Which Food is best for Cats? Canned or Dry?

Please leave a comment to welcome Amanda Johnson to That Mutt. She has two kitties named Shelly and Sylvester.

Years ago, during my college years, I had a sweet tabby kitty named Boba Fett.

Yes, he was named after the infamous star Wars bounty hunter as a kitten because the fur aligned around his jaw like a helmet and his coloring was a near-perfect match.

He was found in South Austin by a fantastic animal rescue organization during the glaring heat of summer in a trailer park with a few of his siblings.

A scrappy little guy, he stole my heart instantly at first sight, and I took him home to my college house that same day. He would accompany me through the most hectic years of my life in school and on a cross-country relocation from Texas to California.

I have to admit that I was a bit clueless and not very observant in my 20s, so I could have missed some things about his health that may have changed his fate; but I never saw the signs that he was ill.

At only 6 years old, he unexpectedly passed away. There was a awful argument as to how and why, but I always wondered if his diet was partly to blame. I fed him entirely dry food and water and was racked with guilt for not seeing the signs or catching it in time.

Needless to say, when I finally became a cat owner again, I was (heck, I still am) obnoxiously paranoid about their diet, veterinary checkups, sleep, flea meds… you name it.

One of Amanda’s current kitties, Shelly

And of course, the first thing I did upon getting my new fuzzy little bears was to obsess about their diet, do tons of research and hound their veterinarians at every checkup.

So here’s the low down on which food is best for cats:

1. Cats have a low thirst drive

Cats don’t get thirsty in the same way we do. They are developed to get the majority of their moisture from their prey. That implies if they’re an inside cat that eats solely dry food, you’re betting on them to drink lots of water to satisfy what their bodies need in terms of liquid to stay healthy.

Dry food is comprised of about 10% moisture, whereas wet food on average includes 78%. Perché questo è importante? because a lack of moisture contributes to chronic dehydration, which can easily turn into feline kidney disease, diabetes and/or urinary tract infections that can threaten your cat’s life.

In fact, in numerous cases where cats have been diagnosed with kidney disease, they’re placed on wet food diets high in water-soluble vitamins, fiber and high antioxidant concentrations. Cambridge university studies have shown that cats fed solely dry food have a lower water intake and lower urine volume than cats on a wet food diet, even if they have constant access to fresh water.

In addition, a study from the national research Council’s committee on animal Nutrition found that regardless of a cat’s total food and water consumption, the proportion of water in the diet is higher for cats fed wet food than for cats fed dry food.

2. often too numerous carbs in a dry-food-only diet

An interesting fact I learned from my vet: cats can’t taste sweetness. That’s got to suck.

This is because they don’t have taste receptors dedicated to tasting sweet like they do for salty, sour, bitter or savory. Their systems are not intended to consume carbohydrates. In the wild, cats only consume carbohydrates through the minute stomach contents of their prey (I know, gross).

They aren’t equipped to metabolize carbohydrates like other animals can, and the carbs really go to their bellies, even much more than they do to ours. With some dry foods including as much as 40% carbohydrate content, you could be opening your cat up to unintentional health issues by feeding them solely dry food.

3. dry food isn’t necessarily evil

When my sweetheart and I first got our black and white tuxedo kitten Sylvester, he had some digestion issues caused by tape worms that chose to burrow in his young tummy. The vet bill was fun.

Amanda’s cat, Sylvester

Our vet instructed us to feed him a premium dry food, specifically developed for gastrointestinal issues. It’s not cheap either, but the specially-formulated crunchy stuff soothed his tummy and helped him to pass normal, healthy stools while his digestive system healed.

Our other cat, Shelly, a tortoise shell female that’s just a year older, started eating on the premium stuff too, and both cats became hooked. Out of paranoia, I called my vet directly to find out if it was alright for both cats to eat, and he said he would recommend it as a source of good nutrition for any cat.

Another reason why a little dry food is a good idea is that some studies show a small dental benEfit per asciugare il cibo nella dieta di un gatto a causa della naturale abrasione della placca dalle loro gengive nel processo di scricchiolio con i denti. I problemi dentali sono un problema comune per l’invecchiamento di gatti, quindi avere un po ‘di cibo secco nella loro dieta potrebbe aiutare a mantenere i loro chompers sani più a lungo.

Quale cibo è il migliore per i gatti? bagnato o asciutto?

Quindi, dopo la mia ricerca apparentemente illimitata per alimenti per gatti, ho sviluppato una formula che penso funzioni bene per entrambi i nostri piccoli mostri.

La formula – Nutrire sia il cibo secco che il cibo bagnato ai gatti

Nutro loro due lattine al giorno di cibo in scatola bagnato di qualità; Una volta al mattino e una volta la sera, con circa una tazza del cibo secco premium diviso tra due ciotole e lasciato fuori durante il giorno.

Naturalmente, ogni gatto è diverso e potresti decidere una formula completamente diversa dopo una discussione con il veterinario. Qualsiasi storia medica che il tuo gatto ha avuto pesirà pesantemente nella discussione e potrebbe annullare alcuni dei punti che ho fatto qui.

Ma in base a tali raccomandazioni, quando selezioni il loro cibo, assicurati di familiarizzare con gli ingredienti, evitando eventuali riempitivi come mais o riso. Vuoi che la carne sia il primo ingrediente in qualsiasi alimento bagnato e concentrazioni più basse di carboidrati nei cibi secchi.

Nutrire il tuo gatto almeno una dieta a base di cibi in scatola bagnata parziale offre l’umidità richiesta per la nutrizione del tuo gatto.

Tutto sommato, ricerche ponderate e una discussione con il tuo veterinario creeranno il tuo gatto per una vita sana e lunga di compagnia confortevole.

E mentre questo post non riguarda cibi crudi per i gatti, che Mutt supporta diete crude per gli animali domestici. Potresti prendere in considerazione l’aggiunta di cibi crudi alla dieta del tuo gatto o chiedere al tuo veterinario su questa opzione. Ci sono numerosi marchi di alimenti per gatti grezzi tra cui scegliere come Darwin, Paws Raw o Food Raw Cat di Jimbo.

Nei commenti, facci sapere come hai scelto la dieta del tuo gatto e se hai domande.

Un nativo texano, Amanda Johnson, scrive per diverse pubblicazioni online e vive nel sud della California con il suo innamorato e due orsi sfocati, Shelly e Sylvester. Potresti essere interessato al breve articolo di Amanda su cosa fare quando uno dei tuoi gatti è un bullo.

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