Cat food: Wet or Dry food?

[Delvis]

Hello all

Just a quick question for all of the cat owners (As I know there are a fair few on here)

What do you feed your cats? Wet or dry food? How many times if so and why?

I'm getting worried about a cat we have...My mother insists on giving her wet food, so much now that the cat eats around the dry food if it's put in with it, and will just cry if she gets no wet food...

I was under the impression that dry food is generally better concerning teeth etc...?

She wil eat the dry food if you leave it out, but only if she has too...And seing as I'm the only one home this week she does!

Ta all

 

[Delvis]

Both. Sometimes dry only (iams). Sometimes wet only. Sometimes mixed. I guess just for variety.

He usually gets fed twice a day.

Thanks for that, I'm just trying to encourage the cat to eat the dry more, that's all

Attempting to give her wet food just in the evenings...and put biscuits down throughout the day.

Our cat is 4 months old now too...So do you think we should just put say biscuits down in the morning / throughout the day then give her a wet meal in the evening? ...

EDIT: Read your edit too

Ah okay...its like anyone I guess, your going to eat a piece of steak of over a digestive biscuit aren't you?

 

[Delvis]

For me it depends on the season - Wet food for spring and summer as its got a higher water content, and dry for part of autumn and winter with plenty of fresh water out at all times.

Key thing to remember is never to put out both at the same time if the dry food is a complete solution such as iams, as it leads to a fat moggie.

With the wet food, its one can per day per cat (average cat size of course) split up over 2-3 smaller servings. So its usually once in the morning 9am, then again at 2pm and then finally at 8/9pm.

With dry food, its usually around 30g for the day for an adult cat, so again its 10g each at the above times. Only thing with dry food is your cat may net actually believe its no longer hungry, and may try to steal more!

Cheers buddy.

The food my mum currently has is Wiskers branded, so no idea what thats like compared to Iams...?

All I have to do now is convince my mum of a few things!...Still not entirely sure of what to do though....Perhaps it could be the type of dry food she has too?

EDIT: Read your edit D)

Yep, always have a bowl of water next to the food, I tend to change / top it up every so often

 

[Delvis]

Yep, you can get really good dry food, like iams or James Wellbeloved - both are considered complete solutions, so no wet food is required or should be given when the cats are eatign it. Just plenty of water.

Our two cats tend to stay away from the water bowl, but love drinking from a running tap, so we just leave a trickle running in the bath and they help themselves.

Whiskas dry food is fine, but check and compare the nutritional value compared to iams

I meant whiskas wet food

I believe the dry food is the james wellbloved that you said...But as I said we leave plenty of water out

 

[Delvis]

Yeah, whiskas and felix are all fine - its all made by purina anyway

As long as its got taurine, which they all do, then its all good.

Fair do's

I'd just prefer if the cat had the dry food more...Generally cheaper as well concerning we have no money as it is.

 

[Delvis]

Thinking about it, if your cat is 4 months old, then he/she should still be on a kitten type food. That is usually recommended for anything under 6/8 months as its got a higher carb/protein level. As you cat is still growing, right up until 1 year old, kitten foods may be a good option.

Check the packaging and websites, as they usually give age recommendations.

That's what I thought, however i'm not the one looking after the cat so to speak, it's my mothers.

I don't know

EDIT: Ugh, I'm worried now that she should be having kitten food still.

 

[Delvis]

Kitten food should be fed up to 12 months, then switch to adult. They need more fat in their diets to grow so should not be on adult food until fully grown. I believe it is better to feed an adult cat kitten food than vice versa.

My cats are free fed dry (James Wellbeloved) and only get wet food as a treat. They have access to a water fountain all the time.

Yeah...I'll have to convince my mother then.

She's got a checkup at the vets soon, so i'll get her to ask / i'll go with her

 

[Delvis]

Thanks for all the info guys...So basically wet and dry food are both recommended..Although wet in not such bast quantities.

Then ideally should be having kitten wet/dry food untill around a year...?

 

[Delvis]

Dry is miles cheaper and much higher quality in terms of meat content. Science Plan chicken is about 70% meat.

Aye, and considering they don't have a lot of money as it is, i'd have thought getting a fair bit of dry then some wet to mix in would be the better option