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Post by Ratqueen on Jul 22, 2009 1:44:37 GMT -5
Just curious about cat food.
I had cats in the past and I used to mostly feed them wet (canned) food, with a dish always filled with dry food for snacks on the side.
Now, with my new cats, I've only been feeding them dry food so far, as my vet said it was fine up until they were close to their senior years.
One major difference I noticed between the two was that my wet-food-cats became extremelly finicky and would also beg for food (lots of it would end up wasted because they suddenly didn't like a particular brand). My dry-food-cats are not like that at all: they eat any dry food I give them eagerly and they never beg for anything. I feel bad sometimes for not giving them something more tasty, but it's soooo much easier and less wasteful with the dry food.
I'm wondering what everybody's thoughts are on that and what you feed your cats.
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Post by junebug~ on Jul 22, 2009 2:09:24 GMT -5
I mostly feed my cat dry food, since with wet she'll just lick off the gravy, not bothering to finish the meat. And I totally agree, dry food can be less wasteful sometimes! And with the way she eats wet food, there really isn't any other option I see for her.
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Post by Clover on Jul 22, 2009 2:42:59 GMT -5
Our kitty can only have dry food, due to some medical issues she has, but she doesn't seem to mind n_n
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Post by mochalatte on Jul 22, 2009 2:55:41 GMT -5
I feed my cats both. They have their dry food in a bowl where they can always get to it, then they have one meal of wet meat per day. They aren't that finicky though; they'll eat any cat-meat we give them. Tora (the kitten) just eats everything; she's part dog xDD
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Post by Neco on Jul 22, 2009 3:21:07 GMT -5
From what I remember with my mom cats when I was younger, she fed them mostly wet food. But that was well over 15 years ago, since they died when I was around 10 or 11 ><
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Post by Amber Jade on Jul 22, 2009 3:51:16 GMT -5
I typically feed my cat wet food, since it's pointless to try to get her back on dry food. If I leave for vacation, my grandma will always give her wet food, despite my begging her not to. >_< I completely prefer dry food though. Wet food is so costly and kind of...disgusting. Haha.
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Post by Rinkái on Jul 22, 2009 5:39:15 GMT -5
Back when I had a cat (around 6 months ago :c) we used to feed her wet food mostly, with a bowl of dry for snacks... then she lost her teeth and we had to just start giving her wet food & sliced, cooked ham/chicken/fish to fill her up. Because she just used to lick the gravy off too. xDD
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Post by Spell on Jul 22, 2009 11:52:57 GMT -5
Mine eat 100% wet much to my dismay... They would throw up dry when they were younger so I switched to wet and they did great on it. Over the last couple years I found better dry and tried it on them and they didn't puke and they both liked it.. BUT, each time Draco got a UTI because he's too stupid to realize he needs to drink more water with dry ;;. My vet told me to keep them on wet for ever. -sigh-
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Post by Feral on Jul 22, 2009 12:10:46 GMT -5
We give free choice of dry food, four types (Hairball remedy, senior something or other, etc) and about three cans of wet food a day. Between the five cats that is. I notice individual cats get finicky about the wet food and refuse to eat certain flavors on certain days, but one of the others always decides that's the day they like that flavor, so it evens out. But they all prefer the Pate' stuff over the chunks.
I don't mind the wet food's smell or look... i've loved the smell of cat food since i was little (weird i know. >_< ) But two of our cats have neurological issues, and tend to eat very messily, which does get kinda gross. One has seeing-issues and has to scoop the food out of the bowl onto the floor before he can see it properly to eat it. With dry food all that requires is a sweeping, but if the wet food isn't cleaned up immediatly, it turns to... cement. >_<
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Post by Opie__ on Jul 22, 2009 16:02:28 GMT -5
My cat has one bowl of wet food in the mornings, and dry food is always available. He usually eats all of the wet food. When one of my family members eats tuna, they'll usually drop a spoonful or two for the cat.
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Post by Moth Wing Cattery on Jul 22, 2009 22:43:49 GMT -5
We feed our cats both. Just for the record, feeding cats only one type of food can be bad for them, especially if it's wet food only. Diets consisting of mostly wet food can diminish cats teeth- since they're not truly being used they can become weak, especially as the cat ages. Keep your kitties teeth strong by feeding them both wet and dry food!
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Post by Spell on Jul 22, 2009 23:06:05 GMT -5
^ That is not 100% true. Yeah it's best to give dry but no two cats are the same. My.cat.would.die. He can't have dry food. My vet checks his teeth often and says they are in good shape.
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Post by Feral on Jul 23, 2009 15:21:55 GMT -5
An all dry diet can be worse, because it can cause UTI, especially in older/male cats. Which can quickly cause death if not immediately treated. And after a cat has gotten a UTI once, any amount of dry food can cause another one to develop, so a moist-as-possible diet is necessary. Of course, this doesn't happen in every cat, and generally a mix of all types of food is best.
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Post by apache™ on Jul 23, 2009 23:25:26 GMT -5
I feed my cat dry food. I've noticed that wet food tends to get wasted more often, and my cat's teeth & gums seem to be cleaner/healthier with the dry stuff. We had to change to wet food for a while when my Cougar kitty (RIP.) got really sick. I noticed that the other cat became more finnicky and such, plus their breath was terrible! It may be different for other cats though...
Dry food is also cheaper and easier to store, heh. My kitty seems to like everything we put in front of her!
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Post by Alex@Marvel on Jul 24, 2009 2:33:24 GMT -5
Mine get a mix of both. They get a scoop of dry food (each cat differs on how big or small the scoop is) and then a scoop of wet food. Sometimes if I'm feeling really generous or it's a special ocassion, they get something totally out of the box mixed in with their normal food.
And yes, before anyone says anything, it's perfectly fine for them. I've talked it over with my vet about a zillion times.
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