Wet and dry food: what is the best way to feed a cat?

For many years, there has been debate about the proper feeding of domestic cats, neither breeders nor veterinarians agreed. What is preferable for pets - natural food, dry or wet food? Is it possible to combine wet and dry formulations, which feed manufacturers should choose for their favorite animals? You will find answers to these questions in our article.

Ready-made cat food for cats is gaining popularity among breeders and there are several reasons for this.

• Food does not need to be prepared - the owner only needs to pour it in the saucer in the specified volume, it is quite convenient and saves time.
• High-quality feeds have a balanced composition - it contains proteins, carbohydrates, fats in the necessary dosages, in addition, they are enriched with vitamins, minerals and essential amino acids.
• Of course, nothing better has been invented than natural food, but it’s no secret that in order to make a balanced full-fledged diet, especially for purebred cats, which are characterized by extreme picky in nutrition, you need a lot of effort, as well as time and money. Ready-made feeds completely solve this problem.
• Another indisputable advantage is the convenience of their storage, natural products very quickly begin to deteriorate, and store compositions can be bought immediately in large quantities.

All types of dry and wet feed are available in several versions.

• Economy - The cheapest, widely publicized type of feed, but at the same time the most useless and even dangerous. The product is produced from the waste of the meat processing industry - hooves, bones, fats and skin, and the basis is soy and legumes.

• Premium and Super Premium - These are mixtures that are made from natural meat. The composition of the product is balanced and contains all the vitamin and mineral supplements necessary to maintain the activity and health of the pet. These are more expensive feeds, they can be purchased exclusively in specialized stores, but they, as a rule, fully satisfy all the animal's needs for proteins, carbohydrates and fats.

• Holistic - these are the most expensive feeds, the composition of which is as close as possible to natural ones. Natural meat, herbs and vegetables, which are grown without the use of hormones and antibiotics, are taken as the basis; preservatives and all kinds of flavor enhancers are not included in the composition of the product. Such products can only be purchased on order.

• Medical - This is food for cats that have certain health problems. Keep in mind that such mixtures can not be given to animals for prevention, from such “care” the animal, on the contrary, only gets sick.

Depending on the consistency, the feed is divided into wet and dry.

• Dry They are pressed granules, the water content in them is minimal. As they enter the digestive system, they begin to absorb liquid, therefore, when feeding the animal with such products, it is very important to carefully monitor that the pet receives the required amount of water.

• Semi-wet food - These are pieces of product in a jelly-like sauce. The product has a limited shelf life after opening the package. Paste is also referred to semi-moist food: in fact, these are the same products, only more chopped. This product is optimal for small kittens and adult cats with sore gums and teeth. For healthy pets, such feeding is irrelevant, the teeth of cats will remain healthy only when they use them.

• Separate feed category - These are goodies, these include dried meat and biting sticks. Such products are not used as the main feed, only as a promotion.

There is no clear answer to the question of what kind of food is best to feed animals - wet or dry, no, it all depends on the taste preferences of the animal. Each of the products has both its advantages and disadvantages.

Benefits:

• dental health - veterinarians note that the use of dry food helps tartar and plaque slip, the product does not contain water, so the pet gets it from the outside, which also helps to clean the teeth;
• dry feeds are more economical: one package is enough for a long time, so the product does not spoil for a long time and is often sold in large packages, so you can buy food in bulk immediately for several months in advance;
• dry food will be a good opportunity to strengthen the jaw muscles - the product fully satisfies all the chewing instincts of cats and cats.

Now let's talk about the cons.

• Dry foods contain elevated carbohydrate concentrations. Representatives of the cat family are carnivores, the food they get in nature does not contain cereal grains, which are present in large quantities in dry feed (they are added as a source of carbohydrates). Typically, the proportion of cereals in mixtures is 30-50%, this can cause diabetes in the animal.
• If a cat has been kept wet or natural for a long time, then its digestive system is used to digesting high-protein foods and digesting dry foods will become a rather complicated procedure.

Pros:

• wet mixtures are an optimal source of proteins and fats in a form that corresponds to the physiological characteristics of animals; feeding with such food does not cause constipation in pets;
• 70% wet food consists of water, so animals do not need plentiful milking;
• Studies have shown that cats eat less food when wet foods are consumed, so using these foods can protect your pet from overeating - animals quickly achieve a feeling of fullness that lasts for several hours;
• mouth-watering taste and smell - usually pets really like the aroma and texture of wet food.

Minuses:

• wet feeds are more expensive than dry ones;
• wet foods have a limited shelf life, so they are usually packaged in small jars or sachets;
• the use of such compounds often causes a bad breath; in some cases, animals develop plaque and stone, which often cause gum disease.

According to the recommendations of manufacturers, it is allowed to mix dry and jelly-like feeds, but only if both products belong to the same brand. Also, manufacturers do not recommend combining ready-made store products with natural food, however, many breeders from time to time still enter meat or other protein ingredients into their pet's menu.

In fact, there is nothing dangerous in mixing several types of feed, but it is important to adhere to certain rules. First of all, products should not be combined in one feeding. In this case, three problems are possible:

• it seems difficult to make the menu so that it is balanced;
• when mixing feeds, it is difficult to track the flow of the required amount of water into the animal’s body: if the cat ate wet food immediately after it is dry, then she may completely refuse to drink the water she needs.
• dry and wet foods in the pet's body are digested at different speeds, which can lead to serious eating disorders in the animal.

Secondly, with great care, you should combine ready-made feed with natural food. If you are determined to combine ready-made feed with natural products, then it can only be protein components - meat, high-quality offal or fish. Feeding pets with cereals, sour milk, vegetables and fruits is not allowed, they get everything they need from the finished feed composition.

Many breeders buy for advertising and choose products for their pets that in fact are not only not useful, but even dangerous for animals. When choosing the best food for your pet, you should not believe the advertising and the picture on the package - for sure you will see an image of a well-fed healthy cat. The only thing that should really attract your attention is information about the composition of the ingredients.

The composition should be completely “transparent” - all ingredients should be prescribed there with a complete indication of the type of product, for example, the food should contain beef / veal / chicken, and not “meat products” - this formulation is rather vague and may include ground tendons, bones, skins and fats, and not at all high-protein components, so necessary for pets.

We pay attention to the fact that the composition on the packaging is usually indicated in descending order of mass fraction, and here unscrupulous manufacturers often go for some tricks. For example, they include quite a lot of grain additives, but at the same time in minimal concentrations. Thus, all of them are indicated at the end of the list of products and at first glance their content is small, however, if we summarize the total content of the components, we will notice that their dosage significantly exceeds the recommended one.

Another important point is the integrity of the packaging. Do not buy dry feed by weight. The fact is that wet feed can be stored open only for several hours, and dry food for several months is oxidized and becomes completely useless to the animal, and in some cases harmful. In addition, often in this way sellers sell stale goods, mixing them with granules from a newly opened bag. Keep in mind that the sale of feed by weight should be carried out exclusively from hermetically sealed containers, and not from packages.

See below for how to choose cat food.