Finally! He's eating canned food!

It has taken a month but I finally got the consistency of the canned food plus water, right. It was so soupy, but apparently he likes it exactly that way, so I was happy to do it!

This morning I gave him a different flavor/brand, and he also lapped it right up with the water!

What do you think I should do with the dry food? Still offer it, or not? I think the dry is more fattening, and he's a slender boy, maybe he should get both for the time being?

Wet is often lower carb and of course great for hydration. But there are some studies that show that cats on a mixed wet and dry diet have less incidents of dental disease, plus its nice to have around (especially if you have an autofeeder) when you need to dash since you don't have to worry about uneaten wet sitting out so a little bit of low-carb dry I think is good.

We do two wet meals (whatever is pretty good and on sale) and one dry meal from an autofeeder (Blue Wilderness Duck), and that's what I'd recommend. If on vacation, they get two dry meals and one wet meal, so a sitter only needs to visit once a day.


^big fan of our setup... dual feeders is just for redundancy so at worst they miss half a meal, totally unnecessary though.

Originally Posted by resqchick

It has taken a month but I finally got the consistency of the canned food plus water, right. It was so soupy, but apparently he likes it exactly that way, so I was happy to do it!

This morning I gave him a different flavor/brand, and he also lapped it right up with the water!

What do you think I should do with the dry food? Still offer it, or not? I think the dry is more fattening, and he's a slender boy, maybe he should get both for the time being?

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Congrats, Resqchick!

Keeping the kibble around may tempt your boy to boycott the canned food at some point. Since canned is so much healthier and you've put so much work on getting your boy to eat it, I'd totally get rid of the kibble.

AC

Thank you for your responses. I tried an experiment, and put down the dry (moistened) blue buffalo and next to it, I put the canned food. He ate about a half of the 3 oz can (he's only 10 weeks old) then went over and drank the water in the dry, took about 2 bites and was done.

I'll probably leave dry when I'm out, but the canned will be his staple. I bought more varieties today, my husband wants to know why he doesn't get a huge variety of meals. I told him to look online and if he finds what he likes in a can, he'll have a huge variety as well.

Originally Posted by Auntie Crazy

Keeping the kibble around may tempt your boy to boycott the canned food at some point.

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^ This.

I would donate it to a shelter, a friend who doesn't have much money for pet food, or feed some local strays.

I find that pretty unlikely, as a friend with seven cats feeds almost exclusively dry due to the cost, and when they get wet its like a treat for them and they inhale it. Even his "mean" cat that usually only stays in his bedroom as her territory, will run out and munch with the others.

If you have put out dry and wet at the same time, and they're eating the wet, there's no worries that they'll eat whats available when they are hungry, and some kibble and dental treats is good for them, cost and convenience aside.

Originally Posted by Ducman69

I find that pretty unlikely, as a friend with seven cats feeds almost exclusively dry due to the cost, and when they get wet its like a treat for them and they inhale it. Even his "mean" cat that usually only stays in his bedroom as her territory, will run out and munch with the others.

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You might well find it unlikely, Ducman. That doesn't change the fact it happens all the time.

AC

Originally Posted by Ducman69

I find that pretty unlikely, as a friend with seven cats feeds almost exclusively dry due to the cost, and when they get wet its like a treat for them and they inhale it. Even his "mean" cat that usually only stays in his bedroom as her territory, will run out and munch with the others.

If you have put out dry and wet at the same time, and they're eating the wet, there's no worries that they'll eat whats available when they are hungry, and some kibble and dental treats is good for them, cost and convenience aside.

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You didn't mention what Type of wet. If he is feeding Friskies or Fancy Feast, that would explain it. They like kitty SUPER crack over the regular crack dry food.

And like Auntie Crazy said, if you spend any amount of time here (which I know you have), then you Must have seen the numerous people with cats picking dry over wet.