against the gums), I am not totally convinced that there is not some benefit to the chewing a cat does for a strong jaw. I am also NOW completely sure that dry food is not all that great for cats and that a wet food diet, even if it is worse for teeth, is way better for your cat. If teeth worry you let your cat have some real raw meat (not ground, go with chicken meat cut into cubes, chicken wings or chicken necks) a few times a week. That way the cat gets a cleaning and gets to use those jaw muscles. Of course when first introducing the cat to the raw meat start small with just small pieces of the chicken meat, when he learns how to chew move up to bigger and bigger chunks.

*Supervise all raw meals especially at first, the cat may take some time to learn how to rip off meat and chew meat and bones, if bones worry you (thought they are pretty safe if RAW) then big hunks of meat can still do a nice cleaning job. Stick to doing this about 2-3 times a week, if you overdo it without actually feeding a raw food meal (with all proper nutrients) you may be messing with the balance of the cat's diet*
Check out this site (I'm showing it to everybody because I just discovered it, and LOVE it): http://www.catinfo.org/

Also forgot to answer your other questions: If I fed my cats all wet food they would each eat a 5.5 ounce can a day. that would be the downside to wet food, it's expensive. Prey model raw actually ends up being cheaper for most people...

If you can't go ALL wet then do part wet, as much as you can, it will help!

most of the info from the last 10 years points to neither dry nor wet being the "ideal" for dental care.VERY VERY few drys are clinically proven to aid in dental care( the kibbles on these are much larger than ave).. wet gets a bit of an edge ( ie which sticks to your teeth more popcorn or an apple ... remember food , genetics and age all play into dental health regular vet checks are more likely to find problems early...

Originally Posted by Maxy24

...the downside to wet food, it's expensive...

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Did you notice this?

I feed an all wet diet as I believe it is much healthier since one of my cats got diabetes fom eating dry food. Let me ask you this. Does a hard pretzel clean your teeth o do pieces get stuck in between them?

I feed both now. I was feeding only dry for a long time. They now get wet morning and evening with 1/3 cup Orijen dry in between. As I've been saying for years, if you eat a dry soda cracker you'll find more of it stays stuck in your teeth than if you ate several spoons of beef stew.

Siamese seem to be very partial to bad teeth. Bijou had to have a dental done this past summer and he's only 5 years old. Now I brush his teeth - it's much cheaper than paying $400 for a dental.

I feed only wet. Two eat raw and the other 2 eat canned.

From all that I have read it seems clear to me that an *all* dry diet just isn't a good idea. I would feel comfortable with a part dry part wet diet if both the wet and dry were chosen carefully. But even then I would have their diet mostly wet, like maybe 2/3 wet and 1/3 dry. For various reasons I don't feel feeding any dry is an option for me.

I feed mine twice a day.

Originally Posted by Melmo

I have 3 cats and my roommates cat, and the 4 of them eat one small can in one meal, so two cans a day would be about equal to what I pay for a huge bag of cat kibble.

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Exactly what size cans are you referring to? 2 6oz cans a day for 4 cats would be the equivalent of about half of what I feed mine.

When considering wet or dry you shouldn't look at just the cost. Many people have come to the conclusion that the long term feeding of an exclusively dry diet is directly responsible for an increased risk of serious illness in cats. Even if wet is more expensive you might save a lot in the long term through lower vet bills.

Edit: I just realized, you probably mean they *each* each 1 small (3 oz) can at each meal, right? That's the same as what I feed mine.

I'm not sure how many ounces are in the cans I feed. Its the cans that are about 2 inches high.
I open one of those cans and mash it with a firk on a large plate, and all 4 cats finish it iff, but usually, at least 2 of the cats stop eating before its gone, and sometimes the other two finish it off, or they leave some left over.
I'll just have to see how much they would eat if they only had wet food, and only ate twice a day. My cats really don't eat a lot, even though Salem is a fatty. Im trying to slim him down. He is almost 15 pounds I think.

My adult cat eats about 6 oz total in wet food per day- I feed her twice. She's not really interested in dry food which I'm happy about. She loves the pouches w/gravy, though. I feed her some Wellness grain free pouches and some Nutro pouches. I would love to do 100% wellness but they are like $1.15 for 3 oz. !!

My 8 mo old kitten eats about 8-9 oz/day of wet and unlimited Wellness Kitten Health dry food. He probably only eats like an eighth of a cup a day b/c he prefer's wet.

I hate to think about it but I probably spend about $3-$4/day on cat food...

I feed an all wet diet to my older cat, and a part wet part dry diet to my younger cat. They both get fed 3 times a day. Jaffa (who gets only wet) has one 85-100g pouch/serving at each meal.

I don't think wet or dry is particularly good or bad for the teeth. I certainly don't think that dry food helps their teeth (esp if they swallow it whole like Jaffa ) but I wouldn't claim that wet is good for their teeth either. I think genetic factors are the most important factors in whether a cat has dental problems or not. Cleaning the teeth helps (either by brushing with toothpaste or by feeding raw bones). I use logic gel, plaque off and give Jaffa a raw chicken wing twice a week. I prefer to give food for it's nutrition benefits and then think about dental care separately. I'm not keen on the ingredients in dental dry foods.

I agree that genetics probably has more to do with a lot of health issues. My SIL is diabetic and has eaten the same food my brother has eaten for over 40 years. He's as healthy as anyone would wish to be at 66. I'm not convinced that her diabetes is a result of her diet so much as her DNA. If it were the diet, my brother should be suffering as well but that's just my humble opinion and I'm certainly no vet or doctor.

Heredity has a big impact on the animal world (humans and fur), at least that's what I believe. You will see posters here that have fed cheap dry food to their animals who have lived 18-20+ years.

Now, having said that, do I think a wet diet is healthier? Yes I do, because it gives the cat additional moisture and less of the empty carbs found in dry food. I feed both because our cats are grazers and I'm more comfortable leaving out dry than wet.

I feed my cat mainly wet, he has three pouches a day and a small handful of kibble a day just to nibble at during the day when we are at work. He is two and I feed a selection of wets like, hi-life, natures menu, applause, tesco luxury and some other good ones that I can't remember. I feed James Wellbeloved dry. I use logic gel for my cats teeth becasue for me food is more about nutritional value. If you are unable to afford wet food maybe you could find the highest quality dry, buying a large bag would also save some pennies. Its sometimes hard to find the balance between the best you can do and what you can afford! I would also maybe try to find some good deals on the cat food sites as they sometimes have better deals

I feed wet and dry, but if I could spend more money on their food I would feed wet only.

I clean their teeth with a toothbrush and an oral hygiene rinse the vet gave me.