What type of food is best for adult cats? dry or tinned cat food?

Question

and why, if you can.

Answer 1

I think tinned food is best because that way they get some fluid into them. I once gave mine loads of dry stuff, and it messed up his kidneys, so leave out too much of the dried stuff, especially the so-called "treats" - there's too much ash in them.

Answer 2

well you said its an adult cat so by now the cat may have taste for some foods and not others for example my mothers adult cat will eat only dog food it will not eat cat food a good mix of dry and wet food is important and it doesn't matter what brand as long as the fat content is not to high and you dont allow it to eat anymore then twice a day and small portions about a fist full will be sufficient be shore to get some chew toys that keep the cat entertained and that will keep it teeth healthy if you can get kangaroo meat fresh from your supermarket cats love that its really low in fat and high in protein if not just buy a different flavor of meats buy for the fist week you have your cat for and each day try a new meat with your cat it will show you if it like it or not if it does it will like the plate clean if not it will eat some and leave the rest to rot that also could mean the portion is to much it does very from cat to cat and dont let it have any milk only water if it already has milk fill the bowl with half water and a small amount of milk just to turn the water white i had that problem with my last cat the owner before kept giving it milk and it was so fat it couldn't jump up on the fence it would not touch just water so i a touch of milk in the water anough to turn it white and my cat drank it and didnt know the difference anyways i hope this help have fun

Answer 3

Canned food is much better.

Firstly, it's a myth that dry food cleans their teetch - that'd be like us eating a particular kind of cookie or cereal thinking it will clean our teeth - except with cats it's even worse, because most cats don't chew, they just gobble down their food, so the dry food has no opportunity to clean their teeth in the first place.

Secondly, and more importantly, cats are originally desert animals. They're designed to get most of their fluid intake from their food. Because of this, cats don't have a strong feeling of thirst, like we or dogs do. Most cats will not drink enough water, which is one of the main reasons that so many middle-aged and older cats get kidney failure (it's the second most common cause of death after cancer - this is only sickness-related causes, though, not counting things like car accidents).

Think about it: in Nature, cats eat mice. A mouse is much more like canned food than like dry biscuits.

So a high-quality wet food (e.g. Nutro Natural Choice, Merrick, California Natural) is definitely the way to go. You can use dry as an occasional snack/treat, but it should not be a main staple of their diet.

My own cat used to be fed 50% canned 50% dry - and she *kept* getting urinary tract infections. Whenever once was cleared up, it'd only be a few weeks until the next. The vet did a test and found out her urine was too concentrated because she didn't get enough fluid. Since I switched her to an all-wet diet (NOT a special urinary tract health food) she hasn't had a single problem in that area.

Here are two great articles that explains why cats need canned food:
http://cats.about.com/cs/catfood/a/canned_food.htm
http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=whycatsneedcannedfood

And here's one that explains all about cat food labels and will help you pick the best food of those available to you:
http://cats.about.com/cs/catfood/a/reading_labels.htm

Answer 4

I have been mixing dry and wet food for the longest. My vet confirmed this is actually a very good diet, since dry food tends to have less protein, which a cat needs a lot of. I do recommend to try to read the labels, and make sure that the food you're buying is not too high on fat, because cats can gain lots of weight. Good luck

Answer 5

Tinned is best, but it is best to feed a bit of both every day. The extra water in tinned is great to prevent UTI. I add extra water to the canned food and heat it for a few seconds. My cat is fussy though, she will only drink the water if I add lots, or eat a tiny bit of wet food if I don't add lots of water. Lots of meat gets thrown out unfortunately. Since she doesn't get a full meal from the canned food, I leave high quality dry food out for her all day. Wet food can't be left out longer than an hour or your cat will get sick.

Answer 6

That all depends on your cat. The only reason a person should really feed their cat wet food is if the cat has problems eating dry food or it is not drinking enough water. Dry food is better for your cats teeth because it helps remove plaque. You can feed your cat wet food if you want, but I would suggest, if you do, that you brush your cats teeth at least once or twice a week.

Answer 7

Dry food is better for all the above reasons. However, at the shelter we also give the the cats some wet each day (fresh meat or canned cat food) - sort of like dessert. They only get a small amount though.
I do the same with my own cats and have always done that for the 30 odd years I have had my own cats and also what my mum did with the cats we had as i grew up. That is about 50 years of cat ownership.
A little wet food is also great to hide herbs or medications in. Mine get echinacea and L-Lysine in their food each day.

Answer 8

In order of benefit:

1. Whole prey - mice, rats, chicks. Obviously you can't plunk a whole goat or kangaroo on the cat's plate, but you'll serve a haunch or breast with the bone in, and include organ meat (liver, heart...)

2. Raw ground meat with bone and organs.

3. A good quality canned food.

4. A supermarket canned food (Friskies, 9 Lives.....)

5. Dry food

Cats are carnivores who need meat. They need protein (meat), calcium (bone) and taurine (hearts, I believe).

Dry food is loaded with fillers - by products, "meal," and grains like corn and wheat. It doesn't clean their teeth, it contributes to weight problems and it doesn't keep them hydrated.

Feeding whole prey is not for the squeamish, but it's the very best for your cat. They chew and chomp on muscle meat which cleans their teeth (which dry food does not). They gnaw on and eat the bone (which is safe so long as it's not cooked) - which provides calcium and also dental benefits.

A raw meat diet is either fed ground or with some meat chunks. The bone and organs are ground right into the meat so the cats get the benefits of those items along with the meat protein.

A good quality canned food is what I'm currently feeding my two, although I'm researching converting them to raw. There are so many benefits of feeding canned food! Hydration for one - canned food is something like 78% moisture. Cats are meant to get water IN their food. Most cats won't drink enough water because it's not natural for them.

Also, the benefits of a good moist diet are less shedding, less or no dandruff, decreased urine and stool odor, for starters.

Please see my links below which have a list of the best canned foods for your cat which have little or no grains and about cat nutrition in general.

If you want to learn more about whole prey or raw diets, email me and I'll be glad to send along more info.

Answer 9

I think all cats are different and all react differently to types of food that are put in front of them. My cat prefers wet food and he is 10 years old. He wont touch dry food and I have tried plenty of times.

Try your cat with both and see which is best for him. Either way I would suggest you use Iams. Its full of all the nutrients a cat needs and you can get specific ones for age ranges.

Hope this helps :-)

Answer 10

Like people cats like a variety in their diet, I feed a mix of both, the dry food is very good to help keeping teeth clean but they prefer the soft.

There is more variety of flavour in the soft food as well so they wont get bored,