Wet Food or Dry Food? 2 month kitten?

Question

The owner of the cat gave me the kitten for free. She told me to give it half of a 3 oz. can of wet food night and day. So half at lunchtime and the other half at dinner. She also told me to leave dry food and water whenever its hungry.

Now my friend's mom said to ONLY give it dry food and water. She also said give it wet food every other week. She told me wet food or " Chicken of the Sea" in water.

Please help me! I don't know what to do!!! I want the best for my kitten. :)

Answer 1

Wet food is definitely the way to go.  Read the best answers for these questions for more info on why:

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

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

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

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

Hope this helps!!  =]

Answer 2

The previous owner is right and your friend's mother is wayyyy off base.

Dry food only is unhealthy.  It does not keep their teeth clean.  It leaves them dehydrated and most brands are very high in carbs which is not a suitable diet for a carnivore.

If you want to offer some dry food just be sure it's not more than 1/2 of its total daily intake.

Cats need wet food so keep him on that.

And don't give him tuna!  Fish can be quite dangerous.  It won't kill outright but it can lead to all sorts of problems.  A schnibble here or there is ok if you want to use it as a treat or as a bribe to get him to try another food, but no more than that.

Answer 3

Nothing sparks more passion from cat enthusiasts than what to feed your cat. Some swear by a certain brand, and some will only feed dry or wet. In short, there are two camps when it comes to feeding. The dry food camp and the wet food camp. You will see a lot of arguments and debate between both camps here, as witnessed by the answers you are getting.

Also, another new camp is emerging and fast growing and they are the RAW food movement and sometimes you will also hear what is called a BARF feeding, Bone and Raw Food diet or Biologically Appropriate Raw Food diet.

What you need to do is to do your research and weigh each camp's argument as to which one you are more comfortable with and what makes the most sense. You need to understand what motivates the pet food industry, (profit!), and what motivates pet parents to buy their product (price/cost, advertisement, vet advice, self research, cat's health while being on the product, etc)

When you are well informed, you will ultimately make the right decision on what is best. So, do a lot of reading and in depth research. It's really not easy feeding our pets now. If you are unaware of the March 2007 Huge Pet Recall, I would suggest you look into it. You will never see pet food the same way again.

You need to learn how to read ingredient labels. By learning how to read a label, you can learn a great deal of information about the food you are feeding your pets. You can even learn how to compare one food to another and choose the one best suited for your cat.

When you are choosing food, it is important for you to learn how to read ingredient labels. They tell you a lot about what kind of meat is being used and whether the food has any cheap fillers which does not benefit your cat/kitten.

You want to feed a food which is high protein - meaning the meat source must come from wholesome muscle meat. Make sure to select only food that list chicken, lamb, rabbit, beef, turkey, venison, salmon, whitefish, herring or a combination or those and not one that says by-products (chicken by product, meat by product, fish by product)

Stay away from too much fillers like corn, corn gluten meal, wheat, wheat gluten, soy, oatbrans, etc. These are all cheap filler which help reduce the cost of manufacturing but brings little to no benefit to your kitten.

You would also want to stay away from preservatives like BHA/BHT and Ethoxyquin which are proven to be harmful to your kitten. Also you do not want other artifical preservatives such as propylene glycol and propolyneglycol .You need natural preservatives such as Vitamin C, Vitamin A or Rosemary.

Your cat need an essential amino acid called Taurine. Cats can only receive this from eating wholesome meat. Choose a food that contains ample amount of Omega 3 sources - Salmon Oil, Flaxseed Oil or Canola Oil.

When you are well educated in learning how to read pet food ingredients, shopping for the best food for your kitten would be easier.

I only feed 100% wet. I came to this conclusion after doing my own research and getting to know pets that suffer dire consequences as a result of being fed exclusively dry. These websites has great information if you are interested in learning more about feline nutrition and the proper diet for a cat.

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?ac...

http://cats.about.com/cs/catfood/a/canne...

http://cats.about.com/od/catfoo1/tp/tpca...

http://www.catinfo.org/

http://www.naturalmatters.net/article.as...

http://www.traciehotchner.com/cb/QandA.h...

I love to say this whenever someone ask this question.

Look at your cats. They are majestic animals, with their wild ancestors blood still running through their veins. They are predators, equip with sharp canine teeth to shred through meat. Now, imagine a lion or a tiger, feasting on a bowl of dry kibble. Does that sound right to you? Well, now you know why it is so ridiculous to feed your cat dry kibbles!

Domestication only changes the way the cats live but not the way the cats eat. If we cannot guarantee their wellbeing, we have no right to invite them into our home.

    

Answer 4

dry food defiantly because wet food for kittens can give them bad gas and direa  XP

Answer 5

dry food i had experience with cats and kittens give it dry food its the best

Answer 6

Wet food is best for kitties! The reason is, in the wild, cats normally get most of their water content directly from their prey items and drink very little. Domestic cats are no different, and because of the fact that they are designed to take in water with their meal, they have a very low thirst drive. Cats often just don't drink enough. This leads to urinary tract infections and crystals. The bit about dry food being better for teeth is a myth and has not been proven in the least. Canned/wet food is better because it more closely mimics the cat's natural diet. More on why canned food is best:

http://www.catinfo.org/  (Excellent cat nutrition information by a vet)

http://cats.about.com/cs/catfood/a/canne...

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?ac...

http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/bp...

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?ac...