[sunshine9]

yes it's another canned food question

Soo Mistletoe is a brat and doesn't always eat all of her wet food. She chows her dry food but not her wet food. I'm currently feeding Wellness wet and dry. I have cut down on her dry food to force her to be hungry at meal times.

She is about 10 lbs and I feed her 1/4 of a 5 oz can twice a day and 1/4 of a cup of dry once a day. The dry is left out for her to nibble at throughout the day.

So I'm curious how much wet food you're feeding your cats.
Thanks!
Deirdre, Mistletoe and Althaea

 

[BoscosMum]

I also need some replies to this question....it seems Bosco does not eat enough wet food.

 

[queen of the nile]

My smallest cat eats about 4oz a day and the largest about 5.5 oz a day. They do not get any dry food.

 

[sunshine9]

I'd love to get them off of dry food all together but I'm not home at consistent times. And I don't want them to starve waiting for me.

 

[imatarb]

I notice that my older cat eats about a 5.5 oz. can of food daily, and the kitten is eating one of the smaller cans all day. My transition to an all-wet diet has gone amazingly well!

Lisa

 

[kitkat]

My cats get some dry food for mid day snacking.... about 3/4 c. for both. For canned, they split a 3 oz. can every morning and night so they each get about 3 oz. of wet per day.

 

[BoscosMum]

WOW....this really seems to differ from cat to cat.
Bosco eats about 1.5 oz. wet food in the am...
1/8 cup dry in the mid day...
and 3 oz. wet food in the pm...(sometimes he wont eat it all)

I really want him to eat more canned food.

 

[Annissa]

Sabby gets one and a half cans of food every day. I feed him the 5.5 oz cans.

 

[Aimee]

1/4 cup dry food to munch on during the day, between 1.5 and 2 ounces of wet food in the evening.

 

[OsnobunnieO]

Until I get rid of the rest of my current food and switch to a better brand, my cat is eating Friskies dry and either Friskies canned or Whiskas pouches (he likes Whiskas better). He gets either a 5.5 ounce can or one pouch twice a day (one morning, one night) and usualy eats most of the pouch but barely half of the canned.

now I've got a question of my own. Being new to all this, I've read about how important dry food is for his teeth. I haven't heard anything bad. Why all the concern about switching to an all wet food diet?

 

[ccunnin2]

Ours currently get 1/2 5.5oz can and a handful of dry per day.

now I've got a question of my own. Being new to all this, I've read about how important dry food is for his teeth. I haven't heard anything bad. Why all the concern about switching to an all wet food diet?

Dry food doesn't actually have any significant dental benefit for cats - any more than eating ritz crackers does for our teeth. And cats barely chew dry food anyhow; it gets crunched sporadically but is usually thrown to the back of the throat and swallowed whole.

Also, being carnivores, cats bodies do not convert carbohydrates to energy as efficiently as ours do. Wheat and grains are not meant to be the main part of their diet. Break down the consumed parts of a mouse and you'll have your kitty's ideal nutritional ratios... trust me carbs are way down the list.

More additives, preservatives and flavour enhancers are required to make a dry diet both edible and palatable.

Finally, indoor cats are often chronically dehydrated as they are physically predisposed to get their water from their food. This contributes significantly to several common ailments, including struvite crystals.

So there is little benefit (for the cat) in feeding dry.

I'm sure there is more others will add to this discussion

 

[imatarb]

Absolutely true...I can't believe how long I fed my cats an all-dry diet, but I've made the conversion, and since wet food smells better, my cats were all for it! The kitten will only get wet, so that's all he'll know, but my older one had a transition to make, and he did really well. My older one has some weight to lose at 23 lbs., so I'm hoping this will help him get into a healthier mode.

So far, so good!

Lisa

 

[Annissa]

Why all the concern about switching to an all wet food diet?

Just to add to what ccunnin2 said, diet is the leading cause of many cat diseases including obesity, chronic vomiting, Pancreatitis, heart disease, inflammatory bowell disease, and skin and coat problems.

I recommend checking out Little Big Cat's free article library at http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library.

Specifically: "What Cats Should Eat" (http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=whatcatsshouldeatexcerpt).

"Why Cats Need Canned Food" (http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=whycatsneedcannedfood).

 

[Sol]

I don't really know how much I give them, they get as much as they want since they are all healthy and of normal weight but I would guess they eat 5 to 5.5 oz a day each.

I only feed them canned food when I'm lazy otherwise I cook my own cat food and then they eat about 5 oz each so I guess they eat about the same amount canned food.

I have nothing but positive things to report since I switched from dry food to home cooked. The cat lady who used to me overweight have lost more than a pound since I switched (in november 2002) and they are all inte great shape.

The only think that I could complain about is that it's more expensive, but it's worth every penny. They really seem to like to eat nowadays.

 

[OsnobunnieO]

thanks so much for clearing that up! I've been misinformed for a while now, hearing that feeding wet food makes cats fat. I guess I really should start doing more of my own research.

I'm so glad I joined this forum. I've learned more in a few days than I have since I adopted my kitty!

 

[queen of the nile]

I just wanted to reassure you 0snobunnie0 that wet food will only make you cat fat if it is given *in addition* to the dry you are already feeding. Additional calories will make your cat gain weight no matter what you feed.

I just wanted to share my experience with wet food, because I feel it has been such a successful one (I hope no one minds that I am sharing it again :wink: ). As of now, Levi and Lucas have lost 4 lbs each and Cleo has lost over 5 lbs! I can't stress enough how happy my cats are now that they have been switched to wet food and lost the weight.
http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=5811&start=0