Thread: Cat food Wet or Dry?

We have a new little kitten taking over our lives. When I say little I mean little, her mom and day are both mix breeds but mixed with some kind of mini cat. Very small and our little bundle of fluff is 9 weeks now but still is barely a handful... but eats like a trooper.

So new to the world of kittens (only ever had rescue older cats set in their eating ways) and not sure about the only wet diet. I have heard from some that the dry food teeth cleaning idea is just a myth but at the same time other vet friends have said that they need dry for clean teeth. But then again I have heard that wet provides cats with more of the good stuff they need, so clueless on this one.

Also what brands do you live by? We have been going with Whisks Kitten pouches simply because its been easy to find in the shops. I know if I can find a proper pet shop there is probably lovely organic natural stuff out there but hard to find when now shops are open by the time you get home, but open to recommendations to kick me in the right direction.

My cats have dry food only because with wet food it attracks flies (& their maggots) in the summer. But they do like it, I usually get them Go-Cat which they enjoy.

Enjoy your kitten they're so much fun at that age

My kitten is nearly 7 months.... she's still quite small and so hectic! Until about a week ago she was having 2 wet pouches a day, then I read on the whiska's website she should be having 4 pouches, but on the back of the box it says 3 or 2 plus dry food, so she now gets a mix instead of just wet food

My cats always used to have dry food only - it's far more hygienic to leave down for those cats that like to 'graze'. However, one of my elderly girls has to have tablets now and the only way I can get them into her is to crush them onto wet food. So all the cats get to share a pouch in the evening, but the bulk of their meal is dry food. They seem to like Wiska's Complete (well actually they don't get much choice in the matter!!)

we have just converted our 4 year old cat onto dry food ,for health,hygene and economical reasons ( cheaper in bulk) its been trial and error but we have found a couple that she really likes ( hills science plan and purrina one) ,we still give her the occaissional pouch or sheba for a treat and she's always getting titbits of ham or chicken so she's happy !!

our kitten is on moist packs but man does be "trump" around the house. I like to keep him on moist since my husband works from home and can feed him little bits all throughout the day but dry does sound tempting. I am just worried about the high carb content of dry

Go for a combination then , everyone is happy !!

I've fed my kitten on a combination of wet and dry food since she was 10 weeks old. My vet told me to ignore the feeding guide on the manufacturers food boxes as they have to put the max amount on their in case of legal action if your cat became malnourished. Most cats won't overeat as it's not their normal instinct so with my cat I feed her one pouch on a morning and one on an evening. She eats what she wants then leaves the rest. In the summer you can cover it and put it in the fridge so that flies cannot lay their eggs on it. I also have a small bowl which contains dry food for her throughout the day but she only touches that if I'm late home from work or she didn't eat all her wet food and got hungry in the night.

I fed her on Whiskas Kitten pouches and dry food until she was a year old. Now I feed her Whiskas dry food and Felix "as good as it looks" wet pouches as I can't stand the smell of the Whiskas adult pouches.

Whatever you decide, remember that cats fed solely on dry food will need more water to drink as their food doesn't contain any moisture. I also treat my cat with Whiskas Cat milk, she loves it!

I've given her Applaws food a few times and it's the one with the most meet/fish content but it's too expensive for me to feed her on that so she gets that on special occaisions.

Hope this helps xx

i'd say dry food cos like dogs its probably better for their teeth

Hi there, for the past 15 years i have rescued many pedigree and moggie cats and kittens of all ages 20 at the last count!!.. I now have 10 ranging from 9mts to 15yrs, i only feed my cats really good quality food, i have learnt in the past through very expensive vets bills that the cheaper varieties are no good for them and full of rubbish really. My 2 little one's have iam's,sheba,gourmet meat now twice daily and i only have James Wellbeloved dry biscuits which are all round the house for them all.James wellbeloved is by far the best dry food for all animals as it's hypo-allergenic and it only has all natural ingredients in it.No upset stomachs,sickness etc. They all look fit and healthy all the time, good teeth,shiny coats,loads of energy and vitality.The vets always say you only get out of any animal what you put in,feed it rubbish and you will end up giving the vet all your hard earned money in never ending vets bills!!
Good luck with your new addition, i have my hands full with my 10 little furry bundels, but they are a joy (mostly!!).

Hi
Just realised here's a pet section on here and got all excited!
I am a volunteer for Cats Protection, have close links with several vets, a close friend who is a vet nurse as well as an interest in reading up on behaviour and feline nutrition. Oh and we currently have 4 rescue mogs!

Feline nutrition is a bit of a minefield- I know the facts and I also know that you kind of have to go with what your puds like too.

Many people are fooled into thinking that dry is best but actually it couldn't be further from the truth. Cats are obligitory carnivores and most dry foods are stuffed full of carbs in the forms of cereals, which they struggle to digest. (Rice may be good for dogs but not cats!) Cats metabolise fats in the meat they naturally eat, very effectively but naturally, they wouldn't eat carbs so dry food can lead to feline obesity which is a very big health problem. Therefore, if you feed dry only, make sure you are very strict with the portions.

Dry food (especially cheaper brands) is also coated with a flavoursome coating to hook the cats so they actually become addicted!!!

Another problem with dry food is that used as a sole source of nutrition, you have to be very very careful to ensure they ahve a high fluid intake as statistically, cats who eat just dry are at a much higher risk of bladder disease (crystals, cystitis etc) and then kidney problems.

On the other side of the coin, most cheap brands of wet food are not hugely better (although the moisture content makes them at least better in terms of urinary tract problems.) as anything with a meat content of just 4% is full of cereals and just not natural. Mine love it occasionally but it is like macdonalds for cats!

To give your cats the most natural diet possible, it's important to give them foods with a very high meat/protein content. In terms of dry foods, something like applaws which is 80% meat is the best there is but foods like James Wellbeloved and also the PAH own brand, premium biscuits are also quite good as they are hypoallergenic but I wouldn't feed them as the sole source of nutrition as they are still not close enough to a cat's natural digestive needs.

The best way to feed a cat for good health is actually raw feeding but it is is just too yukky and you need to balance the iron content so must really know what you're doing. Mine do enjoy raw chicken wings every so often though and they are the best for teeth cleaning!

In terms of my own cats, I have found a balance is the best thing as we all like a treat sometimes but I make them eat healthily most days.
They have 2 pouches of high protein wet food each (natures menu or hi life which have a minimum of 60% meat in them) I make sure these are a mixture of meat and fish based as fish is important but too much can be hard for the kidneys to process) and then a very small portion of biscuits to snack on in between the morning and evening meals.
They also have a 'treat meal' of macdonals equivilent once a week which is something like Sheba, gourmet, whiskers or felix- whichever is on offer) most people think brands like sheba or gourmet are better than whiskers, felix or supermarket brands as they cost more but the fact is they are exactly the same nutritionally- usually only 4% quality meat if you look at the ingrediants)

I not am not telling anyone they are not looking after their cats, I have met plenty of cats who have lived their whole lives on go cat or kittecat foods (these 2 are the worst nutritionally!!!) and have been happy and loved- these things come above all else. However, because I have done so much research and have seen so many cases where cats have permanent bladder problems due to dry only, poor skin and teeth etc etc due to poor nutrition, I just want to share what I know so that people can make informed choices.

Pet food companies certainly give us lots of propaganda to boost their sales and don't really always tell the whole story so it's important that people get the facts. Some companies even bend the truth to get their food bought. (Iams ad is a prime example!!!)

HIgh quality foods are expensive so a balance is probably the best thing pet owners can do.

Hope that all makes sense xx

Also wanted to add, that our vet quotes the good health of my 3 youngsters as they are all of a perfect weight, have great coats with no scurf and very shiny, as well as great teeth and generally muscly, lean builds- a lot of that is down to diet xx

Originally Posted by mommyB

Go for a combination then , everyone is happy !!

That's what we do .... we have 3 cats and we split a can of wet food between them and top the bowls up with dry food. xx