Should i feed my cat wet or dry food, or could i do a mixture of both? Also which brands should i use?

Question

I have a dog and make sure he gets a good brand of dog food that is safe and healthy. The price of the food does not concern me, i just want to know what brand of wet/dry i should use and if i should mix together, which ones to get. thank you

ahh thanks i got the friskies indoor formula dry cat food and havent gotten the wet yet. I was thinking about doing the same thing maybe giving a can of wet in the morning before i go to work and have the dry for her to nibble on while im out.

i read that Iams for dogs is not good, so im not to sure i trust the iams or purina companies.

sorry iam from the states, actually around harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I dont buy any pet food from a grocery store or walmart. Ive heard about the nutro, ive also heard some good things about science diet dry food. I was thinking about trying that. BUt im not sure which wet food.

Answer 1

its hard to reccommend brands without knowing what country you are in......

cats need access to dry food ALL the time

a kitten should have some canned (Chicken and Rice or Turkey and Rice is best...) 1-4 times a day depending on age (more for younger) and adult can have 1 helping per day...

amount of canned - cans always tell you to feed too much - your cat should only get about 1 teaspoon of canned PER feeding - and if you really want to help your cat - you can add some water to this to make a soup this will help their urinary tract...

the canned food should be fed in its own bowl NOT mixed with the dry.
stay away from canned fish - yes they like the taste but fish is actually bad for them - tuna is high in mercury and salmon is high in calcuim (bad for their urinary tract in adults)

DRY FOOD - you can determine quality by reading the ingredient list - cats are TRUE carniours - they need meat..
all foods from grocery and Wal Mart are crap and should be avoided... also avoid filler like CORN (especially if in top position on list) and by_products (beaks feet feathers )

look for one that has Chicken Meal, Lamb Meal or Turkey Meal as FIRST ingredient... avoid "meat meal" which is mystery meat = any dead animal...
NO milk!!

your DOG will want to eat the cat food because it contains more meat than dog food does so make sure you put the food somewhere that the dog cannot eat it...


** Friskies, Iams, Purina, etc - ALL FOODS from Grocery or Wal Mart etc are LOW QUALITY - too much filler - not enough nutrition - your cat will have to eat ALOT - with better foods they eat less - poop less too.. - look at the ingredients list -> Cats are TRUE CARNIVOURS... since when did CORN count as meat???

Canned foods - you can go with any brand really... there isnt as much of a difference since canned food by its nature contains more meat...

*** ADDITIONAL INFO***
Science Diet is a SCAM - its an over priced over marketed food they use a lot of lower quality ingredients AND PAID FOR VET ENDORSEMENT (thus inflating the price) most vets do not receive ANY training on food ingredients or brands so when approached by (and brainwashed by) Science Diet they willingly sell it... but if you read the ingredient list its CRAP!!!!....
Nutro - they make several different forumlas - from lowest quality MAX, to their higher end ULTRA Holistic.. but the company doesnt have as good of a quality on the whole - they DO NOT use human grade ingredients.. I would avoid the Max for sure..

in USA ( I am in Canada) get Felidae, Innova, Wellness, Chicken Soup...

Answer 2

I'm sure you know that shedding is going to happen no matter what. However, it has been my personal experience that feeding moist food has cut down on the amount. Poppy is nothing but hair, and Sophie is just a regular shorthair. They both shed about equal amounts. Both are groomed on a regular basis - Sophie gets a daily brushing and Poppy gets brushed at least once a week. When I switched them from an all dry diet (Purina) to an all canned diet (good quality of course), shedding was reduced. Not only that, but Poppy's dandruff cleared up. I think regular grooming is the key more than diet, but the moist diet did help. However, there are so many other reasons to get cats off the kibble and onto a MUCH better moist diet. Shedding would be at the bottom of that list - improved health would be at the top.

Answer 3

You do not want to feed cats dry foods. Indoor formula?/ lol Are there indoor mice that are different from outdoor mice?

Nutrition since there are so many bad things out there is very important to your cat’s health
Contrary to what you may have heard; dry foods are not a great thing to feed a cat.
Please read the label on what you are feeding? What are the ingredients? Do you know what they mean? Is the first ingrdiant a muscle meat like chicken or meal or other things?
http://www.catinfo.org/#Learn_How_To_Read_a_Pet_Food_Ingredient_Label
Dry foods are the number 1 cause of diabetes in cats as well as being a huge contributing factor to kidney disease, obesity, crystals, u.t.i’s and a host of other problems. Food allergies are very common when feeding dry foods. Rashes, scabs behind the tail and on the chin are all symptoms
The problems associated with Dry food is that they are loaded with carbohydrates which many cats (carnivores) cannot process them. Also, Most of the moisture a cat needs is suppose to be in the food but in
Dry, 95% of it is zapped out of dry foods in the processing. Another thing, most use horrible ingredients and don't use a muscle meat as the primary ingredient and use vegetable based protein versus animal. Not good for an animal that has to eat meat to survive.
You want to pick a canned food w/o gravy (gravy=carbs) that uses a muscle meat as the first ingredient and doesn't have corn at least in the first 3 ingredients if at all. Fancy feast is a middle grade food with 9lives, friskies whiskas lower grade canned and wellness and merrick upper grade human quality foods. Also, dry food is not proven to be better for teeth. Does a hard pretzel clean your teeth or do pieces of it get stuck? http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/bpo_ch4a.php

Please read about cat nutrition.
http://www.newdestiny.us/nutritionbasics.html
http://www.catinfo.org/feline_obesity.htm
http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm#Dry_Food_vs_Canned_Food.__Which_is_reall

Answer 4

I use Nutro Complete Care dry food. It's made with human-grade ingredients, unlike a lot of grocery store cat food. My cats are healthy and have the softest fur ever! You have to buy it at the pet store though, not a grocery store.
And FYI - I switched to Solid Gold dry food for a short time and it made my cats very sick :(

Edit: I used to work at Petco and we were supposed to recommend Nutro and Science Diet equally as the two best options available, but in my personal experience a lot of cats just don't like Science Diet. We were also getting a lot of sponsorship from Science Diet, if that makes a difference :p

Answer 5

is your cat overweight? cause dry food has more calories than wet food. we tend to give our cats more wet than dry because they are big girls. they only get a little scoop of dry at the end of the meal to clean the tartar off their teeth.

ok, DO NOT USE FRISKIES OR NUTRO! they have soooooo many fillers in them and are very bad for cats compared to other brands.

we started our cats on fancy feast, and they both got ill. then we tried the friskies sliced cans, and their skin started to itch and flake. then we tried the nutro pouches, and they wouldnt even touch it. we talked to our vet and she said that some cats are allergic to the fillers in these cheaper foods.

now, the only get food from the brands "wellness" and "california natural". they are more expensive, usually about 75-85 cents a can, but our cats are healthier because of it.

Answer 6

I feed my 3 cats both wet and dry. They have dry food all the time, cause they like to nibble all day. I give them each 1 can of wet food in the evening. My cats are indoors so their dry food is indoor formula (makes their poo not stink so much). The wet food is 9Lives which I swear by. Depending on what your cat prefers, it's your choice to mix or not mix it together. Hope this helps.

Answer 7

No dog should eat just wet food because they need to keep their teeth strong.. and chewing on a bone isn't the same. I give my dog dry and wet pedigree. He won't eat the dry food without the wet.. I guess it's a personal preference but the wet food isn't a necessary thing. Depends on your dog. If the dogs don't care either way, then why spend more money on wet food?

Answer 8

If you are not concerned about price, why don't you call your vet for advice? Factors such as the age of your cat, her general health, habits and lifestyle may help to make a decision.

I feed my cats dry food only, and I use Purina One. Sometimes I buy the Natural Blends in the brown bag, and I think it's a Purina product as well.

Again, I'd ask the vet. He may recommend something that would allow your feline to have a little oil for a healthy coat and to help with hairballs. I give my cats a bit of canned tuna sometimes, and once in a blue moon, they get canned cat food for a treat.

Answer 9

It's best to give your cat dry food (my vet recommended it) - I use Iams.


I have two cats and we feed them dry food all week and on Sunday nights we give them a small can of fancy feast wet cat food to split and they love their little treat.

Cats that eat all wet cat food usually have really stinky litter boxes!

Answer 10

Use iams or purina for dry food, and give them fancy feast, a wet food, for a treat once in a while.