[kristi]

Help! :lol: They're all getting too fat, except for Daisy. I put them on a mix of Nutro regular and Nutro Weight Management, Dry, free fed, and they seemed to be losing weight gradually except for Daisy--who started losing too fast and I had to supplement her. I went back to Nutro Regular, but I'm afraid they're all too fat (except for Daisy). I'm also concerned that any dry food may be problematic, although I know opinions are mixed on that.

I'm interested in the health benefits of a wet food diet, especially if it would help them lose weight and be more natural for them (less carbs).

Advice, please! I don't relish the idea of twice-daily supervised feedings of 4 cats, but I'm thinking I may need to head that way...

 

[Gracie's Mom]

I feed a mix of dry and canned to all my cats except my foster, who's on Natural Balance reduced calorie. I like giving a bit of canned food, because most of it contains more meat, and I also think it's a bit more natural, and doesn't have as much grains and other things that dry food has to have to hold it's shape.

 

[red_kittycat]

Mainly, wet food is considered best. Most vets recommend a combination, since dry food keeps teeth healthy, but wet food should make up the majority of the cats' diet, according to most. I did used to go to a vet who insisted only dry food was fine, that canned food caused diarrhea. But I found he was behind the times in many ways, and all the vets I've talked to since then say mainly wet with some dry.

At any rate, I don't think dry food should have much to do with the weight gain. It's the free feeding that's causing the problem. You will have to give measured amounts of food 2-3 times daily to effectively treat the problem. Even light diets can lead to obesity if you free feed.

Personally, I have had more luck measuring the amount of food a cat eats by feeding wet food only. Cats tend to eat this in one shot, whereas with dry food, they'll nibble here and there. They usually won't sit and eat their whole serving at once.

 

[AngelZoo]

Since you are having problems with the one cat, I wouldn't recommend doing this diet with out the constant aid of your vet.

Monitoring a diet is very important, and I feel that can only adiquitly be done by controlled feeding.

What you feed, and how many times a day you feed is debateable, and dependant on said animal.

Just something to consider.

 

[kitkat]

I feed my cats wet and dry. Since your cats are gaining weight, have you tried a wet diet also during one or 2 of the feeding times? Wet food is actually pretty healthy for a cat and I'd definitely recommend some type of wet food for their diet.