Anyone feeding both wet and dry food?

Hello all,

This is probably a spectacularly dumb question...but hey, I am a newbie so bear with me.

Is anyone feeding their kittens/cats both wet and dry food? We are adopting our little kittens today, and their foster mom swears by only dry food.

Unfortunately, the cat I had as a child developed some sort of complications from only eating dry food (no idea what complications; Mom was in charge back then), so I would like to get some wet food into their diet, if it wouldn't screw everything up.

I am sure this has been discussed many times, but I would appreciate any replies and links you can provide. As always, thanks in advance for taking the time to reply.

Dave

P.S. Poll included for scientific novelty factor.

We feed dry in the morning, canned at nite and raw twice a week.

Many cats (especially males) can have UTI problems with an all dry diet. I just lost our 3 yr old Ocicat to UTI and complications from it this time. His first time was due to the all dry diet. So we added in canned and raw. He was fine for 2 yrs. We think that part of the problem in developing crystals this time and getting blocked was due to the extra calcium from the chicken wings (raw).

Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to get him back to just the dry/canned and no raw. From now on I will only feed raw beef and not any of the chicken with the bones.

IMO its better to feed dry and canned to start and vary the canned foods with different brands/flavors so you don't have a picky cat. Also be careful with fish-based foods - males will get more UTI's on fish based foods. Stick to the higher quality brands.

Dry in morning and wet/raw at night.

Dumb questions DO NOT exist

I feed a "rotation" diet : how much of each depends on the cat .... I have five right now that eat 10-50% wet , 30-50% dry , raw and homemade make up the rest

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...highlight=food

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...highlight=food

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...highlight=food

just a few links over a bit of time that I started... There are MANY MANY more started by many of us .. do you know how to search on this site?

I feed a bit over 2/3rds wet with a small dry meal in the early evening to tie they over. The kittens are free fed dry along with their wet food.

I simply don't know anything else, honestly. All the cats growing up had at least a half wet food diet. Not letting them have the wet food they love and that is good for them just seems odd.

I've only ever had one cat get an UTI - she was a little over a year old and ate a lot of wild caught prey. This was also at least 20 years ago, as far as food quality goes.


ETA: I'm feeding wet to nine. The two outdoor kitties get free fed dry with theirs.

Not a dumb question at all.

I used to feed wet daily and free feed dry. Then I lost my job, and since then have been feeding dry daily and giving wet only a couple of times a week.

I know that feeding mostly wet is preferable and optimal, but I just can't afford that much money being spent on wet for my 6 cats. I do, however, try to feed them a fairly high quality dry, and have a water fountain for my 5 indoor cats to ensure they are getting enough water.

I feed mostly dry, TOTW grain-free. The kitties get one wet meal a day, approx. 1 oz each. Well, Shareena eats maybe 1/4 oz., Iris and Miss Patchwillow eat 1/2-3/4 oz, and Cali and Merlin clean up the leftovers.

I would love to be able to feed all wet, but even if I could afford it for five cats, my schedule is so wacky they would never know when there next meal was coming.

I feed as much wet food as they'll eat 2x/day - and free feed dry food.

Originally Posted by white cat lover

I feed as much wet food as they'll eat 2x/day - and free feed dry food.

Click to expand...

It was recommend we cut back on the dry b/c of kidney concerns but a few cats act out when it's not available to them so we just free feed. They are scheduled to eat 5am and 4pm wet about 1/4 can friskies per cat but occasionally they get treats. They seem to think Mom and Hubby are meant to feed them 24/7 yet no one bugs me and I am home all day.

I feed dry in the morning (cat's preference) and wet in the evening (my preference).

I currently don't feed dry at all, cats & kittens are raw fed with occasional tinned food (like on cat show days).

My newly caught feral cat gets about 15% canned food mixed with his hard food morning and evening. He loves "Fancy Feast" brand and the chicken feast ingredients.

I had a momma cat that had 4-kittens this past summer. Come weaning time I started them with a little canned food. Two started to eat it and the other two began to bury the food. They didn't know what it was. In a coulple days they all loved the canned food and were all over me begging for more. You want a friend, feed them a little canned food. Some cats get upset stomachs from too much canned food. It's rich but most cats eat it without any problem.

My cats have 2 tins of wet food a day and a big bowl of dried food that lasts them all day, have had no problems with any of their diets, they just can be fussy about which wet food they have

I feed both wet and dry.

Started out 1 cup of dry (which ended up just being free feeding cos Genever is a nibbler), and 1/2 of a 3 oz. can.

These days I give her 3/4-1 5.5 oz. can per day and only up to 1/4 cup of dry. If she eats too much at once she pukes, and it seems to happen more often with the dry food. She likes dry food better than wet though so I try not to deprive her.

Good luck with the new kittens!

Money is tight around here so I go with cheap wet and decent dry.
My girls get dry free fed and share a 6 ounce can of wet every evening.

Dry is great for convenience/cost, but since I think animals, and cats especially should be eating as close to natural as possible, I have to include wet in their diet.

I feed dry in the morning (Pro Plan which is corn free due to CJ's allergies, but they all like it) along with 4-5 tartar treats ( I cant remember the name, they come from the vets office). they split a pouch of wet in the evening of one of the Purfectly Seafoods or Chicken. I rotate these to give a variety of taste, BUT nothing with Tuna in it. I do add about 2 tblspoons of water to stretch it a little and make more gravy. Sunday afternoons they get 4-5 fresh boiled shrimp each as their special treat
(hey... they ARE beach kitties LOL).
Bobby
and the Gang

I feed two small wet meals - morning and evening and set out the equivalent of 1/3 c. dry for each cat. Because I come and go at odd times, I have to free-feed the dry, which I do not like doing, b/c I have a glutton cat and one who is a scarf-n-barf. Two of the cats - (Mine are all fosters) - have gotten plump while the others are at ok weights.

I can't really afford to feed them much more wet than I do... about 4 oz each.

And they are picky .... some prefer fish, some poultry... some pate, some chunky/gravy style. Trying very hard NOT to give them wheat gluten, esp. since I have a cat with lower GI issues. But in one case, he demands the stuff with chunks n gravy. I would rather he eat that than no wet at all.

We do dry in the morning and wet at night.

Partially because of cost, but also because they're picky eaters and I don't like to mess with something that's working.

They get a 1/4 cup of dry each in the morning and split a can of wet for dinner.

Originally Posted by white cat lover

I feed as much wet food as they'll eat 2x/day - and free feed dry food.

Click to expand...

The same here.

I feed both wet and dry, but have 2 separate diets for my girls.

One cat is not thrilled with wet food and she has kidney issues, so she's fed mainly dry (k/d), but she gets a small serving of wet twice a day. The wet is a mixture of some kind of grain free canned either Wellness or Innova Evo, some canned pumpkin, and some raw chicken. Then I add in her meds and supplements, stir it all together and put it down. The dry is put down for her throughout the day (DH's unemployed right now) and she eats about 1/2C of dry daily.

When we adopted Hannah, I'd read on hear about how much better canned is for cats, so we decided to go all wet with her. She gets 2 servings of the canned mixture above with a dash of Lysine thrown in for her herpes. However, she also gets approx. 1/8 C of dry morsels daily. It equates to about 10 morsels each serving (noon, mid-evening, and bedtime), but she doesn't know any different so it doesn't matter!

So there's a complicated answer for your question.