Advice on switching to all wet

I need some advice from the pros. After losing two cats in the space of 1 year (they were old, I know,,,but still..) I've made the decision to go all wet. I have a 2 year old spayed female who is already too chubby for her own good and I now have a 6 1/2 week old kitten. Trying to save on time and money, I was advised by my local pet store (PetValu) that Performatrin Ultra is a good food and it's for all stages. I bought a bag of dry and the wet stuff. Mojo has been strictly on wet from the beggining, he doesn't seem to pay much attention to the dry, but it's being more challenging to get Dusky to eat wet. After much research, I'm utterly confused!

I have 3 questions:

1. They tell me Performatrin Ultra a good wet food (the main ingredients seem all right - chicken being the first) but they don't seem crazy about it. I know Dusky won't eat Wellness. I was considering the following and wondered which ones you think are the best quality and best taste based on your experience:
a) Natural Balance Ultra
b) Newman's Own Chicken and Brown Rice
c) Addiction
d) Nature's Harvest

2. I've seen some sites that mention vendors who sell raw diet online? Should I go that way? If so, can you recommend the best?

3. Third question, but I guess the most important. If I'm feeding a high protein, high quality wet food, do I have to worry about the age differences of my cat?

Many thanks in advance for your help.

Sorry I am cut and pasting cause I am lazy..


1. They tell me Performatrin Ultra a good wet food (the main ingredients seem all right - chicken being the first) but they don't seem crazy about it. I know Dusky won't eat Wellness. I was considering the following and wondered which ones you think are the best quality and best taste based on your experience:
a) Natural Balance UltraMost will eat it
b) Newman's Own Chicken and Brown RiceNo one so far willing to eat
c) Addictionloved it but so hard to find
d) Nature's Harvest: no experience

2. I've seen some sites that mention vendors who sell raw diet online? Should I go that way? If so, can you recommend the best?
Raw is for some the best thing... BUT if done wrong you can KILL the cat ( some deficiency's do not show for up to years... I highly recommend finding a willing and helpful vet .. Start with research I recommend BOOKS and online , then discuss what you find with a vet or animal nutritionist ( IE SOMEONE with Actual Credentials not a online blog or website without solid credentails)
3. Third question, but I guess the most important. If I'm feeding a high protein, high quality wet food, do I have to worry about the age differences of my cat?
I would not unless you have a cat with issues : ie kidney , liver

With a kitten I do recommend kitten wet which if you read most of them say growth and maintenance which means they are very fine for and adult also

I know it may be frustrating, but the best way to know whether or not your cats will enjoy it is to buy a small can of each of the brands you've narrowed it down to. After that, see which one they respond to the best. If you're switching from dry, here's a method that worked with my cat [all cats are different, so it may not work with yours. You have to get a bit creative.]

First, see which food he responds well to, let him nibble it off your finger as a "treat."

Then, start to put a small portion, barely noticable, in his dry food. Increase the portion each day, kinda like what you would do when normally switching foods. But here's what's different.

Warm it in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds, depending on the amount of wet food in there. Just enough so that it's warm to the touch. The smell is enhanced and the temperature is similar to what they'd eat in the wild.

Also, when mixing the wet with the dry make sure it's even and that it would be really difficult for him to pick out the dry bits. Decrease the amount of dry food each day. It's a gradual process that will take probably more than two weeks.

Again, this is a method that I found worked with one cat, it may not work with yours.

Go halfway. Take a tea-spoon of hot water, and a bowel full of royal canin dry food and mix it together. Royal Canin is the first cat food I found that mixes well with water to become a rich smelling wet type food. I know it's high in protein. I know it's good for cats, it saved one of mines life.

I know that cats eyes light up around it when they smell it, and they go in for the gold... they gobble it down. It is also nutrient rich, as it's often used for sick kitties, and at the same time, it can transition your cats from dry to wet by fooling them with a dry food that becomes wet lol.

Good luck!!
I agree in buying a bunch of different foods and seeing what they like it or not...
Stay away from grains, by-products (especially "meat by-products"... yuck! - I don't feed any, I like to see the organs listed, instead of by-products), and artificial flavors and colorants.
Cats tend to accept well simpler "pate" style formulas, chicken and Turkey seem to be the most popular... aside from fish, of course.

It is not advisable to mix wet and dry (or dry with water), due to bacteria growth (there is a lot of bacteria on dry, and the humidity of the wet food is the perfect environment for growth). If you must, make sure your cat eats the whole thing within 30 minutes or so...

Thanks everyone for the great advice. I'm still bent on going all "wet"so I wont be trying the Royal Kanin route (I think that is a dry food if I'm not mistaken). Thanks Sharky for sharing your experiences with the foods I mentioned. I think that if I can not find Addiction, I will try the Natural Balance Ultra and see if they like it. They are getting more fussy about the Performatrin Ultra as we speak. Also, I think I will leave the raw idea alone for now, until I am more comfortable with it. Thanks again everyone. I will post the results shortly

It is not advisable to mix wet and dry (or dry with water), due to bacteria growth (there is a lot of bacteria on dry, and the humidity of the wet food is the perfect environment for growth). If you must, make sure your cat eats the whole thing within 30 minutes or so...

Click to expand...

Sorry, I should have added that to my post. When you do try to mix the foods, make sure you do like carolinalima suggested and pick it up within at the most 30 minutes of giving the food to him. You don't want your kitty getting an upset stomach from spoiled food!

This is also a reason why it may be a tad more difficult for you to switch him to wet if he is free-fed. If he is free-fed dry food, I'd try to get him used to being fed certain meals at certain times if you switch to all wet.

Also, I use Natural Balance Ultra dry formula and have had good results, so I'm sure the wet will be of the same quality.

Again, thanks everyone for your much appreciated replies. I thought I'd let you know my results so far:

EVO (wet) - Mojo the kitten gobbles it up! Dusky the 2 year old licks it but not too interested.

Natural Balance Venison & Green Pea (wet) - Both will eat it, but Mojo seems to prefer EVO. Dusky prefers it to EVO but still not gobbling it up.

I found a holistic pet store close by that carries Addiction brand. I'm going on Saturday to get some and will try it out

thank you for update... If you want some advise , try one or two cans of every flavor and brand they have

I got Addiction (different flavours of wet and also a bag of dry Venison). They absolutely LOVE it! I just gave Mojo a couple of nuggets of the dry, because I want to keep him strictly on wet. Maybe I will treat the dry as a "treat" for him. I think he even prefers it to the EVO. Now Dusky is a different matter. I was too crazy and gave her a small bowl of the dry (I'm still struggling to switch her to wet) and she gobbled it up. About 1/2 hour later she thew up. I blame myself, but I just wanted to know if she would like it..she is soo! finicky. I mixed a little of the Addiction dry with her normal crappy dry, but she picked through the dry to get to the Addiction. About 1 hour later she threw up again (just a little this time). I learned my lesson. I will fill her bowl with mostly her old food, but I'm afraid she will pick and choose again. Looks like she is crazy about it but her tummy can't take it yet. Any suggestions on the safest way to switch her from her old crappy food to a much better dry that she prefers anyway?? I'm so lost!!!

I'm so sorry you lost your two cats, especially close together. That's such a tough thing to go through. <<<hugs>>>

Congrats on deciding to ditch the kibble; that's definitely one of the best decisions you could ever make for your cats.

Try to stick with grain-, veggie-, fruit- and fish-free options when choosing which wet foods to feed (not easy, I know!). Feeding multiple varieties from different companies will help keep your cats from becoming bored with a particular brand or flavor and, should there be a problem with one food or another, buffer them from the potential consequences.

When I lost my Ollie in the 2007 pet food poisoning, I became a bit obsessed with feline nutrition. I first switched to high-end canned foods and then, in January of this year, over to completely raw foods (you can read about that transition here, if you like). The difference I saw in my cats' health and behavior was utterly amazing, and I am now an advocate of raw-feeding all cats. I spend hours researching and writing about it, and have helped many people make the transition. (I say this only so you understand my perspective.)

While raw-feeding neophytes do need to understand what they're doing and why, it's NOT rocket science and I've never known or read about anyone killing their beloved furbaby through feeding raw. Theoretically, it's possible, but realistically, folks who take the time to prepare and feed raw menus generally take the time to ensure they're doing it in the proper proportions.

Raw-feeding or canned feeding - it's very likely that by no longer kibble feeding, you are avoiding a whole host of nasty vet visits later on. And that's a wonderful thing.

UPDATE: Addiction brand will for sure be a staple in this house. they both love it. I just have to be more careful with Dusky and transition it slowly. Mojo is on all wet and he gets either EVO or Addiction wet. Dusky is still on the dry stuff. But I finally found a food they both like. Also, I have stopped free feeding officially.

Thank you for the update and what a good one it is ... finding a food that more than one will eat is a challenge