Feeding help?

Hello, so I'm a little confused on how to feed my cat, she's a little over a year now and when she was a kitten she was fed wet pouches and cat lactose free milk mixed with water (she won't drink plain water) and the vet said that was fine for now but to eventually get her on a complete dry food diet which she is now including her milk and water. I've always heard that a dry diet is much better and healthier for cats but now I'm reading that a wet food diet is better now?
It's all so confusing!! I just want to know the best thing for my little cat.
Thanks for any advice and help!

I am glad you are reading/researching this issue on your own, instead of blindly following your vet's advice.  Not to say all vets are wrong all the time, but it is always wise to do a *little* research on your own.  A knowledgeable consumer is a powerful consumer.  And good mommy.

If you haven't already, do check out the nutrition articles on this site.

Also here is an article about benefits of wet food over dry food--on a vet-centric web site.

Personally, I am somewhat bothered that your vet is recommending dry food over wet food (though I do agree with him about the lactose free milk).  As the various feline nutrition articles and website all point out, cats need an inordinate amount of protein and an almost zero (0) need for carbohydrates, which most dry food do not contain at the levels they need.  Also, dry food is, well, drying:  cats need to drink *some* water and since they have a low thrist drive (having evolved from the desert), wet food gets at least some water into them.  This is especially important if you cat really hates water.  (You can mix water with wet food, not the case with dry food because of bacteria issues.)

If you feel comfortable doing so, I would ask your vet for literature touting the benefits of a dry over wet food. I'd be interested in what s/he produces.

Hello and welcome to TCS!

So happy your looking to become more informed, instead of just taking your vets word.

I know it can be confusing when a VET is telling you to feed dry food. But that vet is outdated in his/her information. Here is an excellent article to read about what is now known about cat nutrition. http://www.catinfo.org/ is written by a vet also, but she has done extensive research and gone to great lengths to investigate almost every band of cat food on the market. It is a lot to read, but so worth it. You'll be an expert in cat nutrition yourself when done absorbing it all! j/k, but it will make you more informed. Post again any questions you have.

l'd like to second everything the other posters said.

And in the spirit of giving you great articles to read, l'll give you this one which lays out very simply the reason to feed wet over dry food:

http://www.tigermountainveterinaryclinic.com/archived_pages/Tiger_Mountain_News-arch_2-4-13.php