Strictly wet diet for my kitten?
 

My 12-week-old Ragdoll, Yoshi, absolutely LOVES his canned food - would probably eat it all day if he could. The dry food, however, he will not touch. He sniffs at it on occasion, but leaves it alone. I've left out kibble provided to me by his breeder (we just took him home on Saturday), so it's not unfamiliar to him. (I don't have the container handy - but it was a mixture of good-quality food). It isn't possible for our breeder to determine if he ever really ate the dry food and (if so) how much since she's raising many cats - free-fed and around the house independently. But she did tell me all the kittens in Yoshi's litter just loved and devoured as much canned food as she could give them. I have a package of Wellness dry but he turns his nose up at that, too!

So after that long-winded introduction, my questions are - should I feed Yoshi a strictly canned diet? Other than the regular toothbrushing, what else should I consider if I go this route? Or should I try to make dry food appealing to Yoshi, and how? I've read about the health benefits of a wet food diet, and the debate on the dental benefits of dry. Or is a mixture of wet/dry an ideal way to go?

Thanks in advance for your advice!! :)

If you feed a great quality wet food, you shouldn't have worse teeth than good kibble. The more sugar is in the food, the more the teeth will rot- regardless of if it is wet or dry.:shrug: Some say wet is better for the kidneys and prevention of bladder crystals (some cats don't drink enough and the wet compensates for that).

Thanks, Prin! I appreciate your responding to me.

I have a good variety of canned foods to try - Felidae, Wellness, Innova; from what I've been reading, these should be good quality. The shop where I purchased the Felidae has also given me some info on feeding raw.... I'll have to look into that more.... so the research continues. :)

Those sound good. Good luck!:)

The canned foods you mentioned are all good. He doesn't need to eat dry and most people feed dry because it's convenient.

If you wanted to, you could try moistening the dry. My cats don't like it that way but some do especially when they're young like Yoshi. Ask the pet store for some samples then you won't have to buy a whole bag.

BTW, when are we going to see pics of Yoshi? :D

Having an all canned diet is ok,but you should try and get Yoshi to eat the dry.This way here if you decide to go away for the night or weekend,he will not starve.What I mean by that is he is just on the canned,who is going to come in to feed her when your gone right?

My cats get both.But when I'm gone for the weekend,I know they still have their dry and they won't starve....:)

i have a cat that only eats wet food and doesnt drink water. she is a rescue so i have no idea what they fed her in the shelter. she is a healthy nine year old now( ive had her eight years) the vet said to brush teeth and watch her weight she was a bit of a piggie when i first brought her home other than that she is good. and i always have kibble down because my big fellow likes strickly kibble. mind you when i got a puppy i did see her try the puppy food which i found hilarious because the kibble is so huge . one thing thou , i find she gets picky and bored with her food if i only by one brand. so i mix different brands and like i said she is a happy healthy cat. i just think of it like some people eat meat and veggies.........some only eat veggies

Minor random off tangent topicy thing...

When you have the cat on wet only...are the poops different than if there's a mix of wet/dry or just dry? Would it be more "wet looking" or anything?

Just one of those questions that randomly popped into my head....

Megan

lol..........too funny. but just to satisfy you curiousity.........there is no difference in the poops but the cat who eats wet food pees a little more .;)