Wet Food Only Diet?

permanentruby

permanentruby

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I just got back from seeing a new vet, whom I was very happy with. She recommended a completely canned food diet, with dry food being saved for treats only. She said she was a little iffy on dry food since it tends to put the weight on. 

She also told me that as far as grain-free, etc, kind of foods, not to worry about it. She said that if cats have an allergic reaction, it's much more often to the protein products, rather than the grains, and she said that things like corn are actually a good source of energy for the cats.. She said she hated to see owners feeling like bad pet parents for not buying the expensive foods, because the mid-range foods are almost always just as good. 

Thought that the little anecdote above might make cat parents on a budget like me feel a little better :) 

But - has anyone else been recommended/stuck to a wet food only diet?
 
molly92

molly92

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Corn and wheat are iffy ingredients because they do contribute to weight gain and other health problems, not just allergies. But the good thing about wet food is that it tends to have less of those fillers than dry! There are even some very budget friendly canned foods (Sheba and Fancy Feast pates) that are free of plant-based ingredients.

Wet food is also really great because of the moisture! I feed my FIV positive cat an entirely wet food diet from a variety of brands, and she is thriving. She gets Orijen kibble and freeze dried items as treats, but everything else is canned. She was overweight when I got her and now she's at a healthy weight. Her waste is small and low odor, and her coat and skin are pretty and healthy. I usually give her about 1/6 of a cup in the morning and at lunch, and then 1/3 of a cup when I get home from work around 10 pm which lasts her through the night. For a 12 lb cat, she probably eats a little less than average, but it's what works for her metabolism and activity level. She really needs an all wet diet because she won't drink water any other way, but as most cats have a low thirst drive wet food can benefit all of them. I sometimes forget how much a difference diet makes, but then I meet other people's cats who only eat dry and they always seem to have more dander and rougher fur and smellier litter boxes than the cats I know that are fed wet.

Not all canned foods are created equally though, so do read through the ingredients, especially if your cat has specific health problems to watch out for. Even expensive foods can be tricky. My cat gained so much weight in a shelter in the first place because her canned food was full of potato starch, and it was not the cheapest food either.
 
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I do exactly what your vet advised. Tuff gets 2 daily meals of wet (fancy feast -classic only) and 2 tsp dry as a snack. I buy fromms dry because it comes in 2 lb sacks which is great for treats.
 
lisahe

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Molly92 said:
Corn and wheat are iffy ingredients because they do contribute to weight gain and other health problems, not just allergies. But the good thing about wet food is that it tends to have less of those fillers than dry! There are even some very budget friendly canned foods (Sheba and Fancy Feast pates) that are free of plant-based ingredients.

Wet food is also really great because of the moisture! I feed my FIV positive cat an entirely wet food diet from a variety of brands, and she is thriving. She gets Orijen kibble and freeze dried items as treats, but everything else is canned. She was overweight when I got her and now she's at a healthy weight. Her waste is small and low odor, and her coat and skin are pretty and healthy. I usually give her about 1/6 of a cup in the morning and at lunch, and then 1/3 of a cup when I get home from work around 10 pm which lasts her through the night. For a 12 lb cat, she probably eats a little less than average, but it's what works for her metabolism and activity level. She really needs an all wet diet because she won't drink water any other way, but as most cats have a low thirst drive wet food can benefit all of them. I sometimes forget how much a difference diet makes, but then I meet other people's cats who only eat dry and they always seem to have more dander and rougher fur and smellier litter boxes than the cats I know that are fed wet.

Not all canned foods are created equally though, so do read through the ingredients, especially if your cat has specific health problems to watch out for. Even expensive foods can be tricky. My cat gained so much weight in a shelter in the first place because her canned food was full of potato starch, and it was not the cheapest food either.
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This is all great advice! It's so true that foods like Sheba and the Fancy Feast classics/pates are very decent foods at decent prices and without plant-based ingredients that add carbs to a cat's diet. Potato starch is especially awful because it's just a thickener to make sketchy "gravy"!

Our vet is very pro-wet food: she advises feeding all cats high-protein, low-carb (grain-free and without stuff like potato) foods. Our cats also really thrive on an all-wet diet. They have sensitive Siamese cat stomachs, too, so all the meat-based protein -- without the vegetable stuff that cats' guts aren't really made for -- is extra-good for them.
 
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