Mixing Wet And Dry?

[myth]

Hey guys, I am guessing this has been asked a lot before and if there are threads already covering this please feel free to share a link to them.
Anyway I am trying to do what is best for my 2 kitties but of course we are on a tight budget so I know I can't do raw or the best of the best brand cat foods, right now I am currently trying to switch my kitties from kibble to wet food and from free feeding to meals, but its a big change and is deffintly a challenge with a food loving kitten that seems to always be hungry along with our other picky kitty. Anyway I was switching from tast of the wild dry cat food to earth born wet food but my 2 year old kitty really wants to eat the kibble instead of the wet and has been eating very little of the wet food. What are your thoughts on mixing wet and dry food together? I would think you would get best of both worlds but am I being naive thinking this? Is there an article that covers this that I couldnt find?

Also like I said before I want to do what is best for our kitties but also what we can afford, if you know of any really good budget friendly cat foods that would be better then Earth born or tast of the wild please feel free to give me ideas. Thank you!

 

[sabrinah]

Many on this site don't recommend it because wet kibble can produce a lot of bacteria, but I mixed wet and dry food for years without ever having an issue.

 

[abyeb]

Hi there! A lot of cat owners leave kibble out during the day, and then give wet food at meals. In a multi-cat household, this can be difficult, though. Mixing wet and dry food isn’t ideal, because if the dry food gets wet, it can become moldy. This shouldn’t be a problem if your cats eat the food right away and it’s not sitting out.

This article has some helpful tips about switching from free feeding to meals, and getting cats used to wet food: Transitioning Free-fed Kibble Kitties To Timed Meals

 

[duckpond]

I dont like to mix kibble with wet, kibble has a bacteria bloom when wet, so if you do be sure to throw it out in 30 min or so. plus my cats hate it mixed

That being said, i do feed both wet and dry. I feed two wet meals per day, and leave dry out for them to nibble on. I dont think you can tough love a cat into eating what they dont want. Better to offer them wet, and hopefully they will eat it. I do like to see cats get at least part of their calories from wet food. But i dont have a problem with feeding dry as well.

Also keep several wide bowls or fresh, cold, filtered water out around the house. and if you add a cat fountain even better!

I think Earthborn and TOTW are both good established brands.

 

[MajorTomCat]

I mixed wet in with my dry at mealtimes for my skinny cat to try and get him more calories and slow him down so he wouldn’t scarf and barf. He was fine with it, I just made sure I didn’t leave it out. It normally wasn’t an issue though as he gobbled it all up fairly quickly.

 

[MeganLLB]

As long as they eat it right awat it should be fine. I used to wet down my dog's kibble when he was a puppy, but one time I left it out too long and it got moldy.

 

[BonitaBaby]

Did you say you have a "kitten who seems to always be hungry"? I think it's a good idea to feed the kitten whenever s/he is hungry. Maybe in another room away from the others if it isn't their feeding time. Posters on here say kittens need a lot of food and can never be overfed.

For the picky kitty, if she'd rather go hungry than eat more wet, I'd give her some more dry. If she'll eat it quickly with water added (before it turns bad/moldy), then that's very good. I have a very picky kitty. I've been trying to get her to eat wet food 3-4 times a day, but she'll only eat a little (even with Fortiflora on top), so she needs kibble to get enough calories (and to avoid fatty liver).

 

[wealthy1]

I didn’t know mixing wet/dry will make the food grow moldy.

 

[myth]

Thanks so much for all of your feed back guys!
I decided that I am going to feed them wet cat food meals and leave out kibble for them to eat when they need to, especially for our little kitten. I was told free feeding was bad for them but I feel that they should be fine as long as they don't develop a weight problem.

 

[Azazel]

Thanks so much for all of your feed back guys!
I decided that I am going to feed them wet cat food meals and leave out kibble for them to eat when they need to, especially for our little kitten. I was told free feeding was bad for them but I feel that they should be fine as long as they don't develop a weight problem.

Just measure a specific amount of dry to put out to make sure that they don’t overeat.

 

[jclark]

I've been mixing wet/kibble for years and never a problem. Cats have fairly robust digestive systems.