First time doing wet food.

My previous cats have always been on just purely high end grain free dry food.  They have all passed away  

I just got a 10 month old kitten and I would like to get him on a half wet/half dry food diet.  I've never done wet food before so I'm quite confused on how much to feed him.  He is a maine coon mix and weighs 9 lbs.  

Right now, he is being fed Weruva Paw Lickin Chicken 3.0 oz can food twice a day (once in the morning and once at night) and he eats about half a cup of Nutrisource Country Select Grain Free dry cat food.  Is this too much? I feel like he's gaining some weight.  He is a fearless ball of fur that plays all day!! So he's getting alot of exercise.  

I got him from the shelter so he came home with a upper respiratory infection and he's on antibiotics for this.  He was supposed to be neutered by the shelter before he came home with me but they said they couldn't put him on anesthesia while he was sick so to bring him back when we was better and they would neuter him for free.  However, I'm just going to take him to my regular vet down the street  that I've been going to for 8 years once he is better and pay for his neuter so he's not as stressed out from going back to the shelter and all that. 

Any suggestions on feeding amounts would be greatly appreciated.

Well my first question would be why do you feel the need to feed him dry. Why not just used all canned food?

@msserena  Mostly for convenience and cost.  The canned food is quite pricey and sometimes, I come home late at night and wouldn't be able to feed his night serving at the same time every night.  I eventually want him to get to just 1 canned food in the morning and dry food left out during the rest of the day.  But right now, Im feeding him mostly wet food per the shelters vet advice because of his congested nose.  They said he may not be able to smell the dry food, so to feed him more canned food at the moment.  

As long as he continues to eat both, there are lots of instances where cats won't want anymore wet & only eat the dry. Most dry foods are high in carbs which make kitties FAT. There are only a couple that are 10% carbs or lower & they are pricey. You also have to look at the breed, your cat is big & will continue to get even bigger, fat doesn't constitute big. There are lots of people on here with that breed, hopefully they'll weigh in.

I also feed Weruva & yes it's not cheap. Chewy is the cheapest I've found plus they have free shipping.

My recommendation would be to get rid of the dry food. Open a can in the morning, if kitty doesn't eat it all by the time you leave for work so be it. At least it will be around for him to eat throughout the day. Another issue with dry for males is they are apt to get crystals from not having enough moisture, another reason to can the dry! You don't want to deal with a blockage!

I know ;( I really wanted him to get him on the Nature's Variety Instinct which said it had 45% protein, 19% fat and 3% fiber but he wont touch that stuff.  I go to a local family owned pet store that only sells the good stuff and they were super nice and gave me like 20 different food samples.  I picked a few to try and he seemed to really like this Nutrisource Country Select one.  It has 36% protein, 16% fat and 7% fiber.  I'm going to ask my normal vet about this food when I see him but just waiting for my kitty to get over his upper respiratory infection.  I heard its highly contagious and don't want take to him to the vet for his first check up and get all the other kitties there sick.

Yes, Weruva is not cheap.  Right now the price is fine, but I'm worried he's going to be a large cat.  The directions say 1 oz per body lb, which means if he grows to be like 16+ lbs, that would mean 5 or 6 cans daily!! Yikes!!! 

My previous cats were pretty big too, one was 24 lbs and the other was 18 lbs.  

There is absolutely nothing wrong with feeding a mix of wet and dry food. Whilst I feed predominantly wet food these days, I have always fed both wet and dry, and will likely continue to do so. My two enjoy their kibble too much to totally remove it I would also say that I have NEVER had an issue with my cats refusing wet food because dry is available. Yes, they both love their kibble, but wet food is always VERY eagerly accepted (and demanded!) The kibble is a treat for them, but faced with a choice, they will always go for the wet food first!

Once out of kittenhood, though, there isn't a need to free-feed kibble. Timed meals are much better for the cat...after all, they're not designed to be grazers! Ideally, I'd probably go for 3 times a day - breakfast, dinner, and then a snack before bed. If getting home on time is a worry, why not consider an automatic feeder? That way, you can leave it set up, secure in the knowledge that his dinner will never be late

How much to feed varies from cat to cat, as well as according to other factors (age/life stage, activity level etc). On average, an adult cat will need around 20 calories per lb of bodyweight, but some can need as little as 15cals/lb and others as much as 35cals/lb. Kittens obviously need more food than adults too, and a 10 month old Maine Coon still has a fair amount of growing to do. For now, free feeding is the easiest way to be sure he gets as many calories and nutrients as he needs. [article="31116"][/article][article="33544"][/article][article="29707"][/article][article="31127"][/article][article="31167"][/article][article="32669"][/article][article="29721"][/article] Hope this helps. I can't comment/suggest brands, unfortunately, as I'm in the UK and am not all that familiar with US brands :catguy:

@Columbine  Thank you so much for all that information!! it greatly helped alot!  I'm going to look into those automatic feeders tonight once I get off work.  And yes my cat seems to prefer the wet food but has no problems eating the dry food I leave out lol.

I did ask the shelter when adopting him but they said they just feed him what is donated.  And that they give him a can in the morning and leave out dry food during the day but they did say my Spencer seemed to really enjoy the wet food so they would slip him extra wet food in the morning.  

And I think I am over feeding him based on the 20 calories per lb of body weight calculation.  His current canned food has 56 calories per can and his dry food says it is 446 kcal/cup.  With 2 cans and half a cup of dry food, thats 335 calories per day!!  He finishes his plate of can food completely both in the morning and night and polishes off the half cup of dry food, so I thought he was just super hungry all the time til I noticed his belly filling out this morning.  Whoops, I'm going to have to adjust his calorie intake asap so he doesn't get too overweight 

Remember that the 20cals/lb is a guideline for adult, fully grown cats. As I said before, at 10 months old, and especially being a big breed (bigger/giant breeds are slower growing/maturing than smaller ones - remember he'll likely be twice the size of the average cat ), he'll still have a lot of growing to do. For right now, free feeding the kibble is just fine, and I'd be aiming to feed to appetite (i.e., as much as he wants/needs).

@GemsGem has experience with Maine Coons, so she may be better able to advise you how much you should be feeding at this stage.

I think that sounds about right to me, but if you think he's getting fat, adjust it a bit by reducing the dry food a tiny bit. maybe 3/8 cups instead, or switch to a lower calorie dry food. Not all cats are the same, just like people, some have higher metabolisms, some don't. But a Maine coone mix is gonna be big, and they take longer to reach adult size, so it may just be that he's still growing
Also, I agree with Columbine, dry food is fine. Edpecially a low carb high protein food. It may not be the best, but it's still good. It's not like you're feeding kitten chow or whiskas dry food.

Aldewyne said:

 

Also, I agree with Columbine, dry food is fine. Edpecially a low carb high protein food.

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what is a low carb high protein dry food?

Basically, it's a food with meat as the first ingredient, and with little to no grains/other starchs in. Orijin kibble is probably the best known example. These articles explain things better than I can [article="31167"][/article][article="31120"][/article][article="31141"][/article]

hmmmm. Just because meat is the first ingredient doesn't make it low carb. I know Orijen is a popular cat food, I really don't know why. It's basically just like any other kibble that's sold with no grain or starch. The carb content on Cat & Kitten & Regional Red is the same, 26.6%, basically 27%. Ash isn't listed on their website, so a good rule of thumb is to use 3%. If my calculations are incorrect please let me know.

I just don't understand why so many people think dry food is a good option, especially when a cat is overweight. Carbs = calories.

The Nutrisource dry kibble I'm feeding is 21% (24 g) carbs per cup.  I guess its not too bad compared to the really good stuff on the market.  

Unfortunately, my schedule doesn't allow for me to feed him purely canned food.  So it's going to have to be a mixture of wet and dry regardless.  I know a lot of people have different opinions on whether or not to feed just raw food or wet food.  But my schedule (plus the cost) just doesn't allow for it.

The one you have is a decent protein level at 36%, and since the fat is 17% and things like ash and fibre make up at least 15% (based on the food nutrient profiles listed on their website) the carb levels probably aren't much more than 30%, which is good for a dry food. I think the highest protein, lowest carb dry food I've found is Go! Fit+Free if you also want to check that one out (you can go on their website to get a coupon for a free sample size bag). It's 46% protein, 20% fat, and only 18% carb. It's a really nice food imo, and I contacted them and all the meats they use are human grade prior to rendering them into meals. My kitten loves the stuff, it is what I plan on switching him to when he finishes his current food.

He's your cat! You can feed him anything you want to. Just know as long as you feed food that is going to make him gain weight, he will. That's all I want you to understand. The lower the carb content, the better.

Solid Gold makes a 15% dry food, even Wellness Core dry food is less (17%)

msserena said:

hmmmm. Just because meat is the first ingredient doesn't make it low carb. I know Orijen is a popular cat food, I really don't know why. It's basically just like any other kibble that's sold with no grain or starch. The carb content on Cat & Kitten & Regional Red is the same, 26.6%, basically 27%. Ash isn't listed on their website, so a good rule of thumb is to use 3%. If my calculations are incorrect please let me know.

I just don't understand why so many people think dry food is a good option, especially when a cat is overweight. Carbs = calories.

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It's not good for overweight cats, or cats with urinary health problems, but for a healthy, active cat, it's really not bad. Calories themselves are not a bad thing. If they were, the main thing to avoid would be fat, since fat has more calories per gram. As long as it's high protein and fat and the cat has access to water, it should be fine.

Thanks @Aldewyne   !! I signed up to get my free trial bag.  I did a search, and quite a few stores carry it in my area. 

Aldewyne said:

The one you have is a decent protein level at 36%, and since the fat is 17% and things like ash and fibre make up at least 15% (based on the food nutrient profiles listed on their website) the carb levels probably aren't much more than 30%, which is good for a dry food. I think the highest protein, lowest carb dry food I've found is Go! Fit+Free if you also want to check that one out (you can go on their website to get a coupon for a free sample size bag). It's 46% protein, 20% fat, and only 18% carb. It's a really nice food imo, and I contacted them and all the meats they use are human grade prior to rendering them into meals. My kitten loves the stuff, it is what I plan on switching him to when he finishes his current food.

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Thank you, I was waiting cause I really wanted to know what was considered decent. When I look up that cat food, I calculate 15.5% carbs. That's not bad at all. I think the reason why I didn't look into this product is because it's got fish in it. I don't feed my cats anything with fish unless it's a weekly treat.

Aldewyne said:

It's not good for overweight cats, or cats with urinary health problems, but for a healthy, active cat, it's really not bad. Calories themselves are not a bad thing. If they were, the main thing to avoid would be fat, since fat has more calories per gram. As long as it's high protein and fat and the cat has access to water, it should be fine.

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So if I'm feeding my cat high protein, high fat & no carbs, you're saying they will gain weight? After everything I've read & studied, what stuck in my head is that carbs are bad. All food should be 10% or less. So now it's not carbs & the fat content? I don't think I can deal with cat food anymore!

msserena said:

So if I'm feeding my cat high protein, high fat & no carbs, you're saying they will gain weight? After everything I've read & studied, what stuck in my head is that carbs are bad. All food should be 10% or less. So now it's not carbs & the fat content? I don't think I can deal with cat food anymore!

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They can still gain weight if they're over eating protein and fat, yes. Fat, protein, and carbs are all sources of calories. Calories aren't inherently good or bad, they're just the energy used by the body. If they have too few, the body won't function, and too little, they'll store it as fat, regardless of whether the calorie source is protein, fat, or carbs. I wasn't trying to say you should actually avoid fat, as it's a critical part of a cat's diet. Basically if you're concerned about calories, just look at calories, not at carbs. The food I mentioned earlier actually needs to be fed less than some foods with higher carb content because of the fact that it's more calorie dense. It's a very good food despite being high calorie, but even though it's lower carb, you need to be careful not to overfeed it (which actually makes it more efficient in a sense since a bag can last a while longer than a budget brand)
The main issue with carbs is that cats didn't evolve to consume large quantities of carbohydrates. Too many carbs, regardless of calorie intake, can lead to things like diabetes or simply not get processed very well and cause digestive upset. So I'm personally an advocate of not feeding *only* dry, for that reason (that and cats' primary source of water is their food). But a dry food under 30% is fine imo. Again, not ideal, but a good quality dry food can be a reasonably healthy part of a diet that factors in price and convenience.

Bear in mind, I'm not a feline nutritionist, I've just studied animal nutrition as a part of my degree. So my opinion isn't as valuable as someone who's spent more time actually studying it, that's just what I've come to conclude through my own research and education on the topic