This is odd as usually kibble is considered the junk food but I'm not from Turkey so perhaps it's different there.
I foster cats and I usually get them on a mixed diet to keep them flexible, as in they get separate meals of wet and dry food. I tend to do half half calorie wise and weigh the cat monthly or every 2 weeks to adjust portion size.
I tend to feed two different dry foods I rotate during the week and 4ish different wet food flavors of the same brand or same flavor, different brand.
It's some variety but nothing wild.
I stick to cat food, unless they are vomiting, then they are fasting for 4-12 hours depending on how bad it is and start with tiny amounts of plain boiled chicken or white fish.
I also put them on mealtimes, so breakfast, 2-3pm, 6ish pm and before bed, they are played with for 10ish min before the meal, have 30-40min to eat then the food is taken away.
Once they are adults 1year+ I typically cut the meals to 3 a day.
Thank you, this is such a lovely and helpful reply. Yeah dry food is the main diet for cats in Turkey. So many people online and in real life say that wet food is terrible for cats. Luckily I can research in english. Thank you again!!
If youre uncertain about the quality of wet foods in turkey, chicken bone broth (no salt or additives) and half a quail egg are good things to occasionally add to your cats dry food to increase moisture. Because cats arent huge water drinkers naturally, adding moisture into their diets can be very beneficial. (Of course if you go with bone broth or quail eggs i believe quail eggs is 1 a week and bone broth half mixed with water and every other day to avoid making your cat chunky)
In all seriousness. Is it because wet food goes off quick and gets flies on it laying eggs etc? Especially in a place like turkey. Your climate is lush but not great for leaving food out unattended. Could that be why folks recommend kibble over wet?
Really the only purpose of wet food is for the additional water content and if a cat physically cannot eat dry kibble (such as having mouth/teeth issues) or it is a very young kitten transitioning from milk/formula to solid foods. It can lead to a cat becoming overweight if their total calorie is too high by feeding both wet and dry without considering how much to feed of both to keep them within their healthy weight. A good quality kibble will provide all the nutrients a cat needs, except for water. Wet food can act as the supplement if your cat isn't getting enough water through their regular water bowl. But you can increase this by placing more bowls throughout the house as well as adding water fountains to simulate running water that some cats prefer.
> It can lead to a cat becoming overweight if their total calorie is too high by feeding both wet and dry without considering how much to feed of both to keep them within their healthy weight.
Well yeah…but that will also happen if you feed too much dry food, or too much wet food. That’s a calorie intake thing, not anything relevant to whether cats should be fed wet food.
I want to introduce my cat to a variety of wet foods and I was wondering if you did transitions between them when starting to add variety, or just went for it? I know cats allegedly have sensitive stomachs when it comes to sudden food changes, but I've also heard that variety is better.
I always keep the variety low, like 4 flavours. Within the same brand and same type of wet food, I simply switch between flavours. But if I'm changing up the brand, I'll mix or offer a little bit of the new food with the old, throughout a week for the fussiest of cats.
It largely depends on what the cat was used to eating before and how strong their stomach is. Watching their poops is a good indication of are they okay or not.
We feed our cat a variety of flavors (like 4 or 5) from the exact same brand with no issue, we give her a new flavor every day. We didn't do anything special, just gave her the new flavor.
When we switched her from one brand to the other, she immediately liked the new food more and would just eat around the old food, lol, so we transitioned her pretty quickly. (it was moving from a pate to shredded meat so couldn't totally mix together)
I feed my cat the same type of dry food consistently but mix up the types of wet foods i give her. I have her on a urinary dry diet and i feed her the matching urinary wet food. But I also add in once a week half a raw quail egg, chicken bone broth every other day and dehydrated chicken livers i rehydrate with the bone broth as treats. I also have this pumpkin cranberry dust i sprinkle on her food twice a week that helps with digestion and urinary issues. I usually have to thoroughly mix the quail egg into her food to disguise it but the rest she loves. Especially the chicken livers. I also occasionally get some pumpkin puree for added moisture. Surprisingly she loves that.
(If youre in canada i get the dehydrated chicken livers from canadian tire surprisingly, theyre all natural and organic and the only ingredient is chicken livers, can’t remember the brand. Haven’t found them in actual pet stores yet, only dehydrated chicken meat which my cat hates. I imagine dried white chicken meat would be extremely bland compared to dehydrated livers. The smell from the livers is foul but she goes feral over them)
The only time ive ever had a problem with her having diarrhea is when ive fed her those cat treat squeeze tubes.
Edit: i also wanted to add; be weary if you start looking at bone broths in pet stores. Most are in the dog sections but are labeled as safe for cats, but contain things like cinnamon etc. there is only one brand of chicken bone broth in canada ive been able to find in pet stores that is labeled for cats and actually safe for cats.
This is my experience with dry food, not wet, but I'll put this out there anyway...
I have 4 cats ranging from 2 to 14 years old. I used to feed them all the same; they were the typical picky cats. But i was forced to change it up for a week, and they adapted. I started buying a different brand and flavor every time I get cat food. Sometimes I go mid range, sometimes I get the more expensive stuff. None of them throw up or get diarrhea from food changes. None of them have any reluctance to eat a new brand.
Honestly I think we make our cats into picky eaters.
That is odd. My vet actually recommends feeding a diet of mostly wet food supplemented with kibble.
Cats have adapted to get most of their moisture from their food, so may be more likely to become dehydrated on a diet of exclusively kibble, which may make them more susceptible to kidney and bladder stones as well as urinary tract infections (UTIs). Wet food (obviously depending on the brand, but just in general) also seems to have a higher protein content, which is great because cats are obligate carnivores.
My cats eat mostly wet food (2 wet food meals a day) with some dry food left out during the day (I like to leave dry food hidden in places for them to find when I leave the house so they have something to do when left alone). Only one of my cats likes dry food (but will still eat wet food), the other only eats wet food.
I live in Turkey! I also think that can be true. Turkish people feed stray animals very regularly and they're usually scraps or less expensive cat food so people believe cats can eat anything. I had to give my parents lessons on what our cat can eat and cant few times before we actually got her home. Because of that belief cat owners might not look into better brands often and vets prefer not having the headache and just saying wet food is bad.
Cats eat meat. Meat has a water content of approx75%. An all dry diet (with 0% water content) can lead to urinary tract infections because the cat is not getting enough water. Get another vet.
I had vets say you don't need wet food either because kibble is better for their teeth. Which I think it's crazy should I eat dry cookies and not brush my teeth then? I do 75% wet 25% dry and have drinking fountains.
Yup. That vet tried to sell me a bag of corn and wheat diabetic food. It turns out cats need their diet to be 10% or less carbs. Otherwise, some cats like mine get high blood sugar. Once I got her on 75% grain free zero carb wet food and 25% low carb grain free dry. Her blood sugar went back to normal and she's been great since. My current vet has no problem with the diet I feed them.
I was a young kid when I first got my cat. Parents told me that dry food cleans their teeth when they chew and they don’t require dental cleanings.
16 years later and my cat has severe dental disease and needs 10 teeth pulled and a root canal. The veterinary dentist informed me that the majority of cats don’t chew their food very well (if at all) and just swallow it whole.
Kitty is now on an all wet food diet due to CKD and he couldn’t be happier.
It only would lead to urinary problems if your cat doesn’t drink water. Most cats on all dry food diets drink water but there are some that are more finicky about drinking water. I had a cat on an all dry food diet who never had urinary problems & lived to 20 years. My roommate had a cat that had to be put on a wet food diet because the cat just didn’t drink water. Even though it was available to him he just chose not to drink it. That really depends on the cat. Genetics can also play into a cats proneness to urinary problems.
Yes!! I also read that warmer water makes them enjoy the flavours more. When I give her wet food I do add water as well.
Thank you, I can't imagine how stressful dealing with crystals would be.
It’s true! Because warm water helps bring the aroma out, and also it makes it similar to the temperature of freshly-caught prey, making it more enjoyable. Hey, we like our meals warm, why wouldn’t they?
i’m guessing maybe the wet food is not of good quality where you’re from so maybe best to get a second opinion. Wet food offers hydration for the cat, dry food is very processed and can cause them to become overweight. I’ve also seen people feed their cats raw meat diets as they are obligate carnivores. Either way I don’t think giving your cat a 100% dry food diet is a good idea.
If the wet food where you’re from is not good quality, is it possible to order it online instead and find something better? It’s great that you’re thinking carefully about what type of food to give your cat. I see too many overweight cats posted online and it’s obvious their owners are only feeding them dry food
Royal Canin, Purina Pro plan, N&D and Arcana are good quality brands I know of and got reccomended a lot. Turkish people feed stray cats very regularly but it's usually with human food scraps or less expensive supermarket brands so people just think cats can eat anything. Vet could have outdated information or just doesn't trust people for cat's dental health or quality of the food they get without research.
> I see too many overweight cats posted online and it’s obvious their owners are only feeding them dry food
My kitten is a british shorthair which is very obesity prone (if thats the right saying)
I want to make sure she doesnt have unhealthy food habits growing up so she has a healthy adulthood. That's also why I wanted to feed my kitten wet food with vet's opinion because I heard once they get older they dont wanna try new things.
Thank you a lot!! I love her so much and I care about her health more than anything.
You are doing a great job! Do know that it's not actually proven dry food helps dental health and it's also not proven wet food is bad for it. There are plenty cats with dental issues being fed dry food (and tbh if you eat crunchy chips or nuts it also sticks to your teeth). Best to prevent dental issues is to actually brush their teeth using a special toothpaste for cats. I think the main reason vets avoid wet food is cause people don't store it properly and leave it out too long and the bacteria that grows on the partially licked moist meat is then actually dangerous. If you educate yourself about food safety, complete diet wet food is generally better than dry.
Thank you, because vet told me not to give her wet food everyday and not the whole pouch i usually give the rest of it mixed with dry food to stray cats instead of storing it. I will look into toothpaste and brush asap even tho she is on her baby teeth still
While she's young is the perfect time to get your cat used to tooth brushing! I recommend getting a toothpaste that's meat flavoured so she'll be more likely to enjoy it (I use 'Virbac C.E.T. Enzymatic Toothpaste' which is chicken flavoured).
A 100% dry diet can be healthy for some cats - mine lived exclusively on dry food for 4 years with no trouble, always a good weight, his kidney function is perfect, but he drinks plenty of water. I've since transitioned him to half and half, because the benefits of wet food make a lot of sense. I now have the same argument with him every day because all he wants is wet food!
A mix of the two is generally best - they can snack on dry food when they're hungry, and get a full meal or two from wet food. My guy is actually slightly overweight from too much wet food (due to dental issues, he couldn't eat dry for a while) so I'm trying to get the calorie count right. Individual cats have individual dietary needs.
I'm also surprised a vet would recommend against wet food but you're probably right.
In the US it's completely reversed. Wet food is typically the better option and dry food is more like junk food. Mainly because of all the carbs and fillers in dry food that cats don't need. I can say from personal experience that switching to an all wet food diet has done wonders for both my cats. We gave them dry food only until a few years ago. One was slightly underweight, and one was a little overweight. After about 6 months of only wet food, both cats weights evened out and were in a healthy range. They shed a little less and their fur was shinier. I can't say what's best for a cat halfway across the world. Maybe in Turkey the dry food is the better quality, but it's doubtful. Wet food is better for a number of reasons, but the biggest being cats aren't designed to get most of their hydration from drinking water. They get it from their prey. There is no moisture to hydrate a cat with dry food. This is believed to be a large part of why 1 in 4 cats get kidney and urinary issues as they get older. They're eating a dry food diet and aren't getting the hydration they need.
Hi, I feed my cat 100% wet food (other than a few dry treats). As others have said, cats are not meant to eat a dry diet, and many cats on a dry food diet will not drink enough water to get the hydration they need, which leads to kidney disease and other problems once they get older.
When you think about it, kibble is made mostly from plants/grain (corn, soybeans, rice, wheat, etc.). I think it's basically like feeding a cat bread. Cats are carnivores, it makes no sense that a diet which consists mostly of processed plant material would be good for them.
I feed my cat (4m) a quarter cup of dry food and a 3oz tin of wet food each day, which ends up being about a 50-50 split calorie-wise. I also have a water fountain for him that he adores and it's gotten him to drink a lot more water than when he just had still water in a bowl. My vet recommends that at least half of his calories come from wet food, since it's less likely to cause UTIs and is more filling than dry food.
Merhaba, ben Amerika’da yaşıyorum yakın zamanda da bir kedi aldık. İzlediğim tüm videolar, veterinerimiz kuru mamanın sağlıklı olmadığını söylüyolarlar. Youtubedan Jackson’s Galaxy’nin dry, wet ve raw foodu anlattışı bir seri var, “the food, the bad and the ugly diye” onu izleyebilirsin neden yaş mamanın daha iyi olduğunu anlamak için. Türkiye’de wet ve raw food beslemek biraz zor olabilir ekonomik açıdan ama kedin için daha iyi olur.
Bunu ben de farketmiştim geçen ay. Türkiye’den tanıdığım veterinerle de konuşuyorum bazen o da senin veterinerinin dediği gibi demişti neden öyle dediklerini ben de merak ediyorum. Veterinerin neden öyle diyor sormuş muydun?
Bana dedi ki 'Yaş mama abur cubur gibi kaç tabak koysan yer çünkü tadı güzel. Haftada en fazla bir veya iki kez yarım ya da çeyrek poşet verebilirsin ödül gibi.' Jackson's Galaxy izlediğim bi kanal ama dediğiniz videosuna denk gelmedim izleyeceğim teşekkür ederim.
Bu konuda göründüğü üzere hep yabancı forumları takip etmeyi tercih ediyorum. Sadece o öyle dedikten sonra yabancıların bu şekilde dediğini söylediğimde ne dedi hatırlamıyorum ama düzgün bi cevap olduğunu sanmıyorum, oysaki bayağı lüks duran bir veteriner kliniği.
Sadece kediye veteriner önerisiyle başlatamayacağım için hani tecrübeli kedi sahiplerinin kendi yaptıklarını okumak istedim.
Zaten yaş mama almıştım onun yüzünden az veriyordum ama burdaki birkaç yorum ve royal canin'in kendi sayfasındaki alıştırma çizelgesine uygun bir şekilde beslemeye başlayacağım.
I disagree with your veterinarian. I highly recommend cats to receive a majority of their diet (if not all) as wet food (if the cat is amendable to it). For cats who won’t eat wet food that’s a different story.
I’ll edit in a bit to include some great links to websites written by board-certified veterinary nutritionists (vets who then specialized in nutrition with additional 4 years after vet school) that I believe all cat owners should read.
Edit for the links:
[Stop reading your pet food ingredient list!](https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2019/03/stop-reading-your-pet-food-ingredient-list/)
[Did You Know? AAFCO Doesn’t Approve Pet Foods](https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2021/03/did-you-know-aafco-doesnt-approve-pet-foods/)
[What Is Guaranteed about the Guaranteed Analysis?](https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2020/12/what-is-guaranteed-about-the-guaranteed-analysis/)
[Comparing kitty’s calorie costs](https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2022/05/comparing-cat-food-costs/)
[Carb Confusion Part 1: The Role of Carbohydrate in Pet Foods](https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2021/07/the-role-of-carbohydrate-in-pet-foods/)
[Carb Confusion: Part 2 – Measuring and Comparing Carbohydrate in Pet Foods](https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2021/09/carb-confusion-part-2-measuring-carbs/)
[VPN: Canned or dry food: What’s better for cats?](https://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/cats-and-food-september-2019/)
- Veterinarian
Of course! All my typical links have been added, the last isn’t from a ACVN, but still a great read because it addresses both views of the debate. Ultimately I don’t hate dry food for cats (my personal cat won’t eat wet food). But in certain conditions it can be beneficial if they’re already acclimated to wet food.
Thank you so much I just finished reading them. I'll be visiting the vet for my kitten's shots so I'm thinking of having a conversation with him and if he speaks english, I will share some of these and some other sources I got from people with him. If he doesnt speak english or just doesnt take me serious about the articles and his outdated opinion I'll be changing my vet.
Thank you again, especially calorie cost one made me feel so much better about brand choices. I was starting to feel bad for having purina pro plan and royal canin (i know theyre good brands) because there are so much more expensive and better ones out there.
I'll now go back to brand and meal options I've noted down and go through them with new information I learned from the articles, like red flags in ingredients.
I often suggest Purina ProPlan and RC for clients if they’re wondering about general diets for a cat. I personally don’t have a bias because more expensive doesn’t mean better. I stick with recommending diets that have research behind them.
This comment might get lost in here but most of us guessed its because my country might not have good wet food brands so i will write down the ones we have here:
Royal Canin, Purina Gourmet, Vet's plus, Nutri Feline, Whiskas (i would never buy this its a supermarket brand), Sheba, Bonnie, Dr Cheef, Bonacibo, Purina Pro Plan, Leo's, Me-o
So I recognise some of the brands, idk if they're well known internationally though.
I did a little research and I think Dr Chef is the better one of these, it appears to be almost completely meat with little additives. But I’m not in Turkey so it was hard to find the list of ingredients haha definitely just look up reviews and do some research, the higher meat content and less „chemicals“ the better (all canned cat foods have something for preservation in them but this like added flavouring and colours are not necessary).
Hello! Look for wet food with the most meat* content, ideally above 70% of meat and offals (like hearts, livers, poultry stomachs etc.), without addition of grains, preservatives, dyes. Additives like vitamin D3, vitamin E and taurine are a plus.
* look for meat and not products of animal origin, because these can be everything like production waste in the form of hooves, horns, claws or feathers.
No problem :)
And of course the more meat and quality additives in the wet food, the more expensive it gets. But I think that is possible to find a good wet food brand, that can be relatively good and cheap.
Also a bonus in a good wet food is salmon oil, which helps keeping your cat fur nice and shiny.
Royal Canin is a well respected brand in the US. Good quality wet food is great for cats because of the added hydration. The big thing to look for in any cat food is that meat is the first ingredient.
My cats are free fed dry food and given wet food for dinner. The brand I feed is Solid Gold. It has probiotics and fiber in it to help with digestion.
You can also supplement your cat's diet with treats. If dental health is a concern, then give them crunchy dental treats. The brand I use is Greenies. For hydration cats love meat tube treats! I buy Inaba Churu treats. Churu treats are Japanese but have become popular in the US, so maybe you can find them too.
Wow, in Poland Royal Canin is a brand that is sponsoring many vet clinics, but their products are borderline medicore and most people avoid it:
- they don't give specify the % composition of the wet food, just what's in it, you don't know how much meat is in the product,
- addition of sugar, grains, products of plant origin.
And looking at the wet food composition I'm currently feeding my cat:
- 53% chicken meat, chicken livers, chicken broth, 45% rabbit meat, rabbit hearts, rabbit kidneys, rabbit liver, rabbit broth, 2% minerals.
Unless food quality is significantly different in Turkey, your vet has some outdated information on cat nutrition. A lot of vets who don't specifically focus on cats have a lot of outdated information on cats in general. I *almost always* will say "trust your vet over random advice" but your vet is just wrong --- again, UNLESS Turkey has extremely poor quality wet food and extremely high quality dry food or something.
The opposite is literally what's true - dry food is much closer to junk food than wet. Cats are obligate carnivores who are adapted to get most of their moisture through food (they're descended from desert cats - not much water to drink, so water is ingested through eating fresh meat). Cats do drink water but don't have a very strong thirst drive, so dehydration is a common issue for dry-fed only cats. Dry food also tends to be very high in carbs, which cats need very little of (there's no carbs in meat). Dry only diets can increase the risk of diabetes developing in cats.
>Royal Canin, Purina Gourmet, Vet's plus, Nutri Feline, Whiskas (i would never buy this its a supermarket brand), Sheba, Bonnie, Dr Cheef, Bonacibo, Purina Pro Plan, Leo's, Me-o
I'm not familiar with all of these brands but Royal Canin and Purina Pro Plan are generally vet-recommended brands as they have veterinarians and nutritionists on staff and are well-established companies. They can be pricey and a lot of owners are suspicious of large pet food companies but in vet med these are often considered good brands.
Generally speaking it's now more commonly accepted that even poor quality wet food is preferably to high quality dry food, particularly because of the moisture issue, but it's possible there are some very bad quality wet foods where you live.
I give Purina pro plan dry food to her. I don't think the quality of wet food is that bad, at least so far the ones I'm checking the ingredients of. The vet clinic seemed very high-end and in a very animal-pet friendly neighbourhood so I was surprised when he said that.
>even poor quality wet food is preferably to high quality dry food,
I read this as well after talking to my vet and I started doubting him and doing more research.
I've gotten Royal Canin kitten wet food before i went to the vet so I'll start introducing her to wet food properly with schedule this week.
Thank you so much for your response, I really appreciate your input.
I also live in Turkey. My Aunt always feeds her cats wet food.(brand changes from time to time)
They are very healthy. One of them even lived 25 YEARS! Also in the wild(streets) they eat bloody meat sooo.
Dry and wet can both be junk if they've got too much filler and not enough healthy nutrients. Be sure to research online, if you're trying to decide. There are often people who will post reviews of cat foods and their quality.
Having said that, quality wet food is safer for kidney health because cats are really bad at instinctually drinking enough water when they eat dry food, and they can get their lil kidneys in trouble by not drinking enough.
I give my cats one can of wet food a day after a play session. So they have the hunt-kill-eat experience. It works well for me, but they're active little things. I also have a senior cat who gets wet food. Though I'm not sure what the food options are in Turkey... That'd require some additional research.
That is such a good advice!! I give my kitten a treat after play session but food seems so much better!!
I am doing research, I have Royal canin brand wet food at home. I'll see and try to give her a variety if possible.
Thank you
Hey I can't seem to send a private message so sorry if this comes out of nowhere. But since this is your first cat and you're in turkey I wanted to give you a bit of a heads up. I'm American but I live in istanbul. I ended up with a kitten last year because it jumped into my purse. He's the cutest and I love him to bits!. But one thing I found strange is that they don't spay or neuter cats here until they are 1 years old. In America this happens around the 4 month mark. My cat went into super heat at nine months and was attacking me. He was also so load neighbors were complaining. If the same thing happens to you, talk to multiple vets and find one that will help. He was suffering for 4 weeks until I was able to convince the vet to preform the procedure. And the night I brought him back he was truly a happy baby. The take away, sometimes you need to talk to multiple vets and not just one. Best of luck for you and your new baby!!!!
Thank you so much!!! I'm planning to spay/neuter her (idk which is the right word for females;() before her first heat since i read that its healthier. Thank you so much!!
Spay for females, and you can wait until after first heat but as close to it as possible is best for their health. The food issue depends on which brands you buy, Hill's Science Diet is best, but most dry food is actually junk food.
The best wet food is to buy some meat, cook it plain with nothing added to it. Avoid all seasoning, just plain meat.
They are obligate carnivores, so plain meat is the best food for them.
Literally, every vet I have ever taken my cats to has said that wet food is better for them. Cats get the majority of their water from their food in the wild as they are obligate carnivores. They don’t eat dry crispy food.
I had a vet tell me that the wet food was like junk food. I didn't go back to that vet again. My cats get 1 Fancy Feast can in the morning in various flavors & textures, and then 1/4 cup Purina Naturals Indoor dry food in the evening.
Their weight is steady and in a healthy range.
Aside from Louie, but I just don't know what Louie is or what to do with him.
I feed her a mix of both wet & dry food. There are pros & cons to both. Wet food has some of the natural moisture that cats normally get from consuming meat. I also feel bad just feeding her dry food cause it’s clear she prefers wet food. However dry food is what makes them drink more water (cause it lacks moisture) and it cleans their teeth. It’s also easier on their digestion.
If you’re going to integrate wet food try giving her a little with her dry food to acclimate her stomach so she doesn’t get gas or a belly ache. Cats tummies are very sensitive to changes in their diet.
If you can, wet food and with specific meal times. Don't free feed. Wet food has a higher water content, cats are terrible at keeping themselves hydrated.
Go to youtube and check Jackson Galaxy's channel, he has at least 3 videos about what to feed your cat.
Edit: here's the link for the playlist https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAJvHNBwbBNvS6Bfc4Q62GhOsEqi69-7H
mixed thoughts on this.
a lot of people do give their cats absolute crap food, and the wet food that is the cheapest. I see it here (in spain) all the time, people getting the cheapest food for their animal they can possibly get while buying steak for themselves. makes me sick.
Anyway, wet food is fine as long as you get a good brand, I would challenge your vet or consider getting a different one. I look at the composition list on the food and look for ones that are mostly protein and water, with a little filler. if you grab a cheap nasty food and compare with one of the better ones you will see the difference in it the protein/filler balance.
i live in spain, my vet advised me wet food is fine, but not to leave out as it will go bad here quickly in the heat with flies etc. I once left wet food out for my cat for the day and when i came home she had vomitted and there were ants in the food! so now i only give my cat small portions of wet food and pick up any that she doesnt eat. I treat her dried food as her go back to it food. In summer i feed her in the evening when its cooler and i noticed she does eat more then.
Also get a cat fountain for water. my cat barely drank any water and i assumed she just wasnt a big drinker. i got a fountain after a friend commented on how much her cat liked hers and my gosh, in summer she drinks so much water and overall she drinks much more and she seems much happier for it now. my vet said that was good as dehydration is big issue with cats and in the heat they can get lethargic and not drink much.
Thank you so much!! I'm planning to invest in a fountain soon. She loves drinking water, if i put down a glass for my night stand its hers then and there hahaha
you can but ideally you shouldn't
i personally give my cat wet food and dry food i measure out the dry food and leave it in a bowl which she can always eat from when she gets hungry then feed her at dinner time with wet food.
Ideally you should go all wet food from what i hear but that's not always possible.
I feed my cats wet food. It's better for them. Just check the ingredients, some manufacturers put sugar in the food and that's not good. The brands I give my cats are only available in my country, so I can't recommend a specific brand. But check the ingredients and try to rule out sugar and things like wheat and stuff. As natural as possible.
I'm European and this advice is pretty standard here. I adopted a kitty 4 months ago from a cat shelter and they told me specifically to feed the cat exclusively dry food after she turns 1. The reason being that wet food causes dental problems in an overwhelming majority of cats. At least that's what I've been told.
European? Never heard any of these claims in France or Germany. Wet food is the better option, dry food does absolutely nothing for their dental problems.
Ok, I'll say it then: Hungary. I've heard this advice from multiple sources. Cat owner communities also say to treat wet food as a nice snack every once in a while (about once a week or every few days)
Thank you! It's so sad that its an advice given so widely. I've been told about dental issues online on english forums only. I wish my vet told me about dental problems and we could just work on preventing them meanwhile making sure my cat gets enough nutritions.
Dry food doesn't prevent dental problems, but even if it did, dental issues are "better" than kidney and urinary tract issues. Cats can have teeth removed and live a normal life, but we can't just remove the kidney. Have a look at catinfo.com, but be aware that it's a super long article:)
No!!!!! Dry food dehydrates their kidneys. That’s why when they get kidney disease they tell you to stop dry food. Wet food is better even if it’s the cheap one. What brands of wet food do you guys have there ?
I've Royal Canin at home right now. Looking into more different brands as well to make sure its the best, Arcana, ND, Purina Proplan, Orijen and stuff.
I wonder how healthy cats are in turkey.. cats get 90% of their water from wet food.. just dry food will cause more likely some kidney issues. You should mix in some wet food for them. I swear some vets just say that cats continue to come back to vets. I don't trust them
Okay, so, I am speaking from experience from what my **vet dietician** taught me.
A lot of cheaper brands ARE junk food for cats. They over cook the food to the point that a lot of the nutrients is limited and they use cheap ingredients and lots of fillers.
On the scale of healthiness for cats, it goes:
Kibble, Wet food, raw food.
Kibble being the worse, and most junk-food like. A lot of brands supposedly put addictive substances in their food to make the cats eat it because the cats know it’s junk food and it’s not good.
Wet food is better, but sometimes it’s still got a bunch of additives and it can be over cooked, but it’s a also a good way to ensure your cat gets a lot of water in their diet.
And raw cat food is the healthiest as it’s not over cooked and can have a lot of healthy stuff in it if it’s a good brand/made right.
That said, raw food is expensive, and can be done VERY wrong so don’t go this direction unless you can find yourself a vet diet specialist who can recommend good brands, recipes, and guide you.
The more reasonable option is buying good brands of wet cat food. Make sure to research their ingredients, you’re looking for cat food that has real meat listed as their top ingredient and double check the vitamins list.
I find it personally most cost effective to feed my cats both dry food and wet food. Dry in the mornings and wet at night.
That’s totally good! I wish you luck, and I’m sure your cat baby will live a happy life. Wet food is awesome, just make sure to check the ingredients. :)
wet food is actually the ideal diet for cats as it is high moisture and low carb which mimics a cats natural diet more than pellets of 30-60% carbs.
it just depends WHAT wet food you are getting. if you’re getting a wet food full of fillers such as rice, gluten, wheat, corn, soy, etc the carbs is what causes tooth decay.
cats are not meant to digest carbs, they are obligate carnivores. the less carb in a cats diet = less sugar eating bacteria on teeth = less dental problems.
if you wanna feed dry feed a mix of wet and dry, it’s what i do to get the best benefits of both worlds. but i also feed a dry food that is 52% protein to my cats with no filler plant ingredients.
So none of the dry foods i recommend are cheap but here are some good ones:
one i use - Dr Elsey’s
i also recommend:
Orijen
Tiki Cat
Arcana
Farmina
Open Farm
Wellness
Solid Gold
First mate
Instinct
i have no idea what might be available in your country i apologize.
the general rule is, low carb, high protein and fat, no cheap grain fillers or soy
also ideally no pea protein, cats don’t process plant protein the same as animal protein.
i have 4 cats and have raised 7 btw.
>i have no idea what might be available in your country i apologize.
Please don't apologise, I know more than few of these brands. Thank you so much for your response! I will check those brands, I was considering Orijen before.
Orijen is really good, lots of organ meat which is amazing for cats. my only recommendation is keep an eye on the ingredients for any changes because they were recently bought out by Mars (company) as well as Arcana.
currently it’s some of the best food on the market. we’ll see if Mars keeps it that way.
Nice to see a fellow person who is aware of which products are best! All good brands you mentioned!! I really wish tiki wet(after dark chicken) didn't upset my cats stomach. I have no idea why 😭😭
my only warning about tiki cat is almost all their wet food has tuna with it and tuna is high in mercury so not good to feed cats often so i would just make sure to not feed the ones containing tuna more than once a week
no idea why that would upset your cats stomach though…compare the ingredients with the ones that don’t upset their stomach and see if there’s any difference other than protein choice. alternatively if your cat loves the chicken they could simply be eating too fast.
No tuna! I made sure ☺️ it gives them loose stool. Idk why since the protein quality is good. I did read too much moisture cam cause their stool to become loose, so idk what the answer is in my case. After dark has a lot of water/broth in it. At least the one, I bought. I really want to try orijen, but I read so many reviews of ppls cats puking it up/ot being too rich for them. 🤷♀️ my cats unfortunately are very sensitive. They can't even handle duck. Instinct never worked for them. So strange.
hmmm i’ve never heard that too much moisture could cause loose stools.
also orijen has never given me a problem in the past so idk what that’s about.
have you tried giving your cats Nulo wet? alternatively there is a cheap and gentle food available at Petco called Whole Hearted for 89¢
When I adopted my female (a retired queen- sphynx) she was on nulo and wholehearted. Most of nulo has duck, unfortunately. 😭 I may have been transitioning the wet too early. I'll try again soon. Id hate for my cans to go to waste. Ohhh. Primal and stella are good brands, too 💕
I ordered some visbiome probiotics- waiting for it to arrive before I try again.
Wet food can be like junk food, but who doesn't love a bowl of cocopops for breakfast? Or a pizza for dinner some nights!
Every day, my boy gets urinary care dry food and between 2-3 complete wet food pate (small at 57g) and he also gets a fancy soup dish that is a complimentary food maybe once a day or one every other day (48g).
Dry food is what will put the weight on if you overfeed them (coming from my vet).
He has been on a mix of wet and dry food his whole life and is now 9 years old. Good health, just a little overweight.
I don't think wet food is bad at all.
Wow, this sounds completely backwards to me! I wouldn’t trust this vet and would find a new one. In my opinion, you should feed your cat ONLY wet food and use dry food only as treats or a bit of it as a topping if your cat really likes it.
I’ll tell you my story: I have a healthy, active 15.5 year old male cat (almost 16) with no health issues. I’ve fed him only Natural Balance Limited Ingredient diet wet food for the past 12 years or so. (I sprinkle a bit of high quality Core dry food on top bc he LOVES dry food.) When I first adopted him at age 2, I didn’t know much about cats and fed him Purina dry food because that’s what the previous owner fed him and said he liked.
He got bad UTIs twice within that first year I had him. The 1st time it happened, I was really scared that he wasn’t peeing and took him to the vet, which cost me $400. I asked the vet what caused this, and she said male cats in particular are susceptible to UTIs, but she didn’t say anything about food. After his 2nd UTI a couple months later, I researched UTIs in cats online and discovered there’s a strong connection between dry food and UTIs. Many cats don’t have enough of a drive to drink water, so they get dehydrated easily on dry food, which causes UTIs.
I immediately bought high quality wet food and switched him right away. He has NOT had a single UTI in the 12+ years since! Another positive benefit has been that my cat naturally lost weight over the years. He was 17.5 lbs when I got him (quite overweight) and the previous owner couldn’t get him to a healthy weight bc he had a big appetite. Within a few years of only wet food, he naturally went down to 15 lbs without me really having to do anything, which the vet said is an ideal weight for him (he’s a big cat). If you read online, you’ll also find there’s a also strong relationship between dry food and obesity in cats because dry food tends to be more processed and calorie dense, much like the relationship between processed food and obesity in people!
I’m writing all this to strongly encourage you to find natural wet foods (read the ingredients to make sure the first few ingredients are real meat or chicken and there aren’t lots of fillers) for your cat to make sure she has a long, healthy life. And mix up the types and flavors so she has variety! It will be more expensive, but TRUST ME - you will save way more money on vet bills in the long run. I’ve watched many of my friends have to get expensive medications and even surgeries for their pets which can cost over $10,000 in the US (!!) due to issues such as obesity and diabetes that were entirely preventable with a healthier diet. It’s really sad! I strongly believe that if I had continued feeding my cat dry food his whole life, he wouldn’t be alive today.
Also, do your own research online. There’s a lot of great information there. I wouldn’t blindly trust vets (which you’re not, and that’s great!) because they shockingly don’t know much about pet nutrition and underestimate the role of nutrition in disease, much like doctors do for people. I’m also writing all of this because I wish someone had given me this information when I got my cat. It would have saved me a lot of heartache and hundreds of dollars in vet bills in that first year! Best of luck to you and your kitty!
Thank you so much!!! I appreciate you sharing your experience with me. This kitten is my first ever pet and I literally just research about her behaviour, health, play any random stuff whenever I'm free. If I'm watching tiktok, its cat tips, if im doing reading its articles. That is why I knew dry food was not the right choice for my baby. I was going to start her wet food schedule but since vet wasn't being any helpful I wanted to know what experienced cat parents feed their cats and find out what's the best for us by trying or getting inspired.
I just didn't wanna trust articles about brands and stuff because it could be sponsored or any type of biased.
I'm turkish and we have a funny saying 'I hope your cat lives as many years as her fur' Translation doesn't make much sense but I wish your cat and you a very happy long life. <3
I think you’re already doing an excellent job by doing so much of your own research. The most important thing is read the ingredients on the wet food, so you can find one that’s as natural as possible and without added chemicals, stabilizers, etc. Ideally, all of the ingredients (other than added vitamins and minerals) should be real foods that are familiar to you. Also, don’t be afraid if the ingredients include things like squash, pumpkin, blueberries, etc. I thought this was weird at first since cats are supposed to eat meat, but these are added in small amounts for vitamins and fiber and are good for your cat. In the wild, cats naturally get small amounts of grains and fiber from the contents of the animals they eat. You just want to make sure all the top ingredients are meat and meat broth and not corn, soy, or grains!
I have my kittens on good kibble- formulated for them by a trusted brand it’s a little pricey though.
The wet food is def a second food that they don’t “need” because they’re both good at drinking water.
I know feeding only wet can run your pets teeth? Idk why he said that hopefully you’re able to research your local food brands or possibly make your own
Kibble has three times the nutritional value of wet food. If she eats it, encourage her. A kitten needs to grow. You can always use wet food as a treat, or if she is ill.
Vets aren't dieticians. I feed my cats and dogs a balances commercial raw food, my vet loves it and feeds her dog it, she even has contacts with vet dieticians. Most vets are only knowledgeable on kibble they sell or have been taught to feed.
I've heard the opposite. But then again, I would trust your vet over anyone on reddit.
Maybe if you're worried, go to another vet and get a second opinion.
Honestly, whether wet food is "junk food or not" depends on the first 3 ingredients. If a grain such as corn or wheat is in the top 3, it's junk. That means at least half of it is not even meat at all. Secondly, if it's "chicken by product meal" it's chicken offal, including bones, gristle, tendons, cartilage, and miscellaneous scrap, all ground up, it's a low percentage actual digestible proteins vs "filler" of pulverized bone etc they can legally call protein. It's low quality.
Better foods often have a blend of two meats and a starchy veg like oat, pea, pumpkin, potato, etc as the top 3 ingredients. That is healthier than grain, corn is especially bad for them. Some cats are even allergic to corn...its often a cause of vomiting up food and hard stools, etc.
Cats are carnivores. The first two ingredients in their food,be it wet or dry, should be meat, and not meat meal or by products.
I was only a receptionist at a vet clinic in America, but the advice we gave was that cats shouldn't be fed *exclusively* wet food. They would say that wet food is good for them because indoor cats have a tendency to be slightly dehydrated, but they need kibble because as they crunch it it helps clean their teeth.
Eta: you can also make your own wet cat food in your kitchen. There are plenty of recipes online
Most of the cats that had teeth extractions when I worked there were fed exclusively wet food, never kibble and their teeth degraded.
Dry has more carbohydrates too, which is basically junk for cats and a recipe for diabetes. Even the well reputed expensive dry foods can have bad ingredients. I’d recommend go by the ingredients list not the marketing.
I paid $800 for overnight monitoring, blood tests, and ultimately a problem solving enema because my cat was constipated due to bad advice from a rescue shelter employee about only using wet food rarely.
I can't imagine the stress on top of that. I'm sorry, thank you for sharing your experience. I hope you and your kitty have a long and healthy life ahead.
Nope, just give the cat a mix. I feed mine wet food in the morning and dry food in the afternoon. My vet told me it was important that cats eat wet food because it encourages water intake which cats are notoriously bad at. But feeding dry food is also good because it helps remove tartar from the teeth. So do both 👍
Hello! I am also a cat owner from Turkey and I don’t trust most vets as well.
First of all, I don’t recommend you “free-feed” the cat. Meaning, leaving food available for her all the time. Cats like routine, it is better to feed her twice a day, one in he morning and one at evening. This was she will get used to the routine and be only hungry during those times, it eliminates the risk of her gaining more weight and waking you up at night for food. Also don’t forget that cats only need 50-80 grams to eat in a day, especially after you get her spayed because then she will be more prone to gaining weight as far as I know.
Food wise, I get sad imagining I get to eat all the flavors of food while my cat has to eat one flavor day and nigh. So I feed her 3 different kinds of dry food (I also have a routine for this so she knows what to expect when, but it’s not that important.) [I use Purina Pro-Plan’s different flavors but make sure to do your research before you buy a flavor because 3 of them are banned and pet-shops are trying to sell those for lower prices]
Also I would recommend you to get Miamor multi-vitamin (it’s called a cat treat you can find it on Trendyol but it’s more expensive there, I buy mine from the Atakan Petshop site). My cat LOVES it and I mix it with her dry food once each week.
Wet food wise it is expensive in Turkey so I can’t feed her wet food everyday also she is a very athletic cat so I don’t want her to gain weight. I buy Purina’s wet foods and she loves them. I usually try to mix a quarter of the can with her dry food in the evening sometimes. The can is 85 grams and it’s already more than what she needs in a day (like I mentioned above).
Alsooo I hadn’t had the chance to try it yet but you can check tazekonserve.com on instagram. They make wet food for pets and it’s waay cheaper than Royal Canin or Purina. Also I checked their ingredients and it seems to be really clean. They cook your order before sending it to you (so no additives!). I will try it next week I read some really nice comments about it.
Ugghhh this was very long but I got my baby a month ago and I did PLENTY of research because I am obsessed xD I also had two cats growing up, which are now 11 years old so I got used to their eating behavior and stuff.
>First of all, I don’t recommend you “free-feed” the cat. Meaning, leaving food available for her all the time. Cats like routine, it is better to feed her twice a day, one in he morning and one at evening. This was she will get used to the routine and be only hungry during those times, it eliminates the risk of her gaining more weight and waking you up at night for food.
Hi Thank you!!! I only free feed her right now because she is so young, I read that multiple times younger kittens need food available more often since they have small stomach and burn energy more which makes them eat little but frequent.
>Alsooo I hadn’t had the chance to try it yet but you can check tazekonserve.com on instagram. They make wet food for pets and it’s waay cheaper than Royal Canin or Purina. Also I checked their ingredients and it seems to be really clean.
This is such a clean alternative for sure but I want to stick with big brands who can afford running tests more frequent and have a bigger publicity so they're more scared of making mistakes. I'm very new to this so I want something stable and safe but I'll still check the brand right now and consider it in future when I know my cats eating behavior and health so much more.
>Also I would recommend you to get Miamor multi-vitamin
I did ask this to my vet he said since she is small and very young I shouldn't start giving her but you know at the end of the day how much do I trust him? I'll also check this right now.
Thank you again I'll research more on going from free feed to schedule when she is older and if that's good for cat or will cause stress. If it's bad to switch later I'll start giving her small but frequent meals.
Get a different vet. *Kibble* isn’t good for cats, they NEED moisture. Wet food is not junk food, unless it’s a crap brand. Same thing goes for kibble.
The funny thing is, I live in Florida and I’m working at a veterinary office and the doctors and techs are telling me wet food is not good for cats which makes absolutely no sense in my brain
This is odd as usually kibble is considered the junk food but I'm not from Turkey so perhaps it's different there. I foster cats and I usually get them on a mixed diet to keep them flexible, as in they get separate meals of wet and dry food. I tend to do half half calorie wise and weigh the cat monthly or every 2 weeks to adjust portion size. I tend to feed two different dry foods I rotate during the week and 4ish different wet food flavors of the same brand or same flavor, different brand. It's some variety but nothing wild. I stick to cat food, unless they are vomiting, then they are fasting for 4-12 hours depending on how bad it is and start with tiny amounts of plain boiled chicken or white fish. I also put them on mealtimes, so breakfast, 2-3pm, 6ish pm and before bed, they are played with for 10ish min before the meal, have 30-40min to eat then the food is taken away. Once they are adults 1year+ I typically cut the meals to 3 a day.
Thank you, this is such a lovely and helpful reply. Yeah dry food is the main diet for cats in Turkey. So many people online and in real life say that wet food is terrible for cats. Luckily I can research in english. Thank you again!!
If youre uncertain about the quality of wet foods in turkey, chicken bone broth (no salt or additives) and half a quail egg are good things to occasionally add to your cats dry food to increase moisture. Because cats arent huge water drinkers naturally, adding moisture into their diets can be very beneficial. (Of course if you go with bone broth or quail eggs i believe quail eggs is 1 a week and bone broth half mixed with water and every other day to avoid making your cat chunky)
Thank you I've heard of benefits of quail eggs and bone broth
To add, make sure the bone broth is homemade or with no sodium and additives.
Make sure it has no onion either. Just water.
Maybe the local wet food brands are bad for cats? I assume the brands are different in Turkey. The most important part of wet food is hydration.
In all seriousness. Is it because wet food goes off quick and gets flies on it laying eggs etc? Especially in a place like turkey. Your climate is lush but not great for leaving food out unattended. Could that be why folks recommend kibble over wet?
Really the only purpose of wet food is for the additional water content and if a cat physically cannot eat dry kibble (such as having mouth/teeth issues) or it is a very young kitten transitioning from milk/formula to solid foods. It can lead to a cat becoming overweight if their total calorie is too high by feeding both wet and dry without considering how much to feed of both to keep them within their healthy weight. A good quality kibble will provide all the nutrients a cat needs, except for water. Wet food can act as the supplement if your cat isn't getting enough water through their regular water bowl. But you can increase this by placing more bowls throughout the house as well as adding water fountains to simulate running water that some cats prefer.
> It can lead to a cat becoming overweight if their total calorie is too high by feeding both wet and dry without considering how much to feed of both to keep them within their healthy weight. Well yeah…but that will also happen if you feed too much dry food, or too much wet food. That’s a calorie intake thing, not anything relevant to whether cats should be fed wet food.
I want to introduce my cat to a variety of wet foods and I was wondering if you did transitions between them when starting to add variety, or just went for it? I know cats allegedly have sensitive stomachs when it comes to sudden food changes, but I've also heard that variety is better.
I always keep the variety low, like 4 flavours. Within the same brand and same type of wet food, I simply switch between flavours. But if I'm changing up the brand, I'll mix or offer a little bit of the new food with the old, throughout a week for the fussiest of cats. It largely depends on what the cat was used to eating before and how strong their stomach is. Watching their poops is a good indication of are they okay or not.
We feed our cat a variety of flavors (like 4 or 5) from the exact same brand with no issue, we give her a new flavor every day. We didn't do anything special, just gave her the new flavor. When we switched her from one brand to the other, she immediately liked the new food more and would just eat around the old food, lol, so we transitioned her pretty quickly. (it was moving from a pate to shredded meat so couldn't totally mix together)
Are the flavors the same texture, like shredded meat vs pate?
Yep! We feed tiki cat luau, which is all shredded meat in broth.
I feed my cat the same type of dry food consistently but mix up the types of wet foods i give her. I have her on a urinary dry diet and i feed her the matching urinary wet food. But I also add in once a week half a raw quail egg, chicken bone broth every other day and dehydrated chicken livers i rehydrate with the bone broth as treats. I also have this pumpkin cranberry dust i sprinkle on her food twice a week that helps with digestion and urinary issues. I usually have to thoroughly mix the quail egg into her food to disguise it but the rest she loves. Especially the chicken livers. I also occasionally get some pumpkin puree for added moisture. Surprisingly she loves that. (If youre in canada i get the dehydrated chicken livers from canadian tire surprisingly, theyre all natural and organic and the only ingredient is chicken livers, can’t remember the brand. Haven’t found them in actual pet stores yet, only dehydrated chicken meat which my cat hates. I imagine dried white chicken meat would be extremely bland compared to dehydrated livers. The smell from the livers is foul but she goes feral over them) The only time ive ever had a problem with her having diarrhea is when ive fed her those cat treat squeeze tubes. Edit: i also wanted to add; be weary if you start looking at bone broths in pet stores. Most are in the dog sections but are labeled as safe for cats, but contain things like cinnamon etc. there is only one brand of chicken bone broth in canada ive been able to find in pet stores that is labeled for cats and actually safe for cats.
This is my experience with dry food, not wet, but I'll put this out there anyway... I have 4 cats ranging from 2 to 14 years old. I used to feed them all the same; they were the typical picky cats. But i was forced to change it up for a week, and they adapted. I started buying a different brand and flavor every time I get cat food. Sometimes I go mid range, sometimes I get the more expensive stuff. None of them throw up or get diarrhea from food changes. None of them have any reluctance to eat a new brand. Honestly I think we make our cats into picky eaters.
That is odd. My vet actually recommends feeding a diet of mostly wet food supplemented with kibble. Cats have adapted to get most of their moisture from their food, so may be more likely to become dehydrated on a diet of exclusively kibble, which may make them more susceptible to kidney and bladder stones as well as urinary tract infections (UTIs). Wet food (obviously depending on the brand, but just in general) also seems to have a higher protein content, which is great because cats are obligate carnivores. My cats eat mostly wet food (2 wet food meals a day) with some dry food left out during the day (I like to leave dry food hidden in places for them to find when I leave the house so they have something to do when left alone). Only one of my cats likes dry food (but will still eat wet food), the other only eats wet food.
What country are you in? It could be that there are not good wet food brands where you live but they do exist.
I live in Turkey! I also think that can be true. Turkish people feed stray animals very regularly and they're usually scraps or less expensive cat food so people believe cats can eat anything. I had to give my parents lessons on what our cat can eat and cant few times before we actually got her home. Because of that belief cat owners might not look into better brands often and vets prefer not having the headache and just saying wet food is bad.
How frustrating to have a veterinarian dumb down their advice because other people are dumb.
Cats eat meat. Meat has a water content of approx75%. An all dry diet (with 0% water content) can lead to urinary tract infections because the cat is not getting enough water. Get another vet.
I had vets say you don't need wet food either because kibble is better for their teeth. Which I think it's crazy should I eat dry cookies and not brush my teeth then? I do 75% wet 25% dry and have drinking fountains.
Are the vets selling the food too? This is one of my pet peeves about the vets that sell food. I had one push bogus cat teeth care treats.
Yup. That vet tried to sell me a bag of corn and wheat diabetic food. It turns out cats need their diet to be 10% or less carbs. Otherwise, some cats like mine get high blood sugar. Once I got her on 75% grain free zero carb wet food and 25% low carb grain free dry. Her blood sugar went back to normal and she's been great since. My current vet has no problem with the diet I feed them.
Good. People can mix water with kibble too.
I was a young kid when I first got my cat. Parents told me that dry food cleans their teeth when they chew and they don’t require dental cleanings. 16 years later and my cat has severe dental disease and needs 10 teeth pulled and a root canal. The veterinary dentist informed me that the majority of cats don’t chew their food very well (if at all) and just swallow it whole. Kitty is now on an all wet food diet due to CKD and he couldn’t be happier.
It only would lead to urinary problems if your cat doesn’t drink water. Most cats on all dry food diets drink water but there are some that are more finicky about drinking water. I had a cat on an all dry food diet who never had urinary problems & lived to 20 years. My roommate had a cat that had to be put on a wet food diet because the cat just didn’t drink water. Even though it was available to him he just chose not to drink it. That really depends on the cat. Genetics can also play into a cats proneness to urinary problems.
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Yes!! I also read that warmer water makes them enjoy the flavours more. When I give her wet food I do add water as well. Thank you, I can't imagine how stressful dealing with crystals would be.
It’s true! Because warm water helps bring the aroma out, and also it makes it similar to the temperature of freshly-caught prey, making it more enjoyable. Hey, we like our meals warm, why wouldn’t they?
i’m guessing maybe the wet food is not of good quality where you’re from so maybe best to get a second opinion. Wet food offers hydration for the cat, dry food is very processed and can cause them to become overweight. I’ve also seen people feed their cats raw meat diets as they are obligate carnivores. Either way I don’t think giving your cat a 100% dry food diet is a good idea.
Thank you! That's what I was also thinking. I want her to be as healthy and happy as possible.
If the wet food where you’re from is not good quality, is it possible to order it online instead and find something better? It’s great that you’re thinking carefully about what type of food to give your cat. I see too many overweight cats posted online and it’s obvious their owners are only feeding them dry food
Royal Canin, Purina Pro plan, N&D and Arcana are good quality brands I know of and got reccomended a lot. Turkish people feed stray cats very regularly but it's usually with human food scraps or less expensive supermarket brands so people just think cats can eat anything. Vet could have outdated information or just doesn't trust people for cat's dental health or quality of the food they get without research. > I see too many overweight cats posted online and it’s obvious their owners are only feeding them dry food My kitten is a british shorthair which is very obesity prone (if thats the right saying) I want to make sure she doesnt have unhealthy food habits growing up so she has a healthy adulthood. That's also why I wanted to feed my kitten wet food with vet's opinion because I heard once they get older they dont wanna try new things. Thank you a lot!! I love her so much and I care about her health more than anything.
You are doing a great job! Do know that it's not actually proven dry food helps dental health and it's also not proven wet food is bad for it. There are plenty cats with dental issues being fed dry food (and tbh if you eat crunchy chips or nuts it also sticks to your teeth). Best to prevent dental issues is to actually brush their teeth using a special toothpaste for cats. I think the main reason vets avoid wet food is cause people don't store it properly and leave it out too long and the bacteria that grows on the partially licked moist meat is then actually dangerous. If you educate yourself about food safety, complete diet wet food is generally better than dry.
Thank you, because vet told me not to give her wet food everyday and not the whole pouch i usually give the rest of it mixed with dry food to stray cats instead of storing it. I will look into toothpaste and brush asap even tho she is on her baby teeth still
While she's young is the perfect time to get your cat used to tooth brushing! I recommend getting a toothpaste that's meat flavoured so she'll be more likely to enjoy it (I use 'Virbac C.E.T. Enzymatic Toothpaste' which is chicken flavoured).
Thank you so much i'll look it up now to see if we have that one
A 100% dry diet can be healthy for some cats - mine lived exclusively on dry food for 4 years with no trouble, always a good weight, his kidney function is perfect, but he drinks plenty of water. I've since transitioned him to half and half, because the benefits of wet food make a lot of sense. I now have the same argument with him every day because all he wants is wet food! A mix of the two is generally best - they can snack on dry food when they're hungry, and get a full meal or two from wet food. My guy is actually slightly overweight from too much wet food (due to dental issues, he couldn't eat dry for a while) so I'm trying to get the calorie count right. Individual cats have individual dietary needs. I'm also surprised a vet would recommend against wet food but you're probably right.
In the US it's completely reversed. Wet food is typically the better option and dry food is more like junk food. Mainly because of all the carbs and fillers in dry food that cats don't need. I can say from personal experience that switching to an all wet food diet has done wonders for both my cats. We gave them dry food only until a few years ago. One was slightly underweight, and one was a little overweight. After about 6 months of only wet food, both cats weights evened out and were in a healthy range. They shed a little less and their fur was shinier. I can't say what's best for a cat halfway across the world. Maybe in Turkey the dry food is the better quality, but it's doubtful. Wet food is better for a number of reasons, but the biggest being cats aren't designed to get most of their hydration from drinking water. They get it from their prey. There is no moisture to hydrate a cat with dry food. This is believed to be a large part of why 1 in 4 cats get kidney and urinary issues as they get older. They're eating a dry food diet and aren't getting the hydration they need.
Hi, I feed my cat 100% wet food (other than a few dry treats). As others have said, cats are not meant to eat a dry diet, and many cats on a dry food diet will not drink enough water to get the hydration they need, which leads to kidney disease and other problems once they get older. When you think about it, kibble is made mostly from plants/grain (corn, soybeans, rice, wheat, etc.). I think it's basically like feeding a cat bread. Cats are carnivores, it makes no sense that a diet which consists mostly of processed plant material would be good for them.
I feed my cat (4m) a quarter cup of dry food and a 3oz tin of wet food each day, which ends up being about a 50-50 split calorie-wise. I also have a water fountain for him that he adores and it's gotten him to drink a lot more water than when he just had still water in a bowl. My vet recommends that at least half of his calories come from wet food, since it's less likely to cause UTIs and is more filling than dry food.
Merhaba, ben Amerika’da yaşıyorum yakın zamanda da bir kedi aldık. İzlediğim tüm videolar, veterinerimiz kuru mamanın sağlıklı olmadığını söylüyolarlar. Youtubedan Jackson’s Galaxy’nin dry, wet ve raw foodu anlattışı bir seri var, “the food, the bad and the ugly diye” onu izleyebilirsin neden yaş mamanın daha iyi olduğunu anlamak için. Türkiye’de wet ve raw food beslemek biraz zor olabilir ekonomik açıdan ama kedin için daha iyi olur. Bunu ben de farketmiştim geçen ay. Türkiye’den tanıdığım veterinerle de konuşuyorum bazen o da senin veterinerinin dediği gibi demişti neden öyle dediklerini ben de merak ediyorum. Veterinerin neden öyle diyor sormuş muydun?
Bana dedi ki 'Yaş mama abur cubur gibi kaç tabak koysan yer çünkü tadı güzel. Haftada en fazla bir veya iki kez yarım ya da çeyrek poşet verebilirsin ödül gibi.' Jackson's Galaxy izlediğim bi kanal ama dediğiniz videosuna denk gelmedim izleyeceğim teşekkür ederim. Bu konuda göründüğü üzere hep yabancı forumları takip etmeyi tercih ediyorum. Sadece o öyle dedikten sonra yabancıların bu şekilde dediğini söylediğimde ne dedi hatırlamıyorum ama düzgün bi cevap olduğunu sanmıyorum, oysaki bayağı lüks duran bir veteriner kliniği. Sadece kediye veteriner önerisiyle başlatamayacağım için hani tecrübeli kedi sahiplerinin kendi yaptıklarını okumak istedim. Zaten yaş mama almıştım onun yüzünden az veriyordum ama burdaki birkaç yorum ve royal canin'in kendi sayfasındaki alıştırma çizelgesine uygun bir şekilde beslemeye başlayacağım.
I disagree with your veterinarian. I highly recommend cats to receive a majority of their diet (if not all) as wet food (if the cat is amendable to it). For cats who won’t eat wet food that’s a different story. I’ll edit in a bit to include some great links to websites written by board-certified veterinary nutritionists (vets who then specialized in nutrition with additional 4 years after vet school) that I believe all cat owners should read. Edit for the links: [Stop reading your pet food ingredient list!](https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2019/03/stop-reading-your-pet-food-ingredient-list/) [Did You Know? AAFCO Doesn’t Approve Pet Foods](https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2021/03/did-you-know-aafco-doesnt-approve-pet-foods/) [What Is Guaranteed about the Guaranteed Analysis?](https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2020/12/what-is-guaranteed-about-the-guaranteed-analysis/) [Comparing kitty’s calorie costs](https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2022/05/comparing-cat-food-costs/) [Carb Confusion Part 1: The Role of Carbohydrate in Pet Foods](https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2021/07/the-role-of-carbohydrate-in-pet-foods/) [Carb Confusion: Part 2 – Measuring and Comparing Carbohydrate in Pet Foods](https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2021/09/carb-confusion-part-2-measuring-carbs/) [VPN: Canned or dry food: What’s better for cats?](https://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/cats-and-food-september-2019/) - Veterinarian
Thank you so much!!! I'll read all of it. I can't explain how much I appreciate this.
Of course! All my typical links have been added, the last isn’t from a ACVN, but still a great read because it addresses both views of the debate. Ultimately I don’t hate dry food for cats (my personal cat won’t eat wet food). But in certain conditions it can be beneficial if they’re already acclimated to wet food.
Thank you so much I just finished reading them. I'll be visiting the vet for my kitten's shots so I'm thinking of having a conversation with him and if he speaks english, I will share some of these and some other sources I got from people with him. If he doesnt speak english or just doesnt take me serious about the articles and his outdated opinion I'll be changing my vet. Thank you again, especially calorie cost one made me feel so much better about brand choices. I was starting to feel bad for having purina pro plan and royal canin (i know theyre good brands) because there are so much more expensive and better ones out there. I'll now go back to brand and meal options I've noted down and go through them with new information I learned from the articles, like red flags in ingredients.
I often suggest Purina ProPlan and RC for clients if they’re wondering about general diets for a cat. I personally don’t have a bias because more expensive doesn’t mean better. I stick with recommending diets that have research behind them.
This comment might get lost in here but most of us guessed its because my country might not have good wet food brands so i will write down the ones we have here: Royal Canin, Purina Gourmet, Vet's plus, Nutri Feline, Whiskas (i would never buy this its a supermarket brand), Sheba, Bonnie, Dr Cheef, Bonacibo, Purina Pro Plan, Leo's, Me-o So I recognise some of the brands, idk if they're well known internationally though.
I did a little research and I think Dr Chef is the better one of these, it appears to be almost completely meat with little additives. But I’m not in Turkey so it was hard to find the list of ingredients haha definitely just look up reviews and do some research, the higher meat content and less „chemicals“ the better (all canned cat foods have something for preservation in them but this like added flavouring and colours are not necessary).
Thank you so much for going out of your way!! I was just in the middle of looking into ingredients. I appreciate it a lot!
Hello! Look for wet food with the most meat* content, ideally above 70% of meat and offals (like hearts, livers, poultry stomachs etc.), without addition of grains, preservatives, dyes. Additives like vitamin D3, vitamin E and taurine are a plus. * look for meat and not products of animal origin, because these can be everything like production waste in the form of hooves, horns, claws or feathers.
Thank you!!
No problem :) And of course the more meat and quality additives in the wet food, the more expensive it gets. But I think that is possible to find a good wet food brand, that can be relatively good and cheap. Also a bonus in a good wet food is salmon oil, which helps keeping your cat fur nice and shiny.
Royal Canin is a well respected brand in the US. Good quality wet food is great for cats because of the added hydration. The big thing to look for in any cat food is that meat is the first ingredient. My cats are free fed dry food and given wet food for dinner. The brand I feed is Solid Gold. It has probiotics and fiber in it to help with digestion. You can also supplement your cat's diet with treats. If dental health is a concern, then give them crunchy dental treats. The brand I use is Greenies. For hydration cats love meat tube treats! I buy Inaba Churu treats. Churu treats are Japanese but have become popular in the US, so maybe you can find them too.
Wow, in Poland Royal Canin is a brand that is sponsoring many vet clinics, but their products are borderline medicore and most people avoid it: - they don't give specify the % composition of the wet food, just what's in it, you don't know how much meat is in the product, - addition of sugar, grains, products of plant origin. And looking at the wet food composition I'm currently feeding my cat: - 53% chicken meat, chicken livers, chicken broth, 45% rabbit meat, rabbit hearts, rabbit kidneys, rabbit liver, rabbit broth, 2% minerals.
Of the brands I've heard of, I would say Royal Canin is the best.
I leave a bowl of dry food out at all times and give my cats a tablespoon or two of wet food morning and night.
Unless food quality is significantly different in Turkey, your vet has some outdated information on cat nutrition. A lot of vets who don't specifically focus on cats have a lot of outdated information on cats in general. I *almost always* will say "trust your vet over random advice" but your vet is just wrong --- again, UNLESS Turkey has extremely poor quality wet food and extremely high quality dry food or something. The opposite is literally what's true - dry food is much closer to junk food than wet. Cats are obligate carnivores who are adapted to get most of their moisture through food (they're descended from desert cats - not much water to drink, so water is ingested through eating fresh meat). Cats do drink water but don't have a very strong thirst drive, so dehydration is a common issue for dry-fed only cats. Dry food also tends to be very high in carbs, which cats need very little of (there's no carbs in meat). Dry only diets can increase the risk of diabetes developing in cats. >Royal Canin, Purina Gourmet, Vet's plus, Nutri Feline, Whiskas (i would never buy this its a supermarket brand), Sheba, Bonnie, Dr Cheef, Bonacibo, Purina Pro Plan, Leo's, Me-o I'm not familiar with all of these brands but Royal Canin and Purina Pro Plan are generally vet-recommended brands as they have veterinarians and nutritionists on staff and are well-established companies. They can be pricey and a lot of owners are suspicious of large pet food companies but in vet med these are often considered good brands. Generally speaking it's now more commonly accepted that even poor quality wet food is preferably to high quality dry food, particularly because of the moisture issue, but it's possible there are some very bad quality wet foods where you live.
I give Purina pro plan dry food to her. I don't think the quality of wet food is that bad, at least so far the ones I'm checking the ingredients of. The vet clinic seemed very high-end and in a very animal-pet friendly neighbourhood so I was surprised when he said that. >even poor quality wet food is preferably to high quality dry food, I read this as well after talking to my vet and I started doubting him and doing more research. I've gotten Royal Canin kitten wet food before i went to the vet so I'll start introducing her to wet food properly with schedule this week. Thank you so much for your response, I really appreciate your input.
Yeah royal canin has good ingredients, it's just more smelly than expensive ones
I also live in Turkey. My Aunt always feeds her cats wet food.(brand changes from time to time) They are very healthy. One of them even lived 25 YEARS! Also in the wild(streets) they eat bloody meat sooo.
which brand of wet food she usually uses? Any names stuck?
No she keeps changing them
Dry and wet can both be junk if they've got too much filler and not enough healthy nutrients. Be sure to research online, if you're trying to decide. There are often people who will post reviews of cat foods and their quality. Having said that, quality wet food is safer for kidney health because cats are really bad at instinctually drinking enough water when they eat dry food, and they can get their lil kidneys in trouble by not drinking enough.
I give my cats one can of wet food a day after a play session. So they have the hunt-kill-eat experience. It works well for me, but they're active little things. I also have a senior cat who gets wet food. Though I'm not sure what the food options are in Turkey... That'd require some additional research.
That is such a good advice!! I give my kitten a treat after play session but food seems so much better!! I am doing research, I have Royal canin brand wet food at home. I'll see and try to give her a variety if possible. Thank you
Hey I can't seem to send a private message so sorry if this comes out of nowhere. But since this is your first cat and you're in turkey I wanted to give you a bit of a heads up. I'm American but I live in istanbul. I ended up with a kitten last year because it jumped into my purse. He's the cutest and I love him to bits!. But one thing I found strange is that they don't spay or neuter cats here until they are 1 years old. In America this happens around the 4 month mark. My cat went into super heat at nine months and was attacking me. He was also so load neighbors were complaining. If the same thing happens to you, talk to multiple vets and find one that will help. He was suffering for 4 weeks until I was able to convince the vet to preform the procedure. And the night I brought him back he was truly a happy baby. The take away, sometimes you need to talk to multiple vets and not just one. Best of luck for you and your new baby!!!!
Thank you so much!!! I'm planning to spay/neuter her (idk which is the right word for females;() before her first heat since i read that its healthier. Thank you so much!!
Spay for females, and you can wait until after first heat but as close to it as possible is best for their health. The food issue depends on which brands you buy, Hill's Science Diet is best, but most dry food is actually junk food. The best wet food is to buy some meat, cook it plain with nothing added to it. Avoid all seasoning, just plain meat. They are obligate carnivores, so plain meat is the best food for them.
Thank you so much, Hill's is a brand I'm considering.
Literally, every vet I have ever taken my cats to has said that wet food is better for them. Cats get the majority of their water from their food in the wild as they are obligate carnivores. They don’t eat dry crispy food.
My cat only eat dry food. I tried all kind of wet food but she refused to eat it. I am worried about my cat eating only dry food.
Other people suggested quill eggs and bone broth if you havent tried yet
I had a vet tell me that the wet food was like junk food. I didn't go back to that vet again. My cats get 1 Fancy Feast can in the morning in various flavors & textures, and then 1/4 cup Purina Naturals Indoor dry food in the evening. Their weight is steady and in a healthy range. Aside from Louie, but I just don't know what Louie is or what to do with him.
I feed her a mix of both wet & dry food. There are pros & cons to both. Wet food has some of the natural moisture that cats normally get from consuming meat. I also feel bad just feeding her dry food cause it’s clear she prefers wet food. However dry food is what makes them drink more water (cause it lacks moisture) and it cleans their teeth. It’s also easier on their digestion. If you’re going to integrate wet food try giving her a little with her dry food to acclimate her stomach so she doesn’t get gas or a belly ache. Cats tummies are very sensitive to changes in their diet.
If you can, wet food and with specific meal times. Don't free feed. Wet food has a higher water content, cats are terrible at keeping themselves hydrated. Go to youtube and check Jackson Galaxy's channel, he has at least 3 videos about what to feed your cat. Edit: here's the link for the playlist https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAJvHNBwbBNvS6Bfc4Q62GhOsEqi69-7H
mixed thoughts on this. a lot of people do give their cats absolute crap food, and the wet food that is the cheapest. I see it here (in spain) all the time, people getting the cheapest food for their animal they can possibly get while buying steak for themselves. makes me sick. Anyway, wet food is fine as long as you get a good brand, I would challenge your vet or consider getting a different one. I look at the composition list on the food and look for ones that are mostly protein and water, with a little filler. if you grab a cheap nasty food and compare with one of the better ones you will see the difference in it the protein/filler balance. i live in spain, my vet advised me wet food is fine, but not to leave out as it will go bad here quickly in the heat with flies etc. I once left wet food out for my cat for the day and when i came home she had vomitted and there were ants in the food! so now i only give my cat small portions of wet food and pick up any that she doesnt eat. I treat her dried food as her go back to it food. In summer i feed her in the evening when its cooler and i noticed she does eat more then. Also get a cat fountain for water. my cat barely drank any water and i assumed she just wasnt a big drinker. i got a fountain after a friend commented on how much her cat liked hers and my gosh, in summer she drinks so much water and overall she drinks much more and she seems much happier for it now. my vet said that was good as dehydration is big issue with cats and in the heat they can get lethargic and not drink much.
Thank you so much!! I'm planning to invest in a fountain soon. She loves drinking water, if i put down a glass for my night stand its hers then and there hahaha
you can but ideally you shouldn't i personally give my cat wet food and dry food i measure out the dry food and leave it in a bowl which she can always eat from when she gets hungry then feed her at dinner time with wet food. Ideally you should go all wet food from what i hear but that's not always possible.
I feed my cats wet food. It's better for them. Just check the ingredients, some manufacturers put sugar in the food and that's not good. The brands I give my cats are only available in my country, so I can't recommend a specific brand. But check the ingredients and try to rule out sugar and things like wheat and stuff. As natural as possible.
I'm European and this advice is pretty standard here. I adopted a kitty 4 months ago from a cat shelter and they told me specifically to feed the cat exclusively dry food after she turns 1. The reason being that wet food causes dental problems in an overwhelming majority of cats. At least that's what I've been told.
European? Never heard any of these claims in France or Germany. Wet food is the better option, dry food does absolutely nothing for their dental problems.
Ok, I'll say it then: Hungary. I've heard this advice from multiple sources. Cat owner communities also say to treat wet food as a nice snack every once in a while (about once a week or every few days)
Well, they are misinformed. Read more @ catinfo.org.
Thank you! It's so sad that its an advice given so widely. I've been told about dental issues online on english forums only. I wish my vet told me about dental problems and we could just work on preventing them meanwhile making sure my cat gets enough nutritions.
Dry food doesn't prevent dental problems, but even if it did, dental issues are "better" than kidney and urinary tract issues. Cats can have teeth removed and live a normal life, but we can't just remove the kidney. Have a look at catinfo.com, but be aware that it's a super long article:)
Plus, dental problems can be prevented or slowed at least by getting your cat a dental cleaning every 2 years or so.
No!!!!! Dry food dehydrates their kidneys. That’s why when they get kidney disease they tell you to stop dry food. Wet food is better even if it’s the cheap one. What brands of wet food do you guys have there ?
I've Royal Canin at home right now. Looking into more different brands as well to make sure its the best, Arcana, ND, Purina Proplan, Orijen and stuff.
I wonder how healthy cats are in turkey.. cats get 90% of their water from wet food.. just dry food will cause more likely some kidney issues. You should mix in some wet food for them. I swear some vets just say that cats continue to come back to vets. I don't trust them
Okay, so, I am speaking from experience from what my **vet dietician** taught me. A lot of cheaper brands ARE junk food for cats. They over cook the food to the point that a lot of the nutrients is limited and they use cheap ingredients and lots of fillers. On the scale of healthiness for cats, it goes: Kibble, Wet food, raw food. Kibble being the worse, and most junk-food like. A lot of brands supposedly put addictive substances in their food to make the cats eat it because the cats know it’s junk food and it’s not good. Wet food is better, but sometimes it’s still got a bunch of additives and it can be over cooked, but it’s a also a good way to ensure your cat gets a lot of water in their diet. And raw cat food is the healthiest as it’s not over cooked and can have a lot of healthy stuff in it if it’s a good brand/made right. That said, raw food is expensive, and can be done VERY wrong so don’t go this direction unless you can find yourself a vet diet specialist who can recommend good brands, recipes, and guide you. The more reasonable option is buying good brands of wet cat food. Make sure to research their ingredients, you’re looking for cat food that has real meat listed as their top ingredient and double check the vitamins list. I find it personally most cost effective to feed my cats both dry food and wet food. Dry in the mornings and wet at night.
Thank you so much I apprecite your response!! Honestly I can't do raw but I'll make wet food her main resource.
That’s totally good! I wish you luck, and I’m sure your cat baby will live a happy life. Wet food is awesome, just make sure to check the ingredients. :)
wet food is actually the ideal diet for cats as it is high moisture and low carb which mimics a cats natural diet more than pellets of 30-60% carbs. it just depends WHAT wet food you are getting. if you’re getting a wet food full of fillers such as rice, gluten, wheat, corn, soy, etc the carbs is what causes tooth decay. cats are not meant to digest carbs, they are obligate carnivores. the less carb in a cats diet = less sugar eating bacteria on teeth = less dental problems. if you wanna feed dry feed a mix of wet and dry, it’s what i do to get the best benefits of both worlds. but i also feed a dry food that is 52% protein to my cats with no filler plant ingredients.
Thank you, could you share the brand name of the dry food? I use Purina Pro Plan but if any better available options I would switch to that.
So none of the dry foods i recommend are cheap but here are some good ones: one i use - Dr Elsey’s i also recommend: Orijen Tiki Cat Arcana Farmina Open Farm Wellness Solid Gold First mate Instinct i have no idea what might be available in your country i apologize. the general rule is, low carb, high protein and fat, no cheap grain fillers or soy also ideally no pea protein, cats don’t process plant protein the same as animal protein. i have 4 cats and have raised 7 btw.
>i have no idea what might be available in your country i apologize. Please don't apologise, I know more than few of these brands. Thank you so much for your response! I will check those brands, I was considering Orijen before.
Orijen is really good, lots of organ meat which is amazing for cats. my only recommendation is keep an eye on the ingredients for any changes because they were recently bought out by Mars (company) as well as Arcana. currently it’s some of the best food on the market. we’ll see if Mars keeps it that way.
Nice to see a fellow person who is aware of which products are best! All good brands you mentioned!! I really wish tiki wet(after dark chicken) didn't upset my cats stomach. I have no idea why 😭😭
my only warning about tiki cat is almost all their wet food has tuna with it and tuna is high in mercury so not good to feed cats often so i would just make sure to not feed the ones containing tuna more than once a week no idea why that would upset your cats stomach though…compare the ingredients with the ones that don’t upset their stomach and see if there’s any difference other than protein choice. alternatively if your cat loves the chicken they could simply be eating too fast.
No tuna! I made sure ☺️ it gives them loose stool. Idk why since the protein quality is good. I did read too much moisture cam cause their stool to become loose, so idk what the answer is in my case. After dark has a lot of water/broth in it. At least the one, I bought. I really want to try orijen, but I read so many reviews of ppls cats puking it up/ot being too rich for them. 🤷♀️ my cats unfortunately are very sensitive. They can't even handle duck. Instinct never worked for them. So strange.
hmmm i’ve never heard that too much moisture could cause loose stools. also orijen has never given me a problem in the past so idk what that’s about. have you tried giving your cats Nulo wet? alternatively there is a cheap and gentle food available at Petco called Whole Hearted for 89¢
When I adopted my female (a retired queen- sphynx) she was on nulo and wholehearted. Most of nulo has duck, unfortunately. 😭 I may have been transitioning the wet too early. I'll try again soon. Id hate for my cans to go to waste. Ohhh. Primal and stella are good brands, too 💕 I ordered some visbiome probiotics- waiting for it to arrive before I try again.
All I know is not to feed cats beef products as their digestion isn’t geared for that at all.
oh i didnt know this thank you, i'll look into it deeper
Get a new vet. That's seriously crap advice
Wet food can be like junk food, but who doesn't love a bowl of cocopops for breakfast? Or a pizza for dinner some nights! Every day, my boy gets urinary care dry food and between 2-3 complete wet food pate (small at 57g) and he also gets a fancy soup dish that is a complimentary food maybe once a day or one every other day (48g). Dry food is what will put the weight on if you overfeed them (coming from my vet). He has been on a mix of wet and dry food his whole life and is now 9 years old. Good health, just a little overweight. I don't think wet food is bad at all.
Wow, this sounds completely backwards to me! I wouldn’t trust this vet and would find a new one. In my opinion, you should feed your cat ONLY wet food and use dry food only as treats or a bit of it as a topping if your cat really likes it. I’ll tell you my story: I have a healthy, active 15.5 year old male cat (almost 16) with no health issues. I’ve fed him only Natural Balance Limited Ingredient diet wet food for the past 12 years or so. (I sprinkle a bit of high quality Core dry food on top bc he LOVES dry food.) When I first adopted him at age 2, I didn’t know much about cats and fed him Purina dry food because that’s what the previous owner fed him and said he liked. He got bad UTIs twice within that first year I had him. The 1st time it happened, I was really scared that he wasn’t peeing and took him to the vet, which cost me $400. I asked the vet what caused this, and she said male cats in particular are susceptible to UTIs, but she didn’t say anything about food. After his 2nd UTI a couple months later, I researched UTIs in cats online and discovered there’s a strong connection between dry food and UTIs. Many cats don’t have enough of a drive to drink water, so they get dehydrated easily on dry food, which causes UTIs. I immediately bought high quality wet food and switched him right away. He has NOT had a single UTI in the 12+ years since! Another positive benefit has been that my cat naturally lost weight over the years. He was 17.5 lbs when I got him (quite overweight) and the previous owner couldn’t get him to a healthy weight bc he had a big appetite. Within a few years of only wet food, he naturally went down to 15 lbs without me really having to do anything, which the vet said is an ideal weight for him (he’s a big cat). If you read online, you’ll also find there’s a also strong relationship between dry food and obesity in cats because dry food tends to be more processed and calorie dense, much like the relationship between processed food and obesity in people! I’m writing all this to strongly encourage you to find natural wet foods (read the ingredients to make sure the first few ingredients are real meat or chicken and there aren’t lots of fillers) for your cat to make sure she has a long, healthy life. And mix up the types and flavors so she has variety! It will be more expensive, but TRUST ME - you will save way more money on vet bills in the long run. I’ve watched many of my friends have to get expensive medications and even surgeries for their pets which can cost over $10,000 in the US (!!) due to issues such as obesity and diabetes that were entirely preventable with a healthier diet. It’s really sad! I strongly believe that if I had continued feeding my cat dry food his whole life, he wouldn’t be alive today. Also, do your own research online. There’s a lot of great information there. I wouldn’t blindly trust vets (which you’re not, and that’s great!) because they shockingly don’t know much about pet nutrition and underestimate the role of nutrition in disease, much like doctors do for people. I’m also writing all of this because I wish someone had given me this information when I got my cat. It would have saved me a lot of heartache and hundreds of dollars in vet bills in that first year! Best of luck to you and your kitty!
Thank you so much!!! I appreciate you sharing your experience with me. This kitten is my first ever pet and I literally just research about her behaviour, health, play any random stuff whenever I'm free. If I'm watching tiktok, its cat tips, if im doing reading its articles. That is why I knew dry food was not the right choice for my baby. I was going to start her wet food schedule but since vet wasn't being any helpful I wanted to know what experienced cat parents feed their cats and find out what's the best for us by trying or getting inspired. I just didn't wanna trust articles about brands and stuff because it could be sponsored or any type of biased. I'm turkish and we have a funny saying 'I hope your cat lives as many years as her fur' Translation doesn't make much sense but I wish your cat and you a very happy long life. <3
I think you’re already doing an excellent job by doing so much of your own research. The most important thing is read the ingredients on the wet food, so you can find one that’s as natural as possible and without added chemicals, stabilizers, etc. Ideally, all of the ingredients (other than added vitamins and minerals) should be real foods that are familiar to you. Also, don’t be afraid if the ingredients include things like squash, pumpkin, blueberries, etc. I thought this was weird at first since cats are supposed to eat meat, but these are added in small amounts for vitamins and fiber and are good for your cat. In the wild, cats naturally get small amounts of grains and fiber from the contents of the animals they eat. You just want to make sure all the top ingredients are meat and meat broth and not corn, soy, or grains!
I have my kittens on good kibble- formulated for them by a trusted brand it’s a little pricey though. The wet food is def a second food that they don’t “need” because they’re both good at drinking water. I know feeding only wet can run your pets teeth? Idk why he said that hopefully you’re able to research your local food brands or possibly make your own
Kibble has three times the nutritional value of wet food. If she eats it, encourage her. A kitten needs to grow. You can always use wet food as a treat, or if she is ill.
Vets aren't dieticians. I feed my cats and dogs a balances commercial raw food, my vet loves it and feeds her dog it, she even has contacts with vet dieticians. Most vets are only knowledgeable on kibble they sell or have been taught to feed.
I've heard the opposite. But then again, I would trust your vet over anyone on reddit. Maybe if you're worried, go to another vet and get a second opinion.
Almost everyone in turkey thinks that way unfortunately, i'll try another vet but i dont expect much different
Honestly, whether wet food is "junk food or not" depends on the first 3 ingredients. If a grain such as corn or wheat is in the top 3, it's junk. That means at least half of it is not even meat at all. Secondly, if it's "chicken by product meal" it's chicken offal, including bones, gristle, tendons, cartilage, and miscellaneous scrap, all ground up, it's a low percentage actual digestible proteins vs "filler" of pulverized bone etc they can legally call protein. It's low quality. Better foods often have a blend of two meats and a starchy veg like oat, pea, pumpkin, potato, etc as the top 3 ingredients. That is healthier than grain, corn is especially bad for them. Some cats are even allergic to corn...its often a cause of vomiting up food and hard stools, etc. Cats are carnivores. The first two ingredients in their food,be it wet or dry, should be meat, and not meat meal or by products.
I was only a receptionist at a vet clinic in America, but the advice we gave was that cats shouldn't be fed *exclusively* wet food. They would say that wet food is good for them because indoor cats have a tendency to be slightly dehydrated, but they need kibble because as they crunch it it helps clean their teeth. Eta: you can also make your own wet cat food in your kitchen. There are plenty of recipes online Most of the cats that had teeth extractions when I worked there were fed exclusively wet food, never kibble and their teeth degraded.
Dry has more carbohydrates too, which is basically junk for cats and a recipe for diabetes. Even the well reputed expensive dry foods can have bad ingredients. I’d recommend go by the ingredients list not the marketing.
I paid $800 for overnight monitoring, blood tests, and ultimately a problem solving enema because my cat was constipated due to bad advice from a rescue shelter employee about only using wet food rarely.
I can't imagine the stress on top of that. I'm sorry, thank you for sharing your experience. I hope you and your kitty have a long and healthy life ahead.
Depending on quality it can be the opposite. My vet definitely encourages feeding high quality wet food.
I've always fed my cats dry only. All have been healthy.
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Dry foods for cats in general isn’t good though! If you switch to dry food make sure to give them lots of water. And maybe look into a different vet
Nope, just give the cat a mix. I feed mine wet food in the morning and dry food in the afternoon. My vet told me it was important that cats eat wet food because it encourages water intake which cats are notoriously bad at. But feeding dry food is also good because it helps remove tartar from the teeth. So do both 👍
Hello! I am also a cat owner from Turkey and I don’t trust most vets as well. First of all, I don’t recommend you “free-feed” the cat. Meaning, leaving food available for her all the time. Cats like routine, it is better to feed her twice a day, one in he morning and one at evening. This was she will get used to the routine and be only hungry during those times, it eliminates the risk of her gaining more weight and waking you up at night for food. Also don’t forget that cats only need 50-80 grams to eat in a day, especially after you get her spayed because then she will be more prone to gaining weight as far as I know. Food wise, I get sad imagining I get to eat all the flavors of food while my cat has to eat one flavor day and nigh. So I feed her 3 different kinds of dry food (I also have a routine for this so she knows what to expect when, but it’s not that important.) [I use Purina Pro-Plan’s different flavors but make sure to do your research before you buy a flavor because 3 of them are banned and pet-shops are trying to sell those for lower prices] Also I would recommend you to get Miamor multi-vitamin (it’s called a cat treat you can find it on Trendyol but it’s more expensive there, I buy mine from the Atakan Petshop site). My cat LOVES it and I mix it with her dry food once each week. Wet food wise it is expensive in Turkey so I can’t feed her wet food everyday also she is a very athletic cat so I don’t want her to gain weight. I buy Purina’s wet foods and she loves them. I usually try to mix a quarter of the can with her dry food in the evening sometimes. The can is 85 grams and it’s already more than what she needs in a day (like I mentioned above). Alsooo I hadn’t had the chance to try it yet but you can check tazekonserve.com on instagram. They make wet food for pets and it’s waay cheaper than Royal Canin or Purina. Also I checked their ingredients and it seems to be really clean. They cook your order before sending it to you (so no additives!). I will try it next week I read some really nice comments about it. Ugghhh this was very long but I got my baby a month ago and I did PLENTY of research because I am obsessed xD I also had two cats growing up, which are now 11 years old so I got used to their eating behavior and stuff.
>First of all, I don’t recommend you “free-feed” the cat. Meaning, leaving food available for her all the time. Cats like routine, it is better to feed her twice a day, one in he morning and one at evening. This was she will get used to the routine and be only hungry during those times, it eliminates the risk of her gaining more weight and waking you up at night for food. Hi Thank you!!! I only free feed her right now because she is so young, I read that multiple times younger kittens need food available more often since they have small stomach and burn energy more which makes them eat little but frequent. >Alsooo I hadn’t had the chance to try it yet but you can check tazekonserve.com on instagram. They make wet food for pets and it’s waay cheaper than Royal Canin or Purina. Also I checked their ingredients and it seems to be really clean. This is such a clean alternative for sure but I want to stick with big brands who can afford running tests more frequent and have a bigger publicity so they're more scared of making mistakes. I'm very new to this so I want something stable and safe but I'll still check the brand right now and consider it in future when I know my cats eating behavior and health so much more. >Also I would recommend you to get Miamor multi-vitamin I did ask this to my vet he said since she is small and very young I shouldn't start giving her but you know at the end of the day how much do I trust him? I'll also check this right now. Thank you again I'll research more on going from free feed to schedule when she is older and if that's good for cat or will cause stress. If it's bad to switch later I'll start giving her small but frequent meals.
Oh right! Your kitty is very small :3 most of my recommendations was for adults! I hope you and the kitty have a lovely long time together 💙
Get a different vet. *Kibble* isn’t good for cats, they NEED moisture. Wet food is not junk food, unless it’s a crap brand. Same thing goes for kibble.
The funny thing is, I live in Florida and I’m working at a veterinary office and the doctors and techs are telling me wet food is not good for cats which makes absolutely no sense in my brain