We tried wet food!

[crumbandharvey]

When Crumb was little, I (without knowing much about cat food) was giving him what I thought was good food, simply because it had natural colors on the front -- I thought it was Purina Beneful for Cats, but I can't even find it existing! -- and it was the most expensive cat food they carried at the wholesale club. In retrospect... there was a big ole picture of a corncob on it. Bad idea. After a night of constipation leading to a bloody stool (and me running around the apartment crying with Crumb wrapped in a blanket like a cat burrito), I went to PetSmart and asked for help. The lady switched me to Authority Kitten, and then eventually I switched to Authority Sensitive Solutions, which is what I was on... until I came here.

I recently made the switch to Before Grain Chicken to try and give my boys a grain free diet. But I've been hesitant about adding wet food -- my experiences growing up with wet food were of my family's rather obese cat begging for food all hours of the day, puking wet food up, and being generally a smellycat. I loved her, but I didn't want the same fate for my boys. Our second cat only ate kibble -- but I've realized since then he was indoor/outdoor, and he was supplementing his diet with wild game constantly.

The fear of dehydration and crystals has literally been bugging me for weeks now... and so I did it. I don't think I'm switching to all wet anytime soon, but I think a mixed diet will definitely help, as well as the 2nd water dish I put on the other side of the apartment -- they drink out of it all the time! I like the Before Grain brand and have heard positive things about Merrick, so I got 1 of their Chicken, 1 Beef, 1 Chicken and Quail, and 1 Turkey to see what the boys like. Harvey will eat anything, but Crumb is picky. I gave them each 1/4 of a can, which seemed to be too much. And of course... I videotaped it. Forgiveness for still having grungy work clothes on, but I couldn't wait to see how it would go.


So you can kind of see how much I gave... Crumb probably ate a third, and the kitten about 2/3 before he started losing interest. The kitten will eat anything, though. Does a couple of spoonfuls seem like a reasonable portion? How much do your cats eat, if they are both wet/dry?

 

[mschauer]

Your boys are both gorgeous! Crumb looks like a foster I had recently. Her fur is so soft!

When I fed canned and dry food each meal would be either a 3 oz can of wet or 1/4 cup of dry for each adult. Kittens generally eat about twice as much as adults but basically they should be given as much as they want.

I'm glad they like their extra watering hole!

 

[ldg]

Oh how cute is that?!

We have three kitties that eat both wet and dry. One eats mostly dry. She'll eat about 1/8 of a 3.5 oz can of wet at each of the 4 wet meals they get each day (she weighs about 7 pounds and is 8 yrs old). Tuxedo eats a little less than 1/4 of a 3.5 oz can at each meal (he's 9 and weighs about 11 3/4 pounds). Lazlo eats between 1/4 and 1/2 of a 3.5 oz can (when he's doing good on eating, he's the one with cancer) at each meal (he's 9 and weighs a little over 11 pounds). The rest of their calories/nutrition come from dry food. I don't measure their dry. I don't let them free feed, but they self-regulate. Living in the RV, I think our cats get less exercise, so they all seem to need significantly less than recommended amounts as listed on feeding guides.

We have two overweight cats at this point, so for the three cats that didn't make the switch to all wet, I just let them eat kibble whenever they ask for it, I don't leave it out.

Given our kitties are so much older, I'm not sure this helps.

 

[minka]

My cat only gets one to one and a half spoonfuls per meal and he's a 16lb cat, so one should be enough for your adult cat. Kittens can have as much as they want. (Keep in mind though that I don't mush it up beforehand like it looks like you did. I cut it out of the can in sections, probably 1/4th or less of the can at a time.)

When he was eating wet And dry, he ate 1/16 cup dry in the morning, less than 1/2 a can wet in the afternoon and 1/16th dry in the evening. This was when he weighed 20lbs though.

 

[crumbandharvey]

Oddly, nothing was mushed... I was surprised at the pate-like consistency as well. It came out of the can like a thick puree. I assumed this must just be a quality of grain-free food, since there's nothing keeping it together?

The kitten wanted more food, but I was hesitant to give it to him. Thanks to all for suggesting I let him eat and see how it goes.

Tomorrow, I think we'll try Chicken and Quail.

 

[just mike]

Ohhh, they are cute! I feed a mixed diet. I have 4 cats of various ages. Their wet to dry percentage per day is approximately (I say approx because I free feed the dry) 70wet/30dry. As I said I free feed the dry and have scheduled feeding of the wet 2x daily.

Best of luck with the wet issue. Don't stress over the dry, if they are getting plenty of water they should do just fine

 

[cat person]

All my cats are either on a mixed diet (commercial wet and commercial dry) plus dry food, or in the case of my Savannah cat pure dry and one mouse a day. All my cats are perfectly healthy.

Like NutroMike said as long as your cat(s) drink enough water all should be well. Mine sure seem to from litter box scooping/cleaning chores

.

Lastly my cats have never had an issue with a UTI

.

 

[Draco]

I leave about 2 cups of dry (buffalo blue Wilderness) out a day (if it empties, I dont refill until next day) between two cats.

And whatever brand/flavor wet food I give them, sometimes they'll eat it all in one sitting, sometimes they take a bite, walk away, come back few minutes later for another bite.. depends on what they like. they each get 1 can a day (half in the morning, half in the evening)

 

[crumbandharvey]

So far, they're not eating a lot of it... Harvey maybe 1/3 can and Crumb less than 1/4. They like it room temp better than cold, and anything they don't eat in 10 minutes I'm taking up. I've been feeding them once I get home... which sometimes is by 5p, but usually is by 11p (three jobs is fun!). But hopefully, some is better than none.

Once they eat their fill, they both do this weird little dance around it to try to "cover it up" -- they begin to paw at the areas around the bowls. Especially Crumb. Crumb has even walked into the next room and dragged DB's sketching paper over and put the sheet on top of the bowl to cover it!

 

[cat person]

Originally Posted by CrumbAndHarvey

....Once they eat their fill, they both do this weird little dance around it to try to "cover it up" -- they begin to paw at the areas around the bowls. Especially Crumb. Crumb has even walked into the next room and dragged DB's sketching paper over and put the sheet on top of the bowl to cover it!

That is a very common cat behavior. Wild cats (Lions, Tigers, Servals etc) use grass, sticks, twigs, and dirt to hide excess food to eat for latter. Our "domestic cats" still have that instinct to hide excessive food.

Here is a video to show what I mean: .

Lastly my Savannah tries to hide his mouse with different items before he consumes it

.

 

[minka]

Originally Posted by CrumbAndHarvey

They like it room temp better than cold

Most cats do. The best way to heat it up is with hot water.

 

[just mike]

Originally Posted by CrumbAndHarvey

So far, they're not eating a lot of it... Harvey maybe 1/3 can and Crumb less than 1/4. They like it room temp better than cold, and anything they don't eat in 10 minutes I'm taking up. I've been feeding them once I get home... which sometimes is by 5p, but usually is by 11p (three jobs is fun!). But hopefully, some is better than none.

Once they eat their fill, they both do this weird little dance around it to try to "cover it up" -- they begin to paw at the areas around the bowls. Especially Crumb. Crumb has even walked into the next room and dragged DB's sketching paper over and put the sheet on top of the bowl to cover it!

It might take the awhile to get used to the new feeding schedule. A cat will typically "graze" from 7 to 30 times a day. So if there is nothing to graze on they might try to "hide it for later"