Wet or dry? Honestly which is healthier for my fur children?

kkienzle

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Ok, I know a lot of this can be based on personal opinion as to the fact that I've done so much research to the point my head might indeed simultaneously implode/explode, honestly which is better overall? I have an eight month old I adopted around a month ago that is fine with either or, in fact wet food for him is Christmas given the fact he wasn't previously fed it before me. I also have a four month old Tortie who is very picky at times and primarily has only had exposure to wet food. Getting her to tough dry as a solid meal is stressful to say the least. I've been feeding them two wet meals a day and a little dry to graze while I'm at work. I'm currently in the process of gradually transitions from Friskies wet to Merrick and the dry they've been exposed to here is Taste Of The Wild, so not a low quality dry. My main concern is really what anyone's would be, that given the price over time with two felines eating two meals a day. Granted I buy the 5.5 oz cans as to it making more sense (2 of those split between the two cats daily). At this point any sort of helpful insight would be amazing. I've had talks with my veterinarian and she said that either or is fine healthwise but that they do tend to see a lot of gum disease and teeth issues earlier on when only fed wet food . Thanks in advance for the support!
 

DreamerRose

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I feed dry food in the morning, and wet food at night. My male is much larger than my female, so I feed him a small wet meal for lunch. I realize you can't do the lunch thing, but half dry and half wet should be ideal. I wouldn't free feed the dry food as the cats can become overweight eating as much as they like. Two feedings a day are fine. They need the wet food to ensure they get enough water to avoid crystals, and I even add water to the male's food as he doesn't drink water at all.
 
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kkienzle

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Thanks! I'm not so worried about the dehydration issue involving dry food seeing as I purchased a very nice water fountain for them a few weeks ago and they love their filtered, flowing, and constantly cool water.
 

missmimz

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Raw food, but if the choice is just wet or dry, wet hands down. All kibble is low quality in my opinion, they all have inappropriate ingredients in them. Remember, cats are obligate carnivores, meaning all they need in their diet is meat and some vitamins and minerals, that's it. Now go look at any bag of kibble and see what's in there. Is that all meat? Nope, it's a bunch of weird garbage fillers that companies add to make the food cheaper. Kibble has been linked to both kidney disease and urinary issues, and while you may think your cat drinks enough water, likely they aren't if they're eating kibble, as cats naturally have a low thirst drive since biologically they obtain most of their water intake from their prey. 

It's entirely a myth that feeding kibble cleans teeth, and if more than one vet told you that wet food causes oral health issues they need to go back to veterinary school. If you've ever had a cat throw up kibble, you'd know they don't chew most of their kibble, so it doesn't help clean their teeth at all. If you want to maintain oral health brush their teeth. 
 

Columbine

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Hi K kkienzle ! Welcome to TCS :wavey:

Ultimately, the best food for your cats is the one they will happily eat. The best food in the world will do no good at all if the cats won't eat it ;) Personally, I feed a mostly wet, low carb diet with a little grain free kibble.

These articles may help clarify things for you :) [article="29707"][/article][article="31127"][/article][article="31167"][/article][article="33149"][/article][article="31144"][/article][article="30205"][/article][article="32765"][/article][article="33544"][/article]
 
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thegreystalker

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As the 1970s rock group 'Sly and the Family Stone' sang, "Different Strokes, for Different Folks."  And as the old faculty joke goes..."You can line up every economist in the world single file and what would you never reach?  A conclusion?"

And so it is with wet canned food and dry cat food.  Try to avoid high carbohydrate content but find something healthy that your pet will devour.
 
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