So confused on food.

ping

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Ok for the most part I know what brands are best to buy. But its the great wet or dry debate that has me confused. Ping started off on wet and loved it. Then I heard dry is best so I switched him to dry and while he eats it you can tell you it doesn't really enjoy it. So in all is it ok to switch him back to the wet food he loved so much?
 
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ping

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Now I have heard wet is not good for their teeth. Is this true? One while I am asking if wet is ok what is best. I have all the basic foods avabile at Wally world. And Felidae at the feed store. But I noticed Merrick offers free shipping. So what is best in that regard. I want wants best for Ping.
 

jen

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A good thing about wet is that it adds more water intake to their diet and you can even add a little more water to it. Cats often times dont drink enough water and therefore tend to get UTIs and crystals. More water intake prevents that from happening which is definately a good thing.

Dry food is fine too but a lot of times it is more fattening and has more carbs.
 

brutis&miep

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Studies have shown that kidney failure rots teeth, and wet food prevents kidney failure. In the wild they ate the guts of whatever they caught, not hard kibble. That is also why cats do not drink enought water, because in the wild they recieve their moisture out of the guts of the critters they catch.

I feed a half wet, half dry diet. I believe that all cats should have wet food in their diets. I had a cat that died of kidney failure after chronic UTIs. The vet expected her to die much earlier then she did, but after alot of reseach I discovered that wet food greatly helps with UTI and kidney problems. I never want to go through that again, so I try to prevent these problems with the 2 cats I have now by always giving them wet food.
 

distol

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the wet/dry food thing. here's my take on it:

wet food is good for the moisture content.

dry food is good for cleaning the teeth.

a mixture of both is ideal

what i do with my kids is give them soft food for 'breakfast' and dry food the rest of the day. they seem to like that arrangement.
 

forget-me-not

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I am giving my cat wet food in the morning and when I get home after work. I serve her 1/2 a can of 3 oz. wet food at each feeding and she eats maybe 1/2 of that. She has a bowl of premium dry food to nibble on all day and night.

I am trying to get her to eat a better quality wet food, switching her from Fancy Feast to Wellness. It went great with the first feeding, not so great the next. Right now I am slowly mixing in the premium wet with the FF. She isn't eating very much of it either way. I am not too worried since the quality of the food and nutrition is high so maybe she just isn't as hungry. She is pretty good about drinking her water, too.

My question for the those who are feeding wet or wet and dry - how long to you leave the wet food out? My girl likes to eat a little, go play, take a bath, snooze, go back for a little more etc. I have been taking it up after about 30 - 45minutes so it won't get nasty and spoil. I have decided if she only eats a tiny bit to save the rest (refrigerated) and give it to her again later before bed. I can't keep throwing out cat food like this and Wellness is not cheap.
 

urbantigers

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I used to think I was doing the right thing feeding dry food to my cats (although I never fed dry exclusively - they always had a bit of wet but I considered that a treat) but I've gradually read more and more stuff that convinces me otherwise. I'm now all for wet food. Here's an article about why dry is not as good for the teeth as we've been led to believe.

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

As to how long I leave wet out - I don't! I give Jaffa a pouch in the morning and another at teatime (Mosi gets half a pouch - he's only 6 months) and it all goes right down the hatch! I don't free feed at all. I add a little dry to the wet for texture and they get a small amount of dry before bed. I only really feed any dry because I like them to eat a variety of textures and don't want to get to the stage where they refuse to eat any dry as it is convenient.
 
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ping

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So what I am getting is wet is best with a little dry mixed in.

So now I have 2 questions. How much wet per feeding for a 3 mth old kitten? and How often?

Which brand is better. I can get Felidae here locally and all the basic kind. I was thinking maybe Merricks. What do you all think.
 

forget-me-not

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I bet if I didn't leave a whole bowl of dry out for her she would eat more of her wet food. I think I will do the mix with the wet thing and reduce gradually every day how much dry she is getting.

As for Merricks or Felidae, they are both good. It really ends up being about what you can afford that your cat will eat. I ended up picking Wellness, but I could have chosen Merricks or Felidae just as easily - Wellness is what I could get and afford.

Hopefully, my sweetie will start liking it as much as Fancy Feast soon...
 

yosemite

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Dry food really does nothing to clean their teeth since cats don't "chew" - they break the dry with the tip of their teeth and swallow.

Our vet said Siamese were prone to tartar but Bijou's teeth were in excellent shape - they both eat Merrick wet - Granny's Pot Pie and Thanksgiving Dinner. Neither of our cats like anything with fish. They get 1/4 cup per day of Royal Canin for Siamese Cats to snack on while we are at work and they share a 5.5 ounce can of Merrick morning and night.

I used to feed all dry and lost our beloved Simba to kidney failure at age 5. I feel much better feeding our two the wet food now. We also bought a PetMate fountain and they both drink much more water than before.
 
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ping

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I read in another post that Meow Mix in the pouches is not a bad food for cats. Is there any opinions on that.
 

gailuvscats

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If you search this site on food you will find a lot of good info. I tried to feed exclusively wet, but I can't afford that for my three males, and we finally came up with a good plan. My one cat was getting obese because I was leaving a big bowl of dry out. So now they share a 6 ounce can of wet twice a day. The portion is the right amount because there is seldom any left, and if there is one of them polishes it off within an hour. As for dry, I put out two small handfuls. That stays out all day until night time wet, when I might put out more. Fortunately my chubby guy has stopped overeating as much, because now the dry doesn't dissappear. There are ususally a few kibbles left. I put out so little at a time, you can still see the bottom of the bow. Everyone seems healthy and happy. The products to avoid are the ones that hyave animal by-products as one of the first three ingredients. I bet in meow mix, it is the first ingredient.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by gailuvscats

If you search this site on food you will find a lot of good info. I tried to feed exclusively wet, but I can't afford that for my three males, and we finally came up with a good plan. My one cat was getting obese because I was leaving a big bowl of dry out. So now they share a 6 ounce can of wet twice a day. The portion is the right amount because there is seldom any left, and if there is one of them polishes it off within an hour. As for dry, I put out two small handfuls. That stays out all day until night time wet, when I might put out more. Fortunately my chubby guy has stopped overeating as much, because now the dry doesn't dissappear. There are ususally a few kibbles left. I put out so little at a time, you can still see the bottom of the bow. Everyone seems healthy and happy. The products to avoid are the ones that hyave animal by-products as one of the first three ingredients. I bet in meow mix, it is the first ingredient.
Actually Meow mix pouches have little grain ... and only two or three have any by products... There amazingly good quality for grocery
 

katkisses

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Originally Posted by gailuvscats

The products to avoid are the ones that hyave animal by-products as one of the first three ingredients. I bet in meow mix, it is the first ingredient.
Nope.
The DRY Meow Mix-yes, but WET Meow Mix is another story-it is actually pretty good for the price it costs!
 
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ping

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Ok I just did a google search and this is for just one flavor of Meow mix wet.

Tuna, Fish Broth, Chicken, Chicken Liver, Giblets (Poultry Liver and Heart), Wheat Gluten, Dried Egg, Food Starch Modified, Natural Flavor, Cane Sugar, Titanium Dioxide, Sodium Carboxymethylcellulose, Calcium Sulfate Dihydrate, Carrageenan, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Folic Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K Activity), Biotin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 supplement), Minerals (Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodide, Sodium Selenite), Sodium Nitrite (To Promote Color Retention).
http://www.meowmix.com/products/products_wet_cluck.asp
 

gailuvscats

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That doesn't sound bad. I thought you were talking about the dry, I didn't know they had wet. Well, my cats are used to what they get now, and I don't like to change too much because of their delicate systems, but I will keep that in mind. Now we eat trader Joes, and science diet when it is on sale, which does have by product listed, but they love it and supposedly it is a good food.
 
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