[joann2872]

What does your cat prefer? Mine is really picky and wont eat dry not even mixed. I introduced the dry food since the beginning.. But not working. How do you get it to eat dry or mixed?

Are many cats like this :?:

Joanne

 

[malcolmsmom]

My kitty loves dry food but does not like wet food :?

 

[joann2872]

wow! wish my cats were like that

 

[malcolmsmom]

Just out of curiosity why don't you like it that your cat doesn't want dry food?

there is a lot of info on this forum about kitties being better off on a diet of mostly, if not all, wet food!

 

[joann2872]

The biggest reason is that my cats get the "runs" from plain wet food. (Tried all varieties) I never had a problem in the beginning while still on dry or mixed. Another reason is, i thought adding dry food to their diet was more healthier.

Lot to learn still lol

 

[baggy]

There's nothing wrong with a diet of dry food and a treat of wet food on occasion. Sometimes it's a matter of the cat just being stubborn. If you need to give your kitties dry food for a reason, I guarantee they won't starve.

When our two boys were little the vet told us to give them dry food (keep it out all the time) and if they didn't like it, they would eventually.....they won't let themselves starve! Every Sunday they each get a 1/2 can of Fancy Feast. Funny....how can a cat know what day it is? When Sunday comes and we get out of bed, the first thing they do is meow and dance around their food bowl for that wet treat! :roll:

 

[malcolmsmom]

Funny....how can a cat know what day it is? When Sunday comes and we get out of bed, the first thing they do is meow and dance around their food bowl for that wet treat!

What smart kitties!!

*edit*
My cat is now on a vet supervised diet, currently it is dry food since he isn't really into wet food.

I do keep trying with the wet food, but after 8 months of trying I guess it just isn't his thing!

 

[ForJazz]

There's nothing wrong with a diet of dry food and a treat of wet food on occasion. Sometimes it's a matter of the cat just being stubborn. If you need to give your kitties dry food for a reason, I guarantee they won't starve.

When our two boys were little the vet told us to give them dry food (keep it out all the time) and if they didn't like it, they would eventually.....they won't let themselves starve! Every Sunday they each get a 1/2 can of Fancy Feast. Funny....how can a cat know what day it is? When Sunday comes and we get out of bed, the first thing they do is meow and dance around their food bowl for that wet treat! :roll:

A diet of good quality wet food is so much better for cats than dry, there are studies done. Vets are not animal nutrition experts by trade -- in vet school they get 3-4 hours of animal nutrition, usually by HILLS or Walthams reps. No wonder vets with no further nutritional education will tell you to feed dry. And just for your kitties' sake, I would switch to a different brand of wet food if I were you, Fancy Feast is like McDonald's for kitties -- not very nutritional at all, like all grocery store kitty food.

 

[queen of the nile]

hmmm... wet food shouldn't give kitties the runs. How long do you leave the wet food out for and do youever mix dry in with it? Leaving it out too long can lead to diarrhea as can mixing dry food in because of all the bacteria on the surface of dry food.

Here's a great article on the importance of wet food.
http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=whycatsneedcannedfood

 

[baggy]

A diet of good quality wet food is so much better for cats than dry, there are studies done. Vets are not animal nutrition experts by trade --

I am surprised to hear you say this. When we adopted our two boys 5 years ago, the shelter told us a dry food diet is fine. My girlfriend has had cats for more than 25 years (not the same ones of course) and she always feeds them dry with a teaspoon of wet once in a while. Her cats all lived to be very old and the ones she has now are old but healthy. :? My neighbor feeds her cats dry food only....healthy kitties there too. :?

When I was growing up I had a cat that lived to be about 10. When she got sick, it turned out that she had a tumor in her stomach....not to say it was from all the canned food she ate but I wonder.

I cringe when Baggy gets his wet treat because he inhales it so fast that he always throws up immediately after. I couldn't deal with that every day...I'd be throwing the cat food away....might as well put it straight in the garbage. Our cats have always had dry and seem to be doing just fine. Never in 5 years have we had to take them to the vet for anything (except when Smuj ate about 3/4 of a yard of elastic). 8O

Also our boys get the runs when we give them too much canned food. I personally don't see a big problem with the Fancy Feast especially since they only get the one that has tiny whole shrimp, chunks of crab and chunks of sardines.

I think I'm going to research this.

Thanks.

 

[queen of the nile]

There's lots of previous threads on the wet/dry debate, plus a wealth of knowledge on the internet. It's always good to research rather than just take people's word for it.

Here's a couple of previous threads. As you can see, it has been heavily debated many times :wink: .
http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=4124&highlight=wet
http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=4018&highlight=wet
http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=2239&highlight=wet

 

[Sol]

I don't care what my cats prefer I don't serve them anything else but home made raw food. Occasionally (when I'm lazy) I feed them wet food.

 

[ForJazz]

A diet of good quality wet food is so much better for cats than dry, there are studies done. Vets are not animal nutrition experts by trade --

I am surprised to hear you say this. When we adopted our two boys 5 years ago, the shelter told us a dry food diet is fine. My girlfriend has had cats for more than 25 years (not the same ones of course) and she always feeds them dry with a teaspoon of wet once in a while. Her cats all lived to be very old and the ones she has now are old but healthy. :? My neighbor feeds her cats dry food only....healthy kitties there too. :?

I never said that all cats who eat only dry food get sick and die, I'm saying that wet food is healthier for them. Good quality, that is. Every cat is different -- but dry food has been the culprit in diabetes cases and other ailments -- topping the list is obesity. And I didn't say that your cats wouldn't like Fancy feast, or that they would keel over if they ate it, I just said that it is not a good quality food, trust me. Wait...don't trust me...as QOTN suggested -- it's always best to find out for yourself. From sites that are NOT Hills or Walthams ran -- they of course are catfood manufacturers who thrive on people who buy their dry food because THEY say it's the best.

I daresay that anyone who tries their cat on a quality wet food diet (Wellness, Felidae, Solid Gold, etc) will notice changes in their cats' coats, eyes, weight, and activity in just a couple weeks or less.

I think I'm going to research this.

Good call. If you educate yourself, then you can make the best call for your cats. http://www.littlebigcat.com is an excellent source of cat nutrition information. I'll say it again, vets do NOT get more than 3-4 hours of nutritional education, and it is done by Hills and Walthams reps. So to be an expert, you need to read the studies and do your homework, which the maker of this site HAS DONE. So it's a great source -- check it out. It's all in one place.

Oh -- and did you read up above that if you have ever mixed wet with dry, THAT could be why your cats get the runs? Bacteria. And if your cat throws up after eating wet because he scarfs it, that is most likely because he scarfed it, not because of the food. There are things you can do to help that behavior.

 

[Maleke]

I give them dry during the day, and they get wet at night. So it's not mixed, or only one......haha.

 

[fbodgrl]

My cats were always on a dry food (free fed) diet, until a month and a half ago. I had one overweight cat. I had tried less active foods for years and it never worked. I asked advice on this forum and was directed to a wet food diet. My cat has already begun losing weight. She had dandruff before and her coat is now amazing! My other two cats coats are even better than before. I am so happy with the results this far

 

[Annissa]

Sabby doesn't have a preference. He just likes to eat.

He only gets wet food though because of his diabetes. Since switching to wet food his blood glucose has stabilized, I've been able to lower the amount of insulin he gets every day, his dandruff has disappeared, his coat is shinier and softer, he's lost three pounds, and he's got tons more energy. Hooray for canned food!

Oh, and I think I'll pop this thread over to Health & Nutrition.

 

[Jessicat]

My cats love both.Though I think they prefer wet cat food.

Liza likes wet food the most for sure though,she rarely touches the dry cat food unless we run out or if it is the really expensive kinds. :roll: She doesn't like the mushy wet cat food as much as the chunky kind though.

 

[joann2872]

So i guess i shouldnt be worried that she doesnt eat dry food at all? I wonder why she has diahrea all the time..She never had this with dry food. I went to the vet with her yesterday, because all my other kitties have died, and wanted to make sure she wasnt infected with anything. AND I DIDNT ASK :roll: she's healthy though

 

[Reggie]

I believe the benefits to wet food are twofold. First, wet food has more water in it than dry food, obviously, and that is almost always a good thing. The other pro is that cats are naturally carnivorous and wet food has much more meat content than dry food does. I saw an article on littlebigcats.com about why at least some wet food is a good thing.

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?a ... cannedfood