Thoughts?

1/8/2007 7:29:33 PM

Dry, wet food is bad. It breaks down tooth enamel.

1/8/2007 7:33:50 PM

dry. wet food is just asking for nasty teeth.

1/8/2007 7:38:15 PM

^ and ^^

ditto

1/8/2007 7:45:59 PM

dry, but wet food for a snack

1/8/2007 7:59:00 PM

100% dry food, I only fed them wet food until they were big enough to eat dry food

make sure your cat(s) have access to plenty of water, because someone will say they need wet food to get part of their liquid intake, which is crap

[Edited on January 8, 2007 at 8:17 PM. Reason : .]

1/8/2007 8:17:14 PM

dry

1/8/2007 8:40:58 PM

dry. except when she knocks her water bowl into it. then it's wet.

1/9/2007 1:06:15 AM

our family cat won't just showed up one day and decided to live with us, and he's always staunchly refused to eat dry food

1/9/2007 8:34:04 AM

you should mix them from time to time. my cat died of diabetes, and the vet said that eating dry food and nothing else EVER caused his blood sugar to go out of whack, from the carbs. They said they're treating more and more cats with this problem because owners only give the cats dry food their whole lives.

1/9/2007 11:35:19 AM

dry

my cat better not be eating better than me

1/9/2007 12:50:53 PM

why not like 1/3 wet, 2/3 dry?

1/9/2007 12:54:44 PM

dry, because wet really upsets my cats digestive track.

1/9/2007 1:22:22 PM

Quote :

"our family cat won't just showed up one day and decided to live with us, and he's always staunchly refused to eat dry food "

I bet he wouldn't refuse if that was all there was to eat after about 3 days

1/9/2007 1:34:47 PM

Ours get a small can each in the morning (one on weight control, one on hairball control) then 1/3 cup of dry food in the evening. We used to just give dry food 24/7 with cans as snacks but had to put one on a diet. This seems to be working out ok.

1/9/2007 3:45:29 PM

^^ that's not true. cats, unlike dogs, will starve themselves to death even without having a medical reason to...

1/9/2007 4:11:20 PM

well i'm sure typically an animal will eat rather than die

i mean i'm sure some cats would maybe starve themselves...but most cats i know would finally eat SOMETHING than to starve

shit my roomates cat would through bags of trash just to find food to eat, back when my exroomate didnt feed her regularly

1/9/2007 4:21:45 PM

my wife and I feed our cat dry food and we occasionally give it wet food on a random weekend just as a treat. the only problem with that is once the cat gets some wet food, it freaks out for the next two weeks anytime you go to open up anything metal like a coke or a can of beans.

1/9/2007 4:55:21 PM

dry, unless you have an extremely old cat

you can give them a can every now and then if you want, but generally it's bad for their teeth.

1/9/2007 4:57:57 PM

my cats are both on all dry all the time

1/9/2007 4:57:58 PM

i feed only dry. mainly due to dental health.... dental disease can cause kidney failure.

oh, and they tend to eat wet food too fast and then vomit on my floor... and that stuff STAINS!!!!

1/9/2007 5:44:15 PM

delicat makes some nasty stains too

1/9/2007 5:56:14 PM

dry 40% protein.

1/10/2007 12:00:25 AM

Both.

We leave dry food out, and put down two or three cans a day. (Three cats)

Two of our cats mostly eat the crunchies, one of them only eats it when none of us humans are awake.

1/10/2007 12:59:13 AM

Dry and try Nutro for your cat it has no by products in it, its very good for them.

1/10/2007 1:30:53 AM

Quote :

"you should mix them from time to time. my cat died of diabetes, and the vet said that eating dry food and nothing else EVER caused his blood sugar to go out of whack, from the carbs. They said they're treating more and more cats with this problem because owners only give the cats dry food their whole lives."

if you were buying high quality cat food that has a high protein content, then you wouldn't have had that problem. cats are carnivores.

don't feed your cat wet food unless they have no teeth or aren't getting enough water (then only temporarily). just like people doctors, a lot of vets know nothing about nutrition.

wet food has no more protein than dry, it's just the same with added water. you're paying the same $ per volume for water as you are for the actual nutrients in wet food and it's a waste of $.

seriously, don't buy your pet food from the grocery store.

[Edited on January 10, 2007 at 8:36 AM. Reason : ]

1/10/2007 8:32:04 AM

Quote :

"try Nutro for your cat it has no by products in it, its very good for them."

my cats won't go near the stuff. neither will my dog.

1/10/2007 8:01:33 PM

Free feed dry, and wet as a lunchtime treat (take away if they don't finish it within 30-60mins). Dry food is great for breaking up tartar and other things that can literally rot your cat/dogs teeth out. However for cats especially a little wet food can have extra nutrition and be a nice little addition. Only feeding wet food can cause MAJOR tooth issues (i.e. your cat's teeth having to be removed by age 3).

1/10/2007 8:05:17 PM

^^^can you recommend brands? Right now, we're giving him Purina "Naturals".

[Edited on January 10, 2007 at 8:19 PM. Reason : ^^^]

1/10/2007 8:11:43 PM

^go to PetSmart and pick something

1/10/2007 8:13:23 PM

Science diet is a what I feed my cats. Fortunately, I work at the Vet School and get what costs 30$ at Petsmart for only 10$......but there's alot of high quality foods out there. I just recommend staying away from cheap brands like meow mix. Iams, Purina, Science Diet are all good brands.

1/10/2007 8:31:56 PM

Quote :

"dry. wet food is just asking for nasty teeth shits."

1/10/2007 8:54:59 PM

you want something w/ meat products as at least the first 2 ingredients. don't get something that has corn gluten meal or whatever as the first ingredient. purina one (which my cats eat) isn't the best/most expensive one out there, but it's a reasonable price, can be found a lot of places, and has turkey and turkey by-product meal as the first 2 ingredients. purina proplan is good too. the purina naturals is okay, just the first ingredient is meat. it has salmon whereas purina one has fish meal. if the naturals costs more, i'd say skip it. all that organic variety crap is mostly b.s to me. cats are carnivores, they don't need a large variety of greens (like that cat chow indoor formula commercial wants you to think).

don't buy any *chow: dog chow, cat chow, etc.

pay attention to what you're buying. don't be afraid to pull out the bags an read the ingredients and guaranteed analysis labels. you want around 30-40% protein for normal healthy cats...i'd lean closer to the 40+. you want something crunchy. if your cat is fat, look for higher protein and less fat (not more carbs).

like i said, unless your cat has no teeth or is lacking in water, don't waste your money on wet food on a regular basis. as a treat, fine. MOST wet/canned foods do not contain more protein or fat than regular dry food...they just want you to think that. it's just added water (around 85%). you are wasting your money on water that is normally free from your tap.

and just because it costs a lot doesn't mean it's good. read the labels on iams, science diet, etc...not all have the first few ingredients as meat. science diet regular adult cat food only has chicken by product meal as the first ingrediet. you want "chicken" or "turkey" or whatever meat as the first one...not a by product.

oh, watch out for foods that list a meat as the first ingredient, but then 6 or 7 grains to follow. this means that the it actually contains more grain than meat.

that said, don't feed your cat BilJac pet food (unless your pet has no teeth, or it's a puppy/kitten). ingredient-wise it is absolutely perfect but it is nowhere crunchy enough and will ruin your cat or your dog's teeth. i feed it to mine when they're babies and babies only. once the adult teeth come in we switch. i used to rep for them.

DO NOT buy your pet food from a grocery store. not only do they mostly sell the crap foods, it's 3x as much as it should be.

PM me if you have any questions.

[Edited on January 10, 2007 at 9:15 PM. Reason : ]

1/10/2007 9:05:19 PM

In all my cat's 17 years, he never touched canned food.

1/10/2007 9:22:05 PM

General rule of thumb for ANY pet. Look at the ingredients. If the number 1 (or close enough) ingredient is corn (or any type of corn thing), pitch that shit. Corn is a cheap filler that fills your pet up and he poops it right back out. No nutrition in there whatsoever.

1/10/2007 9:37:44 PM