Wet or Dry food for your cat?

[rinsav]

Just curious if you feed your cat wet or dry food (or a combo of both). I've been reading more and more about how wet food is better. I fed my cat solely dry food for many years and just in the last few years have added wet food to his diet. So, now I feed him a combo of wet and dry but he prefers wet. Sometimes he goes through phases where he's not interested in the dry food but he'll always eat the wet. Just curious what others do and what you've heard is best for cats. Thanks for your thoughts!

[tyroleancutie]

Our cats eat a low carb dry cat food and once in a while they get some raw tuna :) I do not like the smell of wet cat food

[MNGirlTX]

My cats eat dry. I've given them wet...but they like it so much, they snarf it up. And puke. :p

Lori

[KristinK]

We only feed our cats dry food. They won't even go near wet food -- and we've tried multiple brands -- and neither did our first cat. Strange.

[charley]

Dry is supposedly better for their teeth, but they get the occasional wet as a treat. We have 2 cats and they each eat a different brand. It's so weird.

[Geo_nerd]

I have always fed my cat both wet and dry food. She used to get a quarter of a can every morning and dry food the rest of the day. She's an older cat and had some teeth extracted last year, so she now gets a quarter can in the morning and another quarter can when I get home from work as well as a little bit of dry food in between.

[SheRa]

mine loves dry. every once in a while we give her some wet as a treat. she used to ONLY like wet food, but the smell killed me. and i heard about dental problems with cats who don't get enough crunchy food.

[aggie94]

Both. She gets dry food in the a.m. and wet food in the p.m. She used to only get dry food but the wet food has helped a lot with weight loss. And the vet said her teeth looked great at her last visit, so the switch has not seemed to cause any detriment to her dental health.

[EllenL]

Tang almost always gets dry food. He prefers the dry and we always heard it was better for his teeth. But we sometimes give him wet when he has some recurrent vomiting (he seems to have inflammatory bowel disease where he throws up food---not hairballs---and sometimes loose stools every few days). He has never thrown up after eating wet, possibly because he eats so little wet or maybe it's just easier on his digestive system. For some reason, he throws up mostly at night---can't figure out why.

With the pet food recall and with his vomit/bowel problems (getting a little worse as he gets older---13 now), I did some research about wet vs. dry.
Some vets don't feel that the dry food really helps dentally all that much since they don't really chew their food and don't get the abrasive action from chewing. Some feel that wet food is best because it most closely simulates what they get in the wild (like that a mouse is 60% water) and helps their urinary tract.

At this point, we've got to give Tang what he likes (dry) because he wouldn't eat enough wet to sustain him and could go into fatty liver disease, which is fatal. We don't even address his weight issue anymore (he's 25 pounds) because he's been on diet prescription cat food for years and hasn't lost any weight).

On Sunday after a bad bout of vomiting at night, we bought a bag of Nutritional Balance, venison and green pea, which supposedly is more natural and good for sensitive stomachs. He loves this and did not have any problems for 2 1/2 days, but this morning we heard that lovely noise and had to do a major cleanup on the rug...

We're not rushing him to the vet because we don't want a bunch of tests or procedures for him at this point. All they could really do is prescribe steroids, which have their own risks and y'all know how difficult it is to give a cat pills!

[wallycat]

I've read some mixed studies on dry food being beneficial for their teeth...not that it can hurt, but not necessarily a huge benefit.

That said,
our first cat (the guy who made it 23 with the thyroid) was on one canned food for most of his life, plus the occasional bird or mouse :eek:

The five we have now are mostly dry but occasional canned.
It's funny to watch them eat and pick. I hve a buffet for my babies--3 or so brands and 4 flavors/styles to choose from in bowls arranged so they can nibble and pick what they prefer. At least one can opened, sometimes two....two of the boys hardly like the canned. The two other boys INHALE the food and the girl used to adore anything seafood and now, only wants whipped cream (reddi-whip is her preference :rolleyes: ) as her treat. Plus the obligatory occasional bird or mouse or who knows...

I have created my own cat-he!! because they are fussy ...sigh :o
But they are cute!

[BaileyJune]

We feed our 15 year old cat about 1/3 of a can of wet twice a day and leave dry out all day/night. (She's so skinny I'd feed her more than 1/3 of the can, but she doesn't want any more than that.)

I have spent a lot of time reading about this subject over the last few years and found that the benefits of wet seem to slightly outweigh the benefits of dry. But I'm not a vet, so what do I know???

[donleyk]

She only gets dry.

[jtoepfert100]

My cat gets dry. Tried wet once and she didn't like it so dry it is.:)

[Miss Giggles]

Dry. I don't want to buy the canned every week.

[sararosalie]

Our 4 get dry food.

Like Ellen L's cat, our two older cats are vomiters. We've tried a million different foods (all dry) and been through a million tests and they still vomit--not everyday but certainly 2-3 times a week. I'm guessing it is something genetic (since they are mother and son). They are healthy as heck, so its something we live with.

I do wonder if wet would be easier on their systems, but I worry what that will mean for the litter box (in terms of smelliness).

[EllenL]

Sara, I'm so glad you posted this because it makes me feel less guilty about not dragging Tang into the vet (both b/c of the cost and how much he hates going to the vet). What tests were done? What conditions were considered/ruled out? Any treatments given, like steroids? I read that the only way to see if a cat really has inflammatory bowel disease is to do an endoscopy with a biopsy, costing over $1500 and requiring sedation, which isn't great for an older cat. It sounds like no food magically has stopped your two cats from vomiting, so maybe I won't experiment anymore...

[sararosalie]

Sara, I'm so glad you posted this because it makes me feel less guilty about not dragging Tang into the vet (both b/c of the cost and how much he hates going to the vet). What tests were done? What conditions were considered/ruled out? Any treatments given, like steroids? I read that the only way to see if a cat really has inflammatory bowel disease is to do an endoscopy with a biopsy, costing over $1500 and requiring sedation, which isn't great for an older cat. It sounds like no food magically has stopped your two cats from vomiting, so maybe I won't experiment anymore...


After re-reading my post--I think it needs to come with a warning--don't read this next part if you are squeamish or if the talk of cat vomit makes you want to vomit.


Ellen,
Consuela and Hugo (the great vomiting mother and son duo) came into my life when my DH did. DH adopted them off the street when Consuela was about three and Hugo was a newborn kitten.

Consuela was about 10/Hugo 7 when I came into their lives. My DH has talked about all the tests run when they were younger, but I don't know exactly what they were.

Since I've been part of their lives, we've tried a rabbit based food that the vet supplied. It was expensive but we thought it would be worth it if they didn't vomit. They were fine for about 2 days and then we were back to the vomiting. We've tried sprinkling Pepcid-AC on their food--no change in behavior. We've tried other things as well, new foods, etc.

The vet is unsure of what it is. Since both cats are completely fine otherwise, we figure this is annoying to us, but not to them. And since they are both older (Consuela is about 15 and Hugo is now 12), we aren't going to put them through any tests at this point.

We try to replace the food bowl with a clean one every day or two and keep tons of fresh water around. Since we have 4 cats, we scoop litter twice a day. Those are the only things we have figured out that might have an impact on the vomiting.

I am curious if your cat's pattern is the same as ours. Their patterns is: Eat a meal, throw up mostly food. Then they go eat again. Usually they keep their second "course" down. Again, this doesn't happen every time they eat, just sometimes.

Every so often, Consuela goes on a vomit-marathon. She will throw up food (pieces of kibble still clearly identifiable), then a few minutes later (before she has eaten again) she will throw up liquid, then a few minutes later a little more liquid. It doesn't happen very often but when it does, it always worries me a bit.


Sorry for the thread hijack!

[EllenL]

Thanks Sara---and apologies to anyone grossed out by this vomit discussion, but if you have a cat(s), it comes with the territory, right? The greatest sound in the world is a cat purring and the worst is a cat upchucking (especially in the middle of the night).

Yes, my cat is fine right after he vomits---doesn't seem to bother him at all and he is ready to eat again. Usually doesn't vomit again for a couple more days. But for some reason, it's almost always at night. Possibly it's because I dole his food out in drabs and drabs during the day to ensure that he doesn't scarf it down but at night I give him a full 1/4 cup (he gets four 1/4 cups throughout the day). So I've tried to reduce it at night, but even a small amount can have the same result. It's a problem, but Tang is worth it!

[MNGirlTX]

Sara - Both of my (unrelated by biology) cats do this. Like yours, not every time they eat. And, sometimes they go for weeks without vomiting. But, it's clearly recognizable food, then liquid and they don't seem bothered by it.

Lori

[sararosalie]

Thanks Sara---and apologies to anyone grossed out by this vomit discussion, but if you have a cat(s), it comes with the territory, right? The greatest sound in the world is a cat purring and the worst is a cat upchucking (especially in the middle of the night).

Yes, my cat is fine right after he vomits---doesn't seem to bother him at all and he is ready to eat again. Usually doesn't vomit again for a couple more days. But for some reason, it's almost always at night. Possibly it's because I dole his food out in drabs and drabs during the day to ensure that he doesn't scarf it down but at night I give him a full 1/4 cup (he gets four 1/4 cups throughout the day). So I've tried to reduce it at night, but even a small amount can have the same result. It's a problem, but Tang is worth it!

Sara - Both of my (unrelated by biology) cats do this. Like yours, not every time they eat. And, sometimes they go for weeks without vomiting. But, it's clearly recognizable food, then liquid and they don't seem bothered by it.

Lori

It is nice to know we aren't the only ones dealing with this. I know it isn't world hunger or a horrible crisis, but I have wondered if we had the only two cats in the world who vomit at the drop of a hat.

[Clover]

Mine gets both wet and dry every day.

[phantomcg]

My 19 year old, insulin dependent diabetic girl gets only low-carb, grain-free wet food and my (estimated) 10 year old diet controlled diabetic girl eats a grain and veggie free raw diet.

Tux, the 19 year old, was on dry food until her diabetes diagnosis back in 1999. By switching her to the canned food I was able to get her off insulin for a two year time period. She has lost most of her teeth. Cammie, the 10 year old, went off insulin when I adopted her two years ago this August and switched her from Science Diet dry food to the canned foods that Tux was eating. The change in diet, however, did not help her problem with runny stools or the vomiting - that only cleared up once I switched her to the raw food. Cammie has also lost a number of teeth.

Unless the cat actually chews the dry food, I'm not so sure that I can see where it is any better for the cats teeth than the wet food. I know that it's quite controversial, but I do feel that the best diet for cats is a grain and veggie-free raw diet. Yes, there are risks associated with feeding raw food, but as the recent pet-food recall has shown, there are risks associated with feeding commerically prepared foods as well. I believe that if you do your research and follow some common sense guidelines feeding a raw diet can be safe. Now, before anyone jumps on me, I'm not knocking what anyone else feeds their animals, but I can honestly say that I will never feed dry food to a cat again - a grain-free human grade canned food would be my second choice and a grain and veggie-free raw diet will be my first choice.

Cheryl

[wallycat]

Out of the litter of 5 we have, the girl-cat tosses occasionally....we've figured out it is worms.
When she's treated for roundworm, she can go months and months and months without tossing (especially during flea season because we use Revolution which checks fleas AND worms) but if flea season is over (or we think it is) and she's been outside, in a matter of months, same routine.

Of course, if your cats are only indoor cats, this is a moot point :o

Wally started throwing up a lot more when his thyroid became elevated.

[mcgeiger]

wet during the day and some dry at night (or they won't let us sleep)

Metabolicwise wet appears better for cats, teethwise science diet t/d has been shown to help with dental health (and I *think* that is the only proven one...)

Vomitting in cats is not normal, especially a few times a week, BUT the work up for these cats can get quite expensive:o

PS if you do homemade diets for cats make sure they get enough taurine, do lots and lots and lots of good scientific research, and be careful of zoonotic disease from raw food....

[Peweh]

I hve a buffet for my babies--3 or so brands and 4 flavors/styles to choose from in bowls arranged so they can nibble and pick what they prefer.

I have created my own cat-he!! because they are fussy ...sigh :o
But they are cute!

Wallycat, it is so cute picturing your kitties at the buffet. I wanted to tell you I once studied pet nutrition and remember learning that cats become very used to how certain shapes and textures of food feel on the roof of their mouth (for some reason I can't remember how to spell palate/palette :o ). There is actually a lot of money that goes into researching the specific shapes each company makes their kibble in, for this reason. So maybe you didn't really create your own cat hell, if it makes you feel better!! :)

P.S. my cats eat dry only and have also consumed 1 mole and 1 mouse in their 2 1/2 yrs (did I mention they're HOUSEcats? :eek: )

[sararosalie]

Out of the litter of 5 we have, the girl-cat tosses occasionally....we've figured out it is worms.
When she's treated for roundworm, she can go months and months and months without tossing (especially during flea season because we use Revolution which checks fleas AND worms) but if flea season is over (or we think it is) and she's been outside, in a matter of months, same routine.

Of course, if your cats are only indoor cats, this is a moot point :o

Wally started throwing up a lot more when his thyroid became elevated.

My 2 vomiters are indoor cats--so I don't think it is worms. And we've had Conseula's thyroid checked several times and it is in the normal range. I'm fairly certain that Hugo's was checked last time at the vet (since they are "senior" kitties, they get all the extra tests). I'll double check to make sure. Thanks for the idea.


Vomitting in cats is not normal, especially a few times a week, BUT the work up for these cats can get quite expensive:o



Amen to that! We will pursue it further if the cats appear to have their health impacted by the vomiting. But for now they are both so darn healthy (knock wood) that I can't see putting them through a bunch of testing. Thanks for the information!

And may all your days and evenings be vomit-free! ;)

[KAnn]

.... I do not like the smell of wet cat food

I have learned that premium cat food (NO by-products) does not have an offensive smell at all. I used to feed only dry until I became involved with a cat shelter and beagn researching pet food in general. The vet I have become good friends with believes that they DO need wet food as it more resembles their natural instinct/carinorous instincts. This is also my conclusion after reading various studies and reports.

Premium food can usually only be purchased at Whole Foods/Wild Oats or specialty pet food stores. It has made a world of difference in the health of my cats!

I would really urge pet owners to research pet food.

[sararosalie]

I have learned that premium cat food (NO by-products) does not have an offensive smell at all. I used to feed only dry until I became involved with a cat shelter and beagn researching pet food in general. The vet I have become good friends with believes that they DO need wet food as it more resembles their natural instinct/carinorous instincts. This is also my conclusion after reading various studies and reports.

Premium food can usually only be purchased at Whole Foods/Wild Oats or specialty pet food stores. It has made a world of difference in the health of my cats!

I would really urge pet owners to research pet food.

What about the smell of the litter box? My concern with wet food is that it makes for a stinkier box and um, runnier-mushier stools (and yes, we are obsessive about scooping--we do it twice a day, everyday).

And again, I apologize for the gross factor here.

[KAnn]

What about the smell of the litter box? My concern with wet food is that it makes for a stinkier box and um, runnier-mushier stools (and yes, we are obsessive about scooping--we do it twice a day, everyday).

And again, I apologize for the gross factor here.

Well, my experience and that of others I know is that I have almost no litter box odor since my cats are on premium dry and wet food. I was told that this is mainly because of the quality of premium food...no by-products which are largely filler.

[Sherlock]

I have a nearly 13 year old cat (who is now sprawled across my lap as I am trying to type this!) and feed her both wet and dry food. I feed her the wet food in the morning and then put some dry food (not a lot) in another dish. There is usually some dry food left in the dish the next morning.

I'm glad to see that I am not the only one dealing with the vomiting issue. Mostly I have found it is when she eats too fast.

Sandy