Wet & Dry Food

austinmommy

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So I've always thought that wet food wasn't good for dogs or cats, dental health issues and what not. I've learned that that's not the case and I have been wanting to try wet food with our kittens. Do you do a mixture of both dry and wet or can they eat only wet food and be okay? How much wet food do you feed your cat/kitten normally? What food do you recommend? We have a kitten who eats like a pig and another who only eats a little bit.
 

purplemilkywayy

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I feed my kitten both. It used to be that he would get really runny poop when I gave him wet food. So I leave dry food out all the time, and slowly add more and more wet food. Now, the dry food is still there for grazing, but he gets wet food once in the morning and once at night (total of 3 oz. per day). I'm still trying to give him more wet food (which he loves). 

My vet said mixing dry and wet is good because he gets his water, and he also gets to chew dry food. 
 

mrsgreenjeens

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They can eat only wet food for their entire lives and be perfectly fine.  Dry food really offer nothing, health wise.  Dry food was developed for HUMANS' convenience
.  I really does nothing for cats' teeth, because the kibble isn't big enough for them to chew and in most cases only coats their teeth with gunk that help tartar build up (or so I've read).  

To help you in your journey to Cat Nutrition, check out this page:  http://www.thecatsite.com/atype/46/Cat_Health  Starting in the upper left hand corner, all the articles are about choosing the right food, how much to feed, etc. 

I, personally, would recommend a good grain free, low carb canned food like Hounds and Gatos if you can find it in your area.  There is also Natural Planet.  But I'm a purist, and feed raw to my cats when they will eat it.  Even Fancy Feast CLASSICs (only the CLASSICS) are a decent food.   There are literally hundreds of threads on this site discussing the best canned food.  Everyone has their own opinion.  Best thing to do is read those articles and then go shopping and look at the labels, or come back here and ask us about specific brands.
 

purplemilkywayy

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 I really does nothing for cats' teeth, because the kibble isn't big enough for them to chew and in most cases only coats their teeth with gunk that help tartar build up (or so I've read).  
You mean they swallow it whole? But I can hear my cat crunching on them. What about the Greenies dental chew? Those are slightly bigger, and I know he chews on them. 

Yeah, I mean I'd prefer him to eat more wet food, but his tummy can't handle it just yet. Slowly giving him more. 
 

mrsgreenjeens

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No, they chew it, but in order for it to actually clean their teeth, first it would need to be made of something that didn't coat their teeth with gunk, and 2nd, it would need to be large enough that when they sunk their teeth into it, it completely sunk it up to their gums to provide scrubbing action.  Does that make sense?  Just cracking the kibble in two it open does not clean the tooth
 

purplemilkywayy

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No, they chew it, but in order for it to actually clean their teeth, first it would need to be made of something that didn't coat their teeth with gunk, and 2nd, it would need to be large enough that when they sunk their teeth into it, it completely sunk it up to their gums to provide scrubbing action.  Does that make sense?  Just cracking the kibble in two it open does not clean the tooth
Yeah, that makes sense. So what's good for their teeth then? I've never fed my kitten raw meat.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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No, they chew it, but in order for it to actually clean their teeth, first it would need to be made of something that didn't coat their teeth with gunk, and 2nd, it would need to be large enough that when they sunk their teeth into it, it completely sunk it up to their gums to provide scrubbing action.  Does that make sense?  Just cracking the kibble in two it open does not clean the tooth
Yeah, that makes sense. So what's good for their teeth then? I've never fed my kitten raw meat.
Brushing their teeth is good, and it's not that hard to learn how to do it.  There's a great video put out by Cornell University on how to do it that you can probably google.  Aside from that, you can certainly see if they will gnaw on a raw chicken wing.  That is really good for their teeth!  However, you may toss them a wing and they may have no idea what to do with it
...you just never know.  Some cats know immediately that it's food, and some don't.  And sometimes you need to smash the bones inside the wing the first few times with a rubber mallet to help them along, then they work their way up to it.  Once or twice a week can do wonders for their teeth.  But NEVER, EVER feed them cooked bones.   I feed one of my cats pretty long stripsof meat (without bones) to clean his teeth.  This doesn't work nearly as well, but it's better than nothing. 
 
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