Cat owners

[hrh_disney_queen]

I posted awhile back about our new kitten. I haven't ever had a cat when it was my responsibility to take care of it. I had one when I was a child. So...I have been feeding her only dry food because that is what I am used to with our dogs. I never really occurred to me that she should have canned also. Do you feed your cats canned and dry? Only one or the other? I feel bad if she was supposed to be getting canned food and all I am giving her is dry.

BTW, she has almost tripled in size in the month that we have had her, so she is not physically missing out on anything.


ETA..the kids finally decided on a name for her. Get ready for this.....Gingersnap Carmel Apple Doodle. I am just going to keep calling her Baby, I am so used to it. It's better than what they wanted to name Zoey, below. They wanted to name her Dirty Shovel!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

It is good to give a cat wet/canned food. Cats are notorious for urinary tract problems and the more liquids a cat takes in the better.
Don't feel bad that you have only been giving your precious Baby dry food. I don't give mine canned food every day usually every 2-3 days.

 

[SaraJayne]

My three kitties (and past kitties) have never had wet food. They've always gotten dry kibble and none of them have ever had any problems.

Cats don't need wet food. It's up to you what you give them. If your kitten is getting dry kitten food and she's growing and healthy, she's fine and doesn't need anymore. Just make sure you have lots of fresh clean water available for her.

 

[Youarehere]

I posted awhile back about our new kitten. I haven't ever had a cat when it was my responsibility to take care of it. I had one when I was a child. So...I have been feeding her only dry food because that is what I am used to with our dogs. I never really occurred to me that she should have canned also. Do you feed your cats canned and dry? Only one or the other? I feel bad if she was supposed to be getting canned food and all I am giving her is dry.

BTW, she has almost tripled in size in the month that we have had her, so she is not physically missing out on anything.


ETA..the kids finally decided on a name for her. Get ready for this.....Gingersnap Carmel Apple Doodle. I am just going to keep calling her Baby, I am so used to it. It's better than what they wanted to name Zoey, below. They wanted to name her Dirty Shovel!

Just trying to read your post- the oversized signature makes it very hard.

 

[Youarehere]

Ok- now that I read it....

Ask your vet!!!

Personally- I used to always feed dry food but DBF and I started calling it cereal and it occured to me that I am feeding my kitties the same dry cereal day after day. So we include a wet meal in the evening and still leave the cereal out at all times. The vomiting, especially in the oldest kitty has been greatly reduced.

I have also read that based on a cats natural diet- you know- birds, mice- they should get wet food because the wet food is closer to a naturally moist diet of newly killed animals. Makes sense. So that is my answer- Both- for variety and health.

 

[Imzadi]

Are you feeding her KITTEN dry food? There's extra protein & nutrients in it for growing kittens. Usually they make the dry kitten formulas so that you can wet them down with warm water and create a "gravy" which will soften the kibble and make it easier for them to eat it.

 

[disney1990]

We feed both of our cats 1/3 can of canned food, plus dry food each day.

One of them was feed only dry food as a kitten and got "blocked up". He had to have several vet induced enemas to clear up the problem. The vet said that he must have some wet food every day.

 

[Sparx]

how old is he/she?

under 1 year (approximately of course) he/she needs KITTEN food, over one year, cat food is fine.

they don't need wet food. personally, i feed my cat whiskas dry food, and she seems to enjoy that. i switch it up with meow mix every once in awhile, she doesn't seem to have a preference.

has your cat been fixed? you need to make sure to have an indoor cat fixed, especially if its a girl. when they go into heat, they'll SPRAY everything in the house, INCLUDING YOU!

other than that, just make sure his/her litter box is cleaned daily. if it gets too messy by his/her standards, they may start going to the bathroom elsewhere (like the bathtub or in your dirty clothes hamper. yuck!)

if he/she has long hair, he/she will have hair balls. if you are feeding dry food, look for food that is "hairball formulated." you can also buy "cat grass" its sold at walmart, and its a small pot of grass that grows with little care, and the cat will eat it if he or she has an upset stomach, to help it throw up. its really gross, i know, but thats what cats do in the wild, so they need that same luxury in your home.

 

[N.Bailey]

My cat hates EVERYTHING, so in addition to her dry food, I give her half a can of Fancy Feast a day. It's only an ounce and a half a day and she so looks forward to it. She's even particular about the Fancy Feast dinners. I have to buy the ones in gravy only. She won't have anything to do with that minced stuff.

We just got a new kitten too and she hates Fancy Feast, lol. She loves just about everything else though. So, I give her bits of chicken, turkey, salmon and other fish, and even give her tuna if I have nothing else available that she can eat.

It seems like the dog and the older cat love her kitten chow too, so we're going thru a LOT of it lately. It gets pretty costly giving a Lab kitten chow.

 

[Feralpeg]

My cats are 15 and 17 year old. They have never eaten anything but dry food and they are in great shape. My vet told me to avoid wet food if possible because it sticks to their teeth and promotes decay. The dry food is much better for their dental health.

 

[mamacatnv]

My cats are 15 and 17 year old. They have never eaten anything but dry food and they are in great shape. My vet told me to avoid wet food if possible because it sticks to their teeth and promotes decay. The dry food is much better for their dental health.

What she said - that is the same advice my vet gives us and we have had cats now for 25 years without any major health issues.

I have been reading up on a trend of feeding cats a "raw" diet but it is not something that one is going to find in their local grocery store anytime soon.

 

[surfergirl602]

I don't give any of my animals wet food. It's actually not that great for them, says every vet we've ever seen. It's fattening, bad for their teeth, and they really don't need it. The hard food has everything that they need (a good quality food) and helps with the tartar etc on their teeth. Cats drink plenty of water, and as many as I've had, they've never had any urinal problems.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

I am feeding her kitten dry food. I was looking at the canned food and didn't see any kitten canned food. I am also concerned like Youarehere there isn't enough variety for her. She has no problem crunching up her kibble, and I don't give her treats. She is about 4 months old. I will have her spayed at 6 months. I have an automatic litter box that scoops the clumps into a plastic disposable container that I toss every week. It seems to be fine for her. She has short hair. Here is a pic for y'all to see how sweet she is, although she just clawed my leg pretty bad climbing up into my lap!

 

[Disneylover79]

I leave dry food down all day and then they get a can of wet food in the morning and the evening....BTW your baby is sooo cute!!!! I have an orange cat and he has the best personality and he is so handsome.....

 

[robinb]

I have had cats all my life and my cats always eat dry food only. I can not stand the smell of wet cat food. Yuck!

 

[RadioNate]

My cats don't get wet food. If you can avoid it, I would. Wet food is gross and smells bad. Lol.
Both my cats are pretty picky and will only eat that. I don't think they need variety.

My cats growing up got wet food because they wouldn't eat dry. My current cats have had less health problems.

 

[Mysteria]

I've been through it all with the cats in my life. First two ate semi-moist and dry. They weren't brother and sister but were born in the same house around the same time so it made sense.

Next one I had only ate dry food.

The one I have now will only eat moist food.

Btw, that pic is adorable!!!

 

[dawson5]

Our Peanut would never eat wet food. Once he had a nasty UTI and I took him in to the vet. He pushed buying some "prescription food" for him and it was wet. I told him my cat doesn't eat wet. He said "he'll eat it when he gets hungry." Three days of trying to get him to eat it with no results. I called the vet and he said put some of his dry on it. Peanut would eat the dry off the top and not touch the wet at all. I gave up. I don't know if it's true or not anymore but he told us (keep in mind this was 20+ yrs ago) that ash in the food was the cause of his UTI's, he had a few of them. We went reading info on foods and dad's was the only one with low ash. Later they came out with a specific low ash formula but that made him puke. We kept him on the dad's his whole life, it was hard moving three times in his life but we did it. He passed away at 15 from diabetes.

 

[HeatherH]

Awww, your kitty is adorable! Orange kitties are my favorite, although I am partial to the males, they are always so sweet.

As for feeding, all my cats seem to be different in their preferences. Getting enough WATER into a cat is sometimes a problem, and wet food definitely helps with that. I've taken care of strays that wouldn't drink water from a bowl, and after eating a gravy kind of wet food their coats felt MUCH better. They really did need the moisture.

Cats are carnivores, and most dry foods are full of fillers and are mostly carbs. However, I do give my cats both types of food. The female VASTLY prefers the wet food (Fancy Feast) and the male prefers the dry, but they both eat both. And I know they drink water.

Just google "do cats need wet food" and you'll get plenty of opinions that say they do. Talk to your vet about it too. I wouldn't worry too much either way, as long as you sure your kitty is drinking plenty of water.

 

[pixiewings71]

According to our vet and my BFF who is a vet tech, cats don't need wet ever. So, my girls get dry in their feeder, and they have a water dispenser so they get plenty of both.