Eating less wet vs. eating dried.. Normal?

[Pushkabounce]

Hello! I wasn't sure if this should be in the nutrition or behaviour section but anyways..

Tinker is a rescue and was fed on mainly dry. Since being on this forum I have found that wet is actually much better for him. He is overweight also so apart from the extra water intake I was hoping that he would lose some weight too.

I'm in UK so my measurement are different to US but before he was having about 60g of dry a day which he ate ALL of every day without fail.

Now he is on 2x85g wet pouches and 30g of dry biscuit. He loves his biscuit more than the wet so always asks for more but sometimes he doesn't finish his wet. He has a variety of wet from the cheaper stuff to the better quality stuff but it doesn't matter what it is, some days he will hardly touch his wet and other days he will eat more of it.

He never seems really hungry though, doesn't ask for food until it's time to eat, he is acting normal and has a lovely coat.

Should I be worrying about him to finishing off his wet? Is it because it's not full of filler like the kibble and smaller amounts substain him longer?

[grrawritsjordi]

I have my kitties on this same diet. We use "Taste of the Wild" dry food and "Innova" wet food. I give them a heaping spoonful of wet food with 2oz of dry food (56.7g) twice a day. My one year old LOVES the wet food and eats it up and sometimes leaves dry food, but the kitten (5 months old) sometimes wont eat all of her wet food but always eats her dry food.

I would say your cat may just prefer a different texture every day or may just be finicky like cats can be.

Don't you just love a shiny coat? I've never had cats with such beautiful coats.

[Pushkabounce]

Its amazing! When I rescued him his coat was greasy but his skin.was so flaky.. I have no idea how that.works but it was nasty. Its so soft and shiny now

My kittens eat ANYTHING! They are bottomless pits haha

[Marcia]

I am somewhat new here, but I've had cats - LOTS of cats for over 20 years now. I adopt old throw-aways and normally don't have them long, but give them loving homes for as long as they live, even if it's just a short time with me. That is heartbreak of adopting old cats. I have found that each cat, like people, is different. I have 6 now and one will not even touch wet food. I have one that will ONLY eat wet food, and only 2 or 3 different flavors depending on her mood. I have two that will eat anything put in front of them. If your baby is overweight then ease up on the food and snacks - period. If the diet is primarily wet get his/her teeth checked regularily. You will find the happy medium I'm sure.

[~Siameseifuplz~]

When I fed wet and dry mine would never get excited about it and would not finish or would take hours to eat it all. Only since i've switched them to all wet food do they get super excited and zcarf it all down. If you don't want to feed all wet food then i'd just be happy if they are eating any. If kitty's wait does not drop in a few months i'd cut back on dry food a bit and see if that helps.

[grrawritsjordi]

Originally Posted by Pushkabounce

Its amazing! When I rescued him his coat was greasy but his skin.was so flaky.. I have no idea how that.works but it was nasty. Its so soft and shiny now

I would say it has to do with protein. My dad used to feed our dog a raw egg on his food every week (sometimes twice a week if he was good). His coat was always so shiny. I miss that Bull Mastiff with all my heart. We had a Himalayan at the same time who had the worst attitude problem. We used to joke that she would tie up our bull mastiff when we were out. She lived to be about 15. I miss that old girl, attitude and all.

[3gatos]

I used to feed strictly dry with a couple wet meals a week. My cats would scarf the dry and act like they were starved the rest of the day. Searching out other sources of food, treats, bread, dog food anything they could get their little grubby paws on. I would lock them in my bedroom during the day it got so bad. Especially my little girl.

Now, I feed one dry meal and one wet meal and after 2 weeks of doing this, there is no searching out food, no getting into things they shouldn't. My little girl even just leaves her bowl without trying to steal food from the boys. I'm pleased at how much more content they are, and I feel better feeding them a greater variety as well.

[doodlebug]

I need to convert...

60g = 2.1 oz. A cup of dry food is about 5 oz. So 60g = .4 cup
85g = 3 oz of wet food.

So you went from feeding .4 cup dry to 6 oz of wet and .2 cup dry. I don't know what brands you're using, but let's use Wellness CORE for the dry...one cup has 502 calories. And Wellness grain free chicken for the wet at 120 calories per 3 oz.

.4 cup dry = 200.8 calories

.2 cup dry = 100.4 calories, plus 2 pouches @ 240 calories. Total = 340.4 calories

If these numbers are fairly close to the foods you've been feeding, then you have nearly doubled the number of calories you are providing. It's good that your cat won't eat it all.

I recommend cutting out the dry completely.

[Pushkabounce]

Doodlebug that is really helpful thank you. He was on 26g and the 2 wet before but he lost 300g in weight in 3 weeks so I put it up to 30g to slow the weight lose. In 2 weeks he hasnt lost any more at all though

[Pushkabounce]

So I guess he isnt hungry then.. How many cals should a lazy 4 year old indoor cat have roughly?