Dry Cat Food Question

I adopted my cat about 2 months ago, and she was pretty underweight. She's gained a few pounds, and I have an automatic feeder that goes off at 7:30 am and pm, and then during lunch time she gets a little wet food snack (wellness).

She's currently eating science diet dry food, do you have any other try food recommendations? Blue Buffalo is pretty expensive, but I was also wondering about the wellness dry food.

I would recommend as much wet food as your budget and schedule allow. The best dry foods I know of are Wysong Epigen 90, Young Again Zero Carb and Ziwipeak. They're not cheap, and they're still dry. Despite the fact that they are high in animal protein and low in carbs unlike the vast majority of dry foods out there, they still don't provide the moisture necessary.

Second Ziwipeak if you're insistent on dry food, but I would encourage you to buy as much canned as possible. No dry food can compare to wet food in terms of giving cats the low carb, moisture rich foods they need to help avoid dehydration issues. Even with access to water and drinking, they can't get enough water to make up for the dehydration that occurs with dry food. Canned is the best way to help avoid urinary issues.

I just don't have a consistent enough schedule for wet food all day, but i do try to make sure she gets the mid day wet food. I'll look into Ziwipeak. She LOVES water, playing in it, and drinks a lot. I've had her kidneys checked and blood work done and she's healthy, so thats encouraging.

As you have a timed feeder, you might be interested in the tip for using it to increase water drinking in your kitty. http://www.thecatsite.com/a/tips-to-increase-your-cat-s-water-intake


If she's not drinking one cup of water a day, she's not getting the equivalent moisture of feeding canned food. As Dr. Pierson says, every cat does just fine... until they aren't.

http://www.catinfo.org

Can I ask what you mean by schedule problems for wet food? You can leave tinned wet food out for up to 12 hours (Dr. Pierson on catinfo talks about this, and I've done it for years without problems). Not trying to be difficult, I just wasn't sure if you meant you needed to take it off the floor quickly or something, sorry.

It's great that your cat loves water and is healthy. Being healthy is definitely the most important part, no matter what diet you choose.   The fact that you care is what matters.

I can't leave food out or she will eat it all at once and then barf it all up. The grazing method doesn't work for us. :] I'm a grad student, so I'm not home consistenly at the same time which is why I went with the feeder so she could have some schedule. She has pretty bad food anxiety, I think from being starved and never getting a consistent meal, that she just eats everything when she can. I adopted her from the local ASPCA about 2 months ago. She definitely drinks a cup of water a day, I have a bowl out for her that has probably a cup and half of water in it that I refill every night. She also has a few bowls around the house that I generally refill every night or every other night.

Her feeder is actually awesome and has a water-er attached to it! Stevie also asked grandma for a cat water fountain for Christmas. :] I've got two other bowls around the house too for water, and leave one (medium) dog-sized water bowl out as well. 

Some automatic feeders can be used with canned food too. I think they have ice packs to keep it cold but if it'll be eaten in less than 12 hours you could probably skip the ice packs. Just a thought!

Ziwipeak is very expensive but it's definitely very good. Blue Buffalo is decent. My cats never did well on dry Wellness but of course individual cats do well on different foods. Evo is good. The main thing is to make sure there are several meat ingredients high up on the ingredient list.