How many of you feed only (or mostly) wet food to your cats?

[Stacykins]

I feed wet. Mostly wet. With a tablespoon of dry for her to nibble on in the night.

Most people don't realize is that cats were domesticated from a desert dwelling cat. Their physiology, even after thousands of years, is designed to get most of their moisture from the flesh of their prey and drink very little water. As a result, domestic cats have a very low thirst drive. So when they are fed a diet of constant dry food, cats become chronically dehydrated. Chronic dehydration wrecks havoc on the renal system. Ever wonder why most cats who die of 'old age' actually die of renal failure? Chalk it up to a life of dry food and under hydration because they can't get enough fluids even if provided a bowl of water, they just aren't built to drink enough to compensate for the difference. Cats that eat a wet diet almost never have problems with renal stones, UTIs, renal crystals, etc. because, surprise! They are getting enough water and their renal system is operating normally!

By the way, dry being better for the teeth is a myth. A cat eating dry food doesn't clean their teeth any better than eating crunchy potato chips cleans ours. Any cat, fed wet or dry should receive proper dental care, i.e. brushing. My cat doesn't try to murder me when I brush her teeth, I made it a positive experience. The only diet that CAN actually clean their teeth is a raw diet with whole parts or whole prey. A rabbit haunch with a bone in can scrape their teeth, since they really have to work on it to scrape the meat off the bone and then crush the bone to eat (and they do!). I know, since a former stray I fostered for a while flourished on a diet of frankenprey until he was adopted. My current cat just won't eat raw, even ground up to the consistency of the wet she likes.

 

[bagendhens]

heres the thing...NATURALLY cats do not drink alot of water...they get MOST water needs from their food...so with that being said, dry food is obviously not going to be the best choice (no matter how high quality it is grain free or not)
WET food of some kind (either canned or raw) should make up the majority fo the cats diet for the simple reason that a cat, even if offered fresh water form a spring fed stream all day long will NEVER drink enough water to stay properly hydrated...

now...will a cat dehydrate to death if fed only dry food, not likely, they will increase their water intake somewhat if nessicary (but even then theyll never drink all they realy need) but a dry ONLY diet does increase the risk of kidney issues later in life, UTI's ect.

so personally i have dry food out all the time (indoors only) for the cats to graze on, i do grain free, (if i dont leave out dry food they will eat the dogs food lol) then they get served a wet meal twice daily. they will nibble on the dry food, but its certainly not a "meal" the wet food they eat as a single meal.

then a couple of times a week they get prey model raw.

i will be switching them to 100% raw once i get my own place but untill then, knowing the way a cats digestive system works, and working with cats in ther wild form (i was a zookeeper untill a bad accident)
wet food of some kind will always provide MOST of my cats diet.

 

[DAS]

We have six cats who eat a combination of wet and dry food. They have dry out for them 24/7 and some (whoever is around at the time) get wet food twice a day. At my house we never have a problem with dehydration. They have been encouraged to drink since they were little. I have 3 water fountains along with big water dishes in almost every room of the house as well as multiple water dishes outside. I have 3 ten year olds, 2 nine, 1 six. All very healthy.

The two nine year olds are strange. They can't drink out of their water dish in the bedroom unless there is a toy mouse floating in the water. If I forget to put the mouse back in after I refill the bowl, they will find the mouse and put it back in before they drink

 

[dewey]

Quote:
That's so funny, and I can totally relate...cats sure like things a certain way.

I think that most cat owners are aware of the need of enough moisture for health. Thank goodness for threads like these and other info on the net that makes the info available for those who choose to research basic cat health.

Mine always had drinking fountains around the house (which they love) and at least one favorite sink set at a slow drip. I believe that feeding wet food in the amounts to maintain healthy weight will not provide them with enough moisture and that they should be encouraged to drink water in ways that are pleasing to them. Cats are nibblers and like to have something to nibble throughout the day when they're not running amok or sleeping, lol. Mine would get a dry food ration each day to round out their wet food, and when the that ration was gone it was gone. Also, my cats would drink double+ their normal water intake with drinking fountains, although fountains do require a bit more upkeep to keep them clean with having to change and clean the filters and all that, they are well worth it to me.