Cat owners

[MichelleVW]

I've seen both sides of the argument. I don't usually give my cats wet food and they do fine.

I did have a skin and bones stray show up last week and I've been feeding her 2 or 3 cans of wet food a day plus dry to fatten her up, but once she puts on some weight I don't know that I'll keep up the wet. (I should stop calling her a stray though because I already took her to the vet, made her an appointment to get fixed when she gains some weight and her name is Olive! )

 

[HelenePA]

IAMS makes a wet kitten food but that's the only one I think I've ever seen. Mine only get wet MAYBE once a month. They dont really like it and I usually wind up throwing it out.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

We have 3 cats plus we care for foster kittens for our neighborhood cat rescue organization. Usually our cats get only dry food, but there are times that our vet has recommended wet. All the foster kittens get a little wet kitten food with a vitamin powder mixed into it once a day - but it's only about a tablespoon at most. The rest of the time they have dry kitten food. Too much wet food can give them digestive troubles.

Of our 3 adult cats, one has a sensitive stomach and barfs with any change in her diet unless it's done very gradually. She loves wet food for a treat, but can only have a tablespoon without puking it up, so she rarely gets any. Her sister has lost a lot of weight, and so the vet has recommended that we give her some wet food as a supplement. She's super picky, though, and will only eat the gravy versions of canned food (but she'll eat string, ribbon, plastic, paper, etc. ).

The youngest of our cats is very fat, and our vet decided to try putting him on a high protien, low carb diet to see if that would help him lose weight. She'd just been to a vet conference discussing cat health, and this was one of the weight control strategies brought up there, and we were willing to give it a shot. It meant that fatso was given a pre-measured amount of wet food 3 times a day. It was working, but he had the worst gas! Ugh! After a while, it was too crazy trying to do this special diet for one cat and the stench was horrible, so we gave that up.

So for us, we do a little wet food as a treat or when the vet recommends it, but 90% of the time they do fine on an indoor cat hairball control dry food. I think the wet food gives them nasty stinky gas, so I'd rather avoid it if I can.

 

[Sparx]

cute kitty, thanks for the pictures!

(at that hair length, i've never had cats get hair balls. only my very fluffy maine coon got bad ones. and her hair was 2-3 inches long)

 

[MouseketeerOvaHere]

Huh, it's funny y'all are saying that cats don't need wet food. All the vet's I've been too told me that it's best to give a mixture of wet/dry. I've been told the generic dry food (meow mix, friskies, ect) causes Urinary Tract Infections and will make a cat overweight very easily. I was feeding mine Friskies but started feeding them Wellness Healthy Weight dry food to try and get some of their weight off. And I only fed them half a cup twice a day. Unless the food is made with no added preservatives and real meat products the dry food can be very harmful to kitty. Their poo smells a lot better as well and they are shedding less. I guess it just depends on vet's preference because growing up we had a cat that ate nothing but canned tuna and one that ate generic cat food and both lived long lives. BTW, that's a cute kitty.

 

[jwhtewolfd]

I'm a vet tech working for a doctor who has been treating cats exclusively for almost 20 years. I see a good bit of misinformation on here. I give this speech too often, so I'll keep it as brief as possible.

Canned food is much closer to what cats are naturally designed to eat.
Cheap can food will make their stool stink. You can grind up chicken beaks and feet and still call it chicken protein. That doesn't mean their bodies are able to utilize it. The left over "junk" is what you smell.
Dry food needs way more carbohydrates (to hold the pellet together) than a cat needs.
Dry food is fattening b/c it is dense in calories from carbs and doesn't provide enough protein to satiate.
Dry food, in general, does nothing for dental health. There are a limited number of dental diets available that we have seen actually work, but most dry food pellets are baked so hard that it is equivalent to us cracking ice.
Canned food is much higher in protein, so it satiates better than dry. It also has much higher water content. Cats are descendent from desert creatures, and so natuarlly rely on thier prey to provide hydration, and often do not drink enough.
B/c of the higher protein level and water content, we always recommend can food, especially when a cat needs to lose weight. THIS WORKS, I kid you not.
Dry food was invented for human convenience. It is not meant to be an ideal diet for a cat.
Cats do get bored with their food and should be introduced to a variety of quality foods. What would you do if someone handed you a bag of crackers and said "this has been fortified with everything you'll ever need - only eat this for the rest of your life" ? Laugh in their face? So why do the same to your cat? No one company knows everything there is to know about feline nutrition.

Other notes:
Yes, they seem to be doing fine on dry food, but they could be doing much better.
Don't free feed. Housecats will eat out of boredom, just like us. Small meals throughout the day is more ideal. We recommend 1/4 cup dry twice a day OR 1/2 of a 5 oz can twice a day OR one 3 oz can twice a day. If feeding can and dry, only 1/8 cup of dry once or twice a day.
It is NOT normal for cats to vomit. If your cat vomits regularly, or every time they eat a certain thing, there is something wrong. If your vet says otherwise, find a new vet.
Dry food should not sit out longer than 24 hours. It goes stale. Would you eat a cracker that had been sitting out on the table for two days?
Don't add new dry food on top of old dry food. It promotes growth of bacteria.
Feed your animals out of fresh, clean bowls every day. Or if you're lazy, like me, just use a new paper plate every day. Cats require fat in their diet. To get that into a dry food, they spray a coat of fat on the outside of the dry pellets. Feel the inside of the food bowl - it's slick. That's the fat. The fat can become rancid.
If your cat has itchy ears, it's probably NOT ear mites. More than likely, it's food allergies.
Yes, you need to scoop the litter box at least once every day. You don't like to use unflushed toilets. Why should your cat? By the way, feline behavior experts recommend you have one box per cat plus one extra.

Sorry if this isn't all prettied up as suggestions, but it's just facts. And for the record: I have two cats and three litter boxes. One cat is diabetic and one has food allergies. I feed a combination of dry and canned that meet their special dietary needs. Hope this helps someone.

 

[Mysteria]

I'm a vet tech working for a doctor who has been treating cats exclusively for almost 20 years. I see a good bit of misinformation on here. I give this speech too often, so I'll keep it as brief as possible.

Canned food is much closer to what cats are naturally designed to eat.
Cheap can food will make their stool stink. You can grind up chicken beaks and feet and still call it chicken protein. That doesn't mean their bodies are able to utilize it. The left over "junk" is what you smell.
Dry food needs way more carbohydrates (to hold the pellet together) than a cat needs.
Dry food is fattening b/c it is dense in calories from carbs and doesn't provide enough protein to satiate.
Dry food, in general, does nothing for dental health. There are a limited number of dental diets available that we have seen actually work, but most dry food pellets are baked so hard that it is equivalent to us cracking ice.
Canned food is much higher in protein, so it satiates better than dry. It also has much higher water content. Cats are descendent from desert creatures, and so natuarlly rely on thier prey to provide hydration, and often do not drink enough.
B/c of the higher protein level and water content, we always recommend can food, especially when a cat needs to lose weight. THIS WORKS, I kid you not.
Dry food was invented for human convenience. It is not meant to be an ideal diet for a cat.
Cats do get bored with their food and should be introduced to a variety of quality foods. What would you do if someone handed you a bag of crackers and said "this has been fortified with everything you'll ever need - only eat this for the rest of your life" ? Laugh in their face? So why do the same to your cat? No one company knows everything there is to know about feline nutrition.

Other notes:
Yes, they seem to be doing fine on dry food, but they could be doing much better.
Don't free feed. Housecats will eat out of boredom, just like us. Small meals throughout the day is more ideal. We recommend 1/4 cup dry twice a day OR 1/2 of a 5 oz can twice a day OR one 3 oz can twice a day. If feeding can and dry, only 1/8 cup of dry once or twice a day.
It is NOT normal for cats to vomit. If your cat vomits regularly, or every time they eat a certain thing, there is something wrong. If your vet says otherwise, find a new vet.
Dry food should not sit out longer than 24 hours. It goes stale. Would you eat a cracker that had been sitting out on the table for two days?
Don't add new dry food on top of old dry food. It promotes growth of bacteria.
Feed your animals out of fresh, clean bowls every day. Or if you're lazy, like me, just use a new paper plate every day. Cats require fat in their diet. To get that into a dry food, they spray a coat of fat on the outside of the dry pellets. Feel the inside of the food bowl - it's slick. That's the fat. The fat can become rancid.
If your cat has itchy ears, it's probably NOT ear mites. More than likely, it's food allergies.
Yes, you need to scoop the litter box at least once every day. You don't like to use unflushed toilets. Why should your cat? By the way, feline behavior experts recommend you have one box per cat plus one extra.

Sorry if this isn't all prettied up as suggestions, but it's just facts. And for the record: I have two cats and three litter boxes. One cat is diabetic and one has food allergies. I feed a combination of dry and canned that meet their special dietary needs. Hope this helps someone.

During the times in my life I have had more than one cat I've had at least 2 boxes.

Thank you very much for all of this info! For me right now especially the part about cats not drinking enough. I rarely see my cat drink anything. I know he must now and then but it's not much. Vet says he's healthy though. He's also diesel. He's a smallish cat but when he walks you see muscle ripple. It's odd. Everyone who sees my cat irl thinks he's and outdoor cat or tells me he's too muscular for a house cat!

 

[HeatherH]

I'm a vet tech working for a doctor who has been treating cats exclusively for almost 20 years. I see a good bit of misinformation on here. I give this speech too often, so I'll keep it as brief as possible.

Canned food is much closer to what cats are naturally designed to eat.
Cheap can food will make their stool stink. You can grind up chicken beaks and feet and still call it chicken protein. That doesn't mean their bodies are able to utilize it. The left over "junk" is what you smell.
Dry food needs way more carbohydrates (to hold the pellet together) than a cat needs.
Dry food is fattening b/c it is dense in calories from carbs and doesn't provide enough protein to satiate.
Dry food, in general, does nothing for dental health. There are a limited number of dental diets available that we have seen actually work, but most dry food pellets are baked so hard that it is equivalent to us cracking ice.
Canned food is much higher in protein, so it satiates better than dry. It also has much higher water content. Cats are descendent from desert creatures, and so natuarlly rely on thier prey to provide hydration, and often do not drink enough.
B/c of the higher protein level and water content, we always recommend can food, especially when a cat needs to lose weight. THIS WORKS, I kid you not.
Dry food was invented for human convenience. It is not meant to be an ideal diet for a cat.
Cats do get bored with their food and should be introduced to a variety of quality foods. What would you do if someone handed you a bag of crackers and said "this has been fortified with everything you'll ever need - only eat this for the rest of your life" ? Laugh in their face? So why do the same to your cat? No one company knows everything there is to know about feline nutrition.

Other notes:
Yes, they seem to be doing fine on dry food, but they could be doing much better.
Don't free feed. Housecats will eat out of boredom, just like us. Small meals throughout the day is more ideal. We recommend 1/4 cup dry twice a day OR 1/2 of a 5 oz can twice a day OR one 3 oz can twice a day. If feeding can and dry, only 1/8 cup of dry once or twice a day.
It is NOT normal for cats to vomit. If your cat vomits regularly, or every time they eat a certain thing, there is something wrong. If your vet says otherwise, find a new vet.
Dry food should not sit out longer than 24 hours. It goes stale. Would you eat a cracker that had been sitting out on the table for two days?
Don't add new dry food on top of old dry food. It promotes growth of bacteria.
Feed your animals out of fresh, clean bowls every day. Or if you're lazy, like me, just use a new paper plate every day. Cats require fat in their diet. To get that into a dry food, they spray a coat of fat on the outside of the dry pellets. Feel the inside of the food bowl - it's slick. That's the fat. The fat can become rancid.
If your cat has itchy ears, it's probably NOT ear mites. More than likely, it's food allergies.
Yes, you need to scoop the litter box at least once every day. You don't like to use unflushed toilets. Why should your cat? By the way, feline behavior experts recommend you have one box per cat plus one extra.

Sorry if this isn't all prettied up as suggestions, but it's just facts. And for the record: I have two cats and three litter boxes. One cat is diabetic and one has food allergies. I feed a combination of dry and canned that meet their special dietary needs. Hope this helps someone.

Thank you for validating what I said about wet food.

AND thank you for the info on the dry food bowls. I totally admit I don't clean those out as often as I do the wet food ones (which is ALWAYS after they eat from them). I try to just give a little dry food each day but sometimes there is some left in the bowl after what they had and I do just put new dry food on top, and wash out the bowls every week or so. I know the cats don't like stale dry food and have just dumped what's left to clean it. I will do that more often now!

 

[mamacatnv]

HeatherH:
Is there a brand of wet you would recommend that I can buy at a pet store/grocery store?

I have a very overweight gray tabby who has developed really itchy ears. We know he does not have mites and I had begun to suspect it was the food. He is 7 years old and I now measure out the cats breakfast and dinner and do not let them free feed. I am guilty of feeding them either the grocery store kibble or Costco's kitty kibble.

 

[DMRick]

Although I'm retired now, I'm still working closely with vets because of our involvement with a rescue group and our foster kittens (we only foster kittens, not cats). This was well said. The only thing I would take exemption to, is leaving down dry food for kittens (also, if our smallest foster kittens have loose stools and it's not worms or coccidia, we stop the wet food until we get it straightened out). Kittens need to eat often and all of our vets tell us to free feed them. They can lose weight very quickly, without it being realized, so, until they are 6 mos, the hard food is available to them at all times. Unfortunately we feed Iams and Science diet because it's provided to us. We stick to just the two brands, to avoid loose stools when food is changed (our kittens are rescue kittens, they usually come with all sorts of problems, so we have to deal with them in ways we have found works for us). Way too many kittens to get better food, plus, when they get adopted, they seldom will get the better food (more expensive food without corn), and so it's just been decided to stick to something affordable. We use Fancifeast for kittens for wet food, and give them a small amount twice a day.

I'm a vet tech working for a doctor who has been treating cats exclusively for almost 20 years. I see a good bit of misinformation on here. I give this speech too often, so I'll keep it as brief as possible.

Canned food is much closer to what cats are naturally designed to eat.
Cheap can food will make their stool stink. You can grind up chicken beaks and feet and still call it chicken protein. That doesn't mean their bodies are able to utilize it. The left over "junk" is what you smell.
Dry food needs way more carbohydrates (to hold the pellet together) than a cat needs.
Dry food is fattening b/c it is dense in calories from carbs and doesn't provide enough protein to satiate.
Dry food, in general, does nothing for dental health. There are a limited number of dental diets available that we have seen actually work, but most dry food pellets are baked so hard that it is equivalent to us cracking ice.
Canned food is much higher in protein, so it satiates better than dry. It also has much higher water content. Cats are descendent from desert creatures, and so natuarlly rely on thier prey to provide hydration, and often do not drink enough.
B/c of the higher protein level and water content, we always recommend can food, especially when a cat needs to lose weight. THIS WORKS, I kid you not.
Dry food was invented for human convenience. It is not meant to be an ideal diet for a cat.
Cats do get bored with their food and should be introduced to a variety of quality foods. What would you do if someone handed you a bag of crackers and said "this has been fortified with everything you'll ever need - only eat this for the rest of your life" ? Laugh in their face? So why do the same to your cat? No one company knows everything there is to know about feline nutrition.

Other notes:
Yes, they seem to be doing fine on dry food, but they could be doing much better.
Don't free feed. Housecats will eat out of boredom, just like us. Small meals throughout the day is more ideal. We recommend 1/4 cup dry twice a day OR 1/2 of a 5 oz can twice a day OR one 3 oz can twice a day. If feeding can and dry, only 1/8 cup of dry once or twice a day.
It is NOT normal for cats to vomit. If your cat vomits regularly, or every time they eat a certain thing, there is something wrong. If your vet says otherwise, find a new vet.
Dry food should not sit out longer than 24 hours. It goes stale. Would you eat a cracker that had been sitting out on the table for two days?
Don't add new dry food on top of old dry food. It promotes growth of bacteria.
Feed your animals out of fresh, clean bowls every day. Or if you're lazy, like me, just use a new paper plate every day. Cats require fat in their diet. To get that into a dry food, they spray a coat of fat on the outside of the dry pellets. Feel the inside of the food bowl - it's slick. That's the fat. The fat can become rancid.
If your cat has itchy ears, it's probably NOT ear mites. More than likely, it's food allergies.
Yes, you need to scoop the litter box at least once every day. You don't like to use unflushed toilets. Why should your cat? By the way, feline behavior experts recommend you have one box per cat plus one extra.

Sorry if this isn't all prettied up as suggestions, but it's just facts. And for the record: I have two cats and three litter boxes. One cat is diabetic and one has food allergies. I feed a combination of dry and canned that meet their special dietary needs. Hope this helps someone.

 

[MouseketeerOvaHere]

I rarely see my cat drink anything. I know he must now and then but it's not much.

When you see your kitty's drinking a lot through out the day, it can mean a greater problem such as diabetes. Mine rarely drink as well, but that is how we knew my friends cat had a problem. She would wipe out a good sized bowl of water a day. It's hard to tell how much was split from the horseplaying but the cat was quite a bit overweight, which should have been the first clue.

jwhtewolfd, thank you for posting that information. I use to take my kitty's to a feline only vet previously and the Dr. was an abundance of information for cat owners. Wet food is best for kitty's but it can get quite expensive for good quality canned food ($25 case) for 3 kitty's so a mixture of quality dry and wet is what we use to keep our cats healthy.