Not Adding Water To Wet Food..?

[xenathecrazy]

Up until now my kitten has been fine with 1-2 tablespoons added to his wet food, but recently there are some brands or flavors that he's not quite fond of if I add the water. Is feeding right out of the can perfectly fine and enough moisture if that's all the water they get? I've been adding the water just for added benefits. He does have a fountain to drink from but he doesn't use it very often. He does eat some dry food too.

 

[KarenKat]

I say feed him how he likes it. I add the water too because I think Olive prefers it as well (and it seems nicer to add warm water for leftovers), but only to pates. I don’t think adding it to the couple of gravy flavors I feed would mix well and she laps those us quite exhuberantly.

I think I saw someone here calculate that a little extra water is needed in addition to canned food to meet the necessary water, but if he drinks some out of a fountain and you add some to the flavors he likes it in, I wouldn’t worry too much. We have two boys that refuse a lot of wet food and only eat dry food, so any wet is better than that (they drink a ton of water, but I doubt it’s enough).

 

[xenathecrazy]

It's mostly the pates that I add it to. I sometimes nuke leftovers in the microwave because I forget to let it sit out for a bit before serving and then add some water. I guess I'll just add it to what I can and that he readily accepts.

 

[MissMolly08]

I don't add water to wet food. My cat has a bowl of water available and she drinks when she really needs it. I give her dry food on rare occasions that I am not home for a wet meal... Last time I gave her dry, I came back and she had downed her whole bowl of water! Shows you how much she NEEDS the water when fed dry!! I never see her drink when she gets her 2 wet meals a day!

 

[duckpond]

my cats will not eat wet if i add water, so i do not add it. But my guys are fussy, they also will not eat microwaved food

 

[Erin80]

I haven’t added water, but I do find that my two prefer the wetter pates to the thicker ones (they love nutro soft loaf or performatrin ultra (Canadian brand), but they won’t touch Authority brand as it is a very dry pate). I do microwave the leftovers from the fridge and they’re fine with that.

 

[LTS3]

Is feeding right out of the can perfectly fine and enough moisture if that's all the water they get?

Yes Canned food feeding instructions don't say to add food before serving anyways. And always have a bowl of fresh water available regardless of what you feed. Cats may still drink out a bowl on occasion. My two raw fed only cats drink out of their water bowl. One does it several times daily.

 

[Wile]

It's mostly the pates that I add it to. I sometimes nuke leftovers in the microwave because I forget to let it sit out for a bit before serving and then add some water. I guess I'll just add it to what I can and that he readily accepts.

Is it ok to nuke cat food? I was under the impression that cooking the food will destroy some of the nutrients in it, so I have avoided ever heating up any cat food beyond room/body temperature.

 

[daftcat75]

Is it ok to nuke cat food? I was under the impression that cooking the food will destroy some of the nutrients in it, so I have avoided ever heating up any cat food beyond room/body temperature.

Microwaving will destroy some nutrients and change the structue of proteins, potentially making them less digestible.

My Krista hates waiting for it, but I always warm her food in a hot water bath until there's no chill left in it--a minute or two in a small sealed container under hot water. It doesn't have to be body temperature, but it doesn't have to be fridge temperature either.

 

[ailish]

I nuke food from the refrigerator to "barely warm." Ailish is happy and healthy. She does prefer food from a newly opened can, but I explained to her that if she's going to get the expensive food she can't have it from the tiny cans. She has grudgingly accepted this. I also add a decent amount of water, which so far she always eats all of. She never drinks from the bowl, which is fresh morning and night.

 

[xenathecrazy]

I wasn't too sure of the safety of warming up in the microwave. It's technically not good for humans either but I do when I forget to take it out of the fridge on time. He doesn't eat it cold. Maybe I'll just add warm water to it instead.

 

[Gizmobius]

When I warm up Stevie’s wet food, I microwave it for a quick 8 seconds and then add warm water to get it the rest of the way there. I highly doubt 8 seconds destroys anything so I don’t worry.

 

[xenathecrazy]

8 seconds with warm water is what I do as well.

 

[CatptainKittyLady]

I have two cats. A female maine coon calico mix (Cleopatra, Cleo for short) and a male domestic short hair Tuxedo (Panda. Because he looks like one. xD ) I give them dry food in the morning and wet food at night. I've never heard of adding water to it though. What does adding water do? Is that something I should be doing?

 

[xenathecrazy]

I have two cats. A female maine coon calico mix (Cleopatra, Cleo for short) and a male domestic short hair Tuxedo (Panda. Because he looks like one. xD ) I give them dry food in the morning and wet food at night. I've never heard of adding water to it though. What does adding water do? Is that something I should be doing?

Some of us add some water just for extra hydration since cats don't normally drink enough to meet their needs from their water bowls. It's not necessarily because it is necessary.

 

[krystab]

I’ve added water to the kittens food from day 1 since that’s what they were doing at the shelter. He seems to like it best in a kinda soupy consistency. If I give it to him without the water he looks at me like I’m nuts... then I add water. My 13 yo also seems to like the soupier consistency too. Anything to ensure they get enough hydration.

I will also do a quick 10 sec nuke to anything coming out of the fridge. I really don’t think it’ll kill off enough nutrition to worry about it