HOW OFTEN SHOULD i GIVE THE CANNED CAT FOOD AND HOW MUCH ?

Question

I WANTED TO LET EVERYBODY KNOW, THAT I FINALLY GOT THE NEW CAT FOOD. THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME CHOOSE THEM. I ENDED UP GETTING MOSTLY CANS OF NATURAL BALANCE CANNED FOOD ( DIFFERENT VARIETIES ) AND I GOT A FEW CANS OF THE WELLNESS TO TRY. FOR THE DRY, I GOT THE WELLNESS COMPLETE HEALTH DE-BONED CHICKEN, CHICKEN MEAL & RICE RECIPE. ONLINE I HAVE BEEN TOLD TO MAKE THE CANNED FOOD THE PRIMARY DIET, AND JUST USE A LITTLE DRY. BUT, AT PETCO, THEY SAID THAT THE DRY SHOULD BE THE PRIMARY FOOD, AND NOT TO GIVE HER MUCH OF THE CANNED. WHICH IS IT ?. I AM SO CONFUSED, BECAUSE I GET SO MANY DIFFERENT ANSWERS. I GIVE HER BOTH DRY AND CANNED. I USUALLY GIVE HER EITHER 2 OR 3 SPOONFULS OF THE CANNED, PER DAY, WITH DRY FOOD ALWAYS THERE FOR HER. IS THIS AMOUNT OKAY, OR SHOULD I FEED HER MORE OF THE CANNED OR EVEN LESS ?.

Answer 1

The dry/kibble should be her primary pet food. The canned/wet food should be her secondary.

I leave kibble out at home at all times for whenever my cats feel the need to nibble. & that's exactly what they do, nibble -- here & there. The wet/canned food I give once in the morning. None of that in the evening.

Too much wet food [especially if you're considering it as the primary] can cause tooth decay in cats. Which is never a good thing. Can lead to other problems down the road.

Giving the kibble as the primary food can help keep their teeth nice & strong, as well as cleaning the teeth.

Answer 2

You will here a lot of different opinions but the truth of the matter is you do not need to fee dry foods at all. Also your cat is a carnivore so anything with rice in the name cannot be good for a cat

If you decide to just feed canned and feed a quality one like wellness then the cat can dictate how much food is needed. Take it from someone whose cat got diabetes from eating dry food    



Nutrition since there are so many bad things out there is very important to your cat’s health

Contrary to what you may have heard; dry foods are not a great thing to feed a cat.

Please read the label on what you are feeding? What are the ingredients? Do you know what they mean? Is the first ingrdiant a muscle meat like chicken or meal or other things?

http://www.catinfo.org/#Learn_How_To_Rea...

http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04...

Dry foods are the number 1 cause of diabetes in cats as well as being a huge contributing factor to kidney disease, obesity, crystals, u.t.i’s and a host of other problems. Food allergies are very common when feeding dry foods. Rashes, scabs behind the tail and on the chin are all symptoms

The problems associated with Dry food is that they are loaded with grains and carbohydrates which many cats (carnivores) cannot process.  Also, Most of the moisture a cat needs is suppose to be in the food but in

Dry, 95% of it is zapped out of dry foods in the processing. Another thing, most use horrible ingredients and don't use a muscle meat as the primary ingredient and use vegetable based protein versus animal. Not good for an animal that has to eat meat to survive.

http://www.catinfo.org/#My_Cat_is_Doing_...

You want to pick a canned food w/o gravy (gravy=carbs) that uses a muscle meat as the first ingredient and doesn't have corn at least in the first 3 ingredients if at all.    The best food for cats does not contain any grains at all.

Fancy feast is a middle grade food with 9lives, friskies  whiskas lower grade canned and wellness and merrick upper grade human quality foods. I would rather feed a middle grade canned food then the top of the line dry food.

Also, dry food is not proven to be better for teeth. Does a hard pretzel clean your teeth or do pieces of it get stuck? http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/bp...

Please read about cat nutrition.

                               http://www.newdestiny.us/nutritionbasics...

                               http://www.catinfo.org/feline_obesity.ht...

      http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.ht...

Vetinarian diets  The reason your vet thinks so highly of the pet food they sell probably has more to do with money than nutrition. In vet school, the only classes offered on nutrition usually last a few weeks, and are taught by representatives from the pet food companies. Vet students may also receive free food for their own dogs and cats at home. They could get an Iams notebook, a Purina purse and some free pizza.  http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04...

Answer 3

ummm.... I dont want 2 tell u how 2 treat ur cat but wet fod can be really bad 4 cats that doesnt mean ur cat though.

Answer 4

This question has been asked many times on here.  I found the best answers of these helpful.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 5

Good job!  Wet food is, in my opinion (and in the opinion of many) the only thing cats should eat.  Next to a diet of raw meat, it's the next best thing.  Wellness is what 2 of my cats eat - grain free is the way to go, if you can afford it.

The average cat will do well on one can (the 5.5oz size) a day.  If you have 3 oz cans, that would be 2 of those a day.  My cats weigh 9-11 pounds and maintain a healthy weight getting this much.  I divide the can into two or three meals a day.  Obviously, if you feed this much and the cat gets fat, cut back, or increase if they're thin.

Feeding canned food gives your cats the right amount of moisture.  Cats have a low thirst drive and tend to not drink enough if they are getting kibble.  Over the years, this can lead to problems such as renal failure... I learned this the hard way, and have a girl in renal (kidney) failure now... she ate mostly kibble for her whole life (15 years) until now - she only got a few spoonfulls of wet food in the mornings.  She is now on only canned food.  Renal failure effects TONS of cats later in life.  I'm hoping to avoid this with my two younger cats who are on an all-canned diet.

Answer 6

give the cat 1/2 can 3 times a day. that's what our vet recommended, she even said if you cant do that just 1/2 twice a day. our cats love it!

Answer 7

just let her eat as much as she wants out of a can for 15 min if she hasn't finished take it away don't give your cat too much soft cat food or they will get stuck up and not want to eat any dry cat food and it will be a lot more expensive

Answer 8

congrats on choosing natural balance! i am disappointed in petco people because they are complete idiots.. they know absolutely nothing about pets.. do some of those people even own pets? anyway, wet food is recommended by vets as the primary food because cats will not drink up water from the water bowl to meet their water needs like dogs will. in the wild cats meet their water requirements from the small prey they catch. leaving out a little dry food is okay though but canned food should be her primary meal. i would say half a can of natural balance is fine for a normal sized cat (8 lbs) and for small wellness cans (yuck!) the whole thing is okay.. that's why they are so small.. anyway.. don't listen to petco people! they are crazy!