I know wet food is better than dry, but would it be ok to offer one bowl of dry food and one bowl of dry food softend with water? Would that suffice?
Originally Posted by gizmocat
Please avoid putting water on dry food, since it allows bacteria to grow quickly. You can mix a little dry in with wet (canned) food but you should not leave it out all day.
Cats often do not drink enough water even if it's available. Feeding a wet diet is much better for your cat if you can do it. If you have a cat that will only eat dry, then you do what you have to do. Sometimes it can be difficult to get a cat to eat wet if it's been used to only dry. Then you can try mixing some of the wet with some dry and try changing over gradually.Originally Posted by gizmocat
I think that a good quality dry food and lots of water is as good as a wet food, In any case dry is all that Gizmo will eat.
It's the quality tha tmatters.
i would put just one bowl of moistened dry food out. i think the cat would just choose the dry otherwise.Originally Posted by Sunshine'sKid
I know wet food is better than dry, but would it be ok to offer one bowl of dry food and one bowl of dry food softend with water? Would that suffice?
I have to agree with this. I put out wet food before I leave in the morning so I have no idea how long it takes for them to eat it but our house is not overly warm and neither of the cats have been sick so I'm assuming they consume it before it has any chance to go bad. In the evening the wet food will be mostly eaten when put down, but some may remain which they finish off over the next couple hours. Unless your house is extremely hot, I very much doubt the food will spoil in a couple of hours. That's just my personal feelings on the matter of wet food and spoilage. I think we should be careful but not to the point of paranoia IMO.Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45
Why? I only add warm water to dry when kittens are first learning to eat.
Either give dry with a bowl of water, or give a canned food meal. I don't see the point in having 2 bowls of the same food (water/no water).
i wouldnt train them to only eat twice a day, its unnatural and hard on their tummies, its good for them to eat a little at a time.Originally Posted by Jenny82
How long is it safe to leave wet food out? I have been leaving mine out several hours as he only eats a little at once and comes back several times during the day. Do you think I should I train him to only eat twice a day?
Likewise, we should feed our cats a variety of foods. Variety keeps cats from becoming finicky and food-addicted....Originally Posted by Pat & Alix
Here's a good article by a vet, re why cats need canned food as opposed to a totally dry food:
http://www.littlebigcat.com/?action=...needcannedfood
Funny! I've always heard the opposite. A cat breeder friend used to deliberately mix flavors and rotate foods...as she found cats could become bored with one flavor. I've also found that to be the case over the years.Originally Posted by jaycee
Likewise, we should feed our cats a variety of foods. Variety keeps cats from becoming finicky and food-addicted....
this is kind of off topic but thats a line from the article you gave, i have always heard the opposite of this, that cats unlike people do not crave a varitey of foods and a cat fed a variety will become finicky
do you know, how did she go about rotating the different foods?Originally Posted by Pat & Alix
Funny! I've always heard the opposite. A cat breeder friend used to deliberately mix flavors and rotate foods...as she found cats could become bored with one flavor. I've also found that to be the case over the years.
That's what is nice with a forum, folks can share notes and experiences and compare
No, because cats prefer to eat smaller, more frequent mouse-sized meals throughout the day. I've read in my Cat Encyclopedia that a typical cat food meal that people put out for their cats out of convenience is equivalent to about 5 mice and it's way too much for a cat to digest in one sitting. Most people don't have time to feed frequent mouse-sized meals throughout the day but this explains your cat's eating behavior and my cats do the same thing. I think most cats do. It is quite normal for a cat to eat a mouse sized portion, walk away to digest it and come back later to eat some more. You can leave wet food out for a couple of hours, even for a few hours but you should toss it as soon as you can see that it's starting to dry up and go rancid. Or just feed spoonfuls of wet food more frequently, if you're uncomfortable leaving it out.Originally Posted by Jenny82
How long is it safe to leave wet food out? I have been leaving mine out several hours as he only eats a little at once and comes back several times during the day. Do you think I should I train him to only eat twice a day?
Honestly, no. This is a discussion from about 15 years ago, forget about me remembering all the details!Originally Posted by jaycee
do you know, how did she go about rotating the different foods?