Indoor Cats' Diet

[Kenzierussell]

So I know the dry vs wet vs both debate has been going on since the dawn of time but I would like some insight.

1. What is best? Dry only, wet only, both?

2. And is Friskies wet food that terrible?

I have 3 adult male neutered indoor cats. I feed them Taste of the Wild dry food, which is out around the clock, and feed a can of wet food, 2x a day. I was feeding them Authority wet food, but since making the switch to Taste of the Wild (which Petsmart does not carry, only Petco; and Petco does not carry Authority, since it is Petsmart's brand) I picked up a pack of Friskies wet food and they seem to love it.

I leave dry out all the time because I work 18 hour shifts in my home health job, so it would be unfair to leave them that long without access to food, and I feed wet to make sure they get enough water and the simple fact they love wet food.

Is what I am doing okay? They drink plenty of water (and they love to drink from my fiance's glass of water at bed time when he is asleep) lol. Is Friskies that terrible? I have seen lots of back and forth on Friskies. What could I be doing better?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
I personally think that what you're doing, and feeding is fine.
As long as your kitties are getting regular vet checkups, and you're watching their weight since free feeding kibble can cause some cats to gain weight, you're golden in my mind.
If it were me, my two cents is that I'd keep giving them a variety of brands.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I can't help much with the food brands/types because my cat, Feeby, has to be on urinary care food. Others on this site, just like Furballsmom , will come along and offer their wisdom.

But, if your fiancé would prefer the cats don't drink out of his glass (lol), could you try to place a water dish nearby? One that is more open mouthed than a water glass might just be enough to entice them to stop using his glass!!!

 

[Kenzierussell]

Hi. I can't help much with the food brands/types because my cat, Feeby, has to be on urinary care food. Others on this site, just like Furballsmom , will come along and offer their wisdom.

But, if your fiancé would prefer the cats don't drink out of his glass (lol), could you try to place a water dish nearby? One that is more open mouthed than a water glass might just be enough to entice them to stop using his glass!!!

They have 2 water bowls and a water fountain lol! They are just rotten. He has resorted to water bottles instead of open glasses hahaha.

 

[kittyluv387]

Why don't you keep a water glass out just for him? No need to fight him on it lol. Friskies is junkier but it's really fine as long as your cats are pooing fine with no diarrhea. To compensate for the dry you can sneak in extra water in their food. I don't feed dry but I add extra water anyways.

 

[KarenKat]

I think what you are doing is fine, there are some better wet foods out there, but I can barely get one of our cats to finish any wet food at a time, so you're already one up for me there! We also keep dry food out all the time for our kibble kitties.

We also have that "drinking water from my glass" problem. We have a sacrificial water glass for Gohan, and my BF and I drink from cups that have lids.

 

[Azazel]

catinfo.org answers all your questions

 

[Vega's Dad]

Is Friskies that terrible?

Personally, I think not all Friskies are the same. It is affordable food, so, it won't be perfect (well, even the unaffordable ones are not perfect). But, if we set the limit as: no added colors, no sodium nitrite, first ingredient is named muscle meat, Poultry Platter is the one.

 

[lisahe]

Personally, I think not all Friskies are the same. It is affordable food, so, it won't be perfect (well, even the unaffordable ones are not perfect). But, if we set the limit as: no added colors, no sodium nitrite, first ingredient is named muscle meat, Poultry Platter is the one.

Vega's Dad has this one all scoped out! He's right that Friskies foods aren't all the same: the pates are the best. Even though they have some rice, which increases the carbs, they're still far lower carb than dry food. Fancy Feast Classics (the pates) and Sheba pates are better because they don't have the rice and there's a better protein/fat ratio than Friskies but any of those are decent! A big plus for Friskies is that they're relatively caloric so (particularly if you can feed the cats wet food twice a day) you probably wouldn't need to feed much dry food.

 

[daftcat75]

Vega's Dad has this one all scoped out! He's right that Friskies foods aren't all the same: the pates are the best. Even though they have some rice, which increases the carbs, they're still far lower carb than dry food. Fancy Feast Classics (the pates) and Sheba pates are better because they don't have the rice and there's a better protein/fat ratio than Friskies but any of those are decent! A big plus for Friskies is that they're relatively caloric so (particularly if you can feed the cats wet food twice a day) you probably wouldn't need to feed much dry food.

When a cat food includes carbs, it is including carbs in the guaranteed analysis as well. So then I wonder of the protein and calories, how much is coming from rice or other carb sources? How much vegetable-based nutrition is really bioavailable to the cat? They may list 11% protein but if half of that is coming from rice or peas, is it really 11% protein or is it more like 5.5% protein and who really knows if your cat can get the rest from peas? In other words, the minute they include vegetable sources of nutrition, it throws the whole guaranteed analysis into question. Especially since carb-y cat food tends to be rejected or returned by my cat, I would have to record the calorie content from that food as zero if Krista won't keep it down or it runs too quickly through her to be useful. For this reason, Fancy Feast Classics will always be superior to most of the boutique brands that include peas or pea protein or other plant-based nutrition.

 

[lisahe]

When a cat food includes carbs, it is including carbs in the guaranteed analysis as well. So then I wonder of the protein and calories, how much is coming from rice or other carb sources? How much vegetable-based nutrition is really bioavailable to the cat? They may list 11% protein but if half of that is coming from rice or peas, is it really 11% protein or is it more like 5.5% protein and who really knows if your cat can get the rest from peas? In other words, the minute they include vegetable sources of nutrition, it throws the whole guaranteed analysis into question. Especially since carb-y cat food tends to be rejected or returned by my cat, I would have to record the calorie content from that food as zero if Krista won't keep it down or it runs too quickly through her to be useful. For this reason, Fancy Feast Classics will always be superior to most of the boutique brands that include peas or pea protein or other plant-based nutrition.

Ah, these are the questions! I use Dr. Pierson's charts as my guideline and she includes calorie percent coming from carbs. But! She also notes that the data she crunches are Typical Nutrient Analysis numbers and writes:
"Even though TNA data are more precise than GA data, the values on this chart
should be taken as very loose approximations. All foods vary in their nutrient composition and, therefore, commercial food formulations will vary from batch-to-batch."

So it's all very approximate to start.

In any case, what you mention about peas gets right at the reasons I refuse to feed peas -- it's not likely protein that's bioavailable for cats, plus it raises carbs. (When Merrick added peas to their LID foods, which the cats used to love, the cats figured it out -- and refused to eat it -- before I had a chance to check the ingredients.)

Although I don't like the artificial ingredients in Fancy Feast and feel a little uneasy about menadione, I'd still much rather feed FF pates than anything with carby vegetables, particularly peas or potato! (Bonus: our picky cat loves Fancy Feast.)

 

[MissMolly08]

My cat thrives on Friskies pate! Nothing wrong with it IMO.
Like PP said, just be careful with leaving dry out because it can lead to weight gain. My cat is the type that will scarf down anything I put in front of her in like 10 seconds flat! We've tried a variety of feeding schedules and wet/dry combos. She cannot have dry food left out for grazing. It's gone in no time! I even tried giving her a wet food meal and then putting dry down for a "between meal snack"... she gobbles up all her wet AND all the dry that was supposed to be for later!

 

[Name9335]

Honestly, either a fully wet diet, or raw if you can do it is going to be the best for kitties. Unfortunatly dry is full of carbs that cats really can't process. Causes diabetes, urinary issues and obesity