Dry Food Or Wet Food? Both?

[beckbjj]

Just curious, I've never seen Red Barn before so looked it up a little bit. I didn't see a "100% nutritionally complete" statement on their website or on the pic of the label I found. Does anyone know if it is nutritionally complete?

 

[Gizmobius]

Just curious, I've never seen Red Barn before so looked it up a little bit. I didn't see a "100% nutritionally complete" statement on their website or on the pic of the label I found. Does anyone know if it is nutritionally complete?

Yes, it is. I have a can of RedBarn turkey pate left so I grabbed it to scope out the label. The nutrition statement is located on the back right underneath the guaranteed analysis.

 

[5starcathotel]

For my own (4, atm) cats, I feed Petco's Wellness brand canned food twice a day. It's cheaper than the unarguably awful Science Diet and Iams brands, and judging by the ingredients, reasonably healthy (no "meals" or grains in the first 5). It also helps that my cats simply won't eat the more expensive and better brands, and I've been through most of them. I supplement this with Spot's Stew dry food, mostly because it's conveniently available at my local Sprout's.

Regardless of budget, I believe in feeding your cats as much canned food as you can, at the best quality you can afford (and what they will actually eat), is important, since most cats are not natural drinkers. Especially in dry climates like mine.

Kudos to those willing to put up with drinking fountains. I abandoned that concept after a month, as I just couldn't keep up with the mildew growth. I'll happily clean and refill bowls and sinks twice every day...but scrubbing inaccessible crevices in molded plastic crap is beyond my patience.

 

[hannah's.dad]

hi kat0121
thank you for the reply & options.
Hannah loves red barn. i did try a few options but but she rejected most and like you i have a shelf of unused pet food.
I have sort of been trying to train her. as i want her to finish her meals at one sitting. and not leave it lying around. at meals times i have started ringing a bell and she comes running. and she usually finishes her bowl in 5 mins. before she used to leave some food in it & i took it away in 20 mins or so. now she has learnt to finish up her meals and not leave it out.
i am happy with giving only wet food. after all the information out there on dry i have become jaded. i give dry food only as small treats.
So in question to your options. since hannah like this brand of food should i try something else & show her variety. cant i just stick to this one brand? She actually finishes her tray as fast as possible. hence i think it would be safe to stick to this brand for some time & if needed change to some other brand. Her treats have options so i think she might be happy there for taste options.
Thanks,

 

[_spadekitty]

I feed wet food for three meals a day, and then he gets dry as snacks on the days he acts like he's going to wither away if I don't feed him his 1/4th cup of dry lol.

For me, its more cost effective to feed large 12.5 oz cans, since I only have the one cat and they last him two days. Wellness (what I feed) is a little more expensive, but it would cost me more/about the same to feed him solely something like fancy feast or sheba. So he gets a decent quality wet and a good quality dry, I feed him Acana six fish usually but sometimes pick up a different flavor like grasslands.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

hi kat0121

So in question to your options. since hannah like this brand of food should i try something else & show her variety. cant i just stick to this one brand? She actually finishes her tray as fast as possible. hence i think it would be safe to stick to this brand for some time & if needed change to some other brand. Her treats have options so i think she might be happy there for taste options.
Thanks,

You don't have to feed a variety if she's happy with one single food. I have one cat who won't eat the same food twice in the same day, and another cat who will only eat the same food day in and day out . The only issue might be if there is ever a problem getting her food for any reason (like a recall), and then if she doesn't want anything else, you've got a problem. this is what I worry about with my guy, and I try and try to get him to eat something else, but he won't have it.

 

[MeganLLB]

I think it really depends on your personal situation on your schedule, your budget, what your cat will actually eat, how many cats you have, and you do what's right for you.

I feed both my cats dry and wet. Luna was free fed dry and she is just about a year old now, so I took her off the self feeder and am measuring out her food now. If given the chance I think most cats will overeat, so you have to measure it. I feed them Earthborn Holistic Feline.

Then I also feed them wet food in the evening. They eat Dave's and TikiCat. Dave's is pretty reasonable, about $1/can and I can split it between them, and TikiCat is a bit pricey so I don't feed it all the time, but like to have something else, since I order all their food on Chewy, and if something is out of order or there's a recall, I will have something else.

Just get the best that you can for whatever suits your lifestyle.
Dry food is more concentrated, so if you're going to invest in quality, invest in the dry over the wet. You can by grocery store wet food that isn't awful, but there are some pretty awful dry foods that I wouldn't feed my cat.

 

[Mike89]

Hi. I'm a new cat owner (actually my very first pet ever; adopted from the cat shelter almost 2 weeks ago) and just been so conflicted about what to feed my cat. She's about 2 years old. Reason I'm conflicted is because I'm slowly trying to get into a routine with my cat, and there's so many different opinions on the internet and it confuses me. Frustrates me, is the better word I'm looking for. Some say primarily wet food only. And some say you can do both dry AND wet food. Then there's the choices of dry food, wet food, and how much you're supposed to give them. (I do free feed dry food, but only put a small amount of dry food in her bowl so there's no chance of my cat splurging/over-eating.) I also feed her wet food daily along with dry food. So what do you think I should do? What kind of dry food should I get and what kind of wet food? Or should I switch her to only wet food with some dry food used as a snack? She really doesn't eat that much in one sitting. Even if I were to put 1/2 3 oz can of wet food, she might not even eat that much in one sitting. As for the dry food, I feed her Purina Friskies 7 dry cat food and she just nibbles on that throughout the day. So if I were to move her to a wet food diet, what kind of wet food would you recommend? She's currently eating the Fancy Feast wet food, and seems to really like it. (I should also mention that I'm on social assistance due to mental illness, and only receive $161.50 every 2 weeks.) I'm really new to this. Hope someone can help me! Thanks! Also, here's a photo of her!

 

[MeganLLB]

Mike89 Ok so first just take a breath and chill. It's just cat food. Whatever/however you feed will be fine.

If you are on a lower income then I would say feed both dry and wet. Dry food is cheap and convenient and she can get half her calories from dry food. Then feed a little bit of wet everyday too so she gets the moisture.
Fancy Feast is the best grocery store brand wet food I think you can get. I honestly have never looked to see what decent dry food is there. I would just try to look for something low carb and high protein.

As for how much to give, depends on the food and the cat. Just dont go by whats on the bag. A general rule of thumb is 20 calories/1lb of body weight.

And I have no idea how to brush a cats teeth. I wouldnt dare attempt that on my cats if I wish to stay living.

 

[Mike89]

Mike89 Ok so first just take a breath and chill. It's just cat food. Whatever/however you feed will be fine.

If you are on a lower income then I would say feed both dry and wet. Dry food is cheap and convenient and she can get half her calories from dry food. Then feed a little bit of wet everyday too so she gets the moisture.
Fancy Feast is the best grocery store brand wet food I think you can get. I honestly have never looked to see what decent dry food is there. I would just try to look for something low carb and high protein.

As for how much to give, depends on the food and the cat. Just dont go by whats on the bag. A general rule of thumb is 20 calories/1lb of body weight.

And I have no idea how to brush a cats teeth. I wouldnt dare attempt that on my cats if I wish to stay living.

Okay sorry I was panicking, but it is my very first pet so I just want the best for her, that's all. To be honest, it's not "just cat food." I'm sure the kind of cat food matters in the long run, but I'm new to this.

Also, I don't even know how follow that "rule of thumb is 20 calories/1lb of body weight." Sounds confusing.

 

[MeganLLB]

Well all I mean is in the end its just important that they eat something. Some cats have allergies, stomach problems, etc. So no matter what you feed them, so long as they eat and they are healthy I'd say that's a good deal.

And the other thing means just multiply how many pounds they weight by 20. So like a 10 lb cat should eat about 200 cals.

 

[Mike89]

Well all I mean is in the end its just important that they eat something. Some cats have allergies, stomach problems, etc. So no matter what you feed them, so long as they eat and they are healthy I'd say that's a good deal.

And the other thing means just multiply how many pounds they weight by 20. So like a 10 lb cat should eat about 200 cals.

And if I go by that formula, how do I convert that into measurements in a cup?

 

[MeganLLB]

Look on the back of the bag and read how many calories are in a cup. And cans will tell you how many cals are in a can.

 

[MeganLLB]

So like for example. My one cat weight about 13-15 lbs (I have to guess) and she needs to loose some weight, so Im giving her about 270 calories a day.

Her dry food has 400ish cals in one cup, so I feed her 1/3 cup dry food. And the rest od the calories she gets from the canned food. So I know she wont gain weight and hopefully she will trim down now that she isnt free feeding.

 

[Mike89]

So like for example. My one cat weight about 13-15 lbs (I have to guess) and she needs to loose some weight, so Im giving her about 270 calories a day.

Her dry food has 400ish cals in one cup, so I feed her 1/3 cup dry food. And the rest od the calories she gets from the canned food. So I know she wont gain weight and hopefully she will trim down now that she isnt free feeding.

Oh wow... that seems kinda confusing to me. But I guess it's because I'm rather new to this and trying to slowly getting into a proper routine. I'm sure I'll get it down pat eventually.

I just went to look for the calorie count for the dry food, and it says 398 per cup. And when I go to look for the calories on the canned wet food, there's nothing. All it says is, "Feed an average size adult cat 1 can per 3 lbs of body weight daily." So does that mean if my cat is (keep in mind i don't know how much my cat weights because I adopted her from the SPCA cat shelter and they never told me) 9 pounds, does that mean I feed her 3 cans per day? I should also mention that they're 3oz cans each. I wish it would actually tell me how many calories are in the wet food.

Nevermind... I googled "how many calories are in a can of Fancy Feast wet food" and it brought me to a site with a PDF format sheet with the popular brands with calorie count. Could you tell me if this is a good site? http://www.petobesityprevention.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Cat_Canned_Pouch_Foods.pdf

Or this one? http://catinfo.org/docs/SortableCatFoodChartCatinfo.org2-22-13.htm

 

[maggiedemi]

Hi Mike. I just go by portion size, between 7oz and 9oz a day. If you can afford it, you could feed 2 cans of Fancy Feast per day and 1/4 cup dry food. Or if you wanted to go with all wet food, you could feed 3 cans of Fancy Feast per day. Just play around with the amounts and see how much she will eat. I try to keep the dry food under 1/2 cup though, and I try to avoid too many fish flavors. My cats like the Friskies 7 dry food, but I don't like that it has so much fish in it. Friskies seems to put fish in everything. I feed their wet food too, and 16 out of their 19 pates have fish in them. This really bugs me.

 

[MeganLLB]

Or you can ask your vet. But that seems like a good amount. I think fancy feast comes in 3oz cans, so to me that is a good portion size for one cat. If you buy a big 5oz can, I usually split them in half-they never finish it.
My cat food is pretty high in calorie, so they get fed 1/4 cup dry food, and either a 3oz can or half of a 5oz can.

So you could try feeding 1/4 cup dry, and then see if she will eat one can or two.

 

[Saf]

Hi. I'm a new cat owner (actually my very first pet ever; adopted from the cat shelter almost 2 weeks ago) and just been so conflicted about what to feed my cat. She's about 2 years old. Reason I'm conflicted is because I'm slowly trying to get into a routine with my cat, and there's so many different opinions on the internet and it confuses me. Frustrates me, is the better word I'm looking for. Some say primarily wet food only. And some say you can do both dry AND wet food. Then there's the choices of dry food, wet food, and how much you're supposed to give them. (I do free feed dry food, but only put a small amount of dry food in her bowl so there's no chance of my cat splurging/over-eating.) I also feed her wet food daily along with dry food. So what do you think I should do? What kind of dry food should I get and what kind of wet food? Or should I switch her to only wet food with some dry food used as a snack? She really doesn't eat that much in one sitting. Even if I were to put 1/2 3 oz can of wet food, she might not even eat that much in one sitting. As for the dry food, I feed her Purina Friskies 7 dry cat food and she just nibbles on that throughout the day. So if I were to move her to a wet food diet, what kind of wet food would you recommend? She's currently eating the Fancy Feast wet food, and seems to really like it. (I should also mention that I'm on social assistance due to mental illness, and only receive $161.50 every 2 weeks.) I'm really new to this. Hope someone can help me! Thanks! Also, here's a photo of her! View attachment 186491

I learnt a painful lesson with my first two cats - that the majority of commercial cat food is utter garbage, and I blame it, and dry food in particular, for destroying their kidneys. I would recommend a raw food diet. If that's not possible then a wet food diet with a high meat content and no cereals. I wouldn't feed fish to a cat again. Particularly the tuna that actually looks like tuna. Yes, they like it but it isn't great for them and generally isn't it a complete balanced diet so you can't feed it everyday and they can get fussy about their everyday diet.

If you have to feed dry food for whatever reason then I would recommend sticking completely to dry. What was so damaging to my first two cats was that they become dry food junkies but also wanted wet everyday but all they ever did was lick the gravy/jelly and leave the "meat" (which is actually garbage dressed up meat and it didn't fool them.) And what I believe happened is that gravy became their preferred source of fluid intake, along with rain water, as I saw them drink from puddles sometimes. (For this reason I also advise staying away from food that come in gravies and wet food should be one entity or be able to be mashed up into a single entity). But gravy and rainwater wasn't available on tap like their water bowl was, to which they were infrequent visitors. They were therefore inadequately hydrated much of the time, something a cat doesn't seem to mind being, even though it's potentially damaging to their health. So if you do go down the dry route you need to force them to become good drinkers by not introducing occasional sources of moisture that they may prefer to the one constantly available, and also monitor the cat's drinking to make sure it's adequate. You can do this by weighing the bowl everyday to see how much water he/she has drunk - 1 gram = 1 ml and you'd want to see an average cat take in around 150 ml of water a day if they're eating wet food.

 

[MeganLLB]

Saf Did you just skim over the part where he mentioned his income? I don't think the diet you are recommending is possible. I fed my two cats this "garbage" dry food and Friskies wet food all their life and they lived to be 17 and 14 years old.

Now, I feed my new cats something better because I can. But that's not possible for everyone. And you shouldn't recommend that and call the other garbage and make a person feel guilty for feeding their cat what they can afford.

 

[maggiedemi]

I wouldn't feed just dry food. If I give my cats half a cup or more, that's when the urinary and poop problems start. I would definitely make sure she has 3oz to 6oz of canned food a day. I don't consider Fancy Feast and Friskies canned food to be junk. My cats do well on it. I have a lot of problems with dry food, and I haven't found the perfect one yet. My cats hate the really tiny kibbles, they like to be able to crunch.