Feeding wet and dry food?

I'm currently feeding my 9 week old kitten James Wellbeloved kitten wet and dry food. I want to feed her both as I know the wet is better for her but also feel that dry has benefits and is more convenient to leave out while I'm at work and during the night.

I was leaving both foods down all the time (the wet was never left out for long enough to go bad) and she helped herself to whichever she wanted whenever she wanted. To start with, she was eating a good amount of both. The past few days however, she's been leaving more of the wet food and eating more of the dry.

How can I encourage her to eat more of the wet food? I've been trying to put down wet in the morning and evening to get her to eat it but she just seems to leave it until she knows I'll put down the dry food. She is still eating some of the wet so I guess that's a good thing.

Is it worth mixing in some dry with the wet food and seeing if that helps? They're currently fed in separate bowls. Also, I know she's only young so I was under the impression that she should have constant access to food but is it worth putting down food at set times and removing in between? Or do I start leaving the wet food down during the day and just feeding dry at night?

My opinion is that mixing the 2 may help. Also, if you're concerned about her moisture intake you could mix the dry food with a little warm water. For my 5 month old kitten I leave a measured amount of dry food out all day but feed wet food at "meal times." You could experiment with different wet foods too and see what she prefers. Good luck!

All my cats (except when I lived on our farm) have been fed both wet & dry foods without any problems. Until now. My new cat refuses canned/pouched wet foods, finally accepts some cooked chicken, cooked fish, cooked ground beef (yay!), but has Orijen & VIP Fussy Cat Grain Free dry food as her main.
If your cat chooses the dry over wet, it could be that the wet has been left a bit long it may be drying up & getting a bit stale to her. You could take the dry away when you offer the wet; take up the wet as soon as she has eaten (even if there's some left), then put the dry back down. If the dry is good quality she won't gobble it down & she won't need much at a time.
Just my little opinion.

I've just realised your cat is a kitten. Sorry.
I still wouldn't leave both the wet & dry down together. Follow the previous suggestions, but put the dry down between the wet meals & for night time to snack on. Get the best quality dry food you can afford - there are other brands besides Orijen which to my mind is the best.

Thanks for the help. This morning I took up the dry food and put down half a pouch of wet food mixed with a little dry and she did eat most of it. I'll offer her the rest of the pouch this evening. I've put down a measured amount of dry for her to nibble on during the day if she gets hungry. She never eats a huge amount of dry in one go, she will just choose that over the wet if both are down when she decides to eat.

I'm also going to look at getting a couple of other brands of decent wet food. She does get different flavours at he moment but all are the same brand. Hopefully giving her different foods will keep her interested!

OP, what do you feel are the benefits of dry food as far as your cat is concerned?

MusicalCats said:

Also, if you're concerned about her moisture intake you could mix the dry food with a little warm water.

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Due to the amount of mold and other toxins that are present in dry food, wetting it down is not a good idea. It would have to be eaten immediately and not left to sit out all day.

AutumnRose74 said:

OP, what do you feel are the benefits of dry food as far as your cat is concerned?

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A couple of the wet foods that I plan on introducing in order to prevent her getting bored of just one food are complementary rather than complete so I like to make sure that she is getting everything she needs by feeding a complete dry food alongside. The 2 brands that I'm looking at are Encore and Applaws cans.

AutumnRose74 said:

Due to the amount of mold and other toxins that are present in dry food, wetting it down is not a good idea. It would have to be eaten immediately and not left to sit out all day.

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Yes, exactly. If he'll only eat the dry food, wetting it for meal times (and throwing away any leftovers) would be one option to keep his tastebuds happy and keep him hydrated.