Is there really enough moisture in canned food?

I know this has been mentioned before here, but I couldn't find a specific thread....

I screwed up and allowed the cats to run out of dry food, so they were forced to eat all canned food for about 5 days last week. They stopped drinking water altogether.

So...is there really enough moisture in the wet food for a cat to survive? Is that moisture really comparable to what they would otherwise drink out of the water dish? It just doesn't seem like enough. It would be counterproductive to feed them more wet food only to reduce their overall moisture intake!

But many of you have posted that cats are desert creatures who are built to get their water from their food....Have anyone else's cats stopped drinking on an all-wet-food diet?

Hi, when I switched 2 of my cats a few years ago over to an all-canned diet, I DEFINATELY noticed a decrease in their drinking from their water bowls, for sure...I still always leave fresh water out, as I doubt they stopped drinking from it completely, but I hardly ever actually SEE them drinking from them...

Wet food is 70-80% moisture which is that of their natural food (a mouse). There is plenty of water in wet food If you are really worried you can add extra water.

Whereas dry food is 10% moisture. Cats need to drink a ton of water to make up for that. If they are eating 1 cup of dry food they need 1.5 cups of water.

Originally Posted by furryfriends50

Wet food is 70-80% moisture which is that of their natural food (a mouse). There is plenty of water in wet food

If you are really worried you can add extra water.

Whereas dry food is 10% moisture. Cats need to drink a ton of water to make up for that. If they are eating 1 cup of dry food they need 1.5 cups of water.

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the above is close

typical wet food is 75-85% moisture the average mouse and bird are 60-65%... so yes canned food has plenty.. Some cats like gravy so many add water to canned but it is not needed for moisture content

Thanks, David's Steph, Furryfriends50, and Sharky for the answers.

Does switching to a canned diet really improve hydration if the cat simply drinks less (or no) water? Or does moisture intake stay about the same?

Originally Posted by MissKalamata

Thanks, David's Steph, Furryfriends50, and Sharky for the answers.

Does switching to a canned diet really improve hydration if the cat simply drinks less (or no) water? Or does moisture intake stay about the same?

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I think it really helps if you feed only wet food. Think about it, cats aren't going to drink a ton of water and just aren't going to stay hydrated on dry food.

Plus, wet food is almost all meat and is low carb Just what you want for a carnivore.

Originally Posted by furryfriends50

I think it really helps if you feed only wet food. Think about it, cats aren't going to drink a ton of water and just aren't going to stay hydrated on dry food.

Plus, wet food is almost all meat and is low carb

Just what you want for a carnivore.

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Most wets are low carb, some have up to 40% carbs which is = to a dry food ... The ave is 15% ... Being all meat is ?able as it to depends on the food, there are many multiple grain wets.

My personal experience over the years is cats feed some canned to all canned drink the same ... cats that eat over 75% dry drink roughly 3 times the water of a 50 canned/50 dry feed... Oddly enough the most water was drunk by the primarily raw feed cat..

Originally Posted by sharky

cats that eat over 75% dry drink roughly 3 times the water of a 50 canned/50 dry feed

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And I would think that all that extra water works out to MORE moisture than is in the cans.

I'm not in any way saying that dry is better...just pointing out an observation based on my experience with my cats.

Originally Posted by furryfriends50

I think it really helps if you feed only wet food. Think about it, cats aren't going to drink a ton of water and just aren't going to stay hydrated on dry food.

Plus, wet food is almost all meat and is low carb

Just what you want for a carnivore.

Click to expand...

It depends and it depends.

My cats are very goods drinkers, and they do stay hydrated. I have never been to a vet where I was told my cat was dehydrated.
For the carbs, It depends on the wet food, and on the dry food.
The dry food currently I feed is less than 10% cabs, made with 85% meat, and 15% veggies and fruit, no grains.
So again, it all depends on what you feed... Being dry or wet - it can be full of carbs, or have very low carbs (as far as carbs goes).

Even though wet food has more moisture, you still must provide water for your cats. They may drink less, but they still need the water. My wild cats are fed an all raw diet, which has lots of moisture in it. The still drink their water.

Probably. But mine eat dry in the morning and canned at night every day. They STILL will drink additional water from their bowls or the dog's water dish. Maybe not as much as if on all dry, but they do drink some.

IMO you should be feeding them both each day. Some of the canned foods (quality ones) tend to be "thicker" and less water or juice and so they will drink more after eating those foods. My cats don't like any of the gravy foods - they want the pate' ones where its more solid food/meat.

They also get raw a few times a week.

My cats with urinary issues only eat dry. But they would always go to the water bowl after they eat. Recently I have added just a small amount of water in the bowl with Muffins dry food. He cleans it all up.