I know from reading through things on here that I am going to be told that I should be feeding my cats wet food however because of my job I sometimes have to travel and need to be able to ask someone to come in and feed them.  What I would like to do is feed them wet food sometimes as a treat.  Is this likely to upset their stomachs?  When I was a child we had a cat that if we ever tried to give her any wet food would eat it all up and then go behind the sofa and throw it all back up.  If I can't feed wet food everyday should I not feed any at all or is occasionally ok?  Or should I feed them some wet everyday when I can and then they just have dry only when I am away?

All advice greatly appreciated - we had a cat when I was a child and my mother has a cat now but they have only ever been fed dry food.  These are the first cats that I have owned and I want to look after them as well as I can.

I would try to feed as much wet food as possible. If you're going to have someone come by while you're gone, they could feed some wet food. If you're going to feed a combination of dry and wet, I would ensure to feed the best dry food possible (high animal protein, low carbs, no grains, no fish) and ensure they are drinking plenty of water. Maybe add a water fountain if your cats would like that. I'm not sure which brands are available in the Netherlands, but if you want some help evaluating foods, just post the ingredients and guaranteed analysis (if available).

Welcome to The Cat Site.  And it's good of you to consider wet feeding.

Times have changed.... most people (including vets) now advocate wet feeding.  Wet food is SO much better for cats than dry fod.  In my opinion, dry food should be given as a treat.

So, when ever you can, schedule permitting, feed wet.  Even if it's only breakfast before you go on the road, feed wet.

On the days you need to travel:  are you gone more than 24 hours?  If so, why can't the person who will be feeding them fed wet food? 

I know you live in Netherlands (love that country BTW), so I don't know if "timed feeders" are available, but that might be an option. 

PS:  it is possible the reason your cat threw up every time she ate wet food was because she was allergic to something in the wet food, not because she didn't like it. It didn't like her!

I was told by the shelter that the cats were being fed Royal Canin and given some to take away with me.  I have switched them to the Royal Canin Indoor as they are cats that have never been allowed outside and I don't want them to get fat.  Having been doing some reading on this site would I be better to switch them to something like Applaws Dry Food as it is cereal free?  I am looking for a food that I can get in the Netherlands but that is also available in the UK for when I move back.  It also looks like it is no more expensive than the Royal Canin.

With regards to the wet food - I would travel for probably up to 3 days before I would put the cats in a cattery but the problem is that there aren't many people that I know that well in the Netherlands so if I have to ask someone to feed them I want to make it as easy as possible for them and they would only come in once a day. 

I currently give the cats a portion of dry food in the morning and again when I go to bed that they can eat throughout the day as they want.  Would it be ok if I was to keep doing this but with smaller portions and then give them a meal of wet in the evenings when I get in from work?  And for them to just have more dry food when I was away?

Oh,  the ingredients of the Applaws is below:

DRY CAT FOOD
CHICKEN

Composition:

Dry Chicken Meat (min. 59%), Dry Potato (min 4%), Chicken Mince (min. 9%), Poultry Oil (min. 9%, source of Omega 6), Poultry Gravy (min. 3%), Beet Pulp (min. 3%), Dry Whole Eggs (min. 3%), Brewers Dried Yeast, Salmon Oil (source of Omega 3), Minerals, Cellulose Plant Fibre (min. 0.4%), Sodium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Seaweed/Kelp, Cranberry, DL-Methionine, Potassium Chloride, Yucca Extract, Citrus Extract, Rosemary Extract.

Additives:

Nutritional Additives: Vitamin A (retinyl acetate) 25,305 IU/kg, Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) 1,745 IU/kg, Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol acetate) 558 IU/kg; Trace Elements: Selenium from Sodium Selenite 0.13 mg/kg, Iodine from Calcium Iodate Anhydrous 1.75mg/kg, Iron from Ferrous Sulphate Monohydrate 61 mg, Copper from Cupric Sulphate Pentahydrate 9mg/kg, Manganese from Manganous Sulphate Monohydrate 26mg/kg, Zinc from Zinc Sulphate Monohydrate 140 mg/kg. Technological Additives: Tocopherol rich extracts of natural origin.

Analytical Constituents:

Protein 47%, Crude Oils and Fats 20%, Crude Fibres 2.0%, Inorganic Matter 9.9%, Calcium 2%, Phosphorous 1.6%, Taurine 2000mg/kg, <13.5% Carbohydrates.

No added artificial colourants, flavourings or preservatives. Contains natural taurine from meat.

wildhoneybee said:

I was told by the shelter that the cats were being fed Royal Canin and given some to take away with me.  I have switched them to the Royal Canin Indoor as they are cats that have never been allowed outside and I don't want them to get fat.  Having been doing some reading on this site would I be better to switch them to something like Applaws Dry Food as it is cereal free?  I am looking for a food that I can get in the Netherlands but that is also available in the UK for when I move back.  It also looks like it is no more expensive than the Royal Canin.

Click to expand...

I prefer the ingredients of the Applaws over the RC Indoor (which has a lot of rice and corn). Both are high in carbs though, and carbs are the main contributor to obesity and diabetes in cats.

wildhoneybee said:

With regards to the wet food - I would travel for probably up to 3 days before I would put the cats in a cattery but the problem is that there aren't many people that I know that well in the Netherlands so if I have to ask someone to feed them I want to make it as easy as possible for them and they would only come in once a day. 
I currently give the cats a portion of dry food in the morning and again when I go to bed that they can eat throughout the day as they want.  Would it be ok if I was to keep doing this but with smaller portions and then give them a meal of wet in the evenings when I get in from work?  And for them to just have more dry food when I was away?

Click to expand...

If once a day wet food is what you can do, then that's better than none. The schedule above is ok. I would also ask whoever is coming to feed the cats that they feed wet food first and then leave down the dry for them.

ETA: I just did the DMB calculations and the Applaws is MUCH lower in carbs than the RC Indoor (about 12% vs. 40%). I would definitely go with the Applaws.

Having checked properly this time I have found that I can only get a version of Applaws Dry that has fish in it as well.  I can't get hold of the chicken only version in the Netherlands.  I know you said no fish but is the salmon in this one really so bad?  If so, why is that?

DRY CAT FOOD
CHICKEN & SALMON

Composition:

Dry Chicken Meat Meal (min. 47%), Dry Salmon Meat Meal (min. 19%), Dry Potato (min. 4%), Poultry Oil (min. 8%, source of omega 6), Poultry Gravy (min. 4%), Salmon Oil (min. 3%, source of omega 3), Beet Pulp (min. 3%), Dry Whole Eggs (min. 3%), Brewers Dried Yeast, Cellulose Plant Fibre, Minerals, Sodium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Seaweed/Kelp, Cranberry, DL-Methionine, Potassium Chloride, Yucca Extract, Citrus Extract, Rosemary Extract.

Additives:

Nutritional Additives: Vitamin A (retinyl acetate) 26,852 IU/kg, Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) 1,852 IU/kg, Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol acetate) 593 IU/kg; Trace Elements: : Selenium from Sodium Selenite 0.13 mg/kg, Iodine from Calcium Iodate Anhydrous 1.75mg/kg, Iron from Ferrous Sulphate Monohydrate 61 mg, Copper from Cupric Sulphate Pentahydrate 9mg/kg, Manganese from Manganous Sulphate Monohydrate 26mg/kg, Zinc from Zinc Sulphate Monohydrate 140 mg/kg. Technological Additives: Tocopherol rich extracts of natural origin.

Analytical Constituents:

Protein 47%, Crude Oils and Fats 19.7%, Crude Fibres 3%, Inorganic Matter 10%, Calcium 2.1%, Phosphorous 1.4%, Taurine 2000 mg/kg, <12.5% Carbohydrates

No added artificial colourants, flavourings or preservatives. Contains natural taurine from meat.

Available in 400g, 2kg & 7.5kg sizes.

Salmon isn't as bad as the larger fish like tuna. Larger fish build up toxins like mercury which cats cannot eliminate well. Also, fish can be an inflammation trigger for a some cats. If your cat doesn't have any issues with fish, then I still think this is better than RC Indoor with its grains and high carbs.

Right, I've done it!  Been on amazon and ordered the Applaws Dry food and also some of their tins so will start transferring the cats to it when it arrives.  I tried a pouch of Royal Canin wet food last night because I had some in the cupboard and they absolutely loved it so they will be eating Royal Canin wet and dry until the Applaws arrives.

Royal Canin, both wet and dry are full of cereals. I am transitioning my three brats from RC to what I have learned to be better food.

I have a very fussy eater who eats only Applaws wet (as a treat, the rest of her diet is dry), but please know that Applaws wet is complementary food, so it doesn't have all the vitamins and nutrients the cats need. Applaws dry is complete.

Have you considered giving them Bozita wet, Animonda wet, Grau wet? All are complete foods, and the wet versions have no grains and are available in Europe. And you can find good quality dry food too (anyway, better than Royal Canin, but pretty much the same quality as Applaws), like Taste of the Wild, Orijen, Acana, Porta 21.