Wet or Dry Food?

Ok I have always fed my cats dry food. sometimes If I see something I think they would like, I get those little pouches of wet food. Is it okay to only feed them dry food?

Dry food has a lot of filler and can cause weight gain. It's really better to feed more wet than dry especially for male neutered cats.

I used to feed only dry food until I started reading some of the posts from the nutrition knowledgeable folks here and now have started feeding high quality (no by-products) wet food with only about 1/2 cup dry food per day for both cats. I free feed the dry food, but since they are eating more wet, they don't eat as much dry. Funny enough, I got a water fountain and I think they are also drinking quite a bit more as I have to keep topping it up.

You'll find that although the quality wet food costs a bit more, they will actually eat less - I believe it is because they are getting more nutrition.

wet is better than dry ... a 50/50 wet / dry is cost effective and good...

I will add this. We feed wet in the morning and dry at night. We are thinking of switching to all wet.

You might want to read this article, it's one of many that I have referenced in regardes to wet vs. dry food. I think it sums things up quite well

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...needcannedfood

I feed my kittens two cans of Nutro Max Kitten every day, sometimes three times a day.
Is that enough for them to maintain a healthy diet? (they're 12 weeks old or so)

I personally feed both...it's a good compromise in my household. Their main meals are wet food (twice daily), but they get a small amount of dry each day to nibble on (they love the stuff!). Due to my schedule, I can't feed them the same exact time every day, so the dry food is there to tide them over.

I feed my kitty free choice dry food, and half a can AM/PM wet food.

Julia: Very good article and here is another one that was linked at the bottom. We got an Ocicat from Dr. Hodgkins so we were familiar with her(and many others) views on dry vs. wet food. Dry food might be thought of as "sugared cardboard" and its intake(if any) should be monitored. We have started feeding a little of Royal Canin's Special33 dry food to our new kitty but we always feed her her wet food first and then a little kibble as 'dessert'.

Btw. what canned, wet food is superior? We feed Fancy Feast's sliced meats but I wonder if there's a better canned meat.

Dan

Originally Posted by lightninrod

Julia: Very good article and here is another one that was linked at the bottom. We got an Ocicat from Dr. Hodgkins so we were familiar with her(and many others) views on dry vs. wet food. Dry food might be thought of as "sugared cardboard"

and its intake(if any) should be monitored. We have started feeding a little of Royal Canin's Special33 dry food to our new kitty but we always feed her her wet food first and then a little kibble as 'dessert'.

Btw. what canned, wet food is superior? We feed Fancy Feast's sliced meats but I wonder if there's a better canned meat.

Dan

Click to expand...

Look at Nutro , Felidea , wynsong the just meats , Pro pac( a few) , Merrick, Authority(petsmart) , Natural balence, sensibvle choice and meow mix( read the label).... all of these have good to very good canned... some FF is okay ( no by products )

We feed wet food with dry mixed in, so that he doesn't eat to fast. He won't eat regular dry food alone.

What kind of wet food do you feed your cats? (no by-products)

Originally Posted by Yosemite

Dry food has a lot of filler and can cause weight gain. It's really better to feed more wet than dry especially for male neutered cats.

I used to feed only dry food until I started reading some of the posts from the nutrition knowledgeable folks here and now have started feeding high quality (no by-products) wet food with only about 1/2 cup dry food per day for both cats. I free feed the dry food, but since they are eating more wet, they don't eat as much dry. Funny enough, I got a water fountain and I think they are also drinking quite a bit more as I have to keep topping it up.

You'll find that although the quality wet food costs a bit more, they will actually eat less - I believe it is because they are getting more nutrition.

Click to expand...

Nutromax and Maxcat (same brand now) have no by-products in their wet food, or at least thats what the sales representative told me. I fed my cats nutro wet and eukanuba dry before they were switched to raw food.

Originally Posted by vinny

What kind of wet food do you feed your cats? (no by-products)

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Here are some brands that have none...note not a complete list

Nutro
Natural Balence
Royal Canin
Felidea
Some of Eagle Pack
Innova
California natural( I believe all of the parent company is by product free
Chn soup
some Pro Plan
Newmans organics


food s I wont feed but no by products

Solid gold
Wellness

I also like Merricks - no by-products.

Having just brought Bijou to the vet and he's a whopping 16.4 lbs., he will be getting a lot more canned food and a lot less dry!

we feed mostly dry here. with some wet and some boiled chicken as a real treat. we have recently gone to Bil Jac and its been agreat switch. Less Poo, less stink and just all over happier kitties.

I have two in the house that get very vert stinky on canned food. No matter what kind it is. stinky enough to make us wanna evac the house and I can deal with alot of stink..lol

so we have limited and they are getting more boiled chicken as a treat

Originally Posted by xpiercedgoddess

Ok I have always fed my cats dry food. sometimes If I see something I think they would like, I get those little pouches of wet food. Is it okay to only feed them dry food?

Click to expand...

I feed my 3 cats both wet and dry..

I feed mine dry, with the wet as a prize. When I can I give them Royal Canin

Originally Posted by lionessrampant

I personally feed both...it's a good compromise in my household. Their main meals are wet food (twice daily), but they get a small amount of dry each day to nibble on (they love the stuff!). Due to my schedule, I can't feed them the same exact time every day, so the dry food is there to tide them over.

Click to expand...

I feed about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of dry kibble daily to each of my three. Then they each get about 1/2 to 2/3 can of wet food per day, in two feedings, morning and evening.

I have been feeding like this from the day I brought each of them home. The oldest and the youngest one clearly prefer the wet food, but will eat the kibble. My middle one would rather eat all dry food, but enjoys the "gravy" from wet food, so I usually give her just a smidge of the food and a lot of gravy.

It's my understanding that feeding an all-wet food diet can be bad for their teeth, but that feeding an all-dry diet can cause urinary infections. (I know I will be corrected if I am wrong). To me, feeding both just seems to make sense. The cats like the variety, and their coats look great.

Feeding an all-dry diet is asking for trouble because cats find it almost impossible to drink enough water to compensate for an all-dry diet. This can lead to urinary issues like crystals and kidney disease. Also the high grain content can cause obesity and lead to diabetes.

Wet food should definitely be part of the diet. All wet is better (raw is probably ideal) but wet with dry is okay too.

As for the teeth thing, it just doesn't make any sense even though it is what the food manufacturers say. Dry food is mostly grain - like cereal. When you eat cereal, you don't think "good, I just cleaned my teeth", you go and brush your teeth because the cereal is stuck to your teeth! Raw food with bones and/or cartilage (like turkey necks and chicken gizzards - raw only, never give cooked bones!) are what really help their teeth.