I have had cats most of my childhood and we always just fed dry with no problems. Now it seems that dry food is horrible and unhealthy for cats. What has happened. Most of my adult life i have always owned a dog. I always thought cats would be easier than dogs because if we were to go away for the day or overnight we can leave out food and water. of course anything longer and we would have a pet sitter but feeding strictly wet makes it a lot harder.
-
Too many ads? Join our community of cat lovers now to reduce ads by 90%! Click here to join for free!
Who feeds strictly wet
- Thread starter Val622
- Start Date
Yes, it does. I know there are a lot of 'reasons' to feed wet, and valid points, but that is exactly why I feed dry too to my cats. I have had over 60 years of experience with cats and like you said fed dry years ago for many years with no ill effects or shortening of life. Bad things happen to every living thing and most are not related to food. Some are, but most are related to disease, accidents, and old age. The people who can stay home to feed wet, hire people to come in a couple of times a day to feed, and have cats that aren't tremendously scared of any stranger and hide so cannot be fed, are lucky. It scares cats so badly to be boarded, I would rather them stay at home and have dry food to eat when they are hungry for overnight or a couple of days. The dry food manufacturers are taking notice of the trend to feed wet now too. There are grain-free dry foods out there that are perfectly fine. My outside cats get wet food a couple of times a day but get dry free fed too, there are too many of them. Cats are lucky sometimes to get any food at all. They also get natural prey. I leave a small bowl of weight management out for my inside cats.
That said, wet food is best, and the main reason to feed wet food is providing water/hydration like with natural prey. Cats are prone to kidney disease, especially later in life. So concentrate on providing clean water at all times and getting them to drink more. Fountains are great, they attract attention and get cats to drink more, as is several small bowls set around the house to entice them. I would rather see people enjoy their cats, and afford them, then not providing a cat with a home because you can't afford wet food. Do research on the dry food and you will be fine.
That said, wet food is best, and the main reason to feed wet food is providing water/hydration like with natural prey. Cats are prone to kidney disease, especially later in life. So concentrate on providing clean water at all times and getting them to drink more. Fountains are great, they attract attention and get cats to drink more, as is several small bowls set around the house to entice them. I would rather see people enjoy their cats, and afford them, then not providing a cat with a home because you can't afford wet food. Do research on the dry food and you will be fine.
A huge increase in overweight, diabetic, and kidney issue cats happened. Kibble is far too carb heavy for an obligate carnivore and as cats are designed to get their moisture from food, it's not hard to see how such an inappropriate diet can lead to issues in an animal fed long term. Now feeding dry on occasion isn't going to be an issue, as on vacation or a meal time when wet isn't easily done, but as a stable diet, not ideal for the animal you have chosen to keep.
I believe the big increase in kidney, diabetic and weight issues are due to people bringing their cats into the vets for sceduled check ups. Cats were VERY rarely brought in to a vet at all 50 years ago. Cats are pets now, a member of the family. Not mice catchers as they once were. There are several grainfree dry foods out there to reduce carbs. Humans arent meant to be vegatarians either. But it is pushed on them all the time. Sure being healthier is great, but if you are miserable it doesnt matter. Moderation in all things is the key.....
We feed all wet to our cat, Buddy. We are blessed to have the situation that we are able to do so. I have a friend in the neighborhood that has a key to my house and if there is ever an emergency, she can come in (or her husband) to feed Buddy, play, clean box, etc. I do the same for her. They have several kitties and take care of them the same way I do our Buddy. Otherwise, it would be impossible to feed wet 100%. I'd have to try and find a dry food he will eat if he is hungry enough.
He ate dry food and wet at the rescue we adopted him from, but wouldn't touch it anymore when I found a canned food he likes and can tolerate (chicken allergy). He is not a water drinker. I have tried different fountains, bowls, trickling water at the sink, everything. I don't want to really find a dry food he might like, just in case it makes him not want wet food. He has constipation issues so we keep him 100% wet food to make sure he gets plenty of liquid/moisture in his diet.
It can be a challenge, since he can't do chicken. I feed him a variety - lamb, rabbit, venison. They can be very expensive. I have to order from different places, none of the ones we use are available locally. Chewy for 2, Amazon sometimes, and a smaller store that mail orders RAWZ. The only lamb that Buddy will eat is out of canned and who knows when/if it will come back. Right now we are doing Rawz Rabbit, Lotus Venison Stew and TIkicat Venison w/Beef Liver. The Tikicat goes in and out of stock, so I have to keep an eye out on when it is available, then stock up like crazy. Of all 3 of these, I have built up a large stock for when/if they are unavailable. But...I work from home so I have the time do to this. We have only one cat, so even though the food is expensive, we can afford it, etc.
You just have to do the best you can! As much wet food as possible is best for them as good a quality you can afford, and if you have to use dry food, find one that is the best quality you can afford in reason.
He ate dry food and wet at the rescue we adopted him from, but wouldn't touch it anymore when I found a canned food he likes and can tolerate (chicken allergy). He is not a water drinker. I have tried different fountains, bowls, trickling water at the sink, everything. I don't want to really find a dry food he might like, just in case it makes him not want wet food. He has constipation issues so we keep him 100% wet food to make sure he gets plenty of liquid/moisture in his diet.
It can be a challenge, since he can't do chicken. I feed him a variety - lamb, rabbit, venison. They can be very expensive. I have to order from different places, none of the ones we use are available locally. Chewy for 2, Amazon sometimes, and a smaller store that mail orders RAWZ. The only lamb that Buddy will eat is out of canned and who knows when/if it will come back. Right now we are doing Rawz Rabbit, Lotus Venison Stew and TIkicat Venison w/Beef Liver. The Tikicat goes in and out of stock, so I have to keep an eye out on when it is available, then stock up like crazy. Of all 3 of these, I have built up a large stock for when/if they are unavailable. But...I work from home so I have the time do to this. We have only one cat, so even though the food is expensive, we can afford it, etc.
You just have to do the best you can! As much wet food as possible is best for them as good a quality you can afford, and if you have to use dry food, find one that is the best quality you can afford in reason.
I try to feed wet, because I know it's better for our cats. The biggest problem is getting them to EAT the wet.
We finally found that if we alternate wet foods with weruva/tiki pouches/fancy feast they'll eat the wet without getting 'tired' of it, but a few of my cats are very 'LOL FEED ME DRY CRUNCHIES OR I WILL DESTROY YOU' so x.x They eat solid gold dry at night with their wet in the morning and I've given up as I think this might just be the best compromise I can get
We finally found that if we alternate wet foods with weruva/tiki pouches/fancy feast they'll eat the wet without getting 'tired' of it, but a few of my cats are very 'LOL FEED ME DRY CRUNCHIES OR I WILL DESTROY YOU' so x.x They eat solid gold dry at night with their wet in the morning and I've given up as I think this might just be the best compromise I can get
We had a kitty like that - Nilla, our kitty before Buddy. I tried everything under the sun to get her to eat wet/canned/pouch food. For her it was dry or nothing. I did manage to be able to add water to her dry food - she'd drink up the water and then eat the crunchies before they got soggy. She would also drink out of a fountain and a coffee mug - she had several coffee mugs around the house. She came from a rescue eating dry that was all she would eat - wasn't even interested in people food.
One of the reasons is that we have learned new things about cats. There are many more indoor cats now, which tend to live way longer and many more cats going to the vet. So we've learned that dry food can make symptoms worse if a cat has a predisposition or underlying condition. We've also learned that wet food can prevent many things.
Even indoor/outdoor cats before were eating a combination of biologically appropriate things like insects, birds and small rodents plus the dry food at home. Now we keep them inside, they live longer but they only eat the dry food, and then they develop problems.
So you see, it's not about just the food but about the bigger picture of how we've changed lives for cat.
Even indoor/outdoor cats before were eating a combination of biologically appropriate things like insects, birds and small rodents plus the dry food at home. Now we keep them inside, they live longer but they only eat the dry food, and then they develop problems.
So you see, it's not about just the food but about the bigger picture of how we've changed lives for cat.
I feed my Ruby strictly wet, along with just a few Party Mix treats each day to give her something crunchy. I haven't had to leave her overnight, and I am also home with her most days, so feeding fresh wet food throughout the day is easy.
On the odd occasion that I've been away all day, I've just left a lot of wet food in her dishes, and it's been fine. There's also the option of leaving frozen wet food in timed feeders, which will open throughout the day.
As for how long wet food should be left out, that question will generate many different answers, as the threads in the below link will show.
Search Results for Query: how long wet food
On the odd occasion that I've been away all day, I've just left a lot of wet food in her dishes, and it's been fine. There's also the option of leaving frozen wet food in timed feeders, which will open throughout the day.
As for how long wet food should be left out, that question will generate many different answers, as the threads in the below link will show.
Search Results for Query: how long wet food
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2022
- Messages
- 247
- Purraise
- 173
Wet food is definitely less convenient than dry food, but yes, dry food is unhealthy for cats and contains no benefits other than keeping them alive. If you're able to hire a pet sitter to come feed the cats wet food once or twice a day, that would be better. Of course, you need to do what is best for you, but if you can make the switch to wet food (or better yet, raw) I highly recommend it.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #11
Thanks for all the input. My kitten is on wet food. He loves Weruva and I try mixing it with wellness core wet . But I have also heard that wellness core can contribute to urinary problems. So I plan on switching that. But might feed a little dry just to make in easier when we are out. Maybe 10 percent.
Some dry doesn't usually hurt. I usually recommend it (especially if budget constraints say that an all wet diet would limit the ability to go to the vet).
Wellness quality has really fallen in my area lately (my friend said she's found plastic in her cats food twice, though didn't specify wet or dry). My cats got sick on it last year so I just scrapped it as a personal preference after reporting the illness to the company.
Purina finished a longitudinal study and updated their formulas. I highly recommend their foods. The salt and phosphorus in most of their formulas are lower than Wellness, Blue Buffalo, etc. My cats eat the urinary, chicken and rice and Prime Plus formulas. Theres enough variety of protein and texture for them. I've tried Fancy Feast chicken pate recently to try and lower costs a bit which is going well.
I'd recommend Purina Pro plan dry as well, or Instinct dry food. I'm feeding Arcana dry due to an allergy issue and I mix it with Blue Buffalo but we might stop that as there's been many recalls of that brand as of late.
I substitute Wureva or ApplePaws a couple times a week as sales allow.
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2020
- Messages
- 333
- Purraise
- 587
Before I knew any different, I fed exclusively dry food. I literally didn’t know anything about cat nutrition. Those cats had urinary problems, weight problems, threw up hair balls every day, and were always acting hungry.
This time around I’m feeding about two thirds wet and one third dry. These cats are doing so much better, the difference is night and day. They are a healthy weight, no urinary problems, no hair balls, and they are satisfied, no begging for food. The reasons I still feed some dry is 1) monetary, it’s quite expensive to feed exclusively wet, and 2) I’m a realist about the world we live in and life in general. Something could happen whereby they cant get wet food for a time. A natural disaster, a war, food shortages, something that happens to me and I cant care for them, they end up in a shelter. I want their bodies and taste buds accustomed to dry food.
They love both kinds of food and are good eaters. I normally feed the wet first, with added water, then finish up with dry until they walk away. No food out between meals. If I put both wet and dry side by side in the bowl, all three of them eat the wet first.
Its definitely inconvenient sometimes, but all the health problems and whining for food constantly was even more inconvenient.
This time around I’m feeding about two thirds wet and one third dry. These cats are doing so much better, the difference is night and day. They are a healthy weight, no urinary problems, no hair balls, and they are satisfied, no begging for food. The reasons I still feed some dry is 1) monetary, it’s quite expensive to feed exclusively wet, and 2) I’m a realist about the world we live in and life in general. Something could happen whereby they cant get wet food for a time. A natural disaster, a war, food shortages, something that happens to me and I cant care for them, they end up in a shelter. I want their bodies and taste buds accustomed to dry food.
They love both kinds of food and are good eaters. I normally feed the wet first, with added water, then finish up with dry until they walk away. No food out between meals. If I put both wet and dry side by side in the bowl, all three of them eat the wet first.
Its definitely inconvenient sometimes, but all the health problems and whining for food constantly was even more inconvenient.
I’m supposed to be changing Daisy to all wet because of her weight and her megacolon, but I just don’t see it happening. There are times she doesn’t want it at all and when she does, she only eats half of a 50g sachet at most. She also wanders off if she can’t see me, and if she does that Phoebe pinches the food. There’s no way she’s getting 200 calories a day from wet food, I have to give dry. She’s picky enough she won’t even eat the good Applaws she used to like, no, it has to be not so good Fussy Cat. I don’t know how I’m going to get her weight down, she hasn’t lost any.
Dry food addicts are always a tough case to crack!
My biggest recommendation is always just to get them moving to eat the dry food. Even if it's just a few steps at first.
I’d love to take her for walks, it would be quite safe to do here, but she doesn’t like the harness (my last girl, Maddie, took to it every quickly).
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2022
- Messages
- 81
- Purraise
- 230
My old lady cat ate dry food her whole life and lived to a little over fifteen years. Feisty to the end. She was a kitten while I still relied on my family and dry was what we could afford. Later on, all she wanted was her Purina Tender Selects and I was just happy to have found a food she liked that didn't make her vomit like the Meow Mix of her youth did.
Max is a young boy and only eats wet. It took some time but I've broadened his horizons enough that he'll eat anything I put down at this point, but kibble of all kinds so far have consistently given him the runs so I gave up (my original plan was half wet and half kibble). The money saved on food was eaten up by having to replace the litter more frequently and buy cleaning sprays to wipe up everywhere he walked with his dirty poo beans.
At the end of the day, every cat and home situation is different. Feed them what's within your means, something they'll eat consistently that doesn't upset their stomach / cause side effects in their health. AKA Just Do Your Best.
Max is a young boy and only eats wet. It took some time but I've broadened his horizons enough that he'll eat anything I put down at this point, but kibble of all kinds so far have consistently given him the runs so I gave up (my original plan was half wet and half kibble). The money saved on food was eaten up by having to replace the litter more frequently and buy cleaning sprays to wipe up everywhere he walked with his dirty poo beans.
At the end of the day, every cat and home situation is different. Feed them what's within your means, something they'll eat consistently that doesn't upset their stomach / cause side effects in their health. AKA Just Do Your Best.
If started on dry it will be hard to switch to wet so my cats have only eaten wet. My cat josie had triaditis and Maggie ibd so genetics,certain proteins,nothing is confirmed though I do believe moisture is important which you won't get from dry. People, also mamals,get constipated from not drinking enough water. If we ate too many chips we would feel sick and not feel good, like cats eating dry food. Better safe than sorry. It does cost alot but so does taking your cat to the vet
Oh yes, though I'm sure going on a walk would be good. I mean just indoor movement. Something like putting a few peices of kibble every few paces, or a treat ball. Movement for kibble. It really helped me to get Nobel to lose weight.
I tried a treat ball and she looked at me like I was asking her to do quadratic equations! Even the puzzle plate was the same. “I can’t fit my face in that! How can I eat?”
She does walk around a fair bit - she’ll abandon her food to follow me into the bedroom because she doesn’t like me to be out of sight. It’s not far, though.
Tried a laser pointer, too. Nope. She’ll watch it with interest but not chase it. The most she exercises is when she and Phoebe do their late-night cavorts.
