Wet v. Dry Cat Food Poll

[PatsGirl]

Thank you Simbas Mom and Surfergirl for posting your very adorable pictures! and everyone else who posted your thoughts and comments. Honestly, I wasn't concerned about the weight of my kitten/cat because I trust my vet but its good to compare and my Indi looks about the same size as your cats so I no there are others out there

It appears that on a vet's recommendation, wet food wins Sorry I didn't change the poll to accomodate the "both" users and it would seem that had I done that many others would have added to the wet food numbers. Of course, I believe everyone should do what they feel is best, I was just curious from the other cat food thread who did what. I also feed both, but wet being what MY vet recommends. I am more concerned with how MUCH he is eating, two cans seems like alot but if he isn't fat than he is working it off somehow. I think the winter months will find him wanting less because he won't be outside as often in the cold.

Thanks again. Brenda

 

[PaulaSB12]

What I want to know is how are cat biscuits supposed to be good for their teeth? I have seen how mine eat them and they go down in one go no chewing at all. On the other hand I opened a can of tuna had to answer the door when I got back into the kitchen the tuna can was halfway over the kitchen and not a drop of tuna could be found anywhere!

 

[pixiewings71]

This was from a while ago, but here's my Maine Coon.

OMG your kitty looks like our orphan that we found.

Tiggers definitely don't do tuna!

Awwwww look at your kitty!!!! He's huge and adorable! is his name Tigger??


Here's our little Tigger, ours is still little little tho. That's his nickname, Little Little. It's gonna be a funny nickname if he gets as big as either of these. LOL

 

[Simba's Mom]

He does look like our Tigger did when he was little (Little Little-that's cute). From 5.4 ounces to 21 1/2 pounds so you never know.

 

[Planogirl]

Some vets are clueless though and have never studied what is put in food manufactured for cats. You really need to do your own research on the internet. Search on Feline Diabetes and you'll find all kinds of support on raw or canned food to cure or keep away this disease from your cats. If you are worried about their teeth, you can give them dental treats called "Greenies" that are ok for them and take them to get their teeth cleaned every few years.

I have done my research and I still maintain that every situation is different. Our last cat drank a lot of water so he might have been an aberration but he easily drank a good sixe bowl of water a day. His levels checked out fine from more than one veterinarian. I realize that water is important so I go for a mix of food if the cat won't drink much or a mix or dry if you have a heavy water drinker.

 

[Kitty 34]

Couldn't vote as we feed our 5 cats both.

 

[PatriciaH]

Our 2 get a little bit of good quality dry (Orijen) with no grains (corn, wheat, filler.)

http://www.orijen.ca/orijen/products/catkitten.aspx

They also split a can of wet like Instinct or WeRuVa.

http://www.naturesvariety.com/

http://www.weruva.com/

They are not picky since they have been eating high quality food since they were kittens. They will eat lamb, rabbit, beef, chicken, venison, salmon, tuna, etc. We had them on Wellness and Innova Evo until those small companies were bought out by bigger companies P & G that ruined Iams and Eukanuba.

They also have raw from Primal mixed in sometimes.

http://www.primalpetfoods.com/

 

[pixiewings71]

He does look like our Tigger did when he was little (Little Little-that's cute). From 5.4 ounces to 21 1/2 pounds so you never know.

our Little was .68 lbs 2 weeks ago, today he weighed in at 1.5 lbs. He was and still is, very little so the nickname suits him for now. I know he won't stay little but man, he's so cute right now. lol

 

[robinb]

My cats have always eaten dry kittie crunchies. I can't stand wet cat food. Yuck!

 

[EMom]

My vet's a board certified feline specialist. She said "wet" years ago. The moisture is easier on their kidneys among other things. It wasn't bad for their teeth. The cat that lived to be 16 only needed her teeth cleaned twice and my Maine Coon that lived to be 19 only needed ONE cleaning. The vet was always amazed at their teeth.

As for size, my female Maine Coon was on the smaller side. Near the end of her life, when she got closer to the low end of 11 pounds, the vet would fret about "keeping weight on her." She was on appetite stimulants. So at 11 pounds, she was becoming underweight. Maine Coons are just big.

Funny thing is, my other cat was just a "who knows what" cat. We got her at a shelter at 6 weeks old. I took her to the vet...different vet back then because we lived elsewhere. The cat had a loooooooong tail. He said that if the cat ever "grew into that tail," I was going to have one monster of a cat. Well, she grew into that tail. Eventually, it looked normal sized compared to the rest of her. She was one BIG cat. Tall, long legged, looooooong. She usually weighed around 16 pounds and was not overweight, although 15 would have been better. She was one solid muscle. We had to forget about regular litter boxes and even the "extra long" ones were too small. Her rear end hung over the edge because she was so long. We finally bought under the bed storage boxes and used those.

I think I am destined to have big cats.

 

[PatsGirl]

We had to forget about regular litter boxes and even the "extra long" ones were too small. Her rear end hung over the edge because she was so long. We finally bought under the bed storage boxes and used those.

Because my cat has been outside since last April I didn't realize that he had probably outgrown his litter box. He has still been going outside to do his thing but not staying out during this rainy, cold spell we are having. Soon I doubt he'll want to go out at all so the storage box is a great idea, thank you

 

[chyam]

I didn't vote either....I feed both....I make 9 plates of cat food in the morning and devide 4 cans between them...They have a large feeder of dry food available at all times. None of my cats are overweight. I also have a Maine Coon that is now 23#. A good quality dry food with no fillers . I believe that dry food keeps their teeth in good shape as does my vet. The wet is more appealing but several of mine perfer the dry over the wet....I think if I were you I would experiment with leaving some dry available at all times and just feed a half a can of wet maybe in the morning and the other half at night....and monitor his weight from there....if he seems hungry then bump it up. But you may also find that he doesn't gain or lose weight....

 

[chyam]

I have to second the idea of the underbed storage boxes...I found the 28qt size from Target to be perfect and they are cheap compared to the regular litter boxes that size at Petsmart. And I have tried every litter box available! But like you my Maine Coon was to large for most of them, the storage boxes work great and are cheap enough that I can buy new ones more often. Sometimes they have them for $3.99 at Target, I also put the lid under them which helps some of the "tracking litter" although I do use the scoop stuff I have one that thinks he is a backhoe!

 

[EMom]

I have to second the idea of the underbed storage boxes...I found the 28qt size from Target to be perfect and they are cheap compared to the regular litter boxes that size at Petsmart. And I have tried every litter box available! But like you my Maine Coon was to large for most of them, the storage boxes work great and are cheap enough that I can buy new ones more often. Sometimes they have them for $3.99 at Target, I also put the lid under them which helps some of the "tracking litter" although I do use the scoop stuff I have one that thinks he is a backhoe!

The other benefit to using under the bed storage boxes as litter boxes is that as cats age, it can become difficult for them to raise their legs up to get in/out of regular litter boxes if they develop arthritis, etc. The UTB boxes have sides that are lower than regular litter than regular litter boxes and as my kitties aged, these were easy for them to use, even the arthritic one. And they lived to 16 and 19.